1John 5: 13-21

13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

John did not write just to inform us about God’s love, His Son, or eternal life, but that we might know based on the evidence he has given us. With this hard evidence we will continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. When scripture describes a love relationship that we are already experiencing, it is a confirming witness that we are His children.

14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Knowing produces confidence. When we know His will, we know what to ask for and that He hears us: then we know that we have the answer to our request. Knowing comes through abiding in Him.

16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.

If we know that a fellow believer is lacking complete victory, but is not making a practice of sin, we should intercede for that one, asking God to restore him with overcoming life. The one who has repeatedly hardened his heart to correction, and has made a practice of his sin, is headed for death, so do not pray life for him. Though all sin is punishable by death, some are gaining ground toward the victorious life through repentance, while others’ hearts are being further hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, choosing to continue toward a dead end.

There are some examples in scripture of people who got into a death trap. Sampson played around with sin until he was caught in the trap of the enemy. Though God had mercy on him, empowering him to destroy his enemies, he died along with them. His life was cut short by many years because of his sin. It appears that, once a believer goes so far into practicing sin, God allows him to be trapped in the hope that he will then turn back toward life; yet, God will sometimes let their flesh be destroyed that their soul might be saved.

There was such a man spoken of in 1 Corinthians 5. Paul told them to turn the immoral man over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh that his soul might be saved. God must judge sin beginning, especially, in the house of God. There were those who were evidently partaking of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy, self centered manner which led to sickness, and even death, among them. See 1 Corinthians 11:30. In both of these instances Paul mentions God’s judgment was taking place.

In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira, his wife, both came under the judgment of God for lying about their financial dealings. This portion of scripture has few details but we must conclude this was not their first lie or deceptive offering but that they had developed a hard heart toward the truth. God is truth, and they did not know or practice Godliness.

Peter did not pray life for them, but judgment. We have to know the mind of the Spirit in order to pray for people in these situations.

18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

Everyone who is born of God has been given the authority of His family name to keep himself from the trap of the wicked one and to defeat habitual sin by that authority. This powerful name is not available to those who are of the world because the wicked one still has them under his authority. Those who choose to habitually sin do not to stand in the authority given them; they have allowed sin to, again, be their master.

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

The Son of God has come and has opened our understanding to know Him as truth. Abiding in Him, and in the truth, assures us of eternal life. In John 8: 31-32, Jesus said

"If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

John’s closing comment is to keep away from idols. We usually think of an idol as a statue or graven image but it can also apply to mental images. Envisioning something in a covetous manner is a form of idolatry. Anything that takes our eyes and our affection away from the one true God is an idol. Colossians 3:5

1John 5: 1-12

1John 5: 1-12

Obedience by Faith

1Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Coming into God’s family requires faith, believing and trusting that Jesus is the Christ, is our entrance. God’s family love naturally causes us to love the children of God and keeping His commandments are joyous, not burdensome. Love for God’s family is a sort of birthmark, as evidence, upon all who are begotten of Him.

4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Our birth into God’s Family means we have an advantage over all those on the outside.

The power of the world’s influence to form thought patterns and actions has been broken for those who submit to Christ. Those who are born of God overcome the influence of this world through Christ by faith. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Romans 12:2. We have the mind of Christ Jesus, the one who overcame the world. John 16:33

The Certainty of God's Witness

6This is He who came by water and blood — Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.

7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.

The Father sent His Son Jesus, the Word, to take upon Himself flesh and blood submitting to both life and death in human form being anointed with the Holy Spirit of truth. All three; the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit had a part in this incarnation of the Christ. These three in heaven agreed and conceived salvations plan that has been revealed on earth.

Earth must come into agreement with heaven and every truth must be confirmed by the word of two or three witnesses. 1 Corinthians 13:1. The truth of heaven is confirmed on earth by the Spirit, the water and the blood, all three agree as one. Each of these three play a vital part in our salvation. The Spirit draws men to Christ, the blood of Christ cleanses and saves us and baptism in water speaks of burying our old man of sin to then rise up and walk in newness of life.

9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.

