My Bible has a beautiful description of The First Epistle of John and I will include that here:
God is light; God is love; and God is life. John is enjoying a delightful fellowship with that God of light, love, and life, and he desperately desires that his spiritual children enjoy the same fellowship.
God is light. Therefore, to engage in fellowship with Him we must walk in light and not in darkness. As we walk in the light, we will regularly confess our sins, allowing the blood of Christ to continually cleanse us. Two major roadblocks to hinder this walk will be falling in love with the world and falling for the alluring lies of false teachers.
God is love. Since we are His children we must walk in love. In fact, John says that if we do not love, we do not know God. Love is more than just words; it is actions. Love is giving, not getting. Biblical love is unconditional in its nature. Christ's love fulfilled those qualities and when that brand of love characterizes us, we will be free of self-condemnation and experience confidence before God.
God is life. Those who fellowship with Him must possess His quality of life. Spiritual life begins with spiritual birth which occurs through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ infuses us with God's life -- eternal life.
Although the apostle John's name is not found in this book, it was given the title Ioannou A, the "First of John."
Last week we saw God is Light, God is Love, and God is Life, as we explored chapter one. This week we are in chapter two where John shares how we are to live as Jesus lived, and warns us to not be deceived. The adversary is busy, but the good news is so is God!
Verses 1-2 Sin
He begins chapter two saying that he is writing the letter for us to not sin. The goal is that we will live our lives in a way that glorifies God. This should be our aim. No matter how well we try, we occasionally will do the wrong thing. We mess up and sin. The good news is that we have an advocate with the Father if Jesus Christ is our Savior. Jesus is our propitiation. That means we have sinned and made God angry, because sin separates us from the one Holy God. Jesus appeased God when He became sin even though He Himself did not sin. He paid the cost of our sin, by becoming our supreme sacrifice on the cross, and His blood atoned us. (see John 1:29) What a beautiful gift to us! Thank You, Jesus! The amazing love of Jesus is shown as He lays down His life for me and for the sins of the whole world! There is not one person Jesus did not die to save!
Have you accepted the free gift of salvation? Do you know someone in your life
that still struggles with sin and has not been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb? What can you do to share this message of hope and love with them today?
Verses 3-6 Commandments
Jesus tells us in John 14:21&23 that we prove we love Him when we are obedient to the commandments we were given. He says when we demonstrate our love in that way, He will love us and reveal Himself to us. We grow closer in fellowship as the Father pours His love out on us because we love His Son Jesus. The relationship we have is strengthened the more we obey His commandments and live by the Truth of His Word.
How close do you feel to Jesus? Are you obeying His commandments? What commandments are hardest for you to follow? Has Jesus revealed Himself to you? How do you strengthen your relationship? What ways do you honor God?
Verses 7-11 Light vs Darkness
John 13:34 and John 15:12 both explain the new commandment is to love each other. Like we saw last week, God is light. The true light is now shining in our hearts so we can learn what we must do to please the Father. If we say we love God but we hate our brother we are not walking in the light. We are stumbling around in darkness because God tells us to love one another. The darkness blinds our eyes to the sin in our heart. But if we love our brother, even though we disapprove of what they are doing, we are no longer stumbling in the dark. We can clearly walk in the path God is leading us on as we stay close to the Light.
Have you ever been walking in a dark hallway or walkway? What happens when you turn on the light? What things that are hidden in the dark do you think God is wanting to shine His light on? Do you struggle with loving everyone? Did you know that hating your brother causes you to stumble in darkness?
Verses 12-14 Writing To You
I like how John addresses the people in different categories. He is writing to everyone but he says he is writing to the little children, new believers, because their sins are forgiven, and because they have come to know God as their Father. He wants to equip them with the Truth so they can grow in Christ. In verses 13 and 14 he addresses the fathers, the mature who are walking in the Truth that they received a while back. They are more seasoned in their faith, but they can still go off course. These are the mentors and leaders who are still learning how to live lives that glorify God. He says he is writing to the young men because they have overcome the wicked one. He says these young men are strong and they overcome evil because the Word of God lived in their hearts. These are the ones who have been working on their relationship for a while but things are still new and exciting. Sometimes we get so used to things as they are that we can stop striving to improve our walk with Christ.
Who do you identify with: little children, young men, or fathers? How important is it for all of us to work on our relationship with Jesus? How can we help those who are not as strong in their faith as we are? How can we encourage those who have experienced more than we have?
Verses 15-17 Don’t Love The World
The Bible is very clear that if we love the world and the things it offers, the love of the Father is not in us. We can get so caught up in looking like the world, celebrating the things the world values, and making great strides to be accepted by society that we begin to compromise what we believe. We begin to look at things others have and we start to get greedy. We compare ourselves to others and if we don’t think we measure up, we feel devalued and worthless.
