1 John 5:1-13

at the end of this text, john writes about the real foundation of our personal faith.  it is astounding in its simplicity and profound in its depth…

Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.  And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.  (10-13)

there are three pillars of practicality of our faith.  the first is that anyone who believes that jesus is the son of god has a testimony.  we have a story that is just a valid, just as real, just as credible as anyone who walked with jesus 2000 years ago.  if you know jesus, your life has been radically changed.  you didn’t get a better life.  you got a new life.  new lives speak volumes.  its a story worth telling.  its a story worth hearing.  what’s your story?

the second pillar is that we received the gift of eternal life.  unending, unlimited, undefinable life…right now.  eternal life doesn’t begin when we die.  it begins whenever we receive it by faith.  without an understanding of this theological jewel, there is no radical transformation.

the final pillar is assurance.  we can know we have eternal life.  we can grab it…hold it…possess it.  we can live our lives with absolute confidence and assurance that eternal life is ours.  it is the life jesus promises.  it is the life he died for.  it is the life for which he promised his holy spirit.  now.  right now.

do you have this assurance?  if you don’t, why not?  what needs to change?  get busy.

1 John 4:11-21

love.  what amazing topic.  what a profound lifestyle.  what a way to miss the point!

the most important thought that i still have lingering from yesterday’s sermon is how easy it is to miss the point.  language is so significant.  how we define the words in the bible can completely change the meaning of the text.  we need careful study and interpretation.  and the cool thing is that it can be done!

two words, if improperly defined, can undercut this entire passage…but if properly defined can revolutionize our lives.  the first is the word ought.

john writes in verse eleven, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”   the way i was raised, when my parents said that i ought to do something, it meant it was optional…a choice…a good idea that i was free to use or reject as i saw fit.  you ought to clean your room or cut your hair or do your homework or help mom with the dishes or stop calling your little brother names.  it might have been implied that it was something that i had to do, but as long as they included the word ought, it was still optional.

not so in the greek world.  in the mind of john, the word opheilomen (in greek) means “to owe money or a debt that is due”.  the love that we are to show to each other is not optional.  it is a debt that is owed.  the right translation totally changes the command from optional to imperative…essential…urgent…a must.

the other word is agape.  selfless, sacrificial, unconditional action given in the best interest of another person…not earned, or deserved, or merited in any way…with no expectation of anything in return.  it is a choice…a deliberate action of the will…not a feeling…not an emotion…the example of jesus on the cross.

that’s the kind of love we “owe” to each other.

1 John 4:1-10

wow.  what a great text!

i realize that i departed from looking at the details of this passage.  but the more i studied, the more obvious it became to me that sometimes we can miss the big picture if we focus too much on the details of the smaller pictures.  i hope that makes sense…

it’s not that the smaller pictures of this text are not important.  quite the contrary.  they are huge and incredibly important ingredients to understanding right doctrine.

• don’t believe every spirit.
• test the spirits.
• false prophets are everywhere.
• we can recognize the spirit of god.
• the spirit of antichrist is everywhere…then and now.
• we (children of god) have overcome antichrist.
• the spirit of god lives in us.
• the spirit in me is greater than the spirit of antichrist.
• we can listen to the spirit of antichrist or the truth of the apostles.  our choice.
• real love comes from god.
• real love can only come from one born of god.
• no love, no god.
• know love, know god.
• god showed us what real love is.
• jesus is real love.
• real love is defined by the atonement.

lots of details in this passage.  in spite of that, there is one consistent message: it’s all about jesus.  jesus is life.  jesus is love.  jesus is real.  jesus is the atonement.  jesus is the answer.  jesus is the remedy.  is this true for you?

1 John 3:11-18

so… the heart of this week’s text is found in verses 16-18:

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

if there is one thing people think they know about, it’s love.  we love stuff.  cars, dogs, enchiladas, television shows, over-stuffed chairs, electronic gadgets, football teams, air conditioning, chocolate chip cookies.  we love this stuff, right?   we know all about love, right?

could it be that our understanding of love is so warped, so shaped, so twisted by culture’s definitions that we just can’t see it for what it is?  this is love:  jesus laying down his life for us.  that’s what love is.  love is not a feeling.  love is not an impulse.  love is not an expression.  love is not an urge.  love is not a sensation.  love is selfless action taken in the best interest of another person.  love is doing what another person needs.  period.

as long as you have the stuff of life (the world’s possessions…breath and energy), you can love people.  you can disregard your own selfish interests and seek the higher good for another.  you can do it any time, any place, to anyone.

all you need is a little splangkna.  (compassion that moves to action)

• is this your view of love?  why or why not?
• is this too black and white?
• are you a hater or a lover?
• what would life a north point really be like if we started loving each other with laying-it-down-jesus-style kind of love?

