Today’s reading is 1 John 4:1-5:21.

“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).

God has provided me a litmus test. I know that He works everything out for good for those who love Him. How do I know if I love Him? This text says I look to the way I relate to His children around me.

If I hate people, I don’t love God. I simply cannot. But beyond that, if I view the brethren around me as folks who are here for my benefit, to use, abuse, dominate, then I don’t love them. And I don’t love God. If I am constantly working to prove I am better than all those people around me, then I don’t love them. And I don’t love God. If I view others as my servants, put here for my good pleasure, to stand on, walk on, and simply see what I can get from them, I don’t love them. And I don’t love God.

I need to take a good long look at how I really view the brethren I have seen. It will help me understand how I view my God whom I have not seen. That will show me where I still need work and God’s grace.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 John 2:1-3:24.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1).

What more needs to be said? God has called me His son. Considering all I’ve done wrong, all the mistakes and sins, all the weaknesses, all the rebellion, He still looks at me and says I’m His child. He loves me.

Today, I’m going to lean on that love in order to love Him in return. Why would I do otherwise?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 John 4:1-5:20.

I’ve heard and repeated 1 John 4:19 a bajillion times. “We love because he first loved us.” However, I guess I’m just a bit slow. This verse hit me just the other day as I was thinking about something and I couldn’t wait to get to today to share, though I’m sure you figured this out a long time ago.

I had seen what this verse said over and over again. But I had missed what it did not say. It did not say, “He loved because we first loved Him.” 

Do you see what that means? I don’t have to try to earn God’s love today. I don’t have to try to garner God’s love today. I don’t have to try to be really good so that God will love me today. 

In our human experiences, we’ve often learned that we have to do something to get others to love us. We have to pay something, go somewhere be something. We have to be rich. We have to be pretty. We have to be smart. We have to get the right job. We have to believe the right things. We have to score the winning touchdown, make the three point shot, hammer the grand slam. When we do these things people love us. Sadly, this often sends us down the wrong path. We think for people to love us, we have to be cool. We think to be cool, we have to do wrong things. 

If we could just get that we don’t have to win God’s love. God loves us. Don’t try to win God’s love today. Just rest in . Let it wash over you. Accept it. I know I’ve gotten it backwards. I felt like if I could just try harder, I might get God to love me. The problem was, I always failed and so I didn’t see God’s love for me. And then, I thought I might as well quit trying. However, when I understand that God saw every single failure I’d ever have and sent Jesus anyway because He loved me so much. I quit trying to win His love. I just accepted it. The more I know that He loves me, the more I love Him. 

I know that to some of us Christians this is going to seem counter-intuitive. We just can’t believe this. But, I’m telling you it is true. Biblical love for God is not offered up in hope that He’ll love us back. True biblical love for God is the result of coming to grips with the fact that God loves me already.

By the way, as a side note. One reason it is often so hard for folks to realize God loves them is because we can’t actually see God. We can’t feel Him holding us. God has placed other Christians down here to demonstrate that love. The sad problem is we Christians often make people try to earn our love. If we could learn to just love people no matter what, then perhaps they would see God’s love through us. When they see that, they might just start loving as well.

Today’s reading is 1 John 2:1-3:24.

The antichrist is a big money maker today. No, I don’t mean the antichrist is someone alive today making lots of money. I mean writing a book, making a movie, preaching a series about the antichrist is making other people lots of money. However, the very sad part about this is folks are spending all this money to find out about the antichrist from fictional series like Left Behind, but they aren’t actually reading their Bibles to find out about antichrist.

The word “antichrist” is found only four times in the whole New Testament, two of which are in today’s reading: 1 John 2:18, 22. The other two are also found in John’s letters: 1 John 4:3; 2 John 1:7.

What I can’t help but notice is that the text said the antichrist was already there when John wrote his letter. Further, I can’t help but notice he didn’t really speak of a single antichrist. He spoke of many. Further, I can’t help but notice that he didn’t speak of the antichrist as a world ruler who unified the world and then led them to follow the devil. Antichrist is anyone who denies Jesus and God. 

