I John 3:11-13

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post summarized I John 3:9-10. Here is the summary:

We looked at two more verses today that contain A LOT of DOCTRINE.

Verse 9 stated that a person who has God abiding in him walks in the light and allows God to direct his actions...and it is NOT possible for these SPECIFIC actions to result in sin BECAUSE God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL.

Verse 10 BLATANTLY states that the children of God are KNOWN by two things:
1) Righteousness (Grace)
2) Loving believers

Everything we have read this week contrasts two groups of people: those walking in the light vs. those walking in darkness.

If a person does NOT have this foundational understanding from the beginning of John's letter, this portion of I John can put the person in condemnation. Worse, this misinterpretation could encourage the person to focus on works...to try to stop sinning by using their own strength...which is really trying to hide the effects of sin...but the sin would still remain.

We have seen that all we can do is kill our flesh and take direction from God through the Holy Spirit which is Biblical grace. We shouldn't focus on NOT sinning. We OUGHT to focus on what TO DO. We OUGHT to focus on allowing God's divine influence upon our heart (THROUGH the Holy Spirit) to be reflected in our life (BY the Holy Spirit). THIS is what it means to walk in the light according to the Spirit. The effect of this is that we would LOVE believers.

Today, we will see how John uses this conclusion to add to his model.


I JOHN 3:11-13
"11 For this is the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another:
12 not as Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
13 Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you."


The previous post ended with the conclusion that we OUGHT to love one another if we are believers. We even looked at John 13 to see that Jesus stated this to the disciples as a new commandment.

Let's look at another passage where Jesus explains the importance of abiding in God and love and His commandments. It is from (where else?) John...


John 15
"9 Even as the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you: abide ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
12 This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I command you.
15 No longer do I call you servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known unto you."


This small portion of the Gospel according to John is the PERFECT summary for EVERYTHING that we have covered so far in I John!

Jesus states in verse 11 that the REASON WHY Jesus speaks all of this is that so His joy may be in us AND that our joy may be made full.

John concludes the OPENING SENTENCE of I John with the REASON WHY he is writing this letter is "...and these things we write, that our joy may be made full."

Jesus states that even as God has loved Him, Jesus has loved the disciples. Jesus encourages the disciples to abide in His love. Then Jesus speaks about keeping God's Commandments, saying that if we keep His Commandments then it is PROOF we are abiding in His love. Then Jesus BLATANTLY states His Commandment is to love one another. Jesus concludes this passage stating that He calls people who do this "friends" BECAUSE they KNOW what their Lord DOES. Friends do NOT walk in OBSCURITY...they walk in the light.

Jesus stated all of this in seven verses. This is the Right WHAT with a Right HOW/WHY. This is Truth.

John is PROVING that WHAT Jesus said is TRUTH in I John. John's focus is NOT ONLY to help us KNOW the truth. John's letter is focused on helping us KNOW THAT we know the truth. John's letter is focused on presenting a PROOF...an explanation...a model.

John does this by adding to his model and drawing conclusions that AGREE with previously PROVEN conclusions. In fact, John takes this conclusion about loving others and applies it in the next verse...

"11 For this is the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another:
12 not as Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous."


John states that we should love one another AND THEN contrastively uses Cain as an example of NOT loving AND being of the evil one. John even goes one more step and asks WHY (wherefore) Cain slew his brother...AND THEN gives the answer: BECAUSE Cain's works were evil AND his brother's were Righteous!

John has PROVEN EVERYTHING he has added to his model by brining it back to an example of HOW a person who walks in darkness according to the evil one interacts with someone who walks in the light according to God (which is PROVEN by Righteous works).

We have covered SPECIFICALLY HOW Cain went from having NO SIN in him to creating the opportunity for the sin that is crouching at the door and desiring Cain to direct his actions. Here is the link that explains this in detail: The HOW of Old Testament Spiritual Warfare.

For our purposes, here is a summary of HOW Cain came to walk in the darkness viewed from the perspective of I John:

Cain was an in-between person. Cain was NOT walking in the light AND Cain was NOT walking in darkness. Cain brought a sacrifice to God. This was NOT walking in darkness. The sacrifice was not Righteous enough for God to respect it. This was NOT walking in the light.

However, when Cain saw that Abel's Righteous sacrifice was respected by God, Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell. AGAIN, this is NOT Cain walking in the light AND this is NOT Cain walking in darkness. The post goes in to specific detail showing WITH SCRIPTURE how people who preach that Cain did ANYTHING WRONG at this point in the story are false teachers.

God reaches out to Cain...which is PROOF that Cain is still under mercy. God asks Cain a series of Questions in order to help Cain realize that Cain could end up choosing to be led by the evil one and walk in darkness.

Then, the part of the story that it seems NOBODY teaches: Cain tells Abel about Cain's conversation with God! Cain PROVES that he has all the information and his decision will NOT be due to lack of knowledge.

LATER, Cain intentionally chooses to walk in (make progress towards) darkness...and kills Abel...or as John would say: does NOT love his brother.

The ROOT CAUSE for WHY Cain eventually chooses to walk in darkness is that Cain was COMPARATIVE. Cain compared himself to Abel...


John agrees with this in verse 12: "...And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous."

However, John is NOT done adding to his model. He takes this story and goes ONE MORE STEP...

"13 Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you."


We have seen in a previous post that the way to read this verse is: Marvel not, brethren, if the world does NOT love you...if the world takes a value from you. In that same link is the passage (I John 2:8-11)where John explains that those who do NOT love their brother are walking in darkness.

John used Cain and Abel to PROVE that what he added to his model was TRUTH...

AND THEN John used Cain and Abel to PROVE to us that the world will NOT LOVE us.

John warned us previously NOT TO LOVE the world...neither the things in the world. (I John 2:15)

John is building on foundational points that he has already proven...


SUMMARY
John has added to the summary from yesterday's post:

The children of God are KNOWN by THREE things:
1) Righteousness (Grace)
2) Loving believers
3) NOT being loved by the world and the people who are walking in darkness

Are you a believer?

Do you allow God to direct your actions through the Holy Spirit so that the result is Righteousness?

Do you love others?

Does the world and the people walking in darkness intentionally hurt you?

If not, WHY NOT?

This is a Friday post, so I highly suggest rereading the link above that gives the SPECIFICS on what happened to Cain. It is a PRACTICAL explanation for HOW people who are in the middle group end up walking in darkness and being led by the evil one.

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I John 3:9-10

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post summarized I John 3:5-6. Here is the summary:

We looked at two more verses today that contain A LOT of DOCTRINE.

Verse 7: the ONLY way Righteousness can come out of an individual is if it is God doing it through the individual JUST AS GOD DID THIS THROUGH JESUS.

Verse 8: People walking in darkness do sin. These people who make progress in darkness are "of the devil". WHY? Because the devil sinned from the beginning. Jesus was MANIFESTED so that He might destroy the works of the devil!

Today, we will conclude looking at this most misunderstood and rationalized portion of I John...


I JOHN 3:9-10
"9 Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because his seed abideth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God."


This verse SPECIFICALLY focuses on Jesus.

Jesus was BEGOTTEN of God. Jesus got His Godly Nature by being begotten of God. God's divine Nature is Right and Just...God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL. The same can be stated about Jesus BECAUSE Jesus ALWAYS COMPLETELY was led of the Holy Spirit.

Remember, during the Salvation Series, we saw that faith was the egg and grace was the seed.

This verse says that God's seed lives in Jesus...this can be seen as the Holy Spirit and God's Word. Jesus was ALWAYS COMPLETELY guided by the Holy Spirit and God's Word.

This verse draws a conclusion from EVERYTHING that has been written by John from the beginning of his letter. This conclusion is that a person who has God abiding in him walks in the light and allows God to direct his actions...and it is NOT possible for these SPECIFIC actions to result in sin BECAUSE God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL.

If God had even the littlest amount of darkness in Him, then EVERYTHING John has written in this letter is wrong.

When a Calvinist states that God could do something Wrong or Unjust because God can do ANYTHING, they are contradicting John when he states God is light, in Him there is no darkness AT ALL.

Verse 9 could also be applied to us WHEN WE TAKE DIRECTION FROM GOD THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

However, we can ONLY take direction from God through the Holy Spirit if we are believers...if we are walking in the light. John focuses on us more specifically in verse 10...

"10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother."


Verse 10 BLATANTLY states the PROOF that someone is walking in the light (directed by God because they are children of God) vs. walking in the darkness (directed by the devil because they are children of the devil):

People who do NO RIGHTEOUSNESS are NOT of God...