We might believe what men say but believing what God says is much more important. God’s testimony is that He sent His Son and all who believe in Him shall have life. Those who have believed and received the Son of God will have an inner witness to know what is from God. Those who do not believe God’s testimony concerning His Son Jesus have counted Him as a liar, thus excluding themselves from life.

11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Our testimony is that God has given us eternal life through receiving His Son. When we invited Him in eternal life entered, but those who would not receive Him do not have eternal life.

1 John 4:7-21

Knowing God Through Love

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

These statements concerning love must be understood from the context of God’s (agape, in the Greek) love. I am sure the vast majority of unbelievers and those who would not claim to be born of God would argue that they love others, especially their own families. God’s love is God Himself and those who live, or abide, in God will live and walk in His love. Those who do not know God cannot live and walk in His love because they have not yet made access to Him.

9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

God put His great love on display by sending His Son to restore our access to His love and life through His Son Jesus.

10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

It was not our love for God that motivated Him to send His Son to die and pay the price for our sins, but it was His love for us. This is how God’s love is distinguished from human love: while we were in rebellion, our backs turned to Him, He pursued us.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Are we loving those who do not love us? Jesus said that it is easy to love and do good to those who love us and could return the favor, but even sinners do that. To stand out as God’s children, we must love and do good to the ungrateful, expecting nothing in return. Our thanks and reward will be stored up for us in heaven. See Luke 6:30-36.

Seeing God Through Love

12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

Though we are not able to look upon God with our natural eyes, He is revealed to us by His creation. How could anyone say that they love God, yet despise a brother who has been made in the very image of God? If we love one another like He loves us, it proves that God lives in us and that His love is in complete control of us.

13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

God sent His Spirit to live in our spirits so that we could live in His Spirit, thus making us one with Him. When we invited Him to sit on the throne of our lives, He also invited us to sit with Him in His.

14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

God sent His Holy Spirit to reveal His Son, Jesus, to us, in us, and through us. Our confession of Jesus as the Son of God must be more than words, it must be a lifestyle of doing the works of Jesus. Confession must have corresponding action to be true. In the mouth of two or more witnesses every truth must be confirmed. Our words are one and our actions are the second witness.

16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Our spiritual life is inseparable from God. As earth’s atmosphere provides everything necessary to sustain life in the natural, God’s love and presence create the necessary atmosphere to sustain us spiritually. Our spirit man must breathe in, as it were, the Spirit of God, then eat and drink the word and the living water.

The Consummation of Love

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

In previous verses, John spoke of the boldness and assurance that those who walk in love would have to enter His presence and to receive the requests that they ask of Him. Now he speaks of the judgment day in a similar way. Love has been perfected, or made complete, in us when love’s desire and mission have been accomplished. God’s love judged and punished His innocent Son in our place and provided innocence for us, equal standing with the risen Christ at the right hand of the Father even while we are yet in this world. Jesus’ love for His bride fully consumed Him and love’s mission was accomplished. When love has fully consumed us, there is no room left for tormenting fear. The process of maturing in love includes self examination: judging ourselves here, in this life, that we will not fear that final judgment day.

19 We love Him because He first loved us.

We can only love God and others the way that He does as we receive His love. Without His love, we are an empty vacuum desiring to be filled. By nature, we usually seek fulfillment with the things offered by this world. His love has already been poured out. It endlessly flows toward us all: we only have to open up and receive it.

Obedience by Faith

20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

Jesus summed up the whole law and the prophets in these two commandments. Love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind and, love your neighbor as yourself. The two go together; we cannot truly love God if we do not love our neighbor. Some of us may have a problem loving self which will keep us from rightfully loving anyone else. We must loose our old identity, as a child of Adam, and grasp our new identity, as a child of God. It requires faith to see that which does not readily appear. Though my Adamic nature may rear its ugly head now and then, I must believe, by faith, that I am a new creation in Christ and focus on what God is making new in me.

1John 3:21— 4:6

Love Builds Confidence

21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God.

This verse is a continuation of the thought in the previous verses. If we love one another not only in word but actively, if we have shared of this world’s goods with those in need then we can confidently stand in God’s presence and our hearts will not condemn us. Those who only hear without doing the word have deceived themselves, see James 1:22.

