How do I love God? I was recently asked this question by one of my children, shortly before I was asked to speak at a Valentine’s Brunch. A few days later I was asked to speak in our school’s elementary chapel. With this question in my head and Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I… Read More »
1 John 5:18 (ESV) states, “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.” In this verse, we see both the perseverance of the believer and the protection of that believer by… Read More »
1 John 5:18 (ESV) states, “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.” At first glance, the meaning of “everyone who has been born of God” seems to spill into “he… Read More »
1 John 5:16 (ESV) states, “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.” Can we… Read More »
In contrast to antichrists who deny essential truths about Jesus Christ (1 John 2:18–19; cf.2:22; 4:3; 2 John 7), the readers of 1 John are told, “But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge” (1 John 2:20), literally translated, “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and… Read More »
Worldliness in 1 John 2:15–17 could be described as valuing what is temporary more than what is eternal. It is living primarily to satisfy the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes. It could also be placing one’s confidence in what this present life offers rather than placing one’s confidence in God… Read More »
1 John 2:15–17 commands us to love neither the world nor the things in it, such as the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. To have these desires or this pride would characterize one as being of the world or worldly by virtue of loving the world… Read More »
What is propitiation? John states that Jesus “is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2) and, similarly, that the Father “sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). The Greek term for propitiation in these… Read More »
John proclaims that “God is light” in 1 John 1:5. Technically, the name “God” in this statement has the article “the” in the Greek, and “light” does not, indicating that God is metaphorically presented as light and not equated with it. Stated simply, God is light, but light is not God. We see, then, that… Read More »
In 1 John 1:5–10, John is speaking to believers, those who “have fellowship with one another” and God (1 John 1:7; cf. 1:3). In 1 John 1:9 it is these believers who “confess” (homologeō) their “sins,” obviously to God. Broken apart, the Greek verb homologeō literally means “to say the same thing,” and its use… Read More »