Then John gets even more practical...

Those who do NOT love believers are NOT of God!

John is BLATANTLY stating that the children of God are KNOWN by two things:
1) Righteousness (Grace)
2) Loving believers

Notice, #1 is the First Command: Love the Lord thy God...

Notice, #2 is the Second Command: Love your neighbor...

Again, John has brought his model back to LOVE. It is looking more and more like having the correct definition for LOVE is the key to being a believer.

These commands were known by believers before John wrote his letter. In fact, Jesus BLATANTLY introduces the Second Command as "a new commandment" AND states it is PROOF that we are Jesus' disciples.

Jesus said this in (where else?) John 13:

"34 A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."


SUMMARY
We looked at two more verses today that contain A LOT of DOCTRINE.

Verse 9 stated that a person who has God abiding in him walks in the light and allows God to direct his actions...and it is NOT possible for these SPECIFIC actions to result in sin BECAUSE God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL.

Verse 10 BLATANTLY states that the children of God are KNOWN by two things:
1) Righteousness (Grace)
2) Loving believers

Everything we have read this week contrasts two groups of people: those walking in the light vs. those walking in darkness.

If a person does NOT have this foundational understanding from the beginning of John's letter, this portion of I John can put the person in condemnation. Worse, this misinterpretation could encourage the person to focus on works...to try to stop sinning by using their own strength...which is really trying to hide the effects of sin...but the sin would still remain.

We have seen that all we can do is kill our flesh and take direction from God through the Holy Spirit which is Biblical grace. We shouldn't focus on NOT sinning. We OUGHT to focus on what TO DO. We OUGHT to focus on allowing God's divine influence upon our heart (THROUGH the Holy Spirit) to be reflected in our life (BY the Holy Spirit). THIS is what it means to walk in the light according to the Spirit. The effect of this is that we would LOVE believers.

Tomorrow, we will see how John uses this conclusion to add to his model.

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I John 3:7-8

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post summarized I John 3:5-6. Here is the summary:

John introduces the following DOCTRINAL statements:
-Jesus was MANIFESTED for the purpose of taking away sins
-In Jesus there is NO SIN
-People who abide in Him are walking in the light and CANNOT sin while they are walking in the light
-People who are walking in the darkness SIN and therefore have not seen Him and neither know Him


I JOHN 3:7-8
"7 My little children, let no man lead you astray: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous:
8 he that doeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."

These two verses form the same contrastive example as what he saw in yesterday's post concerning I John 3:5-6.

Throughout this letter, John has consistently contrasted two groups: people walking in the light vs. people walking in darkness.

We saw how the SUBJECT of these verses are the people either walking in the light or walking in darkness. We saw how these verses can be misinterpreted and contradict earlier verses in I John when the subject becomes the action (sinning) and the verse is applied to EVERYONE indiscriminately. We will see this again today...

Verse 7 establishes that the DOCTRINE that John is about to state is something that deceivers try to get believers to doubt.

The DOCTRINE is that those people who do Righteousness are Righteous even as Jesus is Righteous. How was Jesus Righteous?

Jesus explains this very clearly and it is recorded by (who else?) John.


JOHN 8
"25 They said therefore unto him, Who art thou? Jesus said unto them, Even that which I have also spoken unto you from the beginning.
26 I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you: howbeit he that sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these speak I unto the world.
27 They perceived not that he spake to them of the Father.
28 Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things.
29 And he that sent me is with me; he hath not left me alone; for I do always the things that are pleasing to him.
30 As he spake these things, many believed on him.
31 Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed him, If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples;
32 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

There is A LOT of DOCTRINE in this passage. Notice Jesus mentions: spoken unto you from the beginning, abiding in Jesus' Word, knowing the truth, etc.

However, the part I want to focus on today is verse 28.

Jesus stated that He did NOTHING of Himself...but as the Father TAUGHT Him, He SPOKE these things.

Jesus was PERFECT at putting His fleshly nature under so that the ONLY thing that could direct His actions was God through the Holy Spirit. Jesus could ONLY put His fleshly nature under PERFECTLY (ALWAYS and COMPLETELY) because of His Godly Nature. Jesus was fully man (fleshly nature) AND fully God (Divine Nature).

Today's verse from I John warns us NOT to be deceived. Remember, deception is a Right WHAT with a Wrong (OR NO) HOW/WHY. Deception is going to state a Right WHAT (Jesus is fully God and fully man), however it will give a Wrong HOW/WHY or NO HOW/WHY.

Truth is a Right WHAT with a Right HOW/WHY.

Understanding this DOCTRINE of "fully God and fully man" is HUGE because we are supposed to follow in the same way. If someone explains that Jesus was fully God and could initiate ANYTHING in His own ability while He was on earth, then not only does this contradict scripture (specifically Jesus' own Words), it ALSO does NOT help us understand HOW and WHY we are able to do ANYTHING "LIKE" He did...which is the point of John's model.

More importantly, NOT being able to explain the HOW/WHY of Jesus' Nature is DECEPTION!

Jesus did NOTHING of Himself...but ONLY did what God directed through Him by the Holy Spirit.

We OUGHT to do the SAME THING! We OUGHT to do NOTHING of ourselves...but ONLY what God directs through us by the Holy Spirit.

This is GRACE.

Remember, John said earlier in I John that people that are against this explanation of grace are "antichrists".

So, here is the summary for verse 7: the ONLY way Righteousness can come out of an individual is if it is God doing it through the individual JUST AS GOD DID THIS THROUGH JESUS.

My first book (Modeling God) was focused on explaining God and Salvation. The summary is that God is ALWAYS COMPLETELY Right and Just (He is light and in Him is no darkness AT ALL) and Salvation is achieved by letting God direct your actions through the Holy Spirit (grace through faith).

Modeling God gives the same WHAT as orthodox Christianity. However, Modeling God presented the Right HOW/WHY behind this Right What. Most pastors and "Christians" opposed Modeling God BECAUSE it gave a HOW/WHY for Christianity. These people believe they aren't supposed to know the HOW/WHY behind WHAT they believe. We saw this is a relatively new belief (40 years old) that is called "The Godless Christianity Movement". We saw this is DECEPTION.

Despite being warned by John not to be deceived, verse 7 is still (even today) a misunderstood verse.

Verse 8 is also misunderstood...

We know that verse 7 spoke ONLY of those walking in the light. We know that throughout this letter, John has consistently contrasted people walking in the light vs. people walking in darkness. We know that John began his letter stating that those who say they have not sinned are lying and don't have the truth in them.

Therefore, the ONLY way to read verse 8 is from the perspective of people walking in darkness...

People walking in darkness do sin. These people who make progress in darkness are "of the devil". WHY? Because the devil sinned from the beginning. We covered how sin was found in the devil AFTER God made Lucifer perfect.

John reiterates this DOCTRINE: the devil sinned from the beginning. However, John goes one more step...

"...To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."

To this end is the same as "For this purpose". This sentence begins with the PURPOSE for WHY the Son of God was MANIFESTED!

Jesus APPEARED/SHINED AS LIGHT so that He might destroy the works of the devil!

WOW!!! John used the WORD "might". This doesn't sound like it was predestinated and couldn't have gone any other way. Jesus was manifested so that He MIGHT destroy the works of the devil.

Yesterday's post presented the verses immediately preceding today's verses...and verse 5 stated "And ye know that he was manifested to take away sins; and in him is no sin." Verse 8 restates this same conclusion...that Jesus was manifested to take away sins...to destroy source of sin...to destroy the works of the devil. John is building onto his model as he restates the same statement with different implications.


SUMMARY
We looked at two more verses today that contain A LOT of DOCTRINE.

Verse 7: the ONLY way Righteousness can come out of an individual is if it is God doing it through the individual JUST AS GOD DID THIS THROUGH JESUS.

Verse 8: People walking in darkness do sin. These people who make progress in darkness are "of the devil". WHY? Because the devil sinned from the beginning. Jesus was MANIFESTED so that He might destroy the works of the devil!

Tomorrow, we will conclude looking at this most misunderstood and rationalized portion of I John...

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I John 3:5-6

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post summarized I John 3:4. Here is the summary:

Sin is a cause.

The effects of sin are actions that are Unprofitable.

The effects of sin are lawless.

However, NOT every effect that is lawless is the result of sin.

Today, we will begin looking at how John uses this simple (and powerful) statement to build on his model...


I JOHN 3:5-6
"5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away sins; and in him is no sin."


There are two major DOCTRINE statements in this sentence: Jesus was MANIFESTED for the purpose of taking away sins...AND in Him there is NO SIN.