John was actually dealing with the Gnostic heresy that claimed the flesh was bad so God hadn’t come in the flesh. They denied Jesus was the Savior or they denied that He actually died. In any event, John says “antichrist” is not a world leader but anyone who denies Jesus in one way or another.

The “so what” of the matter is we need to get rid of the sensationalism surrounding “antichrist” and start realizing antichrist could be anyone of us who decides to deny Jesus in some way. That is true even if we are still religious. The Gnostics were still religious. They were simply wrong. 

***Question: What do you do to stay pro-Christ?

Keep the faith and keep reading?

ELC

Today’s reading is I John 4:1-5:21.

I John 5:18 really hit me today and I need it. Once again, this probably stood out to me because I’m now using the ESV and the different translation threw up a flag that said, “Hey, stop a minute and look at this more closely.”

The text says, “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”

I have spent so much time on this verse in the past trying to explain why this doesn’t mean Christians never sin that I missed the explanation contained in the verse itself. First of all, let me remind you that in I John 1:8, this same author said, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” John can’t possibly be saying once a person becomes a Christian they don’t ever sin again. If a Christian said that, they would be deceiving themselves. 

Okay, with that out of the way look at John’s explanation in I John 5:18. Why doesn’t the child of God “keep on sinning”? Not because the child of God is now so righteous that he never sins. No. But because the one born of God protects Him and the evil one does not touch him. That is, Jesus protects him. Most of this little letter is about the fact that Jesus was born of God. He is the one who protects.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think this passage means we sit on our thumbs and wait for Jesus to take away all temptation and we don’t have to care if we submit otherwise. The Bible teaches we must resist the devil and he will flee from us (I Peter 5:9). Nor do I think this means Jesus reaches in and miraculously changes us over night to sinless creatures.  The Bible teaches virtue and self-control are a never ending growth process (II Peter 1:5-8). But we can’t hide that this verse says the reason God’s children do not continue in the life of sin is because Jesus protects us. In other words, in our haste to teach everyone of their personal responsibility to resist the devil and grow, we must not forget Jesus’ involvement. We must not forget we cannot resist and grow on our own. Without Jesus working in our lives we will always be enslaved to sin. 

I need to hear this today and every day. I need to be reminded that the only way I will resist the devil and grow in virtue and self-control is if I maintain a constant connection with God, through Jesus Christ. If I think I can overcome Satan today on my own. I’ll fail miserable. Perhaps today it will be an imperceptible slip back into worldly think. Then tomorrow a little more. But in the end, the result will always be the same. When I try to beat Satan on my own, he will eventually overcome me. I can only win when Jesus is protecting me. I had better stay connected to Jesus today.

***Question:

How do you stay in constant connection with Jesus?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Today’s reading is John 21:1-25; I John 1:1-10.

I John 1:6, 8 provides an interesting balance. It’s a balance we Christians today need to remember. In my experience it’s very easy for us to fall off one side or the other of this middle path.

In I John 1:6, John says, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” Then I John 1:8 says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

On the one side of this middle path is the danger of acting like we are so righteous and sinless. With the exception of one nutball I talked to on a radio program I used to do, I don’t think I’ve ever met or talked to anyone who would consciously claim they didn’t sin. However, I’ve seen us Christians subconsciously act that way. I’ve seen Christians talk down their noses about someone who has sinned, perhaps someone mentioned on the news, perhaps someone at work, perhaps someone in their family, or perhaps some struggling brother or sister in the church. Often these Christians will offer a throwaway statement that says, “Oh, I know I’m not perfect,” but all the while their conversation says, “But at least I’m not like them.” John wants us to remember that we are all sinners. We have no right to look down on anyone no matter how great we think their sins are. If we act like we are above them, we are liars and the truth is not in us. By the way, while I have no doubt John is saying “the truth” in reference to the information that is true, I can’t help but recognize up in I John 1:2, his reference to Jesus was “the life.” Jesus said He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” If the truth is not in us, we are not just saying true information is not in us, we are saying Jesus is not in us.

