1st John 1:
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
Commentary…
Isn’t it funny how John starts out in his letters compared to Paul? Almost non sequitur in the way he just jumps right into it.
Fellowship is our most important and vital part to play as believers… Fellowship with God first and then with believers. Our relationship with God and with each other is always kept intact by the blood of Jesus, but our fellowship is kept alive, fresh and real by practicing what John reveals herein…
And so it begins… that which was from the beginning… The living Word, the eternal Son of God, the Logos, by whom the worlds were created! The same Word who became flesh and dwelt among us… (John 1:14).
Notes
it’s also interesting that John begins with this statement about Jesus: that which our hands have handled… because this is the choice phraseology of the Gospel of Luke 24:39 when Jesus returns to show Thomas that he was physically raised from the dead in a glorified body (not just as a spirit but as a physical body).
So John is introducing his letter as one who has actually seen, heard, beheld, and touched, both before and after His resurrection, our Lord Jesus.
1:2-4 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us; That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
Paraphrased…
For the life (ZOE—Greek: the Life of God) was manifested and we have seen it… and tell you about it, and show you that same ZOE life substance that comes from the Father and was imparted into us… so that you can have it too and have fellowship with us… and it is now a fact that our fellowship is with the Father through sharing in that ZOE life with His Son Jesus Christ… these things we write to you so that you may be full of JOY!
1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Paraphrased… This is the message we heard Him speak about, this same message we declare to you now… that God is LIGHT and in Him there is no darkness (evil, sin, sickness, death, poverty, or anything that is of the curse that came upon the earth through Adam’s sin).
1:6-7 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Paraphrased…
If we claim to be in fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we are liars and do not live according to the truth…
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from any sins that we commit…
Commentary… it is important to understand here that this refers to continually walking in darkness, or practicing sin on a continual basis, for…
1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Notes
John warns that if we claim that we have no sin we are deceived and not being truthful with ourselves…
There were many belief systems around back then, just as there are today, that say we are all okay just the way we are.
As believers we are going to sin from time to time. God gives us the next verse to maintain fellowship with Him…
1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Commentary…
This entire book is all about maintaining our fellowship with the Father and walking in love.
We are always in relationship with Him once we come to Him through Christ. We cannot stop being sons and daughters with our earthly fathers, even when there is division between us. In the same way we do not stop being sons and daughters with our Heavenly Father just because we sin.
This confession of sin has to do with mortifying the practices of the flesh, which are in our earthly bodies, or reckoning them to be dead to us, and us to them (Gal 6:14, Ro 6:11, Col 3:5).
We do so by speaking our committed sins out from us… this is the value of confession, bringing it out of the darkness and into the light, and receiving full forgiveness. When we do this, we are promised that the blood of Jesus washes away every trace. There is no unrighteousness left in us when we employ 1st John 1:9. There is only righteousness (who we are in Christ) left after we confess!
1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Paraphrased… If we deny that we sin we call Him a liar and His Word is not in us.
Notes
John is talking about confessing sin to the Father when we fall into it, getting it completely cleansed out of our system, repenting and turning to Him for immediate restoration of fellowship.
This is for the believer… it would take forever for the sinner first coming to Christ to go over his past life and remember and confess all of his past sins. It’s totally unnecessary… Jesus wipes out all past sins along with the old sin nature immediately when we get born again. The old man is dead in Christ and all his past sins are dead and gone with him.
This verse assures the believer that committed sins are forgiven, when we confess them, and fellowship is maintained and restored by the blood of Jesus.
1st John 2
2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
Commentary…
Remember in the previous chapter John says God is faithfuland just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.
First, He is faithful! This means He will always forgive us when we come to Him and confess. He is not only faithful to forgive but He is faithful to cleanse. He knows that we will sin. The Father has made every provision for us to come to Him whenever we sin and be restored to complete fellowship with Him.
Second, He is just… He is completely righteous and a totally just judge in declaring us righteous. Jesus is also righteous as our redeemer intercessor spokesman in making it legal that we never sinned. He is righteous to make us righteous because Jesus became all of our unrighteousness on the cross. The demands of God the Judge’s justice have been fully met in Jesus the Righteous.
When we sin, our righteousness (who we are in Christ) does not leave us. It doesn’t come and go. It is who we are now! It is who we have been created to be in Christ. When Jesus, who never committed any sin, was made to be sin for us, it was so that we could be made the very righteousness of God in Him!
As born again believers we don’t want to sin. At least our recreated spirits don’t. There may be times when our unregenerate souls (e.g. unrenewed minds) choose to go for the fleshly desires.
It’s possible that some will even continue sinning for a season because sin can be pleasurable… duh! That’s why people get tempted to do it. If sin wasn’t fun it wouldn’t be a temptation, right?