The REASON WHY Jesus was manifested was to take away our sins. This ought to give us faith that our sins can be taken away.

In addition, John BLATANTLY states that IN JESUS there is NO SIN. This conclusion comes from John's foundational statement: God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL...AND John's statement that Jesus walked in the light.

Notice, John's model goes from God the Father to Jesus...and then John extends the model from Jesus to us:


"6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him."


Again, John states two major DOCTRINES.

Whosoever ABIDES in Jesus (through the direction of the Holy Spirit, which is GRACE), DOES NOT SIN. These are the people who are walking in the light.

Joel Swokowski writes it this way:

"It is IMPOSSIBLE to sin during the times we allow God to flow through us. God's Grace through us will ALWAYS be Righteousness."

The first half of this verse begins by focusing on PEOPLE who ABIDE in Him. THEY are the subject of the verse...NOT the lack of sin. This means the focus is NOT on the action, but on the people...the ones walking in the light.

EVERYTHING in this model contrasts people walking in the light against people walking in darkness.

Therefore, the second DOCTRINE is focused on the people walking in darkness...on those who make progress towards sinning. This DOCTRINE says that whoever is making progress towards sinning has NOT seen Him, neither knows Him.

Last week, I stated that we would cover the most misunderstood and rationalized portion of I John. This verse is the beginning of this portion...context is everything.

People who lose the context of this verse interpret it in a fashion that invites condemnation. They make the action the subject and apply the verse to EVERYONE indiscriminately...those walking in the light, those walking in darkness, and those who aren't making progress in either direction.

Here is how the misinterpretation of the last half of the verse sounds:

"ANYONE who sins has never known or seen Him."

Yet, John began this letter writing "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" and "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.".

So, this verse CANNOT apply to EVERYONE indiscriminately. If it did, it would be contradictory and the implications would only get worse as we look at the subsequent verses this week.

Again, the correct interpretation is:

"Whosoever is walking in darkness SINS and has therefore not seen Him, neither knows Him."


SUMMARY
John introduces the following DOCTRINAL statements:
-Jesus was MANIFESTED for the purpose of taking away sins
-In Jesus there is NO SIN
-People who abide in Him are walking in the light and CANNOT sin while they are walking in the light
-People who are walking in the darkness SIN and therefore have not seen Him and neither know Him

Tomorrow, we will continue with this most misunderstood and rationalized portion of I John...

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I John 3:4

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post summarized I John 3:1-3. Here is the summary:

John has begun his next Feedback Loop by immediately building on the two conclusions from I John 2 and the foundation he presented from the beginning of his letter.

At its most basic level, I John 3:1 is saying that we are "like" Jesus in that it is possible to have all our actions carried out by God through the Holy Spirit...AND we are "like" Jesus in that the world does NOT know us BECAUSE we allow the Holy Spirit to direct our actions! This is GRACE!

I John 3:2 is saying we will become COMPLETELY who God made us to be when we see Jesus face to face BECAUSE we are LIKE Jesus and Jesus will be manifested when we are before Him. Since we will be who God made us to be when we are before Jesus, we will be bold...in fact, John continues with THAT thought.

I John 3:3 is saying that EVERYONE who has this hope of seeing Jesus manifested could ONLY be looking forward to this event (hopeful) if they have the Holy Spirit directing their actions with Righteousness being the result...and our actions being directed by the Holy Spirit would PURIFY us...even as JESUS is pure...because (AGAIN) we are LIKE Jesus. This process of becoming pure is known as sanctification.

John has begun this next Feedback Loop with A LOT of DOCTRINE. This week, we will look at the most misunderstood AND rationalized section of I John.

Today, we will begin with a simple and powerful statement...


I JOHN 3:4
"4 Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness."

Today's post is short, but important. This one verse needs to be well understood, otherwise, the verses we will look at for the rest of this week could be incorrectly interpreted because they are based on this verse and the previously covered model from John.

John DOES write that all sin is lawlessness.

However, John does NOT write that all lawlessness is sin.

This is a HUGE point.

Remember, in the previous posts, John has been building to the point of explaining that we cannot sin if we let God direct our actions. We saw this is Biblical grace.

Remember, we currently do NOT live under the Law...we live under grace. We are dead to the Law. We are "lawless"...yet we do not sin if we live by grace...if we allow God through the Holy Spirit to direct our actions. The cause is allowing God to direct us. The effects are God (Holy Spirit) does the actions...and these actions could NEVER be the effects of sin.

God is ALWAYS COMPLETELY Right and ALWAYS COMPLETELY Just. Not only in WHAT God says, but also in HOW/WHY He says to do it. God is Right-Right.

John's key foundational point is God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL.

God could NEVER influence a person Wrongly. God could NEVER carry out a Wrong action through the individual. Biblical grace is BOTH the Divine influence upon the heart AND the reflection in the life...which John covered in detail at the end of I John 2.

However, God's influence coming through a UNIQUE person is going to result in a Right action for this UNIQUE individual.

Where people err is that we think there is an objective set of actions that ARE sin and an objective set of actions that are NOT sin REGARDLESS of the individual.

If there is an action that can ONLY result from sin, then it is Wrong for EVERYONE. (For instance, having sex with your father's wife while they are still married.)

If there is an action that can NEVER result from sin, then it is Right for EVERYONE. (For instance, LOVE.)

Look at this passage from Galatians 5 with the understanding you have from this study of I John:

"16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties,
21 envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.
24 And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof.
25 If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk."

Paul's list of works of the flesh that are MANIFEST aren't a list of SPECIFIC actions. Paul lists the causes. Paul's list of the fruit of the Spirit is also a list of Causes that "against such there is no law". Paul ends this section by stating an IF/THEN statement:

IF: we live by (abide in?) the Spirit

THEN: walk by the Spirit (grace)

Remember, John said no man ought to teach you BECAUSE the Spirit of Truth teaches you. Part of the "Good News" is that we don't have to focus on WHAT NOT TO DO. We OUGHT to focus on what the Holy Spirit is telling each of us TO DO! We don't need a person from the outside holding us to an objective list of actions that he is trying to hold EVERYONE else to. We OUGHT to listen to the Holy Spirit. (Are people who are telling you that TODAY sin is an objective list of actions that applies to everyone IN EFFECT telling you NOT to listen to the Holy Spirit? Why would we continue to look to these people for UNDERSTANDING about God?)

However, when we do sin, the effects would be something that would be described as "lawlessness". The key is to have a non-contradictory definition for sin.

I wrote a very long post explaining specifically "What is Sin?" according to the Bible. If you want the complete explanation, please click the link in the previous sentence.


SUMMARY
Sin is a cause.

The effects of sin are actions that are Unprofitable.

The effects of sin are lawless.

However, NOT every effect that is lawless is the result of sin.

Tomorrow, we will begin looking at how John uses this simple (and powerful) statement to build on his model. Tomorrow, begins this week's look at the most misunderstood and rationalized portion of I John.

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Otherwise, the rest of this post is a summary of the post "What is Sin?".


WHAT IS SIN? SUMMARY
The ultimate place to get a definition for a WORD from the Bible is...THE BIBLE.

God gave us the definition of sin in His Word!

"23 But he that doubteth is condemned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; and whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (Romans 14:23)

ACCORDING TO GOD'S WORD: Sin is "whatsoever is not of faith".

Again, EVERYTIME a person defines sin as ANYTHING different than "whatsoever is not of faith", they are rejecting God's Word.

The IMMEDIATE question is "What is the definition of faith?" Afterall, how can we know the definition of sin ACCORDING TO GOD'S WORD if we don't know the definition of faith?

What is God's definition of faith?

"1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith is belief in something that we can't see...either because it is invisible or hasn't happened yet.

We have seen that faith is built (supported) by Understanding and Experience. We have seen that faith is proven in the actions of the individual.

So, faith is being persuaded about something that we can't see BECAUSE we have Understanding and/or Experience to support it.

Faith DEFINITELY looks Long Term. People who don't believe in something unless they can see it have a short-term mentality and do NOT have faith.

Therefore, sin is ANYTHING (whatsoever) that is done AGAINST what the individual believes (is persuasively supported) by their Understanding and Experience.

Sin appears to be anything that does not look Long Term. However, we would need to prove this by looking at God's Word.

Definitions ought to be stated in terms of causes. The flesh focuses on effects. Most people want to define sin through effects...which is flawed because an effect (action) in an of itself is NOT sinful...it is the cause of the action that is sinful. Consequently, whether an action is a sin or not depends on the dispensation. The rest of the "What is Sin?" post showed that sin defined as a cause has always been the same, however, whether the actions were sinful depended on whether they occurred BEFORE the Law was given, DURING the Law, and AFTER the Law.