1 John 3:1-10

pretty simple lesson yesterday, don’t you think?  you’re a child of god.  act like it.  here’s a few highlights from my week of study:

• i feel like i tread on hallowed ground when i openly challenge the translation of the bible.  it’s sacred.  bible translators are people far smarter and of greater renown (or any renown) than i have ever established.  but i just don’t think the niv translators got the beginning of this passage right. 

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1 NIV

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.  1 John 3:1 KJV


• “behold” is a call to wake up.  it screams pay attention…this is really big stuff.  
• it’s completely missing in the niv.
• “manner of love” is a specific descriptive term that john uses to tell his readers that no matter what they think or know of love, the love of god is different.  the word he uses means from another country or from another location.  
• it’s completely missing in the niv.
• “bestowed” is simply the common word for give or given.
• there is no question that god lavishes his love on us, but it doesn’t not say that in this text.
• it this all just a small issue?  i don’t think so.  
• the power of this passage resides in the fact that god’s love is so different, so profound, so life-changing…it changes us.  
• it has the power to change our identity.  to change our orientation.  to draw us from a spiritual orphanage to belonging to a family.  
• this is no small issue.  this is the heart of relationship.  this is what the love of god does.
• this is why john can say: you are a child of god.  act like it.

 

what do you think about bible translation?  what questions do you have?
what translation of the bible do you use?  do you use more than one when you study?
how serious are you taking your study of god’s word these days?

1 John 2:18-29

there sure is a lot dialogue in christian circles about end times, prophecy, and the second coming.  i don’t know if there is more now than when i was younger, but it sure seems like it.  i don’t know of a more hotly debated and potentially divisive subject in the church.  there are brothers who simply break off fellowship with other brothers because one side cannot agree with the other side.

i have to admit that after years and years of listening, reading, studying, and reflecting, i can honestly tell you that i am not positive about what i believe the end of the world is going to look like.  i think that opposing interpretations make logical and persuasive arguments.  the fact that there are not just two sides (there are at least nine or ten distinct, identifiable interpretations of end-time prophecy in the bible) makes the confusion even more jumbled.  

there are good-hearted, wise, and deeply committed disciples of jesus who stand confidently and intelligently on each of those interpretive positions…calling one of them their own and unashamedly rejecting all the others.  pretty heady stuff.  i’m grateful for the debate, but often very frustrated over the superior and judgmental attitudes that seem to accompany some of the particular positions…and deeply frustrated when those attitudes result in loss of friendship and fellowship.  enough of that.

from my study this past week, though, i am convinced that all this stuff about the “antichrist” runs the risk of being blown out of proportion.  the only place that the word “antichrist” appears in scripture is in this letter written by john…and only four different references are made.  (there is a reference to the man of lawlessness by the apostle paul in second thessalonians 2:3-12…and a similar reference in the gospels…some conclude that these must be the “antichrist”).  the cool thing about john’s letter is that he doesn’t just refer to the “antichrist”, but he defines who it is and where he will come from.  there is no confusion.  there is no speculation.  

we know that the “antichrist” will be one of many throughout history.  they will always start out as one of us.  they will then become overly consumed with themselves…believing that they have an anointing that is more special than the one that all the rest of us received…and then they will start to give out new and better insights and healings and interpretations and leadership…seeking to draw a following.

john’s message?  beware of anyone who claims to have a special anointing and remain close to the true anointed one…jesus.

great passage.