In verse 16 it plainly states that what we desire to make us feel good, the things we see and covet, and the belief that we make our own happiness, success, rules, or whatever and we do not need God is not from God the Father. We learn that behavior by studying the world instead of the Word!
Ecclesiastes 5:10 says He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. It’s all going to pass away. You cannot take it with you. The only thing that will last forever is the one that does God’s will.
Who do you know that has ever offered to give you half of their bank account because they thought they had too much money? Has anyone ever told you that they felt like they had enough money and they didn’t need anymore? Do you know anyone who goes to the store and only buys the absolute necessities every single time? What does it mean to you to love the world?
Verses 18-23 AntiChrist
So often, the title anti-Christ is misrepresented. There is an anti-Christ coming who will deceive the whole world (2 Thessalonians 2:3), but this passage talks about many anti-Christs. These are the end times. The world is exhibiting the signs Jesus gave us in the gospels. It does not take a Bible scholar to recognize that sin abounds and deception is everywhere.
I have heard of preachers who ministered to hundreds, if not thousands of people, and then one day they choose to walk away from God and all the things they once believed. They no longer believe the things they once taught. Instead they have been deceived and believe that Jesus is not the only way to get to God. Verse 22 says Who is a liar but he that denies Jesus is the Christ? This is the anti-Christ. Anyone who does not believe Jesus is the Son of God is anti-Christ according to 2 John 7. We are told this will happen in 1 Timothy 4:1.
John said that we have an unction from the Holy One and the reason he is writing to us is because we have the truth in our hearts. He does not want us to be deceived. Matthew 24:24 Jesus said For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. We have to be careful about who we listen to and who we believe.
Not every man or woman who preaches and teaches is operating in the Spirit of God. Some teachers and ministers are watering down the gospel to get bigger crowds at church, to bring in more people for their programs, and care more about getting names on their roll, instead of names in the Lamb's Book of Life. We must be careful to measure what we hear with what the Word of God says.
Do you see signs of end times around you? Why do you think John wants all believers to know that many anti-Christs are in the world? What can you do to safeguard your heart and not be deceived by lies shared on television and the internet? Have you been deceived by false teachers before?
Verses 24-29 Hold On To What You Know
We know the truth if we are reading God's Word. We can have this truth in our hearts and meditate on it day and night. As long as we have the truth in our hearts, and we filter everything we are taught through the infallible Word of God we will not be deceived. If it does not line up with scriptures then it is wrong and the Bible is right. Do not believe the lies.
Jesus said in John 14:23 If a man love Me, he shall keep My words: and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make Our abode with him. This is so important. Jesus is the ONLY way to get to God and if anyone teaches another message, they are not preaching the truth and you need to stop listening to them. They are deceived and are trying to deceive others.
Verse 25 says this is the promise He gave us, eternal life. John 17:3 Jesus said And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent. Eternal life is us knowing God and His Son Jesus. They lead us. Their words guide us. They give us direction. The Holy Spirit teaches us and helps us discern right from wrong. This is eternal life that He promises to give us.
John said he is writing these things concerning those that try to deceive. But we have an anointing that we received from God and that will teach us what we need to know. We can trust the Holy Spirit to do the work of teaching us the truth because there is no lie in the Holy Spirit of God. We do not have to rely on people to tell us the truth. Yes, we need to be lead by Godly leaders, but we must hold everything they say and do up to the Word of God and see how it measures up. Observe everything through the lens of scripture and you will not believe a lie.
1 Corinthians 1:21 Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God. This says it is God that anoints us and enables the Holy Spirit to teach us. We must be led by the Spirit into all Truth.
John tells us to abide in Him. Abide in Jesus. Live in Him. Live in His Word. Then we will have confidence that we are ready when He comes. We will not be ashamed when He comes, but we will be watching and praying for Him to come quickly. We know that He is righteous and anyone that belongs to God is doing righteous things. We all sin and fall short. When we see one another struggle, please pray and help each other make it home. Time is so very short.
What can you do to abide in Him? Are you encouraged to hold up the messages of this world against the message of Christ? Do you feel empowered and equipped to listen to the Holy Spirit when you are being lied to? What things have you been told in society that goes against the Word of God? What popular sayings and slogans are subtle deceptions that can lead us astray if we are not watching and praying?
Wow! That is is the end of chapter two! Well done for those who endured to the end of this Bible study. It is a lot of information. I encourage you to take some time this week and dig deeper into chapter two. There are so many other scripture references I could have given, but it's important for us to break the bread together, and on our own. Some of you may not be ready to dive deeper, and others are so hungry for more. May God lead and guide you as you study His Word and continue in His love.
I will see you here next week for another Bible study as we open up the scriptures in chapter three. There are a few less verses next time, but the study will be great! I will have another blog post on Friday, Fuel For The Weekend, as we talk about intentional living. I would love to hear thoughts and comments regarding this study. My prayer is something I shared today has given you strength for your journey and light for your way.
God bless you!
~Bridgett Owens
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