When this happens the Father’s heart is always to restore and bring them back to Himself. He knows sin is only pleasurable for a season… but afterwards it produces death.
What a miserable place that is to be! To be righteous on the inside, having known God and walked with Him… and then to be ensnared in sin’s powerful grip, having unrighteousness stick to you on the outside and begin seeping into your soul and spirit! It’s like taking a beautiful wedding gown and dropping it into an outhouse toilet.
But if we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, who defends us, comes to our rescue, and declares we are righteous because of the blood of Jesus. We have an attorney, who just happens to also be our brother! He stands up in the courtroom of heaven and argues that His blood makes us innocent. The Father hears Jesus and says, “not guilty!”
He takes the outer garments stained by sin
and washes pure and clean again and again
2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Commentary…
Jesus is the propitiation for our sins…
Propitiation speaks of substitution. Jesus took our place. Bore our punishment. Took the Father’s wrath upon His perfect sinless being. Just as it was unfair for Him to be punished for sins He didn’t commit, so it is unfair for us to be made as righteous as He is and to receive the full reward of His obedience. But that’s the way it is for all who come to the Father in Jesus’ name!
Strong’s Concordance defines the Greek word for propitiationhere as follows:
hilasmós – properly, propitiation; an offering to appease (satisfy) an angry,offended party. 2434 (hilasmós) is only used twice (1 Jn 2:2, 4:10) – both times of Christ’s atoning blood that appeases God’s wrath, on all confessed sin. By the sacrifice of Himself, Jesus Christ provided the ultimate 2434/hilasmós (“propitiation”).
What some may find surprising here is that this verse also says God’s wrath on the sins of the whole world has been satisfied because of Jesus. We live in a time where God is not judging the world for their sins against Him!
That is why I just smh when people say things like, “If God doesn’t judge America for their sins (such as abortion) then He owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.” But in reality: If God DID judge America for their sins then He owes Jesus an apology! Oh yes, there will come a day of judgment for the world, as we see in the Book of Revelation, but that time has not come yet.
No. God is not charging the world’s sins against them right now (2nd Corinthians 5:19). We do see the beginning of birth pangs and violent reactions from nature, but these are not God’s judgments. These are the result of His creation reacting against the curse that sin releases on the earth.
2:3-6 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that says, I know him, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that says he abides in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
Paraphrased… Here’s the litmus test for all who claim to know God: Are they keeping His commandment to LOVE one another? Because, if not… FAIL! If you got no love, you got no God. You don’t know God. But as we continue to practice God’s Word outwardly (and by that I’m talking about doing everything you do in LOVE!) then God’s love is developed, growing, matured and becoming fully manifested in and through you. Bottom line is this: If you are really living in Jesus and He’s living in you, you will walk in love just like He did.
Commentary…
You’ve heard the adage “to know Him is to love Him”? This is what is really being said here. Here’s another scripture that some people like to take out of context and try to force the Law down people’s throats. But if you read this verse in context you will find out what those commandments are.
Admittedly, it looks like John is baiting the hook a little bit here. But the hook is God’s love. Let’s read on…
2:7-11 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shines. He that says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loves his brother abides in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and knows not whither he goes, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
God is the same, yesterday today and forever. The meaning of all the law and the prophets have really always been all about LOVE. The new commandment is the old commandment with even more clarity and definition, as revealed in the person of Jesus…
Jesus showed us the Father’s LOVE and how that LOVE acts, behaves, talks and lays down its life.
The true LIGHT = LOVE (as revealed in Jesus)
Darkness = any act of hatred toward others
There is, in John’s understanding, a divine magnificence in something as simple as loving someone. There is an element of the divine in love. Is John saying that love alone can save a person? No, but one cannot help but wonder if John’s revelation of love includes the paradigm shift that takes place in everyone’s life whose life is touched by it… in whatever form it comes.
even romantic love between a man and a woman, or of a mother for her child, or between lifelong friends, is redemptive, life changing and saving, if only in this life. Surely, he is saying that all forms of LOVE are ultimately a gift from God. And true love would never walk in darkness, which is identified here as hatred. He is painting some broad brush parallels here for good reason…
And then he is detail brushing how walking in the light is doing what love would do, and conversely, walking in darkness is being hateful. He takes it to the next level and draws a radical conclusion about God’s love in the next verse…
2:12-14 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. I write unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.
Commentary…
John writes in prosaic terms of endearment to each generation, as follows:
Children… Jesus loves you and forgives you and this is how you know of the Father’s love for you.
Young adults… you are strong, you have overcome the devil, and God’s Word is alive in you.
Older adults… You have walked with God for a long time and you know Him, even Jesus who is from eternity past.