22 Whatever we request we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

Doing all the things God has commanded us to do not only allows us to stand before

Him confidently, but we can be sure that we will have the request we ask of Him.

When our heart’s desire is the same as His, we will love one another and we will

have what we ask for because we do not ask to consume it selfishly. See James 4:3.

23 And this is his commandment: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

Believing is just as important as doing. All is done in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and for His glory. We must always remember that without Him we can do nothing: we have no righteousness of our own. He always empowers the believer to do, or keep, His commandments; loving God and one another are at the top of the list.

24 The person who keeps his commandments abides in God, and God abides in him. This is how we can be sure that he remains in us: he has given us his Spirit.

Those who abide in, or are vitally connected to, God, through the Holy Spirit, have tapped into His power, which enables us to keep the commandments. This is the evidence that God lives and remains in us because we know that, without His Holy Spirit remaining in us, we could not keep His commandments. Love for one another

identifies us as Jesus’ disciples. See John 13:35.

Testing the Spirits

4:1 Dear friends, stop believing every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Many false teachers and prophets are in the world, so we must be able to discern the true from the false. John says: test the spirits to prove if they are from God. The one from God will speak by the authority of the Holy Spirit but false teachers speak from a counterfeit spirit.

1Co 12:3 Therefore, I want you to know that no one who is speaking by God's Spirit

can say, "Jesus is cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy

Spirit.

4:2 This is how you can recognize God's Spirit: Every spirit who acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

Those who speak on behalf of God will testify to the fact that Jesus Christ was, and is, God and that He came in the flesh. Jesus, the Word, became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory.

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We gazed on his glory, the kind of glory that belongs to the Father's unique Son, full of grace and truth.

4:3 But every spirit who does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist. You have heard that he is coming, and now he is already in the world.

Jesus Christ: God taking on human flesh, living a sinless life then dying for the sins of all mankind, stripped the kingdom of darkness of its power and authority. Jesus disarmed principalities and powers, revealing their true identity. All who believe and confess Jesus as Lord and Christ will be removed from the power of the kingdom of darkness and positioned into the Kingdom of God’s Son. The kingdom of darkness and the spirit of antichrist only have power in darkness. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. The spirit of antichrist can not acknowledge Jesus as Lord, and God manifested in the flesh, because darkness cannot shine forth true light. The spirit of antichrist will only acknowledge Jesus as equal with other men, not God in human flesh.

4:4 Little children, you belong to God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

The Greater One, the Holy Spirit, resides in everyone who believes in, acknowledges, and confesses Jesus Christ as Lord. The believer has been placed on higher ground and has the overcoming advantage of that position. Our enemy is under our feet because of our position not because of our own crafty efforts in battle.

4:5 These people belong to the world. That is why they speak from the world's perspective, and the world listens to them.

4:6 We belong to God. The person who knows God listens to us. Whoever does not belong to God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

Previously, John spoke of identifying a spirit of error but now he brings it down to a

personal level. People of the world are tuned in, so to speak, to the spirit of the world

which is of antichrist. God’s people are tuned into the Holy Spirit’s broadcast on

the frequency of heaven. We can tell those who are listening to the spirit of error

because they are consumed with the cares of life and the things of this world. Those

who are tuned into God’s Spirit will agree with Him and with us. Their focus is on

eternal things above, using the resources of this temporary life to lay up treasures in

heaven, where the natural corruption of this world cannot devalue and the thief cannot

break in and steal.

1John 3:11-20

11 This is the message that you have heard from the beginning: We should

love one another.

The gospel message that was preached from the beginning was: God so loved that He gave His only Son, that all should come into His family as sons, children of God, that love one another with the love of God.

12 Do not be like Cain, who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's were righteous.

Cain’s hatred for his brother was over the issue of righteousness. Cain’s attitude and actions were of the evil one. Genesis 4 tells the story of the two brothers presenting their offerings to the Lord. Abel’s offering, most likely a lamb, was received and respected by God but Cain’s offering, from the fruit of his garden, was rejected.

