It is truly sad that John found the need to write verses 1-6 in 1 John 4. He found the need because he says in verse 3b, “This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” As believers, we must be aware of and on guard against those who appear to be believers or who say some things that we can agree with, but upon further examination we determine are not of God. And John gives us the key in verses 2-3, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” Listen to what a person believes about Jesus—who He is, why He came, where He is now, and what will He do in the future—is their confession about Jesus in harmony with what the Word says? And we’re not just talking about some points…they must be in perfect harmony with Scripture to not be suspect. There is a difference between a fellow Christian who is a little confused about some scripture and someone who claims to be a Christian and deliberately misrepresents our Lord. As Rusty said, we have politicians being elected now that have attended seminary, so have the knowledge—but do they have the Holy Spirit given by God to use that knowledge correctly? If not, it is very easy to use that knowledge to fool rather than to bless. We must be on guard for those who would propagate untruths in the name of our Savior for their own gain. Lord, please give us wisdom and insight in this so our discernment is found in You and Your Word at all times.
In 1 John 4 I am reminded again that there is a lot of false teachings being spread in the church in the United States. We’re not to believe what someone teaches just because of their charismatic personality or doctrinal learning. A charismatic personality can be authentic and a person can teach doctrinal truth, but we must test them by the Bible to make sure. Now, even seminary trained preachers are being elected to congress. We have a responsibility to test their teachings.
We have the Holy Spirit that we’re living in and through (1 John 3:24). He’s the true Spirit. But there is a spirit inside of some, even those who “say” they are Christians, that has a false spirit and opposes the true Spirit of Christ (1 John 4:1-4).
Those who have a worldly spirit in them listen to those who speak from the same worldly spirit (1 John 4:5). But those who have the Spirit of Christ listen to those who speak from His Spirit (1 John 4:6).
Test the spirits. Don’t believe everything somebody says. Notice the why – in order to see whether they are from God. We must compare their teaching to God’s Word, the Bible, His true revelation of truth. Why? Because many false prophets (false teachers and preachers) have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1) disguised as having a true spirit. Don’t be fooled.
I focused on 1 John 3:4-10. We can’t dismiss these verses. Nor can we dismiss 1 John 1:7-2:1. They may appear contradictory, but they are not. They are both the Word of God, so we must treat them as such. In 1 John 3, John, didn’t forget what he said in 1 John 1. So what’s the Holy Spirit want to teach us?
1 John 1:8 says we have sin. This is sin in the sense of falling short of God’s best in thought, word, and deed. We are limited in knowledge and we make mistakes in making decisions. In this sense we all sin.
Right after this John is telling us in 1 John 2:1 that he is writing to us these words and instructions of Jesus so that it will result in us not sinning. So, in some sense, we don’t have to sin. 1 John is written, according to this verse, so we should not sin.
But in 1 John 3:6 it says if we remain in Jesus, like a branch remains in the vine (John 15), we do not keep on sinning. This is not contradicting 1 John 1:8. We still sin in the sense of 1 John 1:8. But we don’t produce, commit, or practice deliberate, intentional sin. God fills us with His presence and love. He lives in us. We are to live in union with Him, as His children. Therefore we are not going to deliberately or intentionally sin. It’s His presence that is ruling in us.
Now, we can choose to sin. But as a child of God, with His Spirit living in us, we don’t have to sin.
Jesus, I want to be all for you, through you and in you. Help me.
My daughter called me yesterday because she had witnessed to a co-worker and had been rejected. The co-worker wouldn’t even take her calls afterward. My daughter was very upset, and was saying she probably shouldn’t have said anything. I told her I wasn’t sure exactly how the exchange went, but that she needed to realize the co-worker was ultimately not rejecting her, but was, in fact rejecting the message and Who the message was about. Today’s reading supports this. 1 John 3:13 says, “Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.” And in verse 1, “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.” As children of God, we are strangers in this world. “But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Verse 10 tells us, “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.” We witness to others out of our love for them and desire that they might know the Lord as we do. Jesus commanded us in Mark 16:15 to ““Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” That is our charge. Often times we can only plant the seed; someone else will water it, and another may see the seed come to life. But we must never let rejection deter us from faithfully proclaiming the gospel message to others. Remember verse 24, “Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God, and God in him.” It is God in us that witnesses to others; continue to abide in Him as He abides in you.