2:15-16 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Commentary…
“Do not love the world” is the warning here. Specifically, the love of the world is defined in three ways: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These things are not of the Father. John helps us see what is not of God in the fallen world around us. He narrows it down to three things:
Lust of the flesh—or the sinful cravings of the body, as in immoral sexual practices… and all the things listed in Galatians 5:18-21.
Lust of the eyes—the objectification of what is attractive to the sight, for selfish sinful use, such as found in erotica, voyeurism and exhibitionism, pornography, and other forms of exploitation, etc. Or it can have much more common everyday application, such as: having eyes full of adultery (2nd Peter 2:14).
Pride of life—the immoral pursuit of self-aggrandizement and gain for personal power, or an accentuation on the temporary things, things that are not of eternal lasting beauty… or pertaining to things that lift themselves up and seek glory apart from God. This can also find expression in the lust of the eyes and of the flesh in ways that the ego tries to flaunt itself in immoral behavior, speech and dress.
It still holds true today, as it was then, that men and women seek to achieve worldly success, wealth and fame for personal power and conquest in life. Selfish ambition, craving for material goods, lust for sexual power, desirability, and avarice, all seem to go hand-in-hand out there in the world… and what the world highly regards, esteems and strives for.
There’s vulgar lust but there’s also high-society lust. A lust that is decked in fine linen, jewels and makeup… and It really doesn’t matter whether you eat sin from a pig trough or a golden plate, it’s still filth. The world’s temptations come in these three basic ways, but they shoot out into a myriad of different branches found on every level of society.
John warns that these things are not aligned with the Father’s love, they only get in the way, in fact, they are diametrically opposed to it.
2:17 And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides forever.
Paraphrased… All these things pertaining to the world and its lusts will be gone someday, but those who align themselves with God’s commandment of love shall live forever.
Thoughts…
W.W.J.D.
The love of God has been shed abroad (poured out abundantly) in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). In the outworking of the inworking (Philippians 2:12-13) of this love, through holy reverential worship and awe toward Him, we are to be constantly finding ways to express this in our relationships with others.
We set our own selfish love and desires aside, confessing and forsaking them before the Father, and seek for His love to dominate our lives through sweet surrender to His love for us and others (2nd Corinthians 5:14). This love, that is in us, will be matured in us as we practice it.
Jesus shows us a new commandment. No longer just love one another as we love ourselves, but love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34-35).
There was a transition from the Old Testament (O.T.) to the New. before John the Baptist came on the scene there had been 400 silent years from God. In the O.T. God revealed Himself as a God of love, but also as a God of vengeance upon His adversaries… commanding Israel to kill and destroy the heathen out from the land of promise… what was different? What had changed?
Jesus had been born into the earth! The long awaited Messianic prophecies had been fulfilled. The purpose for which God demanded Israel be separate from the surrounding heathen nations had been revealed:
He was securing a pure and holy people through which the Messiah could be born into the earth.
However, with the new emphasis on love and a greater revelation of it, there came greater responsibility to protect the truth by which love is revealed. His Word He has exalted, even above His own name (Psalm 138:2). Yes, God is Love (as we shall see in chapter 4). But God has exalted His word even above the very essence of who He is. For it is by absolute truth that absolute Love is defined!
1st John 2 (Part B)
2:18-19 Little children, it is the last time: and as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
Paraphrased…
Sons and daughters, it is the last time… yes, even the time after the long awaited incarnation. As you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even so there are many agents of the antichrist (released like a virus to try and contaminate what has already been accomplished).
They separated themselves from us, as it became evident that they were not of the same Spirit as us… otherwise there would have been fellowship between us, but something was different… they were not born again. They were not led of the Holy Spirit. That’s why they separated from us.
This has happened so that it would become obvious that they were not true brothers and sisters. they had their own agenda. Their hearts were on the things of man and not God… and this is how the antichrist will deceive many, through selfishness of men’s hearts, through lies against the truth, through lust, pride and the things of this world…
2:20-23 But you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son. Whosoever denies the Son, the same does not have the Father: he that acknowledges the Son hath the Father also.
Paraphrased…
All true believers have the Holy Spirit as their resident tutor, living inside of them, and by this they know all essential truths about who Jesus really is and how to live… These things are spiritually imparted from the Holy Spirit to our spirits. That’s how we got born again! He revealed that Jesus is the way to our hearts. And that’s how He continues to lead us.
So… I’m writing to those who know this truth.
Who is a liar? The one who tries to say that Jesus isn’t the one true Messiah, that’s who. Those who try to say that Jesus isn’t uniquely incarnate deity… All those who try to say that we are all sons of God, in and of ourselves… and that we are no different than He is… all who spread this lie are of the antichrist spirit.
This is the spirit of antichrist, and those who say such things are not of God. They are not led of God, because they do not have the Holy Spirit in them. But those who believe, know and confess that Jesus alone is God… functioning in the person of the Son… they have the Father living in them, just as Jesus did.