I believe this offering to the Lord was to speak as a prophetic drama of the offering of Christ the Lamb of God for the sin of mankind. Cain presented fruit from cursed ground that required much toil and the sweat of the brow. Abel brought the first born of his flock as an offering, which spoke of Christ, the first born Son, who shed His blood for the sins of many. Cain’s offering declared that, by toil and sweat, man could pay for his own sin. In other words, Cain was saying that he did not need a savior but that enough hard work would make up for the failure in man. Abel’s offering spoke of trusting in the work of Christ to save man from sin.

Abel was righteous because he trusted in the offering of Christ, while Cain remained unrighteous because he trusted in his own efforts to conquer sin. Cain became very depressed and angry at being rejected, but the Lord told Cain that he must learn to master sin or it would be his master.

13 So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.

Brothers, sisters, family of God, do not be surprised by the opposition and hatred from that same spirit that was in Cain which remains in the whole world today. We who are righteous by trusting in the work of Christ on the cross will cause an anger to rise up those of the world and the evil one. Those, especially, who have a form of godliness but lack the fruit of righteousness, which is love, a holy life and a willingness to die for a brother or sister, not to murder them.

14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love one another. The person who does not love remains in death.

It takes God’s love to love others. The children of the world are under the curse of sin and death and do not have God’s love at work in, and through, them. They remain in death because sin continues to work death in them. The evidence that proves we have passed from death unto life is that we love one another.

15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.

Those who have eternal life want everyone to live; to end a life would be contrary to the eternal life that is within us. A murderer does not have the life and love of God

controlling them, so they do the works of their evil father.

16 This is how we have come to know love: Christ gave his life for us. We, too, ought to give our lives for our brothers.

God’s love in us is evidenced by our willingness to give up our own life for others, just as Jesus Christ did for us. There is a special bond of love through unity in the body of

Christ, but there is also a love for the lost.

Rom 5:7-8 For it is rare for anyone to die for a righteous person, though somebody might be brave enough to die for a good person. But God demonstrates his love for us by the fact that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

17 Whoever has earthly possessions and notices a brother in need and yet

withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God remain in

him?

God’s love, at work in us, motivates us to lay down our lives for our brothers and

sisters. That includes giving of our earthly possessions to meet a need if it is in our

power to do so. God’s love will remain in those who give it away because we will reap

what we sow.

18 Little children, we must stop loving in word and in tongue, but instead love in action and in truth.

Our faith must be more than a confession; it must have action as well. James 2:20

says: faith without works is dead. Faith believes that God is our source: we need not

look upon what we have as if it were given us totally for our own consumption

because every part or member of the body of Christ is part of us; we are one.

19 And this is how we will know that we belong to the truth and how we

will be able to establish our hearts in his presence.

Our acts of love, meeting the needs of others, is the evidence that we are walking in

the truth and, therefore, we will have boldness to stand in His presence.

20 If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows

everything.

If we have somehow failed to love the way God loves, our heart may condemn us or

we might feel guilty when we read this portion of scripture, but God is greater than

out guilty heart. He knows us better than we know ourselves and doesn’t give up on

us. Therefore we should not allow condemnation to remain but remember that God is merciful, giving us another opportunity to get it right.

1 John 2: 29-3: 10

2:29 If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born from God.

All have sinned and there is none righteous without God; therefore, anyone who practices righteousness has to be a product, or an offspring, of God, the only source of righteousness.

3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given us in letting us be called God's children. And that is what we are! For this reason the world does not recognize us, because it did not recognize him either.

It is an amazing privilege to be called God’s children. We were formerly opposed to Him, walked in rebellion against Him, but have turned around to walk with Him. Since our change of heart and direction, the world no longer identifies with us or considers us part of their family: we have a new Father and they do not acknowledge or obey Him either.

2 Dear friends, we are now God's children, but what we will be like has not been revealed yet. We know that when Christ is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him as he is.