In I John 2, John is fleshing out the words of Jesus in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” The chief way we keep His commandments is by loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. To not love them is to be in blind spiritual darkness. John then warns us that loving the things of this world shows that the love of God is not in us. The things of this world—desires of the flesh and eyes and the pride of life—are all temporal and will perish. Our eternal life lies in doing God’s will, and we are able to do this through the knowledge and power given to us through the Holy Spirit. In this power we can practice righteousness and abide in the Son and the Father, and thus rest in the knowledge of the promise of eternal life. Beware any who deny Christ’s deity; such denial also denies the Father, and is a lie. The Holy Spirit gives us all the knowledge we need and shows us the truth, and we know that Christ is the truth: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life” John 14:6. Our embracing these things allows us to look forward to His coming again with eager anticipation rather than fear. Let us live so as to have no shame at His return; live righteously and thus show we are born of Him.
Thank you, brother John, for expounding on Jesus’ teaching for our edification and to give us the assurance of eternal life in Him.
1:7 If we walk in the light as He is in the light … and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
1:8 If we claim we don’t have any sin, we’re deceiving ourselves.
1:9 If we admit God is right and we’re not, and confess our sin, God forgives and cleanses us.
1:10 If we claim we’ve never sinned, we make God a liar, because He says we have sinned.
2:1 But John is writing so that we won’t sin.
2:1 But if we do, we have Jesus Christ who is near us and speaks in our defense
2:2 Jesus’ death on the cross is the payment for the penalty of our sins and so it’s God’s way of not penalizing and punishing us, so the sin payment has already been paid.
2:3 If we know Jesus then we keep His commandments. This is another way of saying we’re not sinning.
2:4 This language is similar to 1 John 1:6, 10. If we say we know Him (we’re walking in the light), yet don’t keep his commandments (we are sinning), we are a liar and God’s truth is not in us.
2:5 This is summed up by we must love God.
2:7-10 We are to love our Christ following brothers and sisters.
2:15-17 But we are not to love the world or the things in the world.
So, Father, draw me to yourself to define love as you define it and love as you love.
Today’s and yesterday’s readings truly focus on the things that have been forefront in my mind lately.
Comments tend to shrink the complex down to over simplification, but maybe that’s good in this situation. These scriptures are all about loving God and following Him and they explain how we know if we are doing just that. At the risk of over simplification, we can just ask ourselves “are we more aligned with the world or with Christ?” The world approves of and even celebrates behaviors and lifestyles that are clearly antithetical to Christ. If we believe in and live in support of those same things, we are following the world, not Christ! And it really just might be that simple to know if we are off track! God called us to be a “peculiar people” and that means following Him and His word, even when the world calls that hateful and calls us close minded. If there is sin that we refuse to let go of to follow Christ instead of the world, isn’t that sin our Lord? We cannot serve two masters.
We ALL need to examine ourselves as we read the Word, and John’s scriptures that we read yesterday and today lay out very clear and simple ways to do so. – Christ or the world!
I am reminded in 1 John 1 that Jesus is life. If I say I’m walking with Jesus then I must be in partnership with him. If I say that I am walking with Jesus and yet living in sin and darkness then I’m deceiving myself and the truth is not in me.
This passage brought up the recent election for me. I have been doing a little online investigating of a newly elected political candidate who is seminary trained and who calls himself a Christian. It’s evident that he’s changed his views on many political issues to get elected. I’ve seen and heard what he said in 2021-2024, but he no longer is saying it now. People close to this particular candidate has said that once he gets elected, he will revert back to his previous views. He said the things he needed to say to get elected.
In reading this passage in 1 John 1, it says you can’t call yourself a Christian and walk in darkness. Walking in darkness would include lying and proclaiming immoral lifestyles as defined by God’s Word, the Bible.
I’m reminded we must all be aware of the wolves in sheep’s clothing, both in and out of politics. We, ourselves, must walk the Jesus walk and talk the Jesus talk. Our life and worldview must match. We’re living in partnership (fellowship) with Jesus. We must not use Jesus as a outer charade when on the inside there is lying, corruption and darkness.
Have you ever known someone who believes they do not sin? The scales of blindness are so heavy on their eyes that they are unable to recognize the sin they live with everyday. Well, here in I John 1 we see the utter futility in that, as well as condemnation for it. This first chapter ends, “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” Not only are they deceiving themselves, but they are actually calling Christ a liar. To coin a 60’s phrase, that is heavy. The very first step in becoming born again is recognizing our own sin and thus our need for redemption. Only then can we reach out to our Lord and accept the gift He offers us. John is writing this book as an eyewitness who heard, saw, and touched the Lord. Let us heed his words so that we might walk in Christ’s light, having fellowship with one another so that our joy may be complete!