2:24-25 Let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
Paraphrased…
Let the message you have received from the beginning (about how it is only through Jesus, the cross, and the resurrection, that we are able to come to the Father) continue to live in you and through you. If that Good News message of the cross remains properly understood in you, then you continue to grow in it, and in the Son, and in the Father.
Do you see how it works? This is the promise that He has promised us: Zoe life is communicated outwardly from inside of us through this union… A union only possible through believing the message of the Cross. The more you dwell on it, embrace it, and live by it, the more you are transfigured outwardly by it.
It’s all about Identification and Substitution. It’s all about who Jesus really is, and who we have become in Him. Stay on course!
2:26-27 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, you shall abide in him.
Paraphrased…
I’m just telling you these things to confirm what the Holy Spirit is already sounding off loud and clear in your hearts.
Well, I’m also saying this because of the subtlety of the enemy’s lies to try to take away from who Jesus really is, and who you really are in Him. You see, the enemy knows that if he can undermine your identification with Christ, he can get you believing incorrectly about your absolute union with God through, and ONLY through, Jesus.
Thank God you have an anointing from the Holy Spirit who lives in you so that you will recognize what I’m saying is absolute truth. You don’t need man to teach you these things. The Holy Spirit has taken up residence in your hearts and teaches you all things. Even as He has been faithful in the past to teach you, He will continue to teach you, and that’s how you will continue to not only have new life by Him, but to live in, and through Him.
2:28-29 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that every one that does righteousness is born of him.
Paraphrased…
And even in the right here and now, tender children, live in Him, and get your life sustenance from Him.
Continue to commune with Him so that when He appears in the clouds, we will have excitement and confidence about it, and there will be no shame (we won’t be worried or leery about standing before the Bema seat when all our works will be judged by fire /// 1st Cor 3:12-14 /// 2nd Cor 5:10). If you know that He is righteous, then you know that you are righteous in Him, and the supernatural fruit of righteousness will be produced in your life… so that others will be able to taste and see that the Lord is good!
Bringing it home…
The New Age movement is of the antichrist spirit. They deny that Jesus is THE CHRIST (God come in the form of His Son, the only begotten of the Father, uniquely incarnate deity). “The Christ” means that He alone is the Son who was manifested, born into the earth as a child, and IS the Messiah.
“Christ” is not Jesus’ last name. It wasn’t like he was introduced as “This is Jesus Christ, son of Joseph Christ, and Mary Christ…”
No. “Jesus” means Savior, or Deliverer, and “Christ” means the anointed one, or the Holy Spirit man.
The New Age movement says that “the Christ” is some kind of general spiritual quality that is innate to all humanity. They say that we all have the Christ within us… that we are all sons and daughters of God already… that Jesus was simply an accomplished psychic and that we all can achieve what He had by developing our psychic abilities… this is the spirit of antichrist.
Antichrist tries to deny the deity of Christ. It tries to deny that He alone is God’s Son, and that it is only through Him that we become the children of God.
One of the phrases New Agers like to use is “the Christ consciousness” as though it is some kind of mindset that comes upon us when we open up to the spirit world. Jesus is not just a way of thinking, acting or doing. Jesus is God’s life manifested as a human being, He is the truth become flesh, He is the only way to the Father.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).
Thoughts…
We also should take from this that God’s love sets up boundaries for us. His love cares for us. His love protects us from those who would take advantage of us. His love keeps the best of us for Himself and leads us with wisdom to minister to those who have legitimate needs.
Implied…
We are not to keep giving precious time to those who will not turn from worldly lusts and things of pride and arrogance.
We are not to allow ourselves to be robbed of His love and peace by those who continue to be a drain, and don’t seek Him for themselves.
W.W.J.N.D.
What would Jesus not do?
1st John 3:
1 Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not.
Paraphrased… Just look at the LOVE God has lavished us with: He has called us His very own sons and daughters! No wonder we are like the wind (John 3:8) to the world. They have no idea what has happened in us, because they don’t know Him.
3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Paraphrased… We are His sons and daughters right now, beloved… but this is only a sneak previewof what we shall be transformed into when He appears in the clouds. When we see Him we will be instantaneously metamorphosized into resurrected glorious beings. How? Because we will see Him as He is (and at the sight of Him our spirits will super-vibe energize our physical bodies to be like His! This is why He is called the first born again from the dead, and the firstborn of many brothers and sisters, because He has gone on before us and in so doing He drew us up and into Him so that we are accredited with all He did, even in securing for us our resurrection bodies! (References: Revelation 1:5, Romans 8:29, Hebrews 2:10, Colossians 1:15).
