Category: 1 John

Dear Church Family, The love of God for His people is a major theme in Scripture. God’s very nature is love (1 John 4:8, 16). Our being predestined to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, is based in the love of God (Ephesians 1:4-5). Because He died for us, the love of Christ controls…

Dear Church Family, Last week, in our look at 1 John 2:28-3:5, we reflected on how as a child of God, “be” comes before “do.” That is to say, according to God’s Word, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And then, only after we have been made a new creation,…

Dear Church Family, In most religions one must “do” in order to “be.” That is to say, most religions are works-based – you have to do things in order to become a new person or gain a reward. The Christian faith, however, is the exact opposite: one must “be” in order to “do.” That is…

Dear Church Family, Quick Review Just a quick review of what we’ve learned and where we’ve been thus far in our study of 1 John. John’s first epistle teaches us about the three main aspects of the Christian life. And, the second chapter of 1 John covers all three emphases of this letter. The first…

Dear Church Family, As we’ve seen, John’s first epistle teaches about the three main aspects of the Christian life. And, the second chapter of 1 John covers all three emphases of this letter. The first part of this chapter (1 John 2:1-6) emphasizes the important of right morality and learning to walk in the same manner as…

Dear Church Family, In the second chapter of his first epistle, the Apostle John talks about the importance or right affections or right relationships. Unfortunately, many people believe that what or who a person loves is outside of his or her control. Surely, you’ve heard this sentiment: “I can’t help who I love,” or “the…

Dear Church Family, As we’ve seen, the first main part of 1 John (1:5-2:6) is about obedience and right morality. God’s Word calls us to examine ourselves (1 John 1:5-10), examine Christ (1 John 2:1-2), and examine our calling to keep and obey God’s commandments (1 John 2:3-6). The Apostle John concludes the first section…

Dear Church Family, After the prologue of his first epistle (1 John 1:1-4), the Apostle John writes to his fellow believers in order to help them grow in sanctification and cease from sinning (1 John 2:1). So, he first calls us to self-examination: believers ought to remember that they are “in the Light” (in knowledge and…

Dear Church Family, Following the prologue of John’s epistle (1 John 1:1-4), the first section of the main body of this letter runs from 1 John 1:5 to 1 John 2:6. And, the main emphasis of this section is sanctification – how to cease from sinning and grow in obedience to God’s Law. In the center of this…

Dear Church Family, In our continuing study of 1 John, in our previous installment, we saw how the main emphasis of the first section of the main body of this letter (1 John 1:5-2:6) is sanctification – how to cease from sinning and to grow in obedience to God’s Law. In the center of this section,…