Another short little letter from John, "the elder". He loves to see his spiritual children walking with God, walking in the truth.
John encourages Gaius to show hospitality to brothers and sister in the faith, and to be wary of men like Diotrephes, who have a selfishness to their faith that we are not to imitate. We are to imitate what is good, not what is evil, because anyone who does what is good is from God (v. 11).
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Friday, March 21, 2014
2 John - Because of the Truth That Lives In Us and Will Be With Us Forever
2 John is such a short letter compared to the enormity of the entire Bible, or even just the New Testament. But here it is, so there must be some wisdom to mine. What does God want to say to us in these 13 verses?
- the truth of the Gospel will be forever
- seeing our children walk in this truth ought to bring us great joy
- our eternal command is to love one another, and this love is shown by obeying God's commands (seems like kind of a circular logic there)
- a deceiver is one who fails to acknowledge the humanity of Jesus, that He came in bodily form
- stay away from these deceivers
- the truth of the Gospel will be forever
- seeing our children walk in this truth ought to bring us great joy
- our eternal command is to love one another, and this love is shown by obeying God's commands (seems like kind of a circular logic there)
- a deceiver is one who fails to acknowledge the humanity of Jesus, that He came in bodily form
- stay away from these deceivers
Friday, March 14, 2014
1 John 3 - And That is What We Are
Dear friends, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
- 1 John 3:2
Jesus has taken away our sin (v. 5). He has done this in two ways. He has freed those of us who trust Him from sin's penalty. This is immediate. There is no penalty, no condemnation for those in Christ. At the same time, He is much more gradually, and equally lovingly freeing us from the power of sin. We are forgiven; we are saints who still sin. In Him, covered by His blood, we are not sinners who are trying to escape the clutches of sin. In Him we have escaped. We have been rescued. And we are being led on a life-long process of becoming like our Savior.
Because of this reality, we should love one another (v. 11). Love for others is evidence of our membership in God's family. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other (v. 14). This is God's command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us (v. 23). It is not complicated. Love God, follow Jesus, love His people.
- 1 John 3:2
Jesus has taken away our sin (v. 5). He has done this in two ways. He has freed those of us who trust Him from sin's penalty. This is immediate. There is no penalty, no condemnation for those in Christ. At the same time, He is much more gradually, and equally lovingly freeing us from the power of sin. We are forgiven; we are saints who still sin. In Him, covered by His blood, we are not sinners who are trying to escape the clutches of sin. In Him we have escaped. We have been rescued. And we are being led on a life-long process of becoming like our Savior.
Because of this reality, we should love one another (v. 11). Love for others is evidence of our membership in God's family. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other (v. 14). This is God's command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us (v. 23). It is not complicated. Love God, follow Jesus, love His people.
Friday, March 7, 2014
1 John 2 - Do Not Love the World
What does John mean when he tells us to not love the world (v. 15)? Or anything in it? That sounds a little harsh, no?
He gives us the answer. The three ideas that he is considering to be the essence of "the world" are the lust of the flesh (indulging in what I should not pursue), lust of the eyes (wanting what I should not desire), and pride of life (failing to recognize who I truly am, and my need for a Savior), are all to be avoided. These things do not last. They do not satisfy the deep longings of our soul. "The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever."
He gives us the answer. The three ideas that he is considering to be the essence of "the world" are the lust of the flesh (indulging in what I should not pursue), lust of the eyes (wanting what I should not desire), and pride of life (failing to recognize who I truly am, and my need for a Savior), are all to be avoided. These things do not last. They do not satisfy the deep longings of our soul. "The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)