What Great Love
1 John 3:1-3 ESV
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
These words are being
addressed to the gathering of the church, though not everyone within these
gatherings of the church is truly a child of God, which will become even more clear
as we work our way through this passage of scripture. For, although Jesus
Christ, God the Son, in his great love for us, gave his life up for us on that
cross so that we can be set free from our slavery to sin, many within these
gatherings of the church continue in bondage (addiction) to sin and yet claim
to have faith in Christ.
Yet, the Word of God makes
very definite distinctions between those who are truly in Christ, by God-given
faith in him, and those who are not. If our hope is truly in the Lord, we will
purify ourselves as God is pure. This is not works-based salvation, though.
For, although Jesus Christ is the one who cleanses us from sin, we must
cooperate with his work of grace in our lives. We must surrender to the Lord,
and submit to his will, and yield to the Lordship of Christ in our lives, and
walk in obedience. It is by grace we are saved, but through God-given faith,
which puts action to our words.
Practicing Sin
1 John 3:4-10 ESV
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
If sinning against God is our
habit, our custom, our way of living, our routine or ritual, i.e. our normal
practice, then we are not truly born again of the Spirit of God, for the Word
of God teaches us that if we walk in sin we will die in our sins, not have
eternal life with God in heaven. This is not saying we will never sin again
(See: 1 John 2:1-2), but that if we make sinning against God our practice, and
if we don’t make righteousness our practice, then we don’t truly know God, we
are not abiding in Him, and we don’t have the hope of eternal life with God in
heaven when we leave this earth.
Yet, many people today are
preaching and teaching that we can believe in Jesus, and have the hope of
heaven when we die, by a mere profession of faith in Christ which requires no
repentance, no obedience, no submission to Christ or his cross, no death to sin
and no living to righteousness. Please know that this is a BOLD FACED LIE!
Scripture contradicts that notion all throughout the New Testament.
These who teach this false
grace gospel, which requires no death to sin or living to righteousness, but
allows for a continual practice of sin in one’s life, are charmers, deceivers,
manipulators and liars whose goal it is to deceive and to pull people away from
genuine faith in Jesus Christ. And, what they teach are lies which they
concocted, but which have no scriptural backing to them whatsoever. So, they
pull scriptures out of context to support their lies, and they say what people’s
itching ears want to hear, and so many people listen to them and follow them in
their deceitful scheming.
These teachers of this false
gospel and their messages are full of pride, moral and spiritual indifference, lies,
deceptions, fakery, and hypocrisy, while they give credence in their own lives,
and in the lives of their followers, to sinful habits (the practice of sin) and
to lying excuses for why they continue in those sinful practices, or why they
feel at liberty to do so. Oftentimes they blame others for their continued sin
or even blame Jesus Christ, as though it is His responsibility to make sure
they don’t sin.
But, Jesus did his part. He
made the way for us to be free from our slavery to sin, and he has given us
everything we need to live godly and holy lives, pure lives in him, pleasing to
him. We are not puppets on a string which he makes do whatever it is he wants
us to do. We have a choice whether to obey him or not; whether to submit to him
and to yield to his Lordship, or whether to go our own way and keep on living
in sin. So, we have no one to blame but ourselves if we choose to keep making
sin our practice, and to not love our brothers and sisters, as a result of
those practices, and thus to not have fellowship with God, and to not have
heaven as our eternal home.
Love One Another
1 John 3:11-15 ESV
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
If we make sin our practice,
and that sin involves sinning against other people, then not only are we not
acting in love towards others, but we are acting in hate, for hate is the
opposite of love. If we cheat on, lie to, abuse, misuse, take advantage of,
trick, and play mind games with others in order to silence them, and then make
excuses for the sins, blame others, including blaming God, this is hate,
especially if we make it our habit, and we know better, and we know the truth,
but we refuse to live the truth we know.
And, then, if there are those
who love us enough to tell us the truth about our sin, and to show us the way
out from underneath our addiction to sin, and we don’t listen to them, but we
treat them with contempt and abuse, and we slander them or blame them for our
sin, then that is hate, and it is murder, the same as Cain murdered his brother
because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