Before the Law, people did NOT know what was sin. They had to learn whether it was sin or not AFTER they felt guilt.

During the Law, people had an objective list of actions that were considered sin. All this did was cause people to want to sin more.

After the Law, whether a specific action is sin or not depends on the individual. This is our current dispensation. Some people want to continue to live under the Law and deny grace...deny the anointing...to be antichrists. They have accused me of saying that sin is whatever the individual WANTS it to be. This is NOT what I'm stating. I'm stating what the Bible says about our current dispensation: sin has an objective cause that results in actions that are lawless. However, these same actions for a different person may NOT be the result of sin...even though they are lawless.

Let's look at the Bible...

"17 To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James 4:17)

This is a clear example where the determination of whether an action is sin or not is COMPLETELY dependent on what the individual knows!


I Corinthians 8
"4 Concerning therefore the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no God but one.
5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth; as there are gods many, and lords many;
6 yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him."

We covered this during the I Corinthians Series. Under the Law, eating food sacrificed to idols was ALWAYS a sin. However, Paul is stating that we aren't under the Law. Effects aren't sin...causes are sin. So, eating food does NOT affect our spirit...our beliefs. (Even Jesus stated that THAT which comes from the outside does NOT make us unclean. In fact, Matthew 15:11 has Jesus saying, "Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man". WORDS haver the power to defile! WORDS are important...)

"7 Howbeit there is not in all men that knowledge: but some, being used until now to the idol, eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled."

However, Paul says that not everyone is mature in this knowledge. There are people who are weaker in the faith that aren't supported in their persuasion to be able to eat food sacrificed to idols.

"8 But food will not commend us to God: neither, if we eat not, are we the worse; nor, if we eat, are we the better."

Paul makes sure we all understand that the food is NOT the issue...like it was under the Law...like Jesus stated in Matthew 15:11.

"9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to the weak."

Paul is concerned that your liberty becomes a stumblingblock to the WEAK. Anyone who tells you that your behavior causes THEM to stumble is telling you they are weak. Anyone who tells you that your behavior will cause someone else to stumble is judging you...just like under the Law that has been done away with.

"10 For if a man see thee who hast knowledge sitting at meat in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed to idols?
11 For through thy knowledge he that is weak perisheth, the brother for whose sake Christ died.
12 And thus, sinning against the brethren, and wounding their conscience when it is weak, ye sin against Christ.
13 Wherefore, if meat causeth my brother to stumble, I will eat no flesh for evermore, that I cause not my brother to stumble."

Notice, the cause is the sin...and Paul even states the sin is against Christ! As we saw in the I Corinthians Series, Paul continues this thought through Chapter 9 and into Chapter 10...where we get an interesting conclusion to this topic of sin:

"23 All things are lawful; but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful; but not all things edify."

Paul is stating he can do ANYTHING...however, he is guided by doing that which is Profitable. The best we could hope for from the Law was Not Unprofitable. The guide for our dispensation is Profitable!

"24 Let no man seek his own, but each his neighbor's good.
25 Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat, asking no question for conscience' sake,
26 for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.
27 If one of them that believe not biddeth you to a feast, and ye are disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience' sake."

Read this section again! Paul is saying that if you have to go to a feast where you suspect that food sacrificed to idols is served, you can eat it as long as you don't ask! Do you still think that sin is an objective standard of effects that is the same for everyone?

"28 But if any man say unto you, This hath been offered in sacrifice, eat not, for his sake that showed it, and for conscience sake:
29 conscience, I say, not thine own, but the other's; for why is my liberty judged by another conscience?"

Paul is saying that if someone tells you that it has been offered in sacrifice, then you shouldn't eat it...for the benefit of others...for the weak in faith. Paul even asks the question why he should be judged according to the conscience of another? Paul is asking why HIS sin is dependent on ANOTHER PERSON'S conscience!

"30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
32 Give no occasions of stumbling, either to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the church of God:
33 even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved." (I Corinthians 10:23-33)

Paul concludes by showing the objective is Profitability. The sin would be doing something that goes against what you know to be Profitable in the Long Term! That's because Long Term Profitability is God's Objective. In EVERY case throughout the Bible, sin is equated with a situation where the individual does something apart from what is right in the Long Term.

I John 3:1-3

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post summarized I John 2. Here is the summary of I John 2...

I John 2 begins with John speaking to "little children" (new believers) and stating the reason he is writing is to explain HOW it is possible for us NOT to sin. In yesterday's post, we saw the conclusion of this point. HOW is possible NOT to sin? Here is the summary from yesterday's post:

I John 2 ends with two conclusions that will be built upon in I John 3:

1. John is saying the Cause is to abide in Him (through the Holy Spirit) and the Effect is we will be bold before Jesus when He returns.

2. John can state FOR SURE that someone who does Righteousness that leads to Salvation is abiding in God...and is begotten of God...which is "born from above"...or as our tradition states, "born again".

The way it is possible for us NOT to sin is to abide in God and let the Holy Spirit direct all our actions BECAUSE the ONLY thing the Holy Spirit can do is Righteousness...BECAUSE God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL. It would NOT be possible for us to sin if God directed ALL our actions BECAUSE God has NO DARKNESS in Him AT ALL.

John can state this conclusion FOR SURE.

John has connected the "If we have Fellowship with God" portion of the model with the other two sections of the model, each of which deals with sin. John did this through his preliminary explanation of "a new commandment." So, John has added the following to his model:

"We are unable to sin when we have Fellowship with God because of a new commandment."

"This new commandment consists of allowing God to direct our actions through the Holy Spirit...which is the anointing of God inside of us."

John hasn't SPECIFICALLY called the new commandment "the Holy Spirit"...yet. John hasn't SPECIFICALLY called this "charis"...which we know as GRACE.

Today, we begin I John 3


I JOHN 3:1-3
"1 Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this cause the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."


Remember, John didn't write this letter in terms of chapters, so this verse comes immediately after the last verse in I John 2 and is a continuation of John's thought. However, this verse truly does begin a new Feedback Loop that John will use to add to his model. He does a masterful job of drawing from the foundation of AND adding to his model with these two sentences.

First, John brings up the concept of love...and still does not define it. However, love is SOMETHING that God can BESTOW on us. Again, it is becoming more and more obvious that understanding John's concept of love is critical to understanding this model.

(John won't deal with love SPECIFICALLY until the next chapter. However, if you need to understand John's definition of "love" NOW, click the following link: LOVE.)

This first sentence then concludes with John making the Statement that we are called sons of God AND we are. The reason that we are called sons of God comes from his conclusion in I John 2...we are begotten of God because we have the Holy Spirit in us...which is the "love" that God has bestowed on us!...John referred to it as the "anointing of God".

The second sentence is HUGE and begins the ADDITION to John's model...

John BLATANTLY uses causality by beginning the second sentence with "For this cause..."

Take a moment and appreciate this verse and the way these two sentences work together...

The first sentence is the Cause. The first sentence was a restatement of the conclusion from the previous chapter (that also referred to "love"): We are called sons of God because God loved us enough to put His anointing in us to direct our actions so that Righteousness could come out of us if we choose to let God direct our actions.

So, WHAT is the Effect of this AWESOME Cause?

The world does NOT know us!

Then John further supports this conclusion with a REASON WHY...

BECAUSE the world did NOT know Jesus...who was begotten of God the Father.

WOW!!!

This verse "compares" us to Jesus...BOTH "good" and "bad".

At its most basic level, John is saying that we are "like" Jesus in that it is possible to have all our actions carried out by God through the Holy Spirit...AND we are "like" Jesus in that the world does NOT know us BECAUSE we allow the Holy Spirit to direct our actions!

There is A LOT of DOCTRINE in this verse that runs contrary to our current man-made tradition, but rather than expound on it now, I'm going to continue with the next two verses because John will do a much better job at bringing his own point home than I ever could.

(I'm a modeler, however, reading this book humbles me. John is so skillful at making his philosophical presentation AND building a model that it convinces me this book was Divinely inspired. This verse also convinces me why most people don't truly appreciate the magnitude of this book...it is presented in TOO LOGICAL of a manner for today's emotionally focused preachers and teachers.)

For now, if you are following along in your Bible, circle this verse...and read it once in awhile to keep this DOCTRINE available for God to access...


"2 Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is."


This verse is similar to the previous verse: two sentences with the first being a Statement and the second building on the model.

Statement: we are NOW children of God AND it is NOT "manifest" what we shall be.