1 John 2:15-17

i don’t think there’s a passage of scripture that is more invigorating and potentially life-changing than the one i preached on yesterday!

it’s a serious mistake to assume that the “world” can be defined simply by listing off the things we are to avoid doing.  let’s be realistic…there are reasons god gave his people specific rules to keep and behaviors to avoid out in the desert…and there are also reasons that the apostle paul tells his readers to be very careful to avoid “rule-keeping” as a way of defining our spirituality.  it’s all about balance.

there are boat loads of potentially harmful behaviors:  dancing, watching movies or television, going to concerts, drinking, gambling, rock and roll music, reading novels, going to sporting events, owning a gun or a fancy car or a showcase home, playing the lottery, going on a cruise, looking at a billboard or a teen magazine, overeating, smoking and dipping, cussing, spending too much time on the internet or the phone or text messaging, driving over the speed limit, being a republican or a democrat…

everybody has a different opinion about the relative worldliness of each one of those issues…as well as an opinion about what god thinks about each one.  John is really brilliant in not making a list of worldly behaviors to avoid, but pointing us to the “heart” behind every sinful behavior of the world:  uncontrolled urges, wandering eyes, believing that what we have or do will change how god feels about us, and selfish pride that threatens to poison every good thought, good intention, and good choice we ever make.

how did this passage challenge your thinking?

1 John 2:12-14

this passage took on a whole new meaning for me this time around.  i have read and studied this letter for pretty much the entire time i’ve been a disciple of jesus, but this is the first time i’ve worked to see it from john’s point of view…an eighty year old follower of christ looking back on a life well-lived…a guy who was there from the beginning of the movement and someone with a perspective broad enough and deep enough to give sage advice and measured insight.  and his insight in this passage is priceless.

the life of following christ is a process.  the foundation we need to learn in our spiritual childhood is the depth and breadth of forgiveness.  without a profound grasp on the atonement of jesus, we will remain a spiritual baby…for a lifetime.

our spiritual young adulthood is all about moving to front line…motivated by the words of christ and the strength that comes with confidence in the power and truth of those words.  just like the wide-eyed, eager soldiers who head oversees to do battle with a faceless, deceptive enemy these days, so the young foot-soldier for the lord heads to the front line ready to do hand-to-hand combat with the evil one.

finally, the growth process runs it’s full course as we move to spiritual maturity…that place in life where we can be saturated with confidence that comes from a lifetime of seeing the power and promises of god come alive day after day.  priceless.

• are you moving forward in your spiritual journey?
• what kind of help do you need?
• are you experiencing the forgiveness of god daily?

one last thing…for those who asked and also for those who should have…here’s a video of the the guy who wrote the song and played the guitar on the background music during the slideshow on forgiveness.  make sure you check it out.  he’s absolutely amazing!

  

1 John 2:1-11

man, i don’t know about you, but i’m lovin’ going through 1 john!  i have read this letter pretty much my whole life, but this is the first time i have ever preached through it and i am seeing things that i have never seen before.  i hope that’s true for you.

the thing that stood out to me in this passage was how john writes an old command (love god…love others), but then tells how jesus has come along and re-shaped the command into a new one…a love that is defined by the life of jesus and a command for his followers to imitate that love.

jesus showed us how to love by the way he lived his life…how to serve others, to give unselfishly, to preach the gospel, to teach the principles of kingdom living, to forgive, to heal, to have compassion, to be moved to action.

in his death we see that love means to sacrifice, to have a purpose, to pay the price, to stay the course, to run into difficulty and not away from it, to obey god no matter what.

whoever claims to live in him must walk as jesus did.  yep.  that’s what he said.

so here’s a couple of questions for you to think about:

• do you consciously try to live like jesus?
• is that a realistic a realistic standard?
• what would happen if you really made this a priority?
• would life get better or would it mess up your life plans?
• would jesus live like you?
• is that a fair question?

what do you think?

1 John 1:5-10

what struck me the most about my study this week was the connection between how we walk (in the light) and our relationships to each other.  

i understand how important our behavior is to our connection with god.  sin separates.  darkness is where we hide hide and conceal and fool ourselves into believing that everything is all right.  what really stood out to me was the importance that john places on the fellowship between people.  it’s only a small line, but it packs power and definition.

when we are walking in darkness and self deception, our relationships suffer.  there can be no real fellowship.  there can be no genuine, real, honest friendship.  only a shell.  only a hollow, fake, protected, measured interaction.  yuck.

here’s some questions:

• why is there such resistance to getting into small groups for accountability in our spiritual lives?
• do we really need each other to help us grow deeper and stronger?  isn’t god enough?
• in this passage, is the confession of sin supposed to be to god or other people or both?
• is it easier to confess our darkness to others or to god?
• is it harder to accept god’s forgiveness or to forgive ourselves?  what’s the difference?
• what is the connection to the growth of the body and confession?
• do you feel like you are in good fellowship with god?  how about with the body?

let’s hear what you think…

here’s a link to the video i used in the sermon:  “FIX YOU”