1 John 1
October Memory Verse: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5 (NIV)
1 John 1
As we open 1st John, we are immediately confronted with a run-on sentence. If we’re not careful, we can lose John's point since he takes us on such a long grammatical detour—“That which was from the beginning (1)…we proclaim also to you (3).” John leads with the fact that he was an eyewitness to the things which he proclaims—“we have heard, seen, looked upon, and touched.” What John heard, saw, and touched was the manifestation of the God-man, Jesus Christ, through whom we might have eternal life, fellowship with the Father, and with Christ himself.
John wrote, “that our joy may be complete.” It is a joy to see someone come to know the Lord, but just as meaningful is to see that person walk toward maturity. Unfortunately, John’s short letter was written because new believers were being deceived by false teachers. Both Gnosticism and Docetism were gaining ground, both of which (in simplest terms) denied the truth of Christ and how we are saved.
John goes on to say that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. These false teachers were peddling lies, and in some cases, teaching people to make allowances for sin. Every sin begins with a lie and lies can only be overcome when brought into the light.
All of us, at different points, try to find life apart from the gospel in different ways. We all battle sin. However, we are called not to walk in the darkness. Walking in darkness breaks our fellowship with God. If you’re in a relationship with God through Jesus, you cannot lose your salvation. However, you can lose fellowship. You can hinder the Spirit in your life. You can stagnate.
1st John 1:9 is one of the best verses in the whole Bible—If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You cannot live sinlessly, but you can live confidently in God’s provision. Surrender is not a one-time transaction, but a constant, conscience release of my personal rights. Christian maturity isn’t sinless perfection. I do think a more mature believer can have longer periods of sinlessness, but true maturity is found in decreasing the time of broken fellowship when sin happens.
Early in marriage, Erin and I would have spats that could last for a while. After 10 years, we rarely have a spat that lasts anytime at all—and even if conflict occurs, we do what is necessary to deal with it much more quickly. Christian maturity is similar, it’s not the absence of sin. As we mature, we recognize sin in our lives faster and faster to the point that when sin happens, we feel the conviction of the Spirit and look up with a contrite heart, “Sorry Lord.” This requires a person walking in the Spirit moment by moment.
What stood out to you from this passage?
By: Tyler Short
1 John 1
As we open 1st John, we are immediately confronted with a run-on sentence. If we’re not careful, we can lose John's point since he takes us on such a long grammatical detour—“That which was from the beginning (1)…we proclaim also to you (3).” John leads with the fact that he was an eyewitness to the things which he proclaims—“we have heard, seen, looked upon, and touched.” What John heard, saw, and touched was the manifestation of the God-man, Jesus Christ, through whom we might have eternal life, fellowship with the Father, and with Christ himself.
John wrote, “that our joy may be complete.” It is a joy to see someone come to know the Lord, but just as meaningful is to see that person walk toward maturity. Unfortunately, John’s short letter was written because new believers were being deceived by false teachers. Both Gnosticism and Docetism were gaining ground, both of which (in simplest terms) denied the truth of Christ and how we are saved.
John goes on to say that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. These false teachers were peddling lies, and in some cases, teaching people to make allowances for sin. Every sin begins with a lie and lies can only be overcome when brought into the light.
All of us, at different points, try to find life apart from the gospel in different ways. We all battle sin. However, we are called not to walk in the darkness. Walking in darkness breaks our fellowship with God. If you’re in a relationship with God through Jesus, you cannot lose your salvation. However, you can lose fellowship. You can hinder the Spirit in your life. You can stagnate.
1st John 1:9 is one of the best verses in the whole Bible—If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You cannot live sinlessly, but you can live confidently in God’s provision. Surrender is not a one-time transaction, but a constant, conscience release of my personal rights. Christian maturity isn’t sinless perfection. I do think a more mature believer can have longer periods of sinlessness, but true maturity is found in decreasing the time of broken fellowship when sin happens.
Early in marriage, Erin and I would have spats that could last for a while. After 10 years, we rarely have a spat that lasts anytime at all—and even if conflict occurs, we do what is necessary to deal with it much more quickly. Christian maturity is similar, it’s not the absence of sin. As we mature, we recognize sin in our lives faster and faster to the point that when sin happens, we feel the conviction of the Spirit and look up with a contrite heart, “Sorry Lord.” This requires a person walking in the Spirit moment by moment.
What stood out to you from this passage?
By: Tyler Short
2 Comments
It's pretty hard to make stuff up about Christ when you are the guy who has seen the truth with his eyes, has heard it firsthand, looked and touched with his hands. To the man who has been with the Lord, the counterfeit sticks out in an obvious way.
On the college campus, some time ago now, I can still remember the street preacher who shouted that she hadn't sinned in 13 years. I was impressed. Which is to say, I was a bit late to class that day since I was going to explore her sinlessness in public. The only verse I had that day was from today's chapter. If you say that you have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Thankful today for an eye witness account to the truth of Christ!
Verse 10 stuck out. If you say you are sinless you make God a liar.
There's a responsibility and an accountability at play here, both for the believer and the unbeliever.
The unbeliever will one day see their sin in the light, but the believer is also responsible for aligning themselves with Gods word and allowing God to work out the sin in our lives as well!
Neither can walk in the false reality of being sinless, either in ignorance or under the veil of "well I'm saved already".
P.S. Tyler puttin the "P" in Preservation of the Saints today! ;)