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Right Beliefs Produce Right Living

Right Beliefs Produce Right Living - A study in 1 John
Why did John write this epistle?
1. That your joy may be full (1:4)
2. That you may not sin (2:1a)
3. That you may not be deceived (2:26)
4. That you may know you have eternal life (5:13)
We will look at the first two reasons:

We have joy because John saw, heard, and touched Jesus. He was a witness to Jesus’ humanity. Jesus was a real person not a ghost. He was with the Father in the beginning and John declares the eternal life which was with the Father. Jesus was made evident (manifested) so we may have fellowship with the Father and Jesus. We also enjoy this fellowship with believers in Christ. This brings us great joy.

The second reason John wrote his epistle was so that we may not sin. This implies we have a choice to sin or not sin. Before you became born-again, you did not have the power to not sin. You were controlled by your sin nature. If we say we have fellowship with God and our course of life is continually sinful we are lying to ourselves. If we say we have not sinned we are deceiving ourselves. If we say we have not sinned we make God a liar. As a believer in Jesus, one who has confessed our sins to Him and received His free gift of salvation, we have the choice to not sin because Jesus paid for our sins on the cross. All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23). The Scriptures declares us as sinners. What are we to do? We turn to the One whom John declares to us. The One he saw, heard, and touched - the One who is real. Romans 6:3-4 tells us we are baptized into Christ Jesus. This means we are identified with Jesus and with His death. We are new creations in Christ. We walk in newness of life (2 Corinthians 5:17). The shame and guilt we experienced is lifted off us in Christ. Now that gives us great joy!

Since we are identified with Christ in His death, we too are dead to sin. We no longer have to be a slave to our sins. Those sins of worry, lack of trust in the Lord, unbelief, drinking, lust, etc. do not have dominion over us any longer. God, by His Spirit, empowers us to say “no” to those sins. Praise God! Reckon (consider) yourselves to be dead to sin and alive in Christ Jesus.

Sin does not have to reign in our lives. This is where we have a choice and God’s power to live as those who overcome. Do not place yourself in a position where you are weak and easily fall into sin. Avoid those places. An unbeliever does not have this option. He can only continue to sin because he does not have the power to conquer it.

A carnal Christian has the option but chooses not to use it. The ability to overcome sinful areas in our lives brings us great joy. It’s not an easy option but it is one that pleases God.

What happens if we yield to that temptation and sin? We have the marvelous remedy in Christ Jesus. See 1 John 2:1-2.

Confess your sins to Jesus. He came for the sinner. He is our Advocate with the Father. Jesus intercedes for us. He speaks to the Father on our behalf. He is our supporter and our defender. We have placed our faith and trust in Him to forgive us of our sins. We believe He paid the full penalty for our sins. Now we have fellowship with both the Father and the Son. Jesus knows us and we are His sheep. We hear His voice. He will not cast us out. We are in Jesus’ and the Father’s hands. The Father gave us to Jesus and Jesus gives us His Holy Spirit to dwell within us. He is for us. Isn’t He wonderful?

He is the propitiation for our sins. The propitiation was Jesus on the cross satisfying the wrath and judgement of God for sin. God is offended by our sins. He hates sin. Sin must be judged. When Jesus was on the cross, the offense and righteous anger that God had for sin was placed on Jesus. The wrath of God and the demand for justice was place on Jesus. God was satisfied with the penalty Jesus paid so the Father raised Jesus on the third day.
Let us be joyful in what God has done for us in His Son Jesus.

Our Hope

1 Peter 1:10-25              1/28/2020

This salvation (v.10) What salvation? the one that is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away. Reserved in heaven for you. This salvation is our bodily one. Yes we are now saved, and cannot lose this salvation. But this one is referring to our new glorified bodies, the ones will spend eternity in! In:

1 Corinthians 15:51-55

This is what we are waiting for, this is part of our treasure in heaven that’s referred to in (Matt.6:21;19:21;Luke12:34;18:22).

         In v.11 The Old Testament prophets searched out and yet couldn’t understand how The Christ could be both a suffering servant and the King of Glory. In Daniel 2:44 and Isaiah 53:1-12

It’s hard to imagine what they thought of these visions and words of knowledge they received from God. Seeing the King of Kings with His everlasting reign. And, yet telling about His sufferings and death. If He is to reign forever? How could He suffer and die? They also couldn’t see the gap between his first and second coming, which is our present age. J.Vernon McGee compares this to observing 2 mountain tops. From a distance they seem to be next to each other, but there is a vast valley between them when you get closer.

Verses 13-16. The King James Version says, gird up the loins of your mind.  At that time they wore long robes down to their feet, they would raise them up, bind them with a belt, freeing their legs for running or hard active work. So, prepare our minds, be sober in spirit, and fix your hope completely on the grace, of God’s free gift to us, at Christ’s return. Again, what we will receive, our treasure, our new body, our reward for our obedience to Him! 

         As obedient children we shouldn’t go back to what we were before being born again, but we are to be like Him… Holy!

Vs.17,18 If we are claiming that God is our Father, I remember how I would imitate my dad when I was a child. Pretending to shave, helping with projects around the house, even dressing in his clothes.

Then how should we conduct ourselves, Knowing that He will judge each and every one of us for the things we say? (Matt.12:36). Then how should we conduct ourselves, Knowing that He will judge each and every one of us for the things we say? (Matt.12:36).

V.22.  Here  is our requirement that we obey, submit, to the truth (Jesus) which purifies our souls so that we can love our brothers sincerely. That word sincere is literally un-hypocritical, I was given an illustration  of the word hypocrite a long time ago that painted a picture I’ve never forgotten. The word was used to describe an actor who would hold up a mask in front of his face to portray someone else. Not showing  who he really was, not with his own emotions or his own philosophies. Basically, hiding their true self from others. So I picture a mask when the word hypocrite is used.

         Then it states Fervently, passionately putting our all into loving one another. What are we called to do? The second part of the greatest commandment.

Our flesh will not endure, it will grow old and die (unless we are raptured). It is perishable, it is defiled, and it is fading away. Thank the Lord that we get a new one. This body isn’t going to heaven with us. We get something completely new, not made with hands. Not one that has seen corruption and decay but a brand new one. Let’s compare cars, we take our old beat up car and trade it in for a new car, right? We don’t want the dealer to take our old car clean it up, give it a tune up, slap some new paint on it and give it back to us as new would we? I know I wouldn’t appreciate that. I want the brand new one. Now they’re both cars and still operate the same, so our new bodies will look similar, recognizable by those who know us and also when we look into the mirror yet imperishable, undefiled, never fading. This is part of our treasure in heaven along with our salvation all due to His grace.

         To conclude: I’ve  titled this  Our Hope. It tells us that we will go through trials and tribulations. That we will grow old and die physically. That we not conform to our former lusts we had before being born again.

         And through all this  we can greatly rejoice that we, being born again,love that term, have a hope in heaven that we will receive our treasure when He is revealed in the last time. We’ll get a new body  that is  imperishable, undefiled, never fading (remains the same). It teaches us that  we are to keep our focus on being obedient to the word, keeping ourselves holy ‘as He is holy’ set apart, pure, as a bride. For we are the bride of Christ, betrothed, engaged, to the Lord. Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. Eph.5:25-7. The wedding hasn’t taken place yet, but we look forward to it, HOPE. Therefore, having been called with a holy calling we need to remain pure, as a bride for her husband. Setting aside carnal things and set our spiritual eyes to His return.