It is truly sad that John found the need to write verses 1-6 in 1 John 4. He found the need because he says in verse 3b, “This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” As believers, we must be aware of and on guard against those who appear to be believers or who say some things that we can agree with, but upon further examination we determine are not of God. And John gives us the key in verses 2-3, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” Listen to what a person believes about Jesus—who He is, why He came, where He is now, and what will He do in the future—is their confession about Jesus in harmony with what the Word says? And we’re not just talking about some points…they must be in perfect harmony with Scripture to not be suspect. There is a difference between a fellow Christian who is a little confused about some scripture and someone who claims to be a Christian and deliberately misrepresents our Lord. As Rusty said, we have politicians being elected now that have attended seminary, so have the knowledge—but do they have the Holy Spirit given by God to use that knowledge correctly? If not, it is very easy to use that knowledge to fool rather than to bless. We must be on guard for those who would propagate untruths in the name of our Savior for their own gain. Lord, please give us wisdom and insight in this so our discernment is found in You and Your Word at all times.
In 1 John 4 I am reminded again that there is a lot of false teachings being spread in the church in the United States. We’re not to believe what someone teaches just because of their charismatic personality or doctrinal learning. A charismatic personality can be authentic and a person can teach doctrinal truth, but we must test them by the Bible to make sure. Now, even seminary trained preachers are being elected to congress. We have a responsibility to test their teachings.
We have the Holy Spirit that we’re living in and through (1 John 3:24). He’s the true Spirit. But there is a spirit inside of some, even those who “say” they are Christians, that has a false spirit and opposes the true Spirit of Christ (1 John 4:1-4).
Those who have a worldly spirit in them listen to those who speak from the same worldly spirit (1 John 4:5). But those who have the Spirit of Christ listen to those who speak from His Spirit (1 John 4:6).
Test the spirits. Don’t believe everything somebody says. Notice the why – in order to see whether they are from God. We must compare their teaching to God’s Word, the Bible, His true revelation of truth. Why? Because many false prophets (false teachers and preachers) have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1) disguised as having a true spirit. Don’t be fooled.
I focused on 1 John 3:4-10. We can’t dismiss these verses. Nor can we dismiss 1 John 1:7-2:1. They may appear contradictory, but they are not. They are both the Word of God, so we must treat them as such. In 1 John 3, John, didn’t forget what he said in 1 John 1. So what’s the Holy Spirit want to teach us?
1 John 1:8 says we have sin. This is sin in the sense of falling short of God’s best in thought, word, and deed. We are limited in knowledge and we make mistakes in making decisions. In this sense we all sin.
Right after this John is telling us in 1 John 2:1 that he is writing to us these words and instructions of Jesus so that it will result in us not sinning. So, in some sense, we don’t have to sin. 1 John is written, according to this verse, so we should not sin.
But in 1 John 3:6 it says if we remain in Jesus, like a branch remains in the vine (John 15), we do not keep on sinning. This is not contradicting 1 John 1:8. We still sin in the sense of 1 John 1:8. But we don’t produce, commit, or practice deliberate, intentional sin. God fills us with His presence and love. He lives in us. We are to live in union with Him, as His children. Therefore we are not going to deliberately or intentionally sin. It’s His presence that is ruling in us.
Now, we can choose to sin. But as a child of God, with His Spirit living in us, we don’t have to sin.
Jesus, I want to be all for you, through you and in you. Help me.
My daughter called me yesterday because she had witnessed to a co-worker and had been rejected. The co-worker wouldn’t even take her calls afterward. My daughter was very upset, and was saying she probably shouldn’t have said anything. I told her I wasn’t sure exactly how the exchange went, but that she needed to realize the co-worker was ultimately not rejecting her, but was, in fact rejecting the message and Who the message was about. Today’s reading supports this. 1 John 3:13 says, “Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.” And in verse 1, “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.” As children of God, we are strangers in this world. “But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Verse 10 tells us, “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.” We witness to others out of our love for them and desire that they might know the Lord as we do. Jesus commanded us in Mark 16:15 to ““Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” That is our charge. Often times we can only plant the seed; someone else will water it, and another may see the seed come to life. But we must never let rejection deter us from faithfully proclaiming the gospel message to others. Remember verse 24, “Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God, and God in him.” It is God in us that witnesses to others; continue to abide in Him as He abides in you.
Good word. Thanks for sharing, Dave.