On the other side of this middle path is acting like since everyone sins, walking in sin is no big deal. We can’t claim to have fellowship with Jesus while simply continuing in our sins. I don’t believe John is talking about the struggle with sin that we have while we grow in Christ adding virtue and self-control and growing within them (II Peter 1:5-8). In my mind, the concept of walking in sin is that continual devotion to sin. Once again, I doubt many of us would admit to being continually devoted to sin. Yet, I’ve seen Christians, I’ve been the Christian, who claims to simply be a struggling grower who really wasn’t doing anything to overcome a sin. It is easy for us to tacitly just let sin have control and repeatedly excuse it because, “Nobody’s perfect.”

The important thing is God recognizes both sides of this. Jesus died because “nobody’s perfect.” However, His death is not a license to sin for those who want to walk the path with Jesus. Let’s walk on the middle path with Him, neither puffing ourselves up as if we are the righteous ones in the midst of the rabble or excusing ourselves for our own sins.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Perhaps it is providential I’m reading these chapters today. On an intellectual level, I have no doubts about God or His power. Sometimes on an emotional gut level, I have all kinds. As I struggle daily to be holy and overcome temptation and sin, I sometimes wonder where God is in my life. That especially happens if I slip and fall. I can even have times of despair wondering if God will ever lift me up out of this mire and get me over all these sins like He has promised.

I John 4:4 is like a beacon to me this morning: “…for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (ESV). Satan is attacking. He is actively trying to get me to fall. But Jesus, who is in me and in whom I abide, is greater. That doesn’t mean I’ll never ever mess up. It simply means Jesus is working His plan to conform me to His image. As Romans 8:28-30 says, God is working everything in my life together for my ultimate good and I will become conformed to the image of His Son. 

Satan cannot possibly when this war unless I give up on Jesus. As long as I’m hanging on the Jesus as my Lord, surrendering my life to Him, He will overcome through me in the end. 

What a comfort.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

I John 3 is a tough passage for me. At first glance, it seems to suggest that because I have sinned even since becoming a Christian that I’m actually not yet a child of God, but rather am still of the devil. However, there are two issues about this passage that alter that interpretation.

1. The historical context.

I’m sure you have heard before that John was writing to combat the errors of Gnosticism. The Gnostics believed in a dualistic nature. To them the spiritual was good and the flesh was bad. This led to two schools of thought. Some had the idea that the flesh should be denied at all costs. However, other Gnostics believed nothing could be done about the flesh. No matter what they tried to do, the flesh would simply keep on sinning. So, they allowed the flesh to indulge and believed they were in a good relationship with God by learning the spiritual mysteries. 

John is not dealing with the growing Christian who struggles as Paul talked about in Romans 7 or as Peter talks about in II Peter 1:5-8. Rather, he is dealing with this concept that it is really spiritual to quit worrying about whether or not the flesh sins. Those who are in Christ turn away from sin, they do not continue in it. Those who just keep on sinning, who make a practice of sinning, are not children of God no matter how spiritual they claim to be.

2. The practical point.

Further, instead of reading this as if it is some kind of doctoral dissertation on sin, rather see it as a practical explanation of how to overcome sin. The point is not that if I have ever sinned since becoming a Christian I am back to being a child of the devil. Rather the point is there is only one way to overcome sin. That is by abiding in Christ. Instead of spending all my time worrying about whether this means that since I committed __________ today, yesterday or whenever that I’m lost, I should view it as the advice for how to overcome the sins that have had control of my life. 

While at the same time refuting the Gnostic doctrine, John is saying the same thing Paul said in Romans 7:24-25. Abiding in Jesus is what will deliver me from the body of death. If I don’t get into Jesus, I will continue sinning and I will be lost. But if I get into Jesus, I will progressively be delivered from my sins. 

Of course, the other side of this practicality is if I find that I’ve been fighting some sin for years and I’m still just as entrenched as ever, I need to look at where I’m abiding. I may be “going to church” but still not abiding with Jesus. In the Biblical context, this passage doesn’t mean I enter Christ today and become perfect tomorrow. At the same time, if there is no growth, no progressive victory over sin, I need to change my spiritual address. After all, when I am really abiding in Jesus, I will begin to overcome.

 

Who knows, maybe this passage hasn’t ever caused you any trouble like it has me. If so, I hope this helped.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC