I John 5:1-5

Christmas 2020!! Interesting: the word “commandments” appears three times in today’s reading (vv. 2-3) ; likewise, the word “overcome(s)” also appears three times (vv. 4-5). I was wondering if there was a connection, but I don’t see one directly. Naturally if we keep His commandments we will be overcomers. I reflected back to what I posted a few days ago (12/21), about righteousness and love and how they were connected: By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (v. 3:10) So righteousness and love are connected, but not directly. Likewise, the same with commandments and overcomers…

It’s easy to get confused when John writes about “commandments”. Is he talking about the Law, the Ten Commandments? Or is he talking about Jesus’ “new commandment”, that we love one another (John 13:34-35)? Or is John thinking about that “new commandment” we read about a few days ago – that “new commandment” being an enhanced understanding of who Jesus is and what He did? See my post from 12/17. No doubt, these three reflections on “commandments” are also themselves fully interconnected!

Frankly, verse 2 sums it up best: By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments. Love God. Obey His commandments. Straightforward. Simple enough. Then why is it so hard??!!

Slava Bohu!

I John 4:12-21

So many well-known verses…!! So today we have 16b, 18a, and 19. Probably the best is verse 19: We love because He first loved us. Verse 19 is “best” because it explains at the most fundamental level – we only know about and feel love at all because God is the source of all love. His essence is love! As verse 16b says, God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. The first three words: “God IS love!”

Slava Bohu!

I John 4:1-11

I can hear Bill Gaither singing, “Greater…, greater…, greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” (v. 4b) And another oft-quoted verse: In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (v. 10)

My Study Bible reported that beginning with verse 7, for the next 18 verses the word “love” is written 32 times!! (And 43 times in the whole letter.) Maybe there’s a lesson there…??!!

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. (vv. 2-3a) John makes it pretty clear! If you are speaking with Mormons or JWs it’s an easy question to ask: “Is Jesus Christ the Son of God?” Done.

Slava Bohu!

I John 3:16-24

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (vv. 17-18) I think I’ve mentioned before that St. Francis of Assisi is credited with the proverb “Preach the gospel, and if necessary use words.” I think this is what John is saying also in these two verses. These verses also take us back to James’ epistle (James 2:14-17).

… for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything. (v. 20) Credit to my Study Bible for opening this verse for me. In their interpretation, essentially we are condemning ourselves for too many little things, what they refer to as “an oversensitive conscience”. But God’s love for us is greater than our self-condemnation; with that we can rest more easily! A nice thought to bless my day!

Slava Bohu!

I John 3:10-15

John has used the word “righteous/righteousness” five times in yesterday’s and today’s readings, plus twice more in the last verse of chapter 2 (the immediate precedent to yesterday’s reading) – so seven times over a span of thirteen verses. Which begs the question, “What does it mean to be righteous?” An online definition says “to be morally right or justifiable”, with synonyms good, virtuous, upright, upstanding, decent, etc. Continuing with the same online page, “The word righteous in the New Testament … means observing divine laws or upright, faultless, innocent, and guiltless.” I think we’re back to where we were yesterday – if you make a “practice of sinning”, you are being unrighteous. Righteousness on the other hand calls for confession, repentance, surrender. So where do we stand? John answers for us in verse 10: By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. Righteousness. Love.

Slava Bohu!

I John 3:1-9

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. (v. 9) We (I) often speak of being “born again”. We make that claim because we have accepted Jesus as our (Lord and) Savior; He has forgiven us our sins and brought us to eternal life. But we cannot be “born again” if we continue a “practice of sinning”. So what does John mean by a “practice of sinning”? We commonly accept that we sin every day, countless times every day. We engage in judgment and condemnation instead of acceptance and forgiveness, pride and arrogance instead of humility and gentleness. We maintain our “self-control”, unwilling to surrender our will over to the One who created us and knows us better than we know ourselves. So have we continued a “practice of sinning”?

