WHOEVER BELIEVES. For the meaning _of faith,_ see note on James 2:19. Faith reaches out to seize the sacrifice of Christ (Acts 2:38 and note). WHOEVER LOVES FATHER. This is another way of saying: love for God = love for brothers (fellow Christians).... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS IS HOW. John has just pointed out that if we love a father, we will love his child also. Love for the child grows out of love for the father. Therefore love for our brothers (fellow Christians) really grows out of our love for The Father, and this demonstrates its _reality_ by obeying His comma... [ Continue Reading ]
MEANS THAT WE OBEY. See John 14:23 and note. We cannot divorce _faith_ from _action_ (James 2:22). ARE NOT TOO HARD. _MacKnight_ says: "To a good man in ordinary circumstances, the keeping of God's commandments is easy, being the delight of his soul." But we should carry this farther, since God's pr... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE. Old and young, Jew and Gentile, men and women, slave and free, - all who are NEW in Christ are able to defeat the world and resist its temptations to break God's _law!!!_ See John 3:3; John 3:6 and notes. THIS IS HOW. The power of faith to make people able to overcome the world is clearly s... [ Continue Reading ]
ONLY HE. John's teaching is: that faith in the Logos coming as a human being to be the means to set men free from sin, guilt, and punishment - makes easy the commands of God! Only he (or she) who firmly believes this will be able to conquer the world!!! If you deny the full truth of the Incarnation... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS CHRIST. John expands what he said in 1 John 5:5. Some taught that Jesus was _completely human,_ and that _The Christ_ came down on him at his baptism and left him _before_ his death (see Introduction to this Letter). In saying _Jesus Christ,_ John is saying they were not two _discrete_ persona... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE ARE THREE WITNESSES. Two witnesses would establish the truth. John says there are three!!! [A footnote in the NIV says; "Late MSS of the Vulgate add _in heaven; the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth_." It has been proved th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THREE AGREE. The notes on 1 John 5:6 show how they give their witness. The false teachers who claim that Jesus is not The Christ are to be examined in view of the _witness_ which the Spirit, the water, and the blood _all agree upon!!! All three agree_ that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God... [ Continue Reading ]
WE BELIEVE. "If we are willing to believe the witness men give to establish the truth, how much more should we believe the witness that God gives about his Son!!!" THAT GOD HAS GIVEN. God's witness is a matter of record (John 8:18 and note).... [ Continue Reading ]
SO WHOEVER BELIEVES. "If you believe God's witness to his Son, you believe in the Son of God (Jesus the Christ). You have this witness in your heart because you have reached out through faith to seize Christ and make yourself part of him!!!" BUT WHOEVER DOES NOT BELIEVE. "If you do not believe, you... [ Continue Reading ]
IS THE WITNESS. "This is the _truth_ which God has declared: He _has given_ (made available in Christ-on-the-cross) us eternal life, and this life is in His Son!!!" [Christ-on-the-cross includes the _entire historical Jesus._]... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOEVER HAS THE SON. "Since _life is in the Son_ (Acts 4:12 and note), you must have the Son to have life!!! To have the Son you must reach out through faith to seize Him and make yourself part of His sacrifice!!!" See Acts 2:40 and note. WHOEVER DOES NOT HAVE. "Since life is in the Son, whoever doe... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW. "I write this so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (Logos as a human being) as I mentioned in John 20:31; but even more than this, I write so that you may KNOW that you do have eternal life!" Confidence is necessary to fight against defeatism and certain false doctr... [ Continue Reading ]
WE HAVE COURAGE. Compare Hebrews 4:16 and note. God is _our Father_ if we are _his child!!!_ ACCORDING TO HIS WILL. (1) We should always pray; "Your will be done!" See the example in Matthew 26:39 and note. (2) The promise is not: "He will do it," but "He will hear us!" God will answer in His own wa... [ Continue Reading ]
SINCE WE KNOW THIS IS TRUE. This expands the second qualification in 1 John 5:14, Jesus said the same thing in Mark 11:24. We are limited in what we pray for by our lack of knowledge (Romans 8:26). Our confidence is that God will not give what we ask, but what we really need! But we know God does he... [ Continue Reading ]
COMMIT A SIN. John is writing to preserve the fellowship of the messianic community (church). Not only should Christians be aware of the _material needs_ of their brothers (includes sisters), they should also be aware of spiritual needs. As it is right to pray for the sick to get well (James 5:15 an... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL WRONGDOING IS SIN. All sin is a serious matter and not to be taken lightly!!! BUT THERE IS SIN. "The Christian with sin on his hands comes confidently to his Father and asks to have it forgiven!!! But the one who has in effect repudiated Christ, seeing sin on his hands, goes away in fear and hat... [ Continue Reading ]
WE KNOW. "The child of God may fall into sin, but he does not keep on sinning! Sin has no power over him! Why??? Because the Son of God keeps him safe from the Evil One!!!" _See Psalms 105._ But our security in Christ is contingent on our staying in fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:7... [ Continue Reading ]
WE KNOW. See Colossians 1:13 and note. "Even though the Evil One holds the whole world in his grasp, we have escaped through Christ!!! We know that we belong to God because we are now safe in the kingdom of his dear Son!!! Evidence of this is the fact that we do not keep on sinning, as those of the... [ Continue Reading ]
WE KNOW. Not _came,_ but _has come_ and _has given us._ The Eternal Logos _has come_ as a human being!!! The world can never be the same, because this fact _stands in history_ and nothing can take it away!!! God _spoke_ to us through his Son (Hebrews 1:2 and note), and this _understanding_ will neve... [ Continue Reading ]
KEEP YOURSELVES SAFE. The _false gods_ were probably not idols such as were at Ephesus and Athens. John is certainly speaking about the false ideas of God which the false teachers substituted for the _picture of God_ which Christ gives us in what he says. Compare Galatians 1:6-9. But it could be tha... [ Continue Reading ]