John again draws from the foundation of the model with the word "manifest". Even though we are children of God because we have the Holy Spirit in us, we do NOT know SPECIFICALLY what we shall be when we are "manifest"...shine, lighten, physically appear.

When will we be "manifest"? John addresses this question with the second sentence and it is presented with an IF/THEN statement.

IF: Jesus shall be manifested

THEN: we shall be LIKE Him

John also gives a REASON WHY he made his THEN statement: FOR we shall see Him even as He is.

We will be manifested WHEN we see Jesus...when Jesus returns...which was part of the conclusion John made at the end of I John 2 (We shall be bold before Jesus at His return.)

Again, A LOT of DOCTRINE in this one verse.

Again, I will briefly summarize for now: We will become COMPLETELY who God made us to be when we see Jesus face to face BECAUSE we are LIKE Jesus and Jesus will be manifested when we are before Him. Since we will be who God made us to be when we are before Jesus, we will be bold...in fact, John continues with THAT thought.


"3 And every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."


The HOPE John speaks of is seeing Jesus manifested.

John is stating that EVERYONE who has this hope of seeing Jesus manifested could ONLY be looking forward to this event (hopeful) if they have the Holy Spirit directing their actions with Righteousness being the result...and our actions being directed by the Holy Spirit would PURIFY us...even as JESUS is pure...because (AGAIN) we are LIKE Jesus.

purifieth is Strong's #48 hagnizo - "to make clean, i.e. (fig.) sanctify (cer. or mor.):-purify (self)."

John is speaking of a process...as much as we do this process, that is how much we are LIKE Jesus. This is a continual process. This is known as "sanctification".

Once again, this is an important topic we will cover in detail as John covers it. For now, let's summarize these three powerful verses...


SUMMARY
John has begun his next Feedback Loop by immediately building on the two conclusions from I John 2 and the foundation he presented from the beginning of his letter.

At its most basic level, I John 3:1 is saying that we are "like" Jesus in that it is possible to have all our actions carried out by God through the Holy Spirit...AND we are "like" Jesus in that the world does NOT know us BECAUSE we allow the Holy Spirit to direct our actions!

I John 3:2 is saying we will become COMPLETELY who God made us to be when we see Jesus face to face BECAUSE we are LIKE Jesus and Jesus will be manifested when we are before Him. Since we will be who God made us to be when we are before Jesus, we will be bold...in fact, John continues with THAT thought.

I John 3:3 is saying that EVERYONE who has this hope of seeing Jesus manifested could ONLY be looking forward to this event (hopeful) if they have the Holy Spirit directing their actions with Righteousness being the result...and our actions being directed by the Holy Spirit would PURIFY us...even as JESUS is pure...because (AGAIN) we are LIKE Jesus. This process of becoming pure is known as sanctification.

John has begun this next Feedback Loop with A LOT of DOCTRINE. Next week, we will look at the most misunderstood AND rationalized section of I John.

On Monday, we will begin with a simple and powerful statement...

Next Post

I John 2 Summary

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post concluded I John 2. Today's post will summarize I John 2.


I JOHN 2 SUMMARY
We have seen that John continued building on the model he presented in I John 1 through a second Feedback Loop. Here is the summary of the model from I John 1:

John has begun building a model by using the ABSOLUTE statement (I John 1:5) as the cause for five IF/THEN statements.

John's model so far:
God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all

If we have Fellowship with God then we will:
-walk in the light
-have fellowship with each other
-confess our sins
-be cleansed by Jesus' blood

We are lying if we say:
-we have Fellowship with God and walk in the darkness
-we have no sin

If we say that we have not sinned:
-we are calling God a liar
-His Word is NOT in us

John has completed one feedback loop and the resulting model is an outline.


I John 2 begins with John speaking to "little children" (new believers) and stating the reason he is writing is to explain HOW it is possible for us NOT to sin. In yesterday's post, we saw the conclusion of this point. HOW is possible NOT to sin? Here is the summary from yesterday's post:

I John 2 ends with two conclusions that will be built upon in the next chapter:

1. John is saying the Cause is to abide in Him (through the Holy Spirit) and the Effect is we will be bold before Jesus when He returns.

2. John can state FOR SURE that someone who does Righteousness that leads to Salvation is abiding in God...and is begotten of God...which is "born from above"...or as our tradition states, "born again".


The way it is possible for us NOT to sin is to abide in God and let the Holy Spirit direct all our actions BECAUSE the ONLY thing the Holy Spirit can do is Righteousness...BECAUSE God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL. It would NOT be possible for us to sin if God directed ALL our actions BECAUSE God has NO DARKNESS in Him AT ALL.

John can state this conclusion FOR SURE.

John has connected the "If we have Fellowship with God" portion of the model with the other two sections of the model, each of which deals with sin. John did this through his preliminary explanation of "a new commandment." So, John has added the following to his model:

"We are unable to sin when we have Fellowship with God because of a new commandment."

"This new commandment consists of allowing God to direct our actions through the Holy Spirit...which is the anointing of God inside of us."

John hasn't SPECIFICALLY called the new commandment "the Holy Spirit"...yet. John hasn't SPECIFICALLY called this "charis"...which we know as GRACE.

However, before we begin looking at I John 3, I wanted to present another purpose for what we read in I John 2...

John has been very clear that his purpose is NOT simply to explain how we can know God. John wants to explain how we can KNOW THAT we know God.

When a person realizes this and reads I John 2, he will see that John actually presented fifteen PROOFS for HOW a person can KNOW THAT they know God. Here's the list of PROOFS along with the verses in I John 2:

PROOFS THAT WE KNOW GOD
1. By keeping His commandments (verses 3-5)
2. By walking as Christ walked (verse 6)
3. By loving the believers (verses 9-11)
4. By having sins forgiven (verse 12)
5. By knowing Jesus Christ (verse 13)
6. By overcoming Satan (verse 13)
7. By the Word of God abiding in us (verse 14)
8. By NOT loving the world (verses 15-16)
9. By doing the Will of God (verse 17)
10. By remaining in unity (verse 19)
11. By having the Spirit anointing (verse 20)
12. By knowing the Truth (verse 21)
13. By letting what we heard from the beginning abide in us (verse 24)
14. By abiding in the Holy Spirit (verse 27)
15. By doing Righteousness (verse 29)

John spent this entire chapter giving us fifteen PROOFS that we can OBJECTIVELY KNOW THAT we know God.

Why do some pastors and teachers and believers tell you that we can't OBJECTIVELY KNOW THAT we know God?

Tomorrow, we will begin I John 3...

Next Post

I John 2:28-29

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post covered I John 2:27. It is a HUGE verse. Take some time this week to review the previous post and the links within the post. Here is the summary:

John is bringing this Feedback Loop to a conclusion by first going through the old commandment (that which the believer heard from the beginning) and (as we saw in this post) the new commandment.

This new commandment is GRACE...we ought to allow the Holy Spirit living inside us to direct ALL our actions.

If a person is against this Biblical grace, they are proving their are spiritually deceived and antichrist.

Today, we will conclude I John 2...


I JOHN 2:28-29
"28 And now, my little children, abide in him; that, if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming."


Joel Swokowski writes:
"When is the best time to start this process of Fellowship with God, Christ, Holy Spirit, and each other? NOW!! So that we are ALWAYS ready for when Christ returns. (Luke 12:40 - "Be ye also ready: for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.")"

Notice, John's conclusion involves an IF/THEN statement!

The foundation of the IF/THEN is that he is speaking to "little children" (new believers) about abiding in God. So, before the IF/THEN is stated, John is establishing that what was written previously ought to be understood by everyone (because even new believers ought to understand it) and it presupposes that he has PROVED that our objective is to ABIDE in Him.

Once, John has established that we OUGHT to abide in Him, he can present the IF/THEN statement...

IF: He shall be manifested

THEN: we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming

John's introducing a new scenario: How are we to be before Jesus when Jesus returns?

John is stating that everything previously written would result in us being bold and not ashamed in front of Jesus when He returns.

John is saying the Cause is to abide in Him (through the Holy Spirit) and the Effect is we will be bold before Jesus when He returns.

John is adding to his model AND it is a thought that he will continue to use in the next chapter to add even more to his model.

However, John has one more IF/THEN statement before the end of this chapter...

"29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him."


IF: we know that He is Righteous

THEN: we know that EVERYONE that does Righteousness is begotten of Him

We have covered this previously on the blog in the post: Doctrine of Righteousness.