Becoming His child, thus far, has been a hidden work on the inside of us. We are new in our spirits, walking in the light and love of Christ. We have eternal life now, on the inside, yet our mortal body is still waiting to be changed: to put on immortality. When He appears before our eyes at His coming, we will be changed: given a body like His glorious body. (See Philippians 3:21)

3 And everyone who has this hope based on him keeps himself pure, just as he is pure.

The second coming of Christ has been called the blessed hope of the church.

1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 says that we should not be like those without Christ who have no hope of eternal life, because all who have died in Christ, will join us who remain alive and we shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, to be with Him forever. Everyone who has this kind of hope will remain pure because He is coming for a bride that has made herself ready, without spot or wrinkle. (See Ephesians 5: 27)

4 Everyone who keeps living in sin also practices disobedience. In fact, sin is disobedience.

The children of God hope for everlasting life, but the children of the world (those who are formed and fashioned by the ways of the world) do not live with eternity in mind. Their motto is to eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. They go on living in sin because they have no concept of purity or being free from sin. They are not expecting Jesus to come looking for them, as a bridegroom for a bride, without the spots and wrinkles of disobedience.

5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and there is not any sin in him.

Jesus came into this world to take upon himself all our sins and to pay all our debt. He could only accomplish that because He had no sin debt of His own. Jesus is also known as the “Word” and we are washed and cleansed by the water of the Word. John 15: 3 Now you are clean through the word I have spoken unto you.

6 No one who remains in him goes on sinning. The one who goes on sinning hasn't seen him or known him.

Anyone who abides, or remains, in Christ will not bear bad fruit but the good fruit of righteousness. The fruit identifies the tree. Those who continue sinning have not been grafted into or are not abiding in the tree of righteousness, Jesus.

7 Little children, don't let anyone deceive you. The person who

practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous.

Do not be deceived by those who claim to be righteous, based on their good works. Righteousness is not achieved through good deeds; it is a standing or a position we enter into. We are made righteous. God imparts righteousness to us as a gift as we enter into Christ and abide in Him. A righteous person no longer has a sin debt but has received God’s gift of forgiveness and salvation. A gift can not be earned by good deeds, just received.

8 The person who practices sin belongs to the evil one, because the devil has been sinning since the beginning. The reason that the Son of God was revealed was to destroy the works of the devil.

The devil is called the father of lies in John 8:44 and Jesus tells a group of Pharisees that they belong to their father, the devil. Everyone has inherited the curse of sin by being born into this sin cursed world. Satan is called the father of lies and sin because he was the one who first sowed the seed into the earth. Once sin got rooted into mankind it was passed on to us all.

Jesus, Son of God, and son of righteousness, was sent into this world to destroy what the Devil planted. Now we can have a new Father through receiving the cleansing of Jesus blood to wash away sin. It is the blood, and the cross, of Jesus that has power to destroy the works of the devil.

9 No one who has been born from God practices sin, because God's

seed abides in him. Indeed, he cannot go on sinning, because he has

been born from God.

All who have come into God’s family through the blood of Christ cannot go on

sinning as if nothing happened. God’s seed, “The Word”, remains in him and will

continue to do a cleansing and purifying work. God is a good Father who loves

and corrects his kids. Hebrews 12:6 for whom the Lord loves He

chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives."

10 In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the

Devil: everyone not practicing righteousness is not of God, also he

who does not love his brother.

Verse 10 seems to sum up what John has been saying in a nutshell.

God’s children are distinguished from the devil’s by their love one for another and their righteous standing, which produces good works. The father of lies has some offspring that try to appear as children of God. They have to strive at good works and fake their claim of God as their father, like the Pharisees who could not love the Son of God, yet claimed God as Father. No child of God can hate those who are born of Him.

1 John 2: 18-27

18: Little children, it is the last time. And just as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have risen up, from which we know that it is the last hour.

John addresses those who had knowledge of the coming antichrist, the man of sin spoken of by Paul in 2^nd Thessalonians 2. It is possible their focus was on the one to come while overlooking, or not recognizing, the many antichrists already among them. The many antichrists were a sign of the times, revealing the lateness of the hour. Jesus warned that many false teachers and prophets would come and deceive many, claiming to be anointed of Him.

19: They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they were of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out so that it might be revealed that they were not all of us.