NOTE As we will see in chapter 4, verse 17, we are already as Jesus is (spiritually) but one day we will become like Him: spirit, soul, and body! In the meantime, as we behold Him in the Word, fellowshipping with Him through the Holy Spirit, and fixing our eyes upon Jesus we are continually and gradually being transformed (Romans 12:2)
more and more into His likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18).
The more we see Him now, through the Word and in worship, the quicker we are changed. We are developed more rapidly by the light of His glorious image as we get a greater revelation of Him through His Word, by His Spirit.
3:3 And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
Paraphrased… As we look for His return we keep ourselves pure (2 Peter 3:11-12, Romans 13:11-12).
3:4-9 Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abides in him does not sin: whosoever sins has not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Paraphrased…
Whoever sins breaks the law. Sin by its very definition is breaking God’s law. And you know that Jesus came to deliver us from the penalty of our sins, as well as take sin out of us. In Him there is no sin, so if we are in Him and He is in us, sin can’t hang around for very long… Also, think about it… we have ZOE life in Him, and walk in that ZOE life that we have from Him, so it follows… we will not continue to practice sin.
Whoever continually practices sin breaks the law of love. If we walk in the spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Gal 5:16, 25). Whoever continues to live a life of sin (and hangs on to the flesh) has not seen Him (and been changed by His glory in their spiritual being). In fact, anyone that continually lives in sin is really of the devil. They are following the devil who sins from the beginning.
For this purpose was the Son of God manifest: to destroy the works of the evil one!
Our born again spirits do not sin. The seed of the Word has given New Birth to our spirits and our spirits cannot sin, because they are born of God.
NOTE This passage of scripture is not clear unless one understands that we are tri-part beings: spirit, soul and body (1 Thess 5:23). We have been saved in our spirits, we are being saved (delivered) in our souls, and we will be saved (delivered) in our bodies.
John is saying that the person who is born of God does not continually practice sin.
If it were true that once being born again a person never sins, then the Bible wouldn’t tell Christians to confess their sins to one another… Obviously this is not what John (or the Holy Spirit) is saying. Also, in 1st John chapter 1 it is clear that we will sin once in a while. We don’t have to sin but sometimes we give into it. That’s why it says, “If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father…” and “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins…”
3:10-15 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever does not do righteousness is not of God, neither he that does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that does not love his brother abides in death. Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
Commentary… If you hate your brother you have already committed murder in your heart, Jesus said. And murderers will have no place in the Kingdom of God (unless they repent). The apostle is simply saying here that if you’re born of God and made righteous in Christ then you will bear the good fruit of righteousness. You will not practice hatefulness. He also warns us that because of this, the world (i.e. the wicked of this world) will hate us.
3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso has this world’s good, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how does the love of God dwell in him?
Commentary… here’s how we get a grasp on the Love of God… this is what it looks like… Remember the parable of the good Samaritan and try to do good for those in need. Find ways to put your life aside and love on people, ministering to their needs, whenever you can.
But remember, even the good Samaritan dropped off the victim after bandaging his wounds and giving him a ride into town. We need to learn to do our part and trust God for the rest.
3:18-19 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
Paraphrased… this is how we walk in love, not just with words but with deeds and being true… by doing this, we assure our hearts before God. This is how we keep our own hearts from condemning us…
3:20-22 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
Paraphrased… if our hearts start to condemn us because we aren’t walking in love, God is still greater than our hearts, and He knows all things. He is able to help us, give us mercy and grace and restore us. But the goal is always walk in love and you will have confidence toward God when you pray. And whatever you ask you will receive from Him because you are walking in the LOVE commandment. This is very pleasing to God.
NOTE Faith works by LOVE (Gal 5:6). When we walk in Love our faith will be at its peak performance.
3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
Commentary…
Tell us again, oh John, what are these commandments we must walk in now?
“Believe in Jesus… and walk by love… Love one another…”
And tell us again, dear Apostle, how do we know when our love is real?
3:24 And he that keeps his commandments dwells in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.
The Holy Spirit lives in us and leads us to walk in the Commandment of LOVE. The LOVE of GOD has been poured forth in abundance in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, God’s gift to us (Romans 5:5).
1st John 4:
1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Paraphrased…
Don’t believe every spirit but test them whether or not they be of God, because there’s a lot of false prophets led by spirits out there in the world. Here’s how you test them… ask them “Has Jesus the Messiah, the one true Christ child, Son of God, come into the earth and been born as a man?”
Everyone that confesses this is of God. Those that do not confess this to be true: NOT of GOD!
This the spirit of antichrist that you’ve been warned was coming: any spirit that denies the deity of Christ!