Here is an excerpt:

"Notice, Jesus says that Righteousness is what allows you to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Righteousness is not the same as lack of sin. Everyone sins, yet not everyone makes it to Heaven. However, everyone who is Righteous makes it to Heaven!"

"Righteousness is based on “achieve gain”. Righteousness is profitability. Again, this is God’s metric! There are two types of righteousness. There is righteousness that comes from us and leads to reward. I represent this with a little “r”. There is Righteousness that comes from God through grace and leads to salvation. I represent this with a capital “R”."

"Remember, reward and salvation are completely separate. That’s why our righteousness is like dirty rags when compared to the Righteousness that leads to salvation."

"Grace results in profitability. Grace is God’s Righteousness and it exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees. God wants us to take direction from Him even if we make a mistake! God would have us be HOT or COLD. God’s Will for our lives is to be profitable. You cannot get to Heaven by focusing on not sinning…you need Righteousness!"


John is concluding this chapter by stating that the ONLY way for a person to have Righteousness that leads to Salvation is for it to come from God (because God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL)...therefore, EVERYONE who does Righteousness HAS TO BE begotten of God...or as we have seen Jesus say in John 3:3 "born from above".


SUMMARY
I John 2 ends with two conclusions that will be built upon in the next chapter:

1. John is saying the Cause is to abide in Him (through the Holy Spirit) and the Effect is we will be bold before Jesus when He returns.

2. John can state FOR SURE that someone who does Righteousness that leads to Salvation is abiding in God...and is begotten of God...which is "born from above"...or as our tradition states, "born again".

Tomorrow, we will summarize I John 2 before we look at how John uses today's two conclusions to build on his model.

Next Post

I John 2:27

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post covered I John 2:24-26. Here is the summary:

John continued concluding this current Feedback Loop by going back to the beginning. John is stating that realizing that God is light and in Him is no darkness AT ALL is the WAY for you to achieve eternal life! There is nothing OBSCURE about this statement!

John is bringing this Feedback Loop to a conclusion by first going through the old commandment (that which the believer heard from the beginning). Today, we will see John continues this conclusion by going through the new commandment...


I John 2:27
"27 And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you; concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him."

There is a lot of DOCTRINE in this one verse.

DISCLAIMER: John is still early in his model, so he is not going to refer to the things he is speaking of SPECIFICALLY. He will eventually state it plainly. Today's post will state SPECIFICALLY the new commandment so that you don't have to reread these sections once we see John state it plainly. It is only one verse, but there is a lot of information...

John begins this huge verse by referring back to the anointing that the believer received of Him that abides in us. John is pulling three concepts together that he has already explained. If a person attempted to use this verse without understanding the previous verses, it could lead to deception.

John references the anointing, God gave us this anointing, and it abides in us. These concepts were specifically covered in I John 2:18-20 and I John 2:21-23.

In the posts mentioned with links provided in the previous paragraph, we saw that John is talking about an anointing from the Holy One that allows us to "know all things". We even looked in John 16 to see where Jesus mentioned the same concept when He spoke of the Holy Spirit.

Today's verse references this same anointing and then moves to John stating we do not needing anyone to teach us because the anointing teaches us.

My first book "Modeling God" has come under attack because it explains that Biblical GRACE is "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life".

Man-made tradition teaches that grace is unmerited favor. The concept is that we sin and God gives us a value to cover our sin. This value is undeserved. Notice two major flaws with this concept:

1. Unmerited favor ONLY returns us back to even. Jesus said that our Righteousness needed to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees in order to get into Heaven. Unmerited favor does NOT result in Salvation according to Jesus. People who believe that unmerited favor results in Salvation believe in the man-made traditional Doctrine of Sin. Jesus and the rest of God's Word states the Doctrine of Righteousness.

2. Unmerited favor violates Justice. It believes in One Way Justice. It believes we ought to get all the blessings we deserve AND NOT have to pay for all the damage we have done. Again, this is a man-made traditional doctrine that is not in the Bible.

Biblical grace states that God influences our heart with a value. We are responsible for whether we allow this influence to reflect off our life...to let God do this influence through us. If we allow it to come out, it is God working through us and the result is a Righteousness that leads to Salvation. We don't get credit for the Righteousness, because it was God that did it. There is no violation of Justice.

We get judged by God on whether we allowed this influence to come out, which would require us to be humble because our flesh does not want to do this. We are responsible for our decision and therefore can be judged. Remember, we saw that it is God doing this through us. So, the ONLY way we can do this is it has to be God who does it through us...it has to be done by God in us...which is the Holy Spirit. We are not credited with the outcome because it was God from beginning to end.

Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection provided us with the Holy Spirit and Salvation. However, the actual process of Salvation for the individual is done with the Holy Spirit working through them...which is grace.

The best analogy I have heard is that grace is like medicine. When we take medicine, we don't take credit for healing ourselves. We know the medicine healed us. All we can take credit for is choosing to allow the medicine to heal us. This is the same with Biblical GRACE.

The Bible refers to this grace with the Greek word "charis". It looks very similar to the Greek word we saw that John used for "anointing" in this passage: chrisma...which is the source of and root word for, what some people call in the church, the "charismatic gifts".

Remember, John stated the people who were anti-anointing...anti Biblical grace...were also anti-christs. When I realized this, I began to understand why so many pastors and "Christians" attacked me on this DOCTRINE without being able to explain the WHY behind their beliefs...these people are being deceived spiritually.

John stated this anointing would teach us. Look at a passage from Titus that describes grace. See if this passage makes sense with "unmerited favor".


TITUS 2
"11 For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
12 instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world;
13 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works."

Grace has APPEARED to us, BROUGHT salvation to ALL men, INSTRUCTED us, and tells us to look for the blessed hope of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ!

How can unmerited favor do ANY of these things?

Some people want to make "the grace of God that appeared" to be Jesus. However, the rest of the verse references Jesus separately AND goes into separate detail about Him.

This GRACE is something that is NOT GOD the FATHER and NOT Jesus the SON. It is something NEW to us!

Continuing with I John 2:27...

John then states that this anointing that teaches us all things, is true and no lie. We already looked at what Jesus said in John 16 about "all things" and the Holy Spirit guiding us into all the truth. Let's look at what Jesus says in John 14...


JOHN 14
"15 If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever,
17 even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you desolate: I come unto you.
19 Yet a little while, and the world beholdeth me no more; but ye behold me: because I live, ye shall live also.
20 In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him.
22 Judas (not Iscariot) saith unto him, Lord, what is come to pass that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my words: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.
25 These things have I spoken unto you, while yet abiding with you.
26 But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you.
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.
28 Ye heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come unto you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I.
29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe.
30 I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me;
31 but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence."

WOW!!!

Jesus stated several of the same concepts on which John has built his model!

How many concepts did you recognize? Here were the BIG THREE:

Loving God, keeping his (old) commandments, and God abiding in us!

However, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of Truth".

Then Jesus states that God the Father will send the Holy Spirit in order to teach us all things AND to bring to remembrance the WORDS Jesus said to the disciples. Then Jesus states He will eventually leave SO THAT the Holy Spirit can come to us...which is a NEW THING!

Here is a link for background on the Holy Spirit: Holy Spirit Overview.

Back to I John 2:27...

John ends his verse with even as this anointing teaches us, we ought to abide in Him.

Since the anointing is God abiding in us (Holy Spirit), then it is only fitting for us to abide in Him by taking direction from the Holy Spirit...which is Biblical grace.

John is stating that the only way to walk in the light is to do God's old and new commandment. Do you think that taking direction completely from the Holy Spirit would lead to us walking in the light?


SUMMARY
John is bringing this Feedback Loop to a conclusion by first going through the old commandment (that which the believer heard from the beginning) and (as we saw in this post) the new commandment.

This new commandment is GRACE...we ought to allow the Holy Spirit living inside us to direct ALL our actions.

If a person is against this Biblical grace, they are proving their are spiritually deceived and antichrist.

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I John 2:24-26

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Friday's post covered I John 2:21-23. Here is the summary from the previous post:

John has shown that ANYONE who denies that Jesus is the Christ is obviously NOT a believer, which means this person does NOT have the anointing of God, does NOT have truth, is walking in darkness, and THEREFORE is NOT in Fellowship with God.

In the previous post, we saw that John was beginning to conclude this current Feedback Loop by showing how what he has added to the model is supported by what he stated previously. John continues concluding this current Feedback Loop by going back to the beginning...


I JOHN 2:24-26
"24 As for you, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father."