To this point in his epistle John has been showing the incompatibility of light with darkness, love with hatred, truth with lies, and sin with righteousness. Now he seems to get right down to where the rubber meets the road: those who are not having intimate fellowship with the Father and the Son, while claiming to, will not remain for long in fellowship with those who are. The darkness will have to flee from the light.

20: But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

The word antichrist means: opponent of the Messiah. It can also mean false Christ, or a substitute Christ. Christ is the anointed one of God but there is a false ministry anointing from antichrist. The bible speaks of false teachers and prophets, false brothers, and wolves in sheep’s clothing, but the anointing we have from the Holy One will give us discernment to know the true from the false.

When we surrender to Christ and make him Lord, we receive His anointing, the Holy Spirit is poured upon us and He lives in us. He becomes our teacher and leads us into all truth so that we can know Christ intimately. John seems to be saying that those who went out from their fellowship had a false anointing from antichrist and were led to deny the truth, but those who had an anointing from the Holy One remained, were teachable and knew the truth.

The anointing is always poured upon the head and runs down upon the rest of the body. Christ Jesus is the head of the body and we receive His anointing from being in fellowship with Him and His body the church. Where there is a lack of unity in the church, there is a disjointed body and lack of anointing, but where there is true, intimate fellowship with the head (Christ) and His body (the church), the false anointing (antichrist) will not remain with the true.

21: I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie is of the truth.

John is not addressing his letter to those who are under the influence of antichrist, but to those who can bear witness with the truth. John is writing under the influence, or in the anointing, of the Holy One; therefore, those who also have that same anointing (teacher), will bear witness with what he is saying.

22: Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He who denies the Father and the Son is antichrist.

A lie is opposed to the truth just as antichrist is opposed to Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is opposed to Christ. John previously spoke of those who claimed to love God yet hated their brother, calling them liars. Those who practice sin, yet claim to have no sin, are liars and have come under the influence of the spirit of antichrist, because they have denied the power of Christ to cleanse them from all sin. It is the anointing that breaks the yoke of sin and these have not come under, or submitted to, the true anointing.

23: Everyone who denies the Son neither has the Father. The one confessing the Son also has the Father.

The Father and the Son are one; therefore, we can not claim God as Father and be opposed to Christ Jesus the Son. The Pharisees claimed God and Abraham as their father yet they opposed Christ. Their father was identified by their actions: they continually looked for an opportunity to kill Jesus. Their father was the devil, a murderer from the beginning. No one can oppose the Son and claim God as their Father.

24: Therefore, what you heard from the beginning, let it abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you will abide in both the Son and in the Father.

Jesus said many would come claiming to be Christs, or anointed ones, and would deceive many. False teachers would also deceive and lead astray many from the faith. John is saying to hold on to the teaching received from the beginning and not to be led astray from the doctrines of the apostles. Those who follow after false teachers will be turned away from the truth and become fruitless vines, whose end is to be cut off. (See John 15: 5&6)

25: And this is the promise that He has promised us: everlasting life.

This is not just a matter of believing or adhering to sound doctrine, this is a matter of life or death, a matter of eternity. The devil is not just playing with smoke and mirrors for entertainment: he is a cold blooded killer. He wants to populate hell with rebels who oppose God’s anointed one.

26: These things I have written to you concerning those leading you astray.

Those under the influence of antichrist are used by Satan to draw away, or beguile, those who are immature in Christ. This epistle exposes the tactics of the enemy and gives believers a tool to test, and know, the false from the true.

27: But the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true and no lie, and as He has taught you, abide in Him.

Continuing his thought from the previous verse, John again points to the anointing as a teacher that will confirm that which is true. He is not saying we do not need teachers in the body of Christ, but that what ever we hear from man must bear witness with the word that was from the beginning and confirmed by the anointing in us. We cannot just rely on the anointing that may be on the one teaching: we must have that inner witness because there is a false anointing sent out to mislead God’s people.

The sheep most easily captured by the enemy are those who are not close to the flock, but may have wandered after something that appeals to the eye, the flesh, or to pride. The things that are not of the Father, but of the world, are used to lure us into dangerous territory by false teachers and draw us away from the truth. They oppose, or are opposite, to Christ in that they promise greatness and gain rather than promoting humility and servant hood.