NOTE it is possible that false prophets, tarot card readers, fortune tellers, psychics, etc. couldmouth the words that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and yet still be false. A false spirit cried out that Paul was of God in the Book of Acts and followed him around for days saying that they were bringing the way of salvation, for example. What is being said in this verse is that the spirit behind the person when tested with this question will deny the deity of Christ. That is why we pray for discernment in such matters. A false cultish spirit will always try to deny that Jesus is God. That is why all cults have this in common. Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, all of them, deny the deity of Christ. This proves that there are seducing spirits and doctrines of devils (1 Timothy 4:1) behind it and it is of the antichrist. The antichrist spirit denies that the Son of God came in through the door of birth, thus becoming the door to eternal life for all who would believe (John 10:1-10).
4:4-6 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God does not hear us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
Paraphrased…
you are of God and have overcome these antichrist spirits… because GREATER is HE that is IN you than he (the devil) that is in the world… Yes, that’s right! the greater One lives in you and He overcomes them through you. Don’t ever forget that!
Those spirits are of the world, of this lost system of souls under satan’s control… that’s why they speak of the world and its ways, and those who are under the world’s control hear them, feel them, are right there with them… but not us! We are of God, and those who hear from God hear us… what we are saying… because we speak by the same Holy Spirit.
Those who are not of God don’t really get what we are saying (unless they are open to receive from Him and He moves on their hearts and convicts them of their need for Jesus).
This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Commentary…
The spirit of truth and the spirit of error are summarized here: Those who hear from God and those who listen to worldly wisdom. But also, it goes deeper than that… those who are fully deceived and under the spirit of antichrist’s control are open to the false prophets influenced by demonic spirits… this is really what is being said here.
So how do we reach those who are caught up in this lie? Let’s read on…
4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God. He that does not love does not know not God; for God is love.
NOTE GOD IS LOVE!!! When we love one another we are living out who we have been born of the Spirit to be. The person who does not walk in love has not received a full revelation of who God really is. GOD IS Love! And God will reach out to deliver others with this love… if we will but put ourselves out there and start reaching out to them with His love with the Good News we will see dramatic results…
4:9-16 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.
Summarized… God’s love is manifested in us and toward us in Jesus. His plan is for us to LIVE through Jesus and Jesus through us. Here’s the LOVE revolution revelation right here: God loved us first, and the revelation of that love, shown us in Jesus, and revealed to us by the Spirit, has won our hearts to respond to Him in love. His love is developed in us more and more as we yield to His Spirit living in us. If we confess Jesus as Lord God comes to live in us, and we live in and through Him! GOD IS LOVE, so if we walk in love we live in Him, and He in us.
4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
Paraphrased… I’m telling you how we can develop this love of God in us, so we can have boldness in the day of judgment… because you know what? As Jesus is now, so are we in this world!
NOTE a great verse to remind ourselves of constantly… As Jesus is so are we in this world. We are seated with Him in heavenly places. We are His representatives, His ambassadors in the earth. We have Him in us, yes, even Jesus, in all His resurrected glory… He in-fills us by His Spirit.
4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear hath torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.
NOTEs
There is NO FEAR in love! This is a great verse to confess over your life: Perfect love casts out fear!
We do not want to give fear any place in our lives. It must be counteracted with the promises of God and most importantly His perfect love for us, which has been shed forth abundantly in our hearts (Romans 5:5).
The fearful will not be admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven (Revelation 21:8). We must never let fear gain a foothold in our lives. Any time it tries to come around we must oppose it in God’s power and might.
There’s an old saying that goes: “fear knocked at the door… faith answered, and there was no one there.”
God will give us the victory over fear if we continue to walk in faith toward Him and His promises, confessing them over our lives. And remember, FAITH works by LOVE (Galatians 5:6).
4:19-21 We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loves God love his brother also.
Paraphrased…
We love God because He loved us first. Now if someone says I love God but I hate that guy, he’s just not dealing with the facts! If we love God, whom we haven’t seen yet, but love Him solely on the basis of faith in His Word and conviction of the Holy Spirit, then that same Spirit will move us to love that guy. And this is His commandment that we have from God… it’s all summed up in this: Love God and love your brother also.
1st John 5:
1 Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loves him that begat loves him also that is begotten of him.
Paraphrased… Whoever believes that Jesus the Messiah is the Anointed One Himself (the Creator functioning in the form of His Son) is Born Again… born of God… a New Creation… a new spiritual being (that never existed before). And everyone that loves the One who gives the New Birth, loves the one by whom the New Birth came, and loves all those who are Born Again in Him.
Commentary…
If you’ll notice, John is echoing many of the words of Jesus here from the Gospels… in the previous chapters we saw how John says “Don’t be surprised if the world hates you…” (1st John 3:13) which correlates with what Jesus said, “if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first…” (John 15:18, 17:14, Matthew 10:22).