We have seen John's letter deals with two topics: the old commandment and a new commandment. The old commandment was what these believers had heard from the beginning: God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL. We saw this statement is the crucial DOCTRINE that most of today's churches do not understand. So, now John can take this statement of crucial DOCTRINE through, what else, an IF/THEN statement!

IF: that which you heard from the beginning abide in you

THEN: you will also abide in the Son and in the Father.

John is showing that if believers let this crucial DOCTRINE abide in them...live and dwell in them...if they REALLY UNDERSTAND (walk in the light of) this crucial DOCTRINE, then they will live and dwell (and REALLY UNDERSTAND) the Son AND the Father!

"25 And this is the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal."


John BLATANTLY states that what has been previously stated leads to eternal life. In fact, it looks as if John is stating that realizing that God is light and in Him is no darkness AT ALL is the WAY for you to achieve eternal life! There is nothing OBSCURE about this statement!


"26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that would lead you astray."

John states the reason he wrote this is to make people aware of the people who would lead them astray. John is speaking about deception...lying...the "other" group.

Again, so far, John has only mentioned two groups of people:

BELIEVERS - people who have the crucial DOCTRINE that they heard from the beginning abiding in them so that the effects (Fellowship with God, loving believers, etc.) PROVE they are walking in the light.

DECEIVERS - people who claim they are believers, but actually do NOT demonstrate the effects that PROVE they are walking in the light.

John can speak DEFINITELY about both of these groups.

John is not only speaking about two groups, John is SPECIFICALLY writing to one group ABOUT the other group.


SUMMARY
John continued concluding this current Feedback Loop by going back to the beginning. John is stating that realizing that God is light and in Him is no darkness AT ALL is the WAY for you to achieve eternal life! There is nothing OBSCURE about this statement!

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I John 2:21-23

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse.

Yesterday's post covered I John 2:18-20. Here is the summary from the previous post:

John continued talking about God's Will and eternal life by showing that there are people NOT in Fellowship with God who are intentionally against the anointing of God...intentionally against Jesus.

However, John then shows that believers have an anointing from the Holy One that allows us to know all things.


I JOHN 2:21-23
"21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and because no lie is of the truth."

In the previous post, John states that believers (the people he is writing to) have an anointing that allows them to know all things. This next verse has John giving his reason WHY he has written this letter to believers...and it is because believers know the truth...which makes sense because John just got done saying believers are able to know all things...so they would know the truth.

John adds to his model in this verse by first making his point contrastively (he presents a reason that is NOT why he wrote this letter to believers), then linking his thought to the statement: no lie is of the truth.

Remember, truth is a Right WHAT with a Right HOW/WHY.

A fact is a Right WHAT.

A lie is a Right WHAT with a Wrong HOW/WHY.

Truth is Right-Right. Lies are Right-Wrong.

The ability for a fact to be Profitable is dependent on the HOW/WHY. We have seen that the Right HOW/WHY is called "God's Doctrine". Having Wrong (OR NO) HOW/WHY is called "Man's Doctrine/Tradition".

Truth is a fact (Right WHAT) that creates (as a result of the Right HOW/WHY).

A lie (and deception) is a fact (Right WHAT) that destroys (as a result of the Wrong HOW/WHY).

So, a lie is NOT OF the truth because it doesn't share the HOW/WHY...and John consistently gives the HOW/WHY throughout this letter!

However, John is bringing up truth vs. lies in order to add to his model with the next verse...

"22 Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, even he that denieth the Father and the Son."

John is saying that "Jesus is the Christ" is the Ultimate Truth. Jesus (Right WHAT) is the Christ (Right HOW/WHY). So, the Ultimate Lie would be saying the OPPOSITE: Jesus (Right WHAT) is NOT the Christ (Wrong HOW/WHY).

John then defines this Ultimate Lie is "the antichrist"...and then states that denying that Jesus is the Christ is equivalent to denying God!

Actually, John BLATANTLY states this conclusion in the first half of the subsequent verse.

"23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father:..."

To summarize this verse through everything we have covered since the beginning of this Series, we would say:

"ANYONE who denies that Jesus is the Christ is obviously NOT a believer, which means this person does NOT have the anointing of God, does NOT have truth, is walking in darkness, and THEREFORE is NOT in Fellowship with God."

This has been a relatively easy post to this point. The difficult part is the second half of the verse 23:

"...he that confesseth the Son hath the Father also."

In most Bibles, this portion of the verse is italicized. This means that there is some question whether this verse is in the original manuscript...some manuscript have this portion and some don't.


DISCLAIMER: What I'm about to present is my opinion with my reasons. If anyone disagrees with this, please contact me or write a comment to this post WITH YOUR REASONS WHY you disagree. I'm saying up front that I could be wrong about WHAT follows, however, I will be convinced with REASONS. At the very least, I want to UNDERSTAND your point of view...and UNDERSTANDING means you need to supply a HOW/WHY...a REASON.


MY OPINION
Taking in everything we have read during this Series, John has presented two kinds of people: people who are walking in the light and people who are walking in the darkness. However, John is NOT saying that there are ONLY two types of people. There is a third type of person that John has NOT covered: people in the middle...people who DON'T KNOW and therefore are under mercy in some cases.

John is presenting a philosophical explanation for an old commandment and a new commandment. He is ONLY going to make statements and draw conclusions that he is ABSOLUTELY sure of.

The way he does this is explain that people who DO the Profitable Effects (e.g., love believers) are walking in the light. John can be ABSOLUTELY SURE of this. Notice, it does NOT matter what these people SAY. For instance, we saw that Jesus said in a parable, the son who SAID he would NOT do his father's request, yet DID it was the one who did his father's will. The son who SAID he would do it, yet did NOT was the one who did NOT do his father's will. We have seen that if a person DOES the Right Effects from the Right Cause is a believer REGARDLESS of what they SAY.

John then states that people who SAY they are believers AND do NOT DO the Profitable Effects are walking in the darkness. John can be ABSOLUTELY SURE of this BECAUSE these people KNOW what is Profitable (they stated it) AND they don't DO it.

Notice, John does NOT address the people who SAY NOTHING and do NOT DO the Profitable Effects. Are these people walking in the darkness? John can't say FOR SURE because these people may be under mercy...they may be still learning what is Right.

So, John essentially identifies FOUR possible scenarios and draws conclusions about in what they are walking:

SAY Right WHAT and DO Right WHAT: light
Don't SAY RIght WHAT and DO Right WHAT: light
This can be summarized by #1.

1. DO Right WHAT: light
2. SAY Right WHAT and DO Wrong WHAT: darkness
3. Don't SAY Right WHAT and DO Wrong WHAT: ?

Now, the last half of verse 23 states that those who "confess" (SAY) Jesus (Right WHAT) are believers REGARDLESS of what they DO!

There is NOTHING previous to this statement in I John that would substantiate this claim. It appears to me that John suddenly made a conclusion DIFFERENT from the foundation that he has built. This verse makes SAYING the Right WHAT WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING as PROOF the person is a believer.

There are many religions that APPEAR to confess Jesus (SAY Right WHAT), but they don't have the Right HOW/WHY...they don't have the Right Doctrine.

I find it hard to believe that someone who was as careful and thoughtful as John and had the Holy Spirit guiding him would make a statement that opens the door for DECEPTION when it is quoted accurately!

Regardless of what you believe about this verse, UNDERSTAND that it is possible to be deceived by people who embody this verse: people who SAY the Right things about Jesus, yet do NOT DO the Profitable Effects that John has presented throughout this letter.


SUMMARY
John has shown that ANYONE who denies that Jesus is the Christ is obviously NOT a believer, which means this person does NOT have the anointing of God, does NOT have truth, is walking in darkness, and THEREFORE is NOT in Fellowship with God.

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I John 2:18-20

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse.

Yesterday's post covered I John 2:15-17. Here is the summary from the previous post:

John added another layer to his model by showing that loving the world and loving the things that are in the world PROVES that we don't have the love of God in us...that we are NOT in Fellowship with God.

More and more, it appears that having the correct definition of LOVE is critical to KNOWING THAT we know God.


I JOHN 2:18-20
"18 Little children, it is the last hour: and as ye heard that antichrist cometh, even now have there arisen many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last hour."

This is a PURELY philosophical statement.

John asserts that it is the last hour. This is the stimulus. (Remember, the concluding verse of the previous post spoke of God's Will and eternal life. This philosophical statement is a continuation of John discussing what happens when it comes time for eternal life to be manifested.)

Then John completes the First Feedback Loop by linking his assertion to the audience's experience...what they have HEARD that is connected to this stimulus: Antichrist cometh.

