Walking in The Light / An Original Work / November 16, 2011
Based off 1 John 1-2
When I lift up my voice, and
Sing praise unto God,
I will fellowship with my
Lord and Savior, King.
In Him there is no darkness.
He is in the light of truth.
If we walk in His light,
From sin He purifies.
If we repent of our sins,
He’ll forgive us now,
When we humble ourselves, and
Before Jesus bow.
The man who says, “I know Him,”
But does not obey His truth,
There is no truth in him.
In darkness still he’s found.
Do not love the world of sin,
For it is hell bound.
If you follow the world, you’ll
Not in Christ be found.
The world and its desires
Will not last; they’ll expire.
The one who does God’s will,
Receives eternal life.
See that what you have heard from
Christ remains in you.
Then, you’ll remain in Christ, and
In His Father, too.
This is what He promised us –
His eternal life with God.
So, continue in Him, and
You’ll receive a crown.
http://youtu.be/wS6ljsF6aV4
Then, as I sat down to read I John 3, the Lord brought another song to mind, “Jesus, Lead Me.” Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read I John 3:
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! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
Love One Another
This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
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. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
My Understanding: John began this section of his writing by describing God’s love as something he lavishes (heaps; covers) on us, that we should be called his children. Awesome! When I go to bed at night, I heap the blankets on myself because I get cold, so it is not difficult for me to picture God’s love smothering me with warmth, protection and comfort like those blankets piled on top of me at night to keep me warm. And, I feel that way about his love, too. Yet, the world, and even the worldly church does not know us, i.e. they don’t recognize us as being children of God, because they don’t know God, and they don’t know his love. And, so they may stomp on us and reject us, but they are really rejecting Christ and his love. Yet, we are not a completed work here on the earth, and we won’t be until Christ returns. When he appears, we will truly be like him, for we will see him as he is. Then we he will wipe the tears from our eyes, and there will be no more pain and sorrow, for the old order of things will pass away and everything will become new. Yay!
Though we will not be absolutely perfect until Christ returns, and we no longer dwell in these earthly bodies of ours, which are subject to sin, still John said here that everyone who has this hope in Christ purifies himself, as Christ is pure. Jesus Christ died to take away our sins, not just the ultimate penalty of sin (eternal damnation), but the control of and bondage to sin on a day to day basis. He freed us from the power of sin and death so that we no longer have to give into sin and we no longer have to be controlled by our sinful passions and desires (see Romans 8). We can say “No” to sin on the basis of what Christ did for us on the cross in putting our sins to death and then in being resurrected to life in conquering hell, Satan, death and sin, so that sin no longer has mastery over us. Instead, we put sin to death when we invite Jesus Christ into our lives as Lord and as Savior. In Christ is no sin, and Christ lives in us, if we have truly come to know him.
Now, if you read the beginning of chapter 2 you will see that John acknowledges the fact that, while we are still in these earthly bodies, we will still sin, though he was praying for them that they would not sin. So, he is not saying that we will be perfect until Christ returns. Yet, on the other hand, he stated quite frequently throughout his letter that sin is lawlessness, and we know that lawlessness is open rebellion against God’s laws (his commands). So, if we live in Christ and we walk according to the Spirit of God and not according to the flesh, we won’t “keep on” sinning. We won’t continue in willful sin. To “keep on” sinning suggests that, first of all, no heart change truly took place in the person’s life, and second of all it suggests that this is speaking of having an attitude that we can, because of God’s grace, continue in our sin and still have our ticket into heaven. As well, it proposes the idea that the continuous sin is not accompanied by repentance and change, for the person may feel that he or she does not have to repent now that he or she is “in Christ.” Or, the person may feel guilt or sorrow over sin, but it is only a worldly sorrow that does not lead to repentance and to eternal life. So, if we continue in willful sin, we don’t know Christ.
Then, John cautioned the Christians to not let anyone lead them astray. What did he mean by that? He explained what he meant when he stated that he who does what is right (truly right in God’s eyes) is righteous and he who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. Again we have the picture of unrepentant continuous sin. If we are truly born again of the Spirit of God we will not want to continue in sin much less will we choose to keep on sinning as a continual course of our daily lives. So, what this says to me is that the people who are leading others astray are all of these “grace only” preachers who are telling their adherents that God does not require repentance (turning from sin) or obedience for salvation, and that once you pray the prayer for salvation that God is pleased with you no matter what you do. The whole of the New Testament contradicts this teaching, but in particular this book of I John does a slam dunk on that false teaching. John is saying, “Don’t be led astray into thinking that you can know Christ and still continue in your sin.” Don’t be fooled! Many will hear, “I never knew you” on the day they come before God, because they thought they had their salvation in the bucket.
Then, lastly, John covered the subject of love – not only God’s love for us, but how we need to love our brothers and sisters. Like Cain, who murdered his brother, we might hate others because we are jealous of them and their relationship with God, or because they are living for God when we know we are not. So, it should not surprise us when the world hates us, because they will hate what they don’t understand, and they will hate anything that makes them look bad by comparison. They are happy if they can drag us down with them. So, we are commanded to love as Christ loved us. He loved us by being willing to give of his life and his reputation, and to have us hate him in order to tell us the truth about our sin. They killed Christ because he told them the truth, and they didn’t like the truth. So, true love tells the truth, even when it hurts, because we love others more than we love our own lives. True love does not just mouth the words, but true love backs up the words with action – the kind of action that reveals that we truly care more about a person’s soul than we do about whether or not he or she likes us. If we know Christ, his love compels us to love with his love. We are commanded to believe in Jesus and to demonstrate his love. And, those who obey Christ’s commands live in him, and he in them, and the Spirit of God confirms this.
Jesus, Lead Me / An Original Work / July 22, 2011
Jesus, lead me all the way.
Be my hope and be my stay.
Gently lead me where I should go,
So Your Spirit, I want to know.
Open up my heart to You.
Fill me with Your love and truth.
Make my heart want to obey.
Be my Lord today. Gently lead always.
Jesus, lover of my soul,
Cleanse my heart, and make me whole;
Be transformed in my heart today,
As I turn from my sin and pray.
Make Your will known to my heart.
May I not from You depart.
How I long to hear You now,
As I humbly bow. Jesus, hear me now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTIM16o9ldg
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