In I John 2, John is fleshing out the words of Jesus in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” The chief way we keep His commandments is by loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. To not love them is to be in blind spiritual darkness. John then warns us that loving the things of this world shows that the love of God is not in us. The things of this world—desires of the flesh and eyes and the pride of life—are all temporal and will perish. Our eternal life lies in doing God’s will, and we are able to do this through the knowledge and power given to us through the Holy Spirit. In this power we can practice righteousness and abide in the Son and the Father, and thus rest in the knowledge of the promise of eternal life. Beware any who deny Christ’s deity; such denial also denies the Father, and is a lie. The Holy Spirit gives us all the knowledge we need and shows us the truth, and we know that Christ is the truth: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life” John 14:6. Our embracing these things allows us to look forward to His coming again with eager anticipation rather than fear. Let us live so as to have no shame at His return; live righteously and thus show we are born of Him.
Thank you, brother John, for expounding on Jesus’ teaching for our edification and to give us the assurance of eternal life in Him.
1 John 2 is a continuation of 1 John 1. Notice:
1:7 If we walk in the light as He is in the light … and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
1:8 If we claim we don’t have any sin, we’re deceiving ourselves.
1:9 If we admit God is right and we’re not, and confess our sin, God forgives and cleanses us.
1:10 If we claim we’ve never sinned, we make God a liar, because He says we have sinned.
2:1 But John is writing so that we won’t sin.
2:1 But if we do, we have Jesus Christ who is near us and speaks in our defense
2:2 Jesus’ death on the cross is the payment for the penalty of our sins and so it’s God’s way of not penalizing and punishing us, so the sin payment has already been paid.
2:3 If we know Jesus then we keep His commandments. This is another way of saying we’re not sinning.
2:4 This language is similar to 1 John 1:6, 10. If we say we know Him (we’re walking in the light), yet don’t keep his commandments (we are sinning), we are a liar and God’s truth is not in us.
2:5 This is summed up by we must love God.
2:7-10 We are to love our Christ following brothers and sisters.
2:15-17 But we are not to love the world or the things in the world.
So, Father, draw me to yourself to define love as you define it and love as you love.
Today’s and yesterday’s readings truly focus on the things that have been forefront in my mind lately.
Comments tend to shrink the complex down to over simplification, but maybe that’s good in this situation. These scriptures are all about loving God and following Him and they explain how we know if we are doing just that. At the risk of over simplification, we can just ask ourselves “are we more aligned with the world or with Christ?” The world approves of and even celebrates behaviors and lifestyles that are clearly antithetical to Christ. If we believe in and live in support of those same things, we are following the world, not Christ! And it really just might be that simple to know if we are off track! God called us to be a “peculiar people” and that means following Him and His word, even when the world calls that hateful and calls us close minded. If there is sin that we refuse to let go of to follow Christ instead of the world, isn’t that sin our Lord? We cannot serve two masters.
We ALL need to examine ourselves as we read the Word, and John’s scriptures that we read yesterday and today lay out very clear and simple ways to do so. – Christ or the world!
I am reminded in 1 John 1 that Jesus is life. If I say I’m walking with Jesus then I must be in partnership with him. If I say that I am walking with Jesus and yet living in sin and darkness then I’m deceiving myself and the truth is not in me.
This passage brought up the recent election for me. I have been doing a little online investigating of a newly elected political candidate who is seminary trained and who calls himself a Christian. It’s evident that he’s changed his views on many political issues to get elected. I’ve seen and heard what he said in 2021-2024, but he no longer is saying it now. People close to this particular candidate has said that once he gets elected, he will revert back to his previous views. He said the things he needed to say to get elected.
In reading this passage in 1 John 1, it says you can’t call yourself a Christian and walk in darkness. Walking in darkness would include lying and proclaiming immoral lifestyles as defined by God’s Word, the Bible.
I’m reminded we must all be aware of the wolves in sheep’s clothing, both in and out of politics. We, ourselves, must walk the Jesus walk and talk the Jesus talk. Our life and worldview must match. We’re living in partnership (fellowship) with Jesus. We must not use Jesus as a outer charade when on the inside there is lying, corruption and darkness.
Have you ever known someone who believes they do not sin? The scales of blindness are so heavy on their eyes that they are unable to recognize the sin they live with everyday. Well, here in I John 1 we see the utter futility in that, as well as condemnation for it. This first chapter ends, “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” Not only are they deceiving themselves, but they are actually calling Christ a liar. To coin a 60’s phrase, that is heavy. The very first step in becoming born again is recognizing our own sin and thus our need for redemption. Only then can we reach out to our Lord and accept the gift He offers us. John is writing this book as an eyewitness who heard, saw, and touched the Lord. Let us heed his words so that we might walk in Christ’s light, having fellowship with one another so that our joy may be complete!