John then uses the audience's experience (that even now there have arisen MANY antichrists) to work back to his original assertion with another layer. It isn't just the last hour. We KNOW that it is the last hour.

Some people may say this argument is not valid because it is circular. Actually, the reason this isn't completely circular is that Antichrist and antichrists are two different concepts. If John had stated the same word/concept for both, then it would be circular...however, John could not use the same word for both. Let's look at the word...

antichrist is Strong's #500 antichristos - "from 473 and 5547; the adversary of the Messiah"

This definition would mean the Antichrist spoken of by John in Revelation...the ONE individual that comes to power during The Tribulation. John spoke of MANY antichrists that arose during his time. John could not be speaking about this ONE person in plural form. Let's look deeper...

Strong's #5547 christos - "from 5548; anointed"

Strong's #5548 chrio - "enduing Christians with the gifts of the Holy Spirit"

John is speaking about people who are AGAINST the anointing from God...more specifically, people who are AGAINST Jesus. We are NOT talking about people who don't have an opinion about Jesus or are "NOT FOR" Jesus. John is speaking about people who are intentionally AGAINST the anointing...AGAINST Jesus.

So far, John has NOT mentioned the Holy Spirit by name in I John and we are trying to go John's pace. For now, John has stated there are people who are against the anointing from God and we are led to read this as "Jesus". Jesus is the old commandment and the Word of God from the beginning.


"19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us."

John makes two statements about these people who are against the anointing of God:
-they went out from us
-they were not of us

Then John follows with an IF/THEN.

IF: they had been of us

THEN: they would have continued with us

John concludes by giving the REASON why they went out: so that it would be made manifest that they were not of us.

John is saying that people who are AGAINST the anointing of God would NOT continue to walk in the light with the people who are in Fellowship with God...AND that it ought to be this way so that it would be obviously seen by all (shine/light/manifest) that they were NOT in Fellowship with God.

Notice, when these people stopped continuing WITH the other believers...which means they stopped doing the Second Command (loving their neighbor). John is saying that when these people stopped continuing WITH (Second Command) it was PROOF these people were not OF the believers (people doing the First Command).

John just referenced the concept that the First Command (Fellowship with God) is the Cause and the Second Command (Fellowship with believers) is the Effect. John first BLANTANTLY stated this point in I John 2:9-11...

"9 He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in the darkness even until now.
10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him.
11 But he that hateth his brother is in the darkness, and walketh in the darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes."


I John 2:19 appears to be another verse that goes against "Once Saved, Always Saved". These people John wrote about were WITH the believers and APPEARED to be believers. However, once they CHOSE NOT to CONTINUE, they PROVED they were NOT of the group that were believers. We have seen during the Salvation Series that people can become saved and then choose to lose their salvation.


"20 And ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things."

Wow! John just introduced some major doctrine!

John BLATANTLY states that believers have an anointing from the Holy One. What is the word "anointing" in this passage?

Strong's #5545 chrisma "from 5548; anything smeared on, unguent, ointment"

Remember, we saw the word represented by 5548 when we looked at the root for Christ...

Strong's #5548 chrio - "enduing Christians with the gifts of the Holy Spirit"

John just connected the idea that "those who OPPOSE the antichrists" (believers who oppose people who are against the anointing), have an anointing from the Holy One.

What is this anointing that believers have?

Again, John does NOT BLATANTLY state it here, but he gives a HUGE CLUE with the second half of the sentence: "...and ye know all things".

I stated earlier in this Series that the Gospel according to John has more doctrine than all the other Gospel accounts combined. Let's look at a brief passage from John's Gospel account. Jesus is speaking...


JOHN 16
"12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you.
15 All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare it unto you."

The Holy Spirit will take of "all things" and declare it to us. The Holy Spirit will declare to us "all things".

This passage comes from the group prayer portion of The First New Testament Church Service. The event that I called the most under appreciated event in the Bible. We will be quoting heavily from John's account of this event as we continue this month's Series.


SUMMARY
John continued talking about God's Will and eternal life by showing that there are people NOT in Fellowship with God who are intentionally against the anointing of God...intentionally against Jesus.

However, John then shows that believers have an anointing from the Holy One that allows us to know all things.

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I John 2:15-17

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse.

Yesterday's post covered I John 2:12-14. Here is the summary from the previous post:

John has taken a moment to identify that he has three different audiences that he is writing to...and that each audience will respond to the new commandment in a different fashion.

It is time for John to build on his model by making another absolute statement and taking it through IF/THEN's...


I JOHN 2:15-17
"15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

Wow...John made two absolute statements AND one IF/THEN statement.

John plainly states to love NOT the world AND love NOT the things that are IN the world.

Again, we are going at John's pace with the concept of "love"...

For now, it looks like loving a brother PROVES that we are a believer and in Fellowship with God (walking in the light). While, SAYING that we are in Fellowship with God and NOT loving a believer PROVES that we are NOT in Fellowship with God (AND walking in darkness). That previous portion of John's letter appeared to make "loving" ALWAYS GOOD.

Now, we are seeing that "NOT loving" is GOOD...when it comes to the world AND the things that are in the world. In fact, we see this with the IF/THEN statement:

IF: any man love the world

THEN: the love of the Father is NOT in him

So, John has just added our loving the world (and the things of the world) to the SAME list as NOT loving a believer. Both of these PROVE the love of God is NOT in us.

This conclusion begs the question WHY?

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

Like I have stated in previous posts, in my Bible, I have circled the words "for" and "because" (and sometimes "that" and "which") BECAUSE EVERYTHING AFTER these words are REASONS.

One of the reasons the Bible is a book unique from all other religious books is that it gives the REASON AND does NOT contradict itself. Most religious books avoid contradictions by NOT giving a reason. Unfortunately, most "believers" think the Bible does NOT give reasons for WHAT it requests us to do.

John BLATANTLY gives a reason. John states that ALL that is in the world is NOT of God...and then gives three examples:

-lust of the flesh
-lust of the eyes
-vain glory of life (remember, "vain" means "not profitable")

These three worldly attributes come up repeatedly in the Bible. For example, do you remember the beginning of the Bible?

"6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat." (Genesis 3:6)

-lust of the flesh ("good for food")

-lust of the eyes ("a delight to the eyes")

-vain glory of life ("desired to make one wise")

Do you remember how we saw that the FIRST thing Jesus did when He began His Ministry was to UNDO what happened in the Garden?

-lust of the flesh ("good for food") - Jesus didn't turn stones into bread

-lust of the eyes ("a delight to the eyes") - Jesus didn't worship the devil after SEEING all the kingdoms of the world

-vain glory of life ("desired to make one wise") - Jesus didn't tempt God in response to the devil quoting the Bible.

John states that LOVING the world and LOVING the things that are in the world, SPECIFICALLY: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the vain glory of life; PROVES that the LOVE of God is NOT in us!

WAIT!!!!! I thought NOTHING can separate us from the love of God...

Remember this passage from Romans 8?

"35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 Even as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Remember, the ONLY thing that is NOT mentioned in this list is: OURSELVES!!!

Calvinists like to use Romans 8 to state that God decided ahead of time who would go to Heaven and who would go to hell...and there is NOTHING a person can do about this.

ACTUALLY, Romans 8 says the OPPOSITE! And now we see that I John 2 agrees!

WE are at fault if we go to hell because we CHOSE to love the world and the things that are in the world which PROVES that WE have hindered the love of God from being in us! We have separated OURSELVES from the love of God!

The above passage is from the END of Romans 8.

How did Romans 8 begin?

"1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

Paul BEGAN with the concept of WALKING AFTER THE FLESH vs. WALKING AFTER THE SPIRIT...and ENDED by PROVING the individual is the ONLY thing that can separate themselves from the love of God.

I John 2 STATED THE EXACT SAME CONCEPT!

WHY do people believe Calvinism is a version of Christianity?

John just stated that those who love the world and the things that are in the world PROVE they don't have the love of God in them. John then adds one more layer to his model with an IF/THEN...

"17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

IF: a person does the will of God

THEN: they will abide (live/dwell) forever

John is contrasting THE WORLD with GOD'S WILL.

John is PROVING that the world and the things of the world will one day cease to exist...they are NOT eternal.

John is PROVING that God and God's Will are eternal.

John is also showing that it is up to the individual to CHOOSE to DO the Will of God...which is a Cause...and the Effect is eternal life.


SUMMARY
John added another layer to his model by showing that loving the world and loving the things that are in the world PROVES that we don't have the love of God in us...that we are NOT in Fellowship with God.

More and more, it appears that having the correct definition of LOVE is critical to KNOWING THAT we know God.

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