28: And now, little children, abide in Him, so when He is revealed, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him in His coming.

In a sense, this verse summarizes everything up to this point. Abiding in Him requires that we love God and not the things of the world; that, if we confess our sins, we can be forgiven. We must walk in the light, as He is in the light, in fellowship one with another and listening to the anointing we have from Him. This will keep us from the deception of the spirit of antichrist. Then we will not be ashamed but have confidence that we are ready to meet Him face to face when He returns for His church.

I John 2: 15—17

15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

17 And the world passes away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever.

God made the world and everything in it and called it good all creation is a work of His loving hand. We should love and appreciate the beauty of creation but it must not become the focus of our desires. When our desires are for the world and its pleasures rather than the pleasures of God Himself it is a sign that the Father’s love is not in us.

The things of the world are appealing to the three areas mentioned in verse 16, our flesh, our eyes and our pride. The deficiencies associated with human nature cause us to want what we perceive to be lacking. Our sense of lack or emptiness is really a lack of being filled with the Father’s love but our flesh and our eyes lead us to believe we need more of what the world offers to be satisfied. Pride believes having a better position or more wealth is the answer but that will only satisfy for a moment. Pride seems to feed on obtaining more than our neighbor or being in a place of superiority. Our natural tendency is to have what we see others have. In Ecc. 4:4 Solomon observes much work and ambition that is motivated by envy of our neighbor and calls it vanity and vexation of spirit, it leaves us empty.

We must focus our affections on the eternal not this temporary world. 2nd Corinthians 4: 18, says all visible things are temporary yet the invisible things are eternal. Much of our mortal life is sustained by consuming temporary things. God designed our natural lives to be sustained by consuming perishable things but this carries over into the realm of lust, ego and pride. The world and the devil take advantage of genuine human need and hunger by offering things in excess as if having more would quench an already out of control lust.

Lust hungrily feeds upon the temporary things of the world but the eternal man must feed at the table of the everlasting God. His love must displace lust. Feeding on the temporary pleasures and lusts of the world brings fleeting satisfaction. Emptiness breeds more emptiness leaving us with nothing to give because only love can give. We must turn our desires to the one who is everlasting that we will have everlasting joy and pleasure in Him. People, including many Christians mistakenly look for something that lasts in a world that is passing away and repeatedly come up empty because anything lasting is only found in the everlasting Kingdom of God.

Those who do the will of God will abide forever. We must know the will of God to be able to do it. In Romans 12 Paul tells us that we must present our bodies a living sacrifice (which is being dead to this world’s ways) and do not allow the world to shape or mold our thinking, but rather be transformed by renewing our minds that we may know the perfect will of God. We fall into the mold of this world by default but God’s will is discovered through us renewing our minds. As long as we are allowing the world to form our thoughts and manipulate our desires God’s will remains obscure or hidden. Focusing on the temporary visible things of this world prevents our focus being on eternal things.

Colossians 3: 2-3 says that our thoughts and desires must be on things above (eternal) not the things of the earth because we are dead (we have presented our bodies as a living sacrifice) and our eternal life is hidden with Christ in God.

The will of God is ultimately directing us toward our eternal purpose. God wants us to be transformed, no longer thinking and living from one passing fancy to another but to begin to walk and live for eternity now. We can know that what we do for God and His Kingdom will last forever and has eternal rewards.

In this world those who compete in a race do it to obtain a temporary reward but we run toward an everlasting prize hidden in heaven. This life must be a walk of faith, counting the invisible things of eternity as a greater reward than the beauty and riches of a world that is passing away. What would it profit us to gain the world and all its fame and riches yet loose our eternal soul?

I John 2: 12--13

STAGES OF GROWTH

I John 2:12-13

John recognizes that we are at different stages of maturity in our walk with God. He refers to those recently born again as children or immature in Christ. Others that have been walking with God for some time have grown into strong young men. He addresses others as fathers, who have known the one who is from the very beginning. Fathers have developed an intimate relationship with God and have the ability to go beyond just teaching, to imparting life. John, himself, is one of these fathers who, with pen and ink, imparts the Word or Bread of Life.

