PJ's Journal

"If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that does lead to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death." 1 John 5:16-17 Have you ever heard someone make a comment in the context of your conversation with them and you had to ask, "What do you mean by that? Explain yourself!" That's what I feel like right now. I would love to have a conversation with the Apostle John and ask him to explain, because I am not sure what this means. Here is my best stab at it, but honestly I don't know! Here is what I know John to have said: 1. There is a (singular) sin that leads to death 2. There is sin (plural) that does not lead to death 3. We are encouraged to pray for a fellow believer if their sin does not lead to death 4. All wrongdoing is sin He

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we have asked anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him." 1 John 5:14-15 Prayer is one of those things I am trying to understand. It certainly demonstrates our dependence upon God and our helplessness without Him. Prayer is a humbling discipline in the life of a believer. To genuinely pray, one has to come to an end of himself and recognize their place before God, this however, is no easy task. We generally function as independent people who are sufficient in and of ourselves. If we want something done, we buckle down and get it done! Hard work and outside the box thinking seem to rule our lives. "We can do anything, if we put our minds to it", is what we often think, but this is not true when it comes to Kingdom living. In a Kingdom there is a King and servants. The goal of the servant is to carry out

"I write these things to you who believe in the Name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:13 I often ask the question to folks, "Can you know that you have eternal life?", and the response I get is almost 100 percent, "No, no one can really know!" While I understand where they are coming from, I also have to disagree. What is my disagreement based upon? Well, its based on the testimony of one who walked with Jesus, seen Jesus after the resurrection, and was privileged to write about things that are yet to come which he has seen with his own eyes. Could John be crazy? Highly unlikely! We cannot think of John without thinking of the other eye witnesses of Jesus. Here is a group of men and women who turned the world upside down based on their belief that Jesus was God's promised Messiah! They were so convinced that they dedicated their very lives to spread the news of what they saw! A very high percentage

What does it mean to glorify God? That is a question that seems to have many different responses from incredibly smart and God-fearing men. John Piper might say that God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him! While I agree that God is glorified when we find our satisfaction in Him, I often think about what brings the most glory to God. I am going to throw out a concept. God is most glorified when we are most like Jesus. If there was anyone who gave glory to the Father, it was Jesus. He is the perfect example of what it means to glorify God, and it seems to make sense to me that the more like Jesus we become, the more glory we bring to the Father! What does it mean to become like Him? I don't know if I have a perfectly formulated answer for that question, but I think about it in terms that I get. I want to love the things that He loves, hate the things that He hates, be broken over the things that He is broken over, excited about the things He is excited abou

"We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is much greater because it is the testimony of God, which He has given about His Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about His Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life, He who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 John 5:9-12 I love apologetics, but the one thing that I find hard to reason with people, who want no part of Christ, about is this confirmation in my Spirit about the things of God. I know that I know that I know that Jesus is the Son of God and has given me life! I know this testimony to be real because I live with this reality in my heart! God has testified about His Son in my heart through the working of the Holy Spirit, but how do you explain this to

" We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Cor. 10:5 I woke up this morning around 3am with many thoughts running through my head. I have been thinking about this verse for some time now and want to write out some of what my thinking is. We are told to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. I often wondered what in the world that meant! It was a bit confusing to me, because I take things very literally. I often wondered how you took a thought and made it obedient. I treated my thoughts as if they had a mind of their own (no pun intended). What does it mean? I have always heard the phrase, but never within its context. Paul is warning the people about false teaching and explains to us how he and his companions deal with teachings or thoughts that do not conform to the truth. He says that they demolish arguments and every pretens

"This is the one who came by water and blood - Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and by blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement." 1 John 5:6-8 This is a very confusing passage and I honestly can not say for sure what it is, but here is what I believe the Spirit is revealing to me as I sit here and meditate on this awhile. Through out the book of 1 John, John has been addressing false doctrine about the person of Jesus. This false doctrine taught that Jesus was not actual flesh and blood, but a spirit. In their view (the material is bad and the spiritual is good), there was no way that the Son of God could come in the flesh. He had to be spiritual. I believe John is affirming that Jesus came by water (born into this world through a birth process) and He physically died and rose again in the flesh. Jesus was

"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves His child as well. This how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." 1 John 5:1-5 So what are the evidences of a person who has genuinely surrender his life to Christ to be adopted as His child and conformed to His Son? Well, I believe John lays those things out. These are not requirements, but rather fruit of real faith. In some way you have to have benchmarks because there are many people who say "I believe", but belief is rooted in action. You will show your belief by what you do. Here are the evidences: 1. You believe that Jesu

"We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." 1 John 4:19-21 John is speaking to motive in this passage. I do not believe John is saying that we have the capability to love now that we are followers of Christ, because I believe others, who don't know Christ, love all the time, but rather he is saying that the reason we love is because God first loved us. Our life is wrapped up in Christ, and we are called to become conformed to His likeness...to love like He loved in this case. Why is it that you cannot love God if you hate your brother? Because love is an essential fruit of a transformed life! In the context John is talking about loving your brother. I do not think he is not talking about a biological brother, but he is

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." 1 John 4:16-18 This is the real freedom that we have as Christ followers! To know and embrace that God has loved us with a perfect love and has called us to live a life of love brings complete freedom. Jesus Christ was the perfect example of a human who lived a life of love. He had compassion on people when it wasn't convenient for Him, He healed the broken, had patient with His followers, and ultimately took upon Himself the punishment for sin that we deserved. "There is no greater love than a man that lays His life down for His friends!" We are cal

"We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in Him and He in God." 1 John 4:13-15 Sometimes I am envious of John because of his situation. He can testify first hand that Jesus came to be the Savior of the world. He was there when God spoke from heaven, "This is my Son, in Him I am well pleased." He was there to witness the incredible miracles of Jesus, and wrote them down. He was there at the transfiguration, and witnessed Jesus die on the cross. He saw the resurrected Jesus first hand and was a part of Pentecost. He knows the truth because He witnessed the truth. I was not there...I never saw Jesus in the flesh...I have never experienced a Pentecost type of experience, but I do understand the confirmation of the Holy Spirit. I know that I live in Christ because of

"Dear, friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:7-12 John gives us clear direction in this passage to love another. By loving one another, we give people the best visible evidence of a loving God! Love is a benchmark in your relationship with Christ, as a matter of fact, John says clearly that if you don't love then you don't know God. Is John just blowing smoke? Of course not! We, who claim to be followers of Ch

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood." 1 John 4:4-6 John is speaking about the influence of false teachers whose teaching are based on worldly ideas and not on truth. John encourages the reader by acknowledging that they have overcome the influence of the false teachers, because the Spirit of God who is in them is greater than the influence of the evil one. When we live by the Spirit of God as He interacts with the truth of the Word, we are readily able to recognize worldly philosophies and steer clear of them. The enemy seeks to distort truth, so that what is wrong seems right and what is righ

We live in a me centered world, where everything we do seems to be about us.  We look at our purpose in this world as becoming a better or more successful person.  We go to school for years to get smarter and to get ahead of the next person.  Sometimes we go to the extreme of railroading others to achieve the success that we desire.  Sadly this idea has been adopted by many who are Christ followers.  We make life about us.  Here is how it takes place... "I don't like to listen to so and so preach because his sermons are boring" "Traditional style of worship doesn't do much for me!" "I can't stand those new contemporary songs and by the way the drums are too loud!" "Why would I give 10 percent of my own money to the church!" "My life is too chaotic to spend time with God!" Life is all about God, after all he created us and desires us to glorify His Name, but we have made life more about us than about God.  You see, if God wer

As I sit at the computer and type I am contemplating the things that I am thankful for! I am thankful for so many things. First of all, I am thankful that God has given me life and breath! I am thankful for a wife that truly loves God and is dedicated to investing in our kids. I am thankful for Tori and Caleb! God has blessed me with two children whom I have the honor of raising and investing myself into! I am thankful for a great church...a community of loving people who genuinely care! I am thankful for the ministry God has given me! An opportunity to serve Him by investing myself into the lives of so many students. I am thankful for so much that I would bore everyone if I wrote it down! God has been and will always be good, let us recognize those good things and give thanks where thanks is due!

