I believe the first verse of this chapter has been taken out of context as much as any verse in the New Testament, particularly the first part of the verse. People believe that saying they believe that Jesus is the Son of God is enough to save them. Besides disregarding the thought of James 2:19-20, this also ignores the message of John both before and after this verse.
Remember that at the end of chapter 4 we are told we should love our fellow Christians; this is the true mark of discipleship. This thought is also continued in the following verses. We must be begotten of God. We can't be of God if we've not been born of God. Verse three plainly says that if we love God we will keep His commandments. The question many have trouble answering is which one or ones? His first commandment is for us to be born of Him in baptism.
These first five verses of chapter five can lead to a discussion of obedient faith. If one takes the position that baptism isn't necessary I still don't see how they can escape what is said here concerning the keeping of His commandments. Obviously there is action needed on our part.
Verse 6 is one of the more difficult verses to interpret in this letter. As a result, there have been many interpretations of these words. It's important to note that John says Christ came with (by) water and with (by) blood. The reference to water is referring to His baptism (Matthew 3:15). The mention of blood is referring to His death (John 19:34). Some say this refers to the water and blood which came from Christ's side on the cross. There would be no reason for John to write about that when he's laying out historical facts concerning Jesus.
Verses 7 and 8 tell us about the purpose of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the third witness after the water and blood spoken of in verse 6. (See Matthew 3:15)
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
A Reminder of Brotherly Love (First John 4:7:21)
The last half of chapter three deals with how we should show our love in what we do. The first part of chapter four instructs us on how to test what we hear concerning God; being aware of false teachers. John returns to his thoughts on love in the rest of this chapter.
Beginning with verse 7 and continuing through the rest of the chapter, John instructs us to love the same way Christ loved. Our love is a sign of our new birth in Him. It's the one thing that can't be faked.
The verb form of love in verse 8 is agapao, the present active tense of agapa. The meaning here is that the one who does not continue to love doesn't really know God. It's an ongoing part of our lives. The word know is an aorist active verb. That means the one not loving has never known God. Think about what that means to the one (hopefully not us) who claims to be a Christian but doesn't display their Christianity by showing love.
Verse 9 speaks volumes. It tells us that God loves man. That love was revealed by God giving His son. The purpose of that gift was so we can live through Him. That obviously disproves several points, namely that God was angry with mankind and sent Jesus to appease His wrath. It also shows that we didn't receive God's love because of Christ's death. We received Christ because of God's love.
With the use of the word propitiation (which we've covered previously) verse 10 tells us that God is loving to us. To have a proper sacrifice, one needs a priest to offer it and a victim to be sacrificed. Christ was both!
Verse 12 really goes hand in hand with verses 20 and 21. If God is in us, we show love to others just as He showed it to us. We obviously can't see God. We see each other and God dwells in our brothers and sisters. When we're loving them with the love of God, we are in essence loving God.
I can't help but think of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5 when I read verse 13. I don't believe it's a coincidence that love is the first fruit listed by Paul; do you? We know the Spirit lives in us because we love God...and each other!
The word seen or beheld in verse 14 comes from the word tethametha and is a perfect middle verb. That means they saw with adoring wonder Jesus in the flesh. (See First John 1:1-3 and John 15:26-27) This verse refers to the whole principle of salvation; the blessings of atonement are available to all who will believe Him.
The next four verse recap points John has already made. The result of loving each other and God is that we will have boldness before Him. John taught this back in 2:28 when he assured us that we will have confidence. (See Matthew 25:34-30)
The flip side to this is revealed in verse 18. That goes back to the lack of confidence that unfortunately too many have regarding their salvation. If a person has fear about their salvation, it's time to look inward. The problem isn't God and a lack of love on His part. The problem is the one who feels fear. Perhaps then it's time to reexamine their love. I hope we all do that from time to time. Let's all look at our love for God and for each other.
Beginning with verse 7 and continuing through the rest of the chapter, John instructs us to love the same way Christ loved. Our love is a sign of our new birth in Him. It's the one thing that can't be faked.
The verb form of love in verse 8 is agapao, the present active tense of agapa. The meaning here is that the one who does not continue to love doesn't really know God. It's an ongoing part of our lives. The word know is an aorist active verb. That means the one not loving has never known God. Think about what that means to the one (hopefully not us) who claims to be a Christian but doesn't display their Christianity by showing love.
Verse 9 speaks volumes. It tells us that God loves man. That love was revealed by God giving His son. The purpose of that gift was so we can live through Him. That obviously disproves several points, namely that God was angry with mankind and sent Jesus to appease His wrath. It also shows that we didn't receive God's love because of Christ's death. We received Christ because of God's love.
With the use of the word propitiation (which we've covered previously) verse 10 tells us that God is loving to us. To have a proper sacrifice, one needs a priest to offer it and a victim to be sacrificed. Christ was both!
Verse 12 really goes hand in hand with verses 20 and 21. If God is in us, we show love to others just as He showed it to us. We obviously can't see God. We see each other and God dwells in our brothers and sisters. When we're loving them with the love of God, we are in essence loving God.
I can't help but think of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5 when I read verse 13. I don't believe it's a coincidence that love is the first fruit listed by Paul; do you? We know the Spirit lives in us because we love God...and each other!
The word seen or beheld in verse 14 comes from the word tethametha and is a perfect middle verb. That means they saw with adoring wonder Jesus in the flesh. (See First John 1:1-3 and John 15:26-27) This verse refers to the whole principle of salvation; the blessings of atonement are available to all who will believe Him.
The next four verse recap points John has already made. The result of loving each other and God is that we will have boldness before Him. John taught this back in 2:28 when he assured us that we will have confidence. (See Matthew 25:34-30)
The flip side to this is revealed in verse 18. That goes back to the lack of confidence that unfortunately too many have regarding their salvation. If a person has fear about their salvation, it's time to look inward. The problem isn't God and a lack of love on His part. The problem is the one who feels fear. Perhaps then it's time to reexamine their love. I hope we all do that from time to time. Let's all look at our love for God and for each other.
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