December
2nd
1 John 2
B. God is Love
Obeying Christ
1:
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.
And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous: 2: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not
for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 3: And
hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4:
He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a
liar, and the truth is not in him. 5: But whoso keepeth his word, in
him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are
in him. 6: He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to
walk, even as he walked.
Love
the brethren
7:
Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment
which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word
which ye have heard from the beginning. 8: 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 shineth. 9: He that saith he
is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until
now. 10: He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there
is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11: But he that hateth his
brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not
whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 12: I
write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you
for his name's sake. 13: I write unto you, fathers, because ye have
known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men,
because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little
children, because ye have known the Father. 14: I have written unto
you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I
have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word
of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
At
first John seems to be saying that Christians can be sinless. Of
course John is not saying that at all because previously he has said
that, ‘If we say we have not sin then we are liars’. So what is
John saying? Well John is saying that Christians do not sin as a
deliberate a specific course of action day after day. They sin but
not as a daily plan of action. Then John says, If (or when) any man
sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He is the propitiation for our sins. He is the sacrifice that
takes away the guilt of sin by taking away the offence. God is
propitious. That is He is kind! There is nothing that you need to do
to make him propitious! He is propitious. Christ has in himself made
a sacrifice to put away ALL YOUR SIN. And not just yours but also the
sin of the Whole world. (The issue God has with the world is NOT SIN!
The issue God has with the world is HIS SON! And whether men accept
him or not! Then John goes on to say that those who are saved - keep
his commandments. Here we get a glimpse of the fact the John is
writing to believers of Israel. Christians are not under
commandments! But the saved of Israel are. John takes them back to
the commandment of Christ given during the age of law, which is that
his followers are to love one another and this will be the token of
salvation. Next John writes to three classes of believers and gives
exhortation suitable to their station in life. To the Little Children
he says your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. To the
Fathers they have known the eternal Christ. To the young men they
have overcome the wicked one. Then he has more to say to each group.
Little children - have known the Father. Fathers - have known him
that is from the beginning. Young men - are strong, and the word of
God abideth in them and they have overcome the wicked one. Which
group do you belong to?
- Can Christians be sinless?
- What happens when we sin?
- What does it mean that God is propitous?
No comments:
Post a Comment