The Epistle of 1 John
As we mentioned loving our brother in the last email regarding Colossians 3, I thought it would be good for us to look at the Epistles of John starting with the first book. Some things to focus on are these:
If we claim to be without sin, we are deceiving ourselves and God's truth (His Son) is not in us).
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and will forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we know him, we should keep his commands near and dear to our hearts. This is not a check-the-box (look at me), rather, this is "I am completely unable on my own able to achieve anything related to God's grace and mercy without the loving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Without Him, I am doomed to pay for my sin in an eternity of fire and brimstone and suffering beyond any comparison. With Him and only Him, I am adopted into his family of grace and have a hope and promise of eternity with Him in heaven.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother or sister is still in the darkness. If we are being really honest here, this is tough. As we often say, all of us are jerks on a journey - nobody gets this life right all the time. We are human, which means we are sinners. Therefore, there is none righteous, not one!!! So, people often make mistakes; people sin against other people; people are broken and in need of a Savior. I have been leading ministry for over 17 years, and I can be honest and say that people that I expect to "bite me" and "attack me" are people who are sinners and broken, but that is not always the case. I would say, to my surprise, I am often bitten and attacked by the very people who should have my back (in ministry and those in staff and/or staff leadership). Does this mean that I should pick up "my toys" and pack up and leave and go to another church? By no means! It means that even when we disagree or hurt others we have to hold onto two important things: 1) It's not about us, so let us get over ourselves, and 2) Let any of us pick up a boulder (stone) and throw it back at those who hurt us if we are without sin (good luck with that one). Some of you may have a hard time reading this, I know I am as I am typing this. But here is the thing: God says that vengeance is his. He is the judge, we are not. Should people that hurt others (even if they are our leaders) apologize? Yes, most certainly! Are people often aware of their actions? Not all the time. What is the proper course for rectifying these wrongs? Read Matthew 18. Okay, so I did that, and it didn't work, now what? If you did that with all sincerity and honesty and without conditions, then give it to God. Take captive the thoughts that separate you from His will for your life (fruit of the sinful nature stuff) and cast those burdens on Him.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us. He calls us believers, children of God! Wow!!! The reason why the world doesn't know us is because they didn't know Jesus. Sin is lawlessness, that is why the world hates any reference in public places of God's 10 commandments - it points out this lawlessness. The reason that Jesus appeared was to destroy the devil's work.
We should love one another - do not be like Cain. Jesus said that we should not murder, but goes on further to say that if we hate our brother (and/or sisters), we have already murdered in our hearts - ouch! Remember that Jesus willingly laid down his life for each one of us. God calls us to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
So how do we know that we are saved (in God's family) - this is how we know that we belong to the truth if our heart condemns us of our wrongdoing(s). That is if we feel the Holy Spirit pointing us to those wrongdoings and sins and fruit of the sinful nature, and we acknowledge that and repent - we are children of God! We know by the Holy Spirit that God has given every one of his family members!!!
Test everything to see if it is from God - do not believe every spirit or movement as if it is from God, instead test to see whether it is from Him, because many false prophets have come and gone and will continue to come. The only way to know the truth is to know that the truth has set us free: Jesus Christ.
God is love - we know this because He has revealed this to us. He sent His only Son for us to die in our place to save us from ourselves and hell and the Lake of Fire. Because God loves us first, we ought to love our neighbor.
This is how we know that we live in him and he in us - He has given us His Holy Spirit. And that we can testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If any of us acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them, and they are in God. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. The opposite of fear is love. Perfect love drives out fear. We can love because God first loves us.
Keep yourselves from idols - which begs the question what can be an idol in my life? In short, anything that we put before our relationship with God. Things like, our family and loved ones, a phone, lust, pride, and finally, fill in your blank here.
As we say in MOF and Legacydads, we are all jerks on a journey. That doesn't give us an excuse, but it is a reminder that we are all in need of God's grace and mercy that is His to solely give to whom He chooses. And I can definitely say that if He can choose me, which he did, then he can choose anybody, and I mean anybody. So, what is our response to all of this? Don't take our word for it, read the word of God yourselves and test and see what is being said. If the Spirit confirms it, then share with your brothers and comfort and encourage and urge everyone to live a life worthy of Jesus Christ. In other words, let's all make it a daily practice in righteousness (being right with God) instead of being right with the world.
Blessings,
Dante