There are numerous parallels to the Gospel of John chapters 14-16 where Jesus is speaking some last words (before going to the cross) to His disciples. He talks about loving God by keeping His commandments, how if we’ve seen Him we’ve seen the Father, and so on… and concludes with a prayer to the Father for all of His disciples (John 17), and all who will believe because of them (hey that’s us!)… all we who will believe in Him because of their being faithful to carry the Gospel into all the world (John 17:20).
A Prayer from Eternity Past
Let’s take a look at something amazing about this prayer that Jesus prayed not only for them but for us!
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as You, Father, are in me, and I in You, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that You have sent me. And the glory which You gave me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and You in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent me, and have loved them, as You have loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom You have given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which You have given me: for You loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known You: but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent me. And I have declared unto them Your name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith You have loved me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:20-26).
Some revolutionary points to consider about this prayer… first of all we need to consider that Jesus prayed it… so we know God hears this prayer… He prayed that we would all be one even as Jesus and the Father are one… that we would be one with the Father… that as a result the world would see that God sent Jesus… that they would see the Father’s love for them… not only that but that we would behold His glory and have the love that the Father shared with the Son before the foundation of the world.
Stop. Right. There.
The love that the Father loved the Son with before the foundation of the world is what Jesus is praying would be in us!
A love before the foundation of the world: This is a love that preexisted sin. Jesus is praying that we would have no consciousness of sin (Hebrews 10:2) in our fellowship with the Father. He is praying that we would share what He shared with the Father through His substitutionary sacrifice!
5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Paraphrased… here’s how we know that we love God’s children: when we love on Him and keep His commandments to love on His children. Here’s how we know how to love—just practice His commandments! Just do it and you’ll see! His yoke is easy! His burden is light! (Matthew 11:28-30)
Commentary… again, this directly correlates with the Gospel. John is recalling the last words that his beloved Jesus said to him while on earth… John is faithfully passing it on to us. John is remembering how Jesus told them that His commandments are never grievous… because it’s all by grace anyway.
5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.
Paraphrased… All who are Born Again as New Creations in Christ know this to be true because they have overcome the world by faith.
NOTE This is the victory that overcomes all that is in the world—even our faith!
Remember the three enemies of the Born Again believer are these:
- the flesh,
- the world, and
- the devil.
It is by faith that we overcome the world, it is by praying in tongues that we overcome the flesh, and it is by the Word that we overcome the devil.
We also overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12:11).
5:5-9 Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he has testified of his Son.
Paraphrased…
How do we overcome the world? First things first, we must believe that Jesus is the one true Son of God. Remember: He’s the Holy Spirit man who was born as a flesh and blood baby boy into the earth through the womb of a woman. Not just born by water (flesh) only but by flesh and blood (the blood is so important to consider in all of this because that blood was pure, not being contaminated by a corrupt human parent, but no! The holy child Jesus was born unto a virgin and procreated by the male semen of a spiritual one—the Father—the blood of the child is determined by the parent male).
The Spirit (of the Father) bears witness to this fact all throughout the Word. And speaking of the Word: there are three that bear witness, all coming from the Father, and have been recorded for us in the halls of heaven: The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. We know them as the Trinity (but they’re really all just the ONE TRUE GOD functioning in three different persons, or expressions of Himself).
Oh yeah, and BTW, there are three that bear witness in the earth too, and they are as follows: the spirit, the water (flesh), and the blood. And those three give us a picture of how we are all created in the image of God… kinda like the trinity mirrored and manifested in the spirit/soul/body of human being.
Commentary…
The Trinity of heaven: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is exemplified in the tri-part being of a human: spirit, soul and body. Man is a spirit, he has a soul, and he lives in a body.
The water is likened to the being of man in many cases because it has spirit/soul/body like qualities: it can exist in three states (solid, liquid and gas)… it can also represent spiritual life like what Jesus offered to the woman at the well, or as in this case, simply: the flesh, so anyway… it is used in a variety of ways throughout the scriptures symbolically. In this context it is being used asthe flesh (the human body is comprised mostly of water) but more than just that. It is also the spirit behind the flesh or the psychology of man. The blood is the determinate factor for the physical body type, containing the DNA.
The Holy Spirit is going deep here and drawing out multifaceted parallels between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the tri-part makeup of mankind. He briefly uses this to illustrate the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus, the Christ, and why it was necessary to be of virgin birth. Jesus made reference to this being born of the water and the flesh when speaking to Nicodemus about being Born Again, in the Gospel of John chapter 3, verses 5 and 6. In verse 6 he defines the water as the flesh.
5:10 He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself: he that believes not God has made him a liar; because he believes not the record that God gave of his Son.
Paraphrased… The one who believes on Jesus (believing on Jesus is the same thing as believing in Jesus, or more accurately one who believes INTO Jesus, as in the doctrine of identification, his spirit passes with Jesus through the death, burial and resurrection, by faith in Him)… the one who believes has the witness of the Holy Spirit inside of him/her. The one who refuses to believe this (that God sent Jesus to take our place on the cross) is calling God a liar, because they’re rejecting the obvious Word of God attesting to the Messiah.