"This is how we can recognize the Spirit of God:  Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.  This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."  1 John 4:2-3 You cannot even begin to understand this statement apart from the historical context of that day.  John is refuting Gnostic teaching which says the spirit or non-material is good and the flesh is bad.  They denied that Jesus came in the flesh because the flesh is evil.  John is simply stating that those influenced by spirits outside of the Holy Spirit will not acknowledge that Jesus came in the flesh.  It is significant to atonement that Jesus come in the flesh.  He was made like us in "every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people." (Hebrew

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have come into the world."  1 John 4:1 John encourages us to be careful when it comes to being led by the spiritual world.  Many have and will continue to make claims that the Spirit of God has directed them in a certain way or have told them certain things.  John basically tells the reader to not be so naive.  We are to test the spirits to see if it is from God or not.  This is a very important process that does not need to be taken lightly.  If it is from God... then it should move you to action, and if it is not... you should distance yourself from it.  Most of the time when something doesn't feel right to us we immediately label it as something not of God.  While that may be true some if not most of the time, it is possible for us to miss out on what God is doing due to the enemies influence.  We need to put these things to the test, both the

"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him. And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us. Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us." 1 John 3:21-24 Have you ever been asked to pray when you were rebelling against God on an issue? I have and it's so empty! When I am gratifying the desires of my sinful nature...struggling with such things as pride, selfishness, or lust...I find it difficult at best to pray. I feel shame in my relationship with God because I know I have dishonored Him! In those times, I have quenched the Holy Spirit's ministry in my life and have turned a deaf ear to His voice. I do not live by the Spirit during these battles, I live in the flesh. It affe

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words and tongue but with actions and in truth. This is how we know we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything." 1 John 3:16-20 Truth leads to a love for people! Jesus, who embodies truth, set the example by laying down His life for us, and we are to follow His example. We don't self-sacrifice for the sake of being right with God, but we lay down our lives for others as a result of being in the truth. If you belong to Christ, then you will actively love others. There is a peace before God during times of doubt when you are engaging your faith in a love for oth

"This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in Him." 1 John 3:11-15 I can just hear Cain saying to himself, "That brother of mine thinks he's better than me. What a brown noser, holy roller, and religious fanatic! His relationship with God sickens me!" Of course I don't know what Cain was saying, but it seems clear that his issue, relative to Abel's relationship with God, was a one of jealousy. How did he respond to this jealousy? He eliminated the very thing that made h

I am answering this question from last week's blog. It's an interesting one that, honestly, I am struggling with. At face value, the Apostle John seems very clear when he says such things as... "No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning" (1 John 3:6) or "No one who is born of God continues to sin." (1 John 3:9) What is he saying? Earlier in this same letter he writes... "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if you anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One." (1 John 2:10) This verse makes it clear that a Christian can sin, but evidently sin was a big issue in the church at the time. Many scholars agree that this letter was written in response to Gnostic teachings which promoted sin. They believed that the flesh was evil and the spirit was good, so it didn't matter what you did in the body. In other words, do what ever you want in the flesh bec

"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."  2 Cor. 5:21 What a glorious exchange talked about here in this verse.  I've been thinking about this exchange for awhile now and cannot get enough of it!  To think that God sent His only Son into this world as a baby, and living into His early thirties.  Having never sinned, thus being totally righteous.  He willingly laid down His life so that He might take my sin in exchange for His righteousness.  You see sin is what destroyed our right relationship with God.  We are unrighteous because of sin and that has completely separated us from God because God is righteous!  A righteous God requires us to be righteous in order to have a right relationship with Him.  The only way that God could make us righteous and not violate His character was to offer a payment for sin that would make us righteous as well.  The answer...Jesus, God's only Son!  He took my place!  He pai

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Romans 13:1 "...the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes." Daniel 5:21 As I write this morning, I find myself at more peace than I expected to find myself. Certainly, I am disappointed in the results of the election and have real fears about where our country is headed and how it might affect the church. I realize that most people do not share my value system, but that is OK. Worst case scenario, how will this effect me? Certainly, a absolute moral compass is quickly fading from the thinking of the majority. Issues such as the design and make up of the family could be totally changed, the acceptance of what is morally wrong will become more prevalent, the rights of those lives yet unborn may be stripped even more, and the list c

"Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.  He who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.  He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.  No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.  This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother."  1 John 3:7-10 Wow!  This is pretty heavy stuff!  I am going to do something different today.  I am not going to address this passage until tomorrow and let you all read these verses and comment on what you think John is saying.  At face value, if you sin then you aren't a child of God!  Is this what John means?  I look forward to reading your comments.

"Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins.  And in Him is no sin.  No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning.  No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or know Him."  1 John 3:4-6 I read a few verses like this and say, "What!  Does this mean that if I sin, I am not a follower of Christ?"  These verses can be very confusing.  What is John saying?  First, remember that John already affirms that a Christian can sin in 1 John 1:8-10 and 2:1.  I doubt if John is contradicting himself.  John is dealing with the tension a follower of Christ has between sin and holiness.  God is holy and without sin, and we were saved and empowered to move in that direction.  The words in the Greek seem to indicate an ongoing habitual rebellion.  Its highly unlikely that John is meaning "one sin" but rather a habitual rebellion against God.  This passage challenges me, because it emphasi

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." 1 John 3:1-3 From Enemy to Child! That should be the front page news of our lives! God's love is greater than anything we can compare it to. Though we have offended a Holy God who must judge sin, He still pursued us at the expense of His Son, so that He could reconcile us with Himself and make us His children! What an intimate term. I have two children, and both of them are very dear to me. I can't imagine how I would respond if something happened to them. They are my children. I would protect them at all costs. I nurt

"And now, dear children, continue in Him, so that when He appears we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of Him." 1 John 2:28-29 Have you ever said something bad about someone and the person found out about it? Suppose you had to meet them the next day for lunch. How would you go into that lunch? I would imagine you would go with a little bit of anxiety and a tad bit shameful. You certainly wouldn't go in confident and unashamed. Yet we are encouraged to continue in Christ (that is...not be lead astray by false teaching), so that when He appears, we will be confident and unashamed. In Christ, we have nothing to fear when He returns. Our confidence comes from the reality that we are declared righteous by God through Christ. He sees us through the eyes of grace and truth! If we try to be good enough for God apart from Christ (false teaching), then we

"I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in Him." 1 John 2:26-27 Wow! God has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the Holy Spirit's ministry in our life. Certainly this is the anointing that John is referring to, after all, the Holy Spirit is our teacher and guide. It is true that God has gifted individuals to teach others about the faith through the Scriptures, but the Holy Spirit is all you need to direct your attention to truth. The Holy Spirit teaches you that Jesus is the Son of God and the only way to the Father. The Holy Spirit can keep you from being lead astray from this very foundational truth. John emphasizes the reader to remain or continue in Christ...to

"See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what He promised us - even eternal life." 1 John 2:24-25 What they heard from the beginning was that salvation was found through Christ alone by His gift of righteousness, but that message had been distorted to a point where Christ was no longer in the picture or at best had a minimal part. The teachings of the Gnostics, which attempted to replace Christ with an "awakened conscience", had reduced the Gospel to a way instead of the way to eternal life. Christ was just one of the ways people could wake up the conscience and experience spiritual light (or truth). Of course John fights back! He is assuring true followers of Jesus that what they had heard from the beginning was the truth and the only way to eternal life. He encourages them to remain (or to continue) in the Gospel. This is the message that brings a relationsh

"But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you don't know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist - he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." 1 John 2:20-23 John affirms that he is writing to those who know Christ, those who have been set free by the truth, but is warns about those among them who deny the truth about Jesus. They may be religious and have fervor for "the Father" but they deny the Son. John makes the point that true faith has to acknowledge Jesus. If you deny Jesus, then you have denied the Father no matter how devout you might be toward God. The opposite is true as well, that if you acknowledge the Jesus then you have the Father. This is one of many litmus

Today was an early morning start and I didn't plan well enough to do my morning Bible Study and blog, and I now have 20 minutes before I am gone for the rest of the day. Instead of trying to cram in my quiet time during a time frame that would be difficult to meditate on the Scriptures, I thought I would throw out a question. Today in my staff meeting we discussed prayer. What is prayer and why do we pray? We were talking about the benefits of prayer, which there are many, but why do we pray? Do we pray because of the benefits we receive? Or do we pray because we recognize our absolute need and dependence upon God? I fear that we often pray with the wrong motives. We pray expecting God to see things the way we see things and fix it. We pray because it helps relieve our stress or makes us feel new. Why is it that we pray? I long for the day when individuals, families, and churches pray, not because of the benefits or out of expectation, but because we recognize our absolu

"Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." 1 John 2:18-19 John is speaking in urgent terms. No one knows the time when Jesus will return, but John wrote and lived as if it were the last hour. This hour is not a literal 60 minute time period, it refers to a moment in time. We are living in that moment, the moment when Jesus could return. I love how Jesus addresses the timeline of His return in Revelation. He said He was coming "soon." We need to live with a since of urgency, especially as we see those who have turned the gospel into something its not and promoted themselves to be the "christ". It interesting that these false teachers are called

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17 John gives us a command to not love the world or anything in the world. What does this mean? He qualifies what he means by "anything in the world" in verse 16. He is talking about the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, the boasting of what he has and does. All three of these come from the world and all three are self focused. When I think of a craving, I think of something I have to have at the time to satisfy me. Sometimes I walk into the convenient store and walk around looking for something to satisfy my hunger. I carefully search for that one thing that I am c

"I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His Name. I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one." 1 John 2:12-14 These are a few interesting verses. I seems as if John is repeating himself, but it is interesting to note that verses 12 and 13 are written in the present tense and verse 14 is written in the aorist tense in the Greek language. This is why the NASB says "I am writing..." in verses 12 and 13, and "I have written" in verse 14. The aorist tense generally refers to past tense. Why did John do this? I am not sure! It could be because he

"Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him." 1 John 2:9-11 "Brother" was a common way to speak of those within the family of God. I do not believe John is speaking about a brother in a literal family sense. Jesus Christ loved those within His spiritual family, and yes it is true that He those outside the family as well; however John is speaking specifically about loving those within the family of God. You cannot hate another follower of Christ and claim to be in the light. Living in truth demands that you love those in the family of God! I don't see anyway around this! If you are living within God's will, you must love your brother! What a testimony the Church of Jesus Christ would have if th

"Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in Him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining." 1 John 2:7-8 God has always been about obedience from the beginning of time. John's message of obedience to God is not new, but at the same time is new because of Christ. God revealed Himself to the human race through His Son Jesus, who modeled for us perfect obedience. For John to say, "walk like Jesus walked" was a new command, but Jesus modeled perfect obedience to the Father which is not a new command. Obedience is important! Jesus is the true light that is already shining. This light exposes our disobedience with the intent for us to change. We can see what we are doing and adjust our actions. Darkness hides our disobedience. Many people, who sin against

"We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, 'I know Him,' but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. But if anyone obeys His Word, God's love is truly made complete in Him. This is how we know that we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." 1 John 2:3-6 How do I know that I have truly come to know Christ? After all, there is a high percentage of people who claim to be Christians in America, but claiming to be one and being one are two different things. Some say, "you can't judge me like that, only God knows my heart!" And to a certain extent that is true, but our heart is made public by our actions. So how can I know that I have truly come to know Christ? Look at my life! Am I walking as Jesus did? Am I obeying His commands? These are tough questions because there are times in our lives that we struggle to obey. There are times when the enemy

"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:1-2 These are a couple of my favorite verses for several reasons. John communicates the importance of living a righteous life. He states that one of his purposes for writing this was that the reader would not sin. He understands the importance of not sinning! Sin separates us from God period! It hinders our relationship because it is an offense against the God we are trying to relate to. John also communicates grace and hope in these verses. "But if anyone does sin..." I can relate to this can you? When we sin, we need to recognize that its not the end of the world. Jesus Christ is our defense attorney who appeases the wrath of the judge. He appeased that wrath by

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives." 1 John 1:8-10 What is it that God desires of us? Does God not desire us to be honest about ourselves and our sin? Yes! He desires genuine honesty about our sin. John writes that if we claim to be without sin, then we are deceiving ourselves. There is not one of us who is perfect. Does God desire us to be perfect? Of course! Jesus is perfect and our goal is to become like Him, but God knows that this is a process. As God's people we still are tempted and fall, and we need to be honest about our sinfulness. We should never be satisfied with our sinfulness, but honest about it. When we do sin, we need to confess to God our sin. John is addressing Christians who have been s

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:5-7 God is light. What does that mean? Light exposes things, but is also one of the best examples of purity. It is the absence of darkness. Often in the scriptures, lightness and darkness were references to good and evil. So what does John mean by his declaration that God is light? I believe he is referring to the pure righteousness of God! God is purely righteous with no unrighteousness within Him. His righteousness does expose our unrighteousness, but I believe the point John is making is that Jesus is purely righteous. As a result of who Jesus is, if you, as His follower, claim to have fellowship w