Wednesday, August 14, 2024

PT-2 "Intro to 1 John 1:5-6, 8, 10"

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/14/2024 8:58 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus: Intro to 1 John 1:5-6, 8, 10

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference: 1 John 1:5-6, 8, 10

 

            Message of the verses:  5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;  8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

 

            It can be seen in John’s writings, as he has written five books in the New Testament, that to the degree that John was passionate in his love for the truth that he was equally passionate in his opposition to error.  Let us look at 2 John verse seven:  “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.” This is a warning that John wrote to those who he wrote this letter to and since it is in the Word of God those who read it are warned too.  John then admonished to separate themselves from all such heretics:

 

Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds. (vv. 9-11; cf. 3 John 9-10).

 

                9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among   them, does not accept what we say. 10  For this reason, if I come, I will call          attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with             wicked words; and      not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he        forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church, (3 John 9-10).

 

            MacArthur concludes his introduction by writing:  “To guard one’s flock from those who would destroy it, a faith pastor must know and teach sound doctrine (cf. Titus 1:9).  He must also give his people tests by which they can distinguish true believers from counterfeit professors.  Making that fundamental distinction is essential to the church’s protection and spiritual growth.  The wheat must be differentiated from the tares (cf. Matt. 13:24-30), the sheep distinguished from the goats, or the godly shepherd will never be able to clarify to his people their true condition or protect them from the deadly deceptions of false teachers.

 

            “In these verses, John presents two crucial doctrinal tests to determine who is genuine; and accurate belief in the nature of God, and a genuine belief in the certainty of sin.”

 

            Lord willing we will begin to look at these verses in greater detail as we move through them in the next week or so.  8/14/2024 9:25 PM

           

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