1 John chapter 2: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.” Immediately I think of Psalm 119: 11: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” John writes an impartation of the Word of God to his readers, especially to the immature, that they would take it to heart and be empowered to sin not.

In verse 12 of chapter 2, John says: “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.” From my own experience, the enemy will try a variety of approaches to pervert the Word of God, attempting to rob the truth, the light and the life from it. He might, first, try convincing the new believer that to sin means they were not really forgiven, or saved; they may as well give up. John wants to reassure them that they are forgiven. God’s Word is as good as His name; we have His signature on that promise. Again, the enemy may try to convince the believer that he or she will never sin, based on I John 3: 9 “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” KJV Then again, those who recognize they do sin but feel powerless, the devil promotes taking advantage of God’s grace: he knows we are weak. No matter which form the lie of the enemy comes in, John wants his audience to understand that we do sin but sin is no longer our master.

LAYING THE FOUNDATION

In the beginning of the chapter, John writes so as to empower his readers that they sin not, but further on, in verse 12, he writes to them because they have been forgiven. He seems to shift his approach a bit, like building upon a foundation. Without a clear understanding of forgiveness and our new position in Christ, we could be stuck in immaturity indefinitely. Those who are not sure if they are forgiven or accepted, in Him, would not readily receive further instruction from God; it would be on a shaky foundation. With a clear understanding of our relationship and acceptance in Christ, we can move on to the next step in our maturity.

John writes to the fathers and young men because they had matured to another level. The fathers have come to know God in a deeper way and the young men have learned to discern and avoid the tactics of the enemy. At each level of our maturity, we are able to receive greater revelation from God.

Those who John calls young men are likely able teachers, or instructors, that can inform the immature of the tactics of the enemy, but haven’t yet become fathers themselves. Paul writes in 1Corinthians 4:15 :“For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” (KJV) Paul, as a father, had an ability to beget offspring (spiritually speaking) through the gospel. Young men have grown to the point of strength and wisdom in defeating the enemy, and even holding their ground, but fathers are giving birth to, and nurturing, children.

In one sense, the church today has a parallel problem to that of the world: a lack of fathers. Young men can birth children but it takes fathers with commitment, patience and wisdom to establish a foundation and see them through to maturity.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve were given territory to hold and even expand; they were to be fruitful and multiply as part of the strategy to subdue the earth. Young men are strong and able to take, and hold, territory, but it requires fathers to fill the land with righteous offspring. We can learn from their mistakes; in a sense, Adam and Eve were immature, not wise to the tactics and snares of the devil. What the devil meant for evil, God used for good, that the earth could be filled with the children of the second Adam (Christ), full of truth and wisdom.

BUILDING ON CHRIST THE FOUNDATION

In Ephesians 4: Paul speaks of God giving ministers as gifts to the church to bring the young to maturity, that they would no longer be tossed to and fro by shifting winds of doctrine and the craftiness of men, who lie and wait to deceive. We need those who will speak the truth in love so that the immature will grow up into Christ, as the head of the body.

John writes to the young men because they are strong and the word of God abides in them. As a wise builder, John recognizes that the young men have a strong foundation on which he can safely build further. The immature must first have their foundation strengthened before building them up too high. Much knowledge can puff us up and set us up for a great fall, unless we have built a strong foundation to bear the weight of it. Christ is the Rock, the foundation upon which we are built, and our maturity is the evidence of that foundation. We have a foundation that can not be shaken.

It appears that immaturity was a common problem during the time of the New Testament writings. Hebrews 5: 11—14 speaks to those who are dull of hearing and unable to receive the strong meat of the word but can only digest milk like a baby. They had evidently been around long enough to have become teachers but they still needed the foundational truths of the word themselves. In 1 Corinthians 3: 1—3, Paul seems a bit disappointed; he would like to impart to them strong spiritual food but they can only receive the milk of the word.

Is the church today able to receive the spiritual food that will cause us to grow into maturity, or are we, also, needing milk?