5:11-12 And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that does not have the Son of God does not have life.
NOTE Great witnessing verse! This really breaks it down for people who say there’s no way to be certain where a man will go when he dies. I like to take out this verse and point to the Bible and say, “This is the record right here, that God HAS GIVEN US ETERNAL LIFE! It’s already available to us in the person of His Son.” If you have Jesus you have eternal life (ZOE: the God kind of life) RIGHT NOW, if you don’t have Jesus, you aint got it!
Then I continue onto the next verse…
5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.
NOTE The things in the Bible are written so that we CAN KNOW that we have eternal life and how to get it!
5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
NOTE Another great Go To verse! When we know God’s will is SHALOM (Jeremiah 29:11) we know how to pray in line with His will (Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven). We pray with authority, knowing that He will hear us, and if we know He hears us we know we got it!
5:16-17 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
Commentary… There are times when we see our brothers and sisters sinning and we have the glorious privilege of being able to pray according to God’s will for them and see ZOE imparted to them, minister forgiveness and healing and help them to recover and get back on the right track (1st Timothy 3:16, 2nd Timothy 2:24-26, James 5:20, Matthew 18:15). But there is a sin that is unto death and John says that he does not recommend we waste our prayers on those who practice it (Matthew 12:31). There is only one sin that will keep a man out of heaven and that is the sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit over and over again to the point of blasphemy. This is the Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit which the Pharisees were warned about by Jesus in Matthew 12:31.
5:18-21 We know that whosoever is born of God does not sin; but he that is begotten of God keeps himself, and that wicked one touches him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
John’s Wrap up: a Review of what we KNOW…
Paraphrased… We know that our righteous spiritual natures have been made the very Righteousness of God in Christ and are incapable of sinning. The part of us that is Born of God is a New Creature in Christ (2nd Corinthians 5:17-21) and keeps us from falling back under the power of the wicked one.
The devil cannot touch God’s property and he has nothing in Jesus (John 14:30) therefore he has nothing in us!
We are of God. The whole world is under the power of the wicked one and gropes in spiritual darkness (Ephesians 2:2). We know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, spiritual revelation of the Light!
We know Him that is true, and we are IN HIM that is true, even Jesus Christ the Son. This is the true God come in the form of a Son, and manifesting ZOE life to us all. My precious brothers and sisters, keep yourselves from idolatrous practices (don’t let anything come between you and this glory!).
Amen.
After Thoughts…
God is Love
He wants the love that He is, and that He shared with the Son before the foundation of the world, to be revealed to us.
He wants a people who choose to love Him. He doesn’t want robots! No. Robot love would never do. He desires a people who will love Him for who He is. He wants us to come to Him because we love Him, not out of obligation, or out of a slave mentality, but rather, as sons and daughters who know Him for who He is and cannot help but love Him.
He wants us to fellowship with Him and learn more and more of the unfathomable depths of His love and riches of His grace which He revealed to us in Christ… as time goes on… throughout all eternity… more and more of His love being revealed in overwhelming measure…
He is Love, but He is also holy, so He had to make a way through Jesus for fallen humanity to be one with Him in His love. His love is what drove Him to pay the demands of His own justice by receiving His own punishment upon Himself for us. He is not an irresponsible Father. He created us with this in mind… He knew that in giving us the power to choose to love Him of our own free will, there was a danger that we would fall away… He knew that giving us the power to choose could also result in the power to turn away from Him… so He foreordained a plan, in Christ, long before He created us… He preplanned a way by which we could come back to Him.
One of the definitions of the word for Fellowship means “being poured into the same cup together”, it means we can mingle with Him, be one with Him, mix with Him… this is what 1st John is all about.
We have only begun to understand what this means for us. It is a love that will love on us for all eternity. We need to pray for a greater revelation of His love, this love that has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, this love that passes knowledge… a love beyond reason… a love that bypasses the intellectual faculties to fully understand…
We need to manifest this love into a world that has been plunged into darkness by sin and its resultant curse. In Him is Light and there is NO darkness at all. God is Love…
Here is a prayer given to Paul for a greater revelation of this love… a greater revelation of God… who is love…
For this cause I bow my knees unto the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
that you might be strengthened with might by His Spirit in your inner being (why? so that…)
- that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith
- that you being rooted and grounded in LOVE may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the height, and the depth, and the length and the breadth, and to know the LOVE of Christ, which passes knowledge
- that you might be filled with all the fullness of God
Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond all we could ever ask or think, according to His power that works in us, to Him be glory in the Church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages…
Ephesians 3:14-21