I went online to try to get a handle on this. Basically the authors that I read pointed to the ubiquity of sin and our constant need for confession, for true repentance. One author writes:

Pride is among the most obvious, daily habit of sin seen in our lives. It’s where we say, “I don’t need you God, I’ve got this on my own …” With such great daily sin, daily confession is necessary. It is by our daily confession that we demonstrate to the world that we abide in Jesus.

https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/practice-sinning/

So it’s probably not wrong for us to claim that we are “born again”. But let’s not get smug about it. I don’t imagine that we’ll lose our salvation, but we could be living life more fully!

Slava Bohu!

I John 2:18-29

I tend to notice Trinitarian verses and references when they appear in the epistles, and I saw that today in John’s writing – but with a bit of a challenge. Consider that the Father and the Son are mentioned together in verses 22, 23, and 24. But where is the Holy Spirit? He is mentioned implicitly with “anointed/anointing” comments in verses 20 and 27 (twice). But then Jesus is mentioned alone in verses 27-29 as “Him/He” pronoun references. So the Trinity is all there, but as bits and pieces, not as “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”. Just that…

And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink from Him in shame at His coming. (v. 28) I have sometimes imagined what it might be like when Jesus returns. I’ve always pictured a fully universal return, such that every single person on earth will see His coming. And I have found myself imagining my own awe and reverence at His return, having that full “confidence” that John mentions in this verse. But in all my imaginings I have not thought about those people who will …shrink from Him in shame at His coming. But they are around; they are with us every day; and they will indeed “shrink”, since we know that …at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11, NASB). Yes, GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

I John 2:12-17

The first three verses – to the little children, fathers and young men… Have you ever noticed that nothing in John’s words to the little children in verse 12 is repeated in verse 13, but one of the three items addressed to the young men in verse 14 is a repeat of the same item in verse 13, AND the entire wording to fathers in verse 13 is repeated exactly in verse 14. Why is that? Maybe because fathers are less quick to hear and understand…??!! ?! Actually, a number of writers have suggested that the “titles” to whom John’s words are addressed reflects more on spiritual maturity than on age or family status.

For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life… (v. 16a) John writes “…all that is in the world…”, then he lists three things – ONLY three things. So do these three things reflect all that is “in the world” (i.e., sinful)? “Desires of the flesh” could be our desires for other people – lust, jealousy, enviousness, etc. “Desires of the eyes” could be our desires for other things – money, power, possessions, etc. Finally “the pride of life” could be our own internal spirit – the sinful ways in which we truly feel and put ourselves above other people. Could those three things encompass all that is wrong in this world? Interesting…

Slava Bohu!

I John 2:1-11

The apostle John sets a pretty high (impossible) standard here: …whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked. (v. 6) No one will ever achieve to the standard that Jesus set, but He does give us a model for Christian behavior. “Walk the walk and talk the talk.”

Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. (v. 7) John very possibly had in mind Jesus’ words at the Last Supper: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34–35) So there is no “new commandment”. However, John writes in the very next verse, At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in Him and in you… (v. 8a) I’m guessing that John is thinking of all that transpired between the Last Supper and his writing of this letter – the Cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension, Pentecost, and more! I think that John is suggesting what is “true in Him”, that while there is no “new commandment”, there is a new understanding of who Jesus is and what He did. That enduring reality of Jesus’ final six weeks on earth and His sending of the Holy Spirit some ten days later ought to put greater emphasis on His “love one another” command.

Slava Bohu!

I John 1:1-10

And now, the apostle John… He begins with his clear intent: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands … we proclaim also to you… (vv. 1, 3a) John is establishing his own position here as an apostle – one who has been with Jesus in close companionship and who now wishes to pass on to other believers the truth of who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He wants from us. That is his goal in the rest of this letter.

There are so many notable verses in today’s reading. The entire block in verses 5 through 10 is well known and is often quoted, especially verse 7 (which I know as a song) and verse 9 (widely used in confession rites). Both are worth quoting explicitly here: Verse 7, But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. and verse 9, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

David likes to point out “so that” verses. Here’s one from today’s reading: …so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. (v. 3b) That’s a big “so that” – our fellowship with Almighty God! Glory…!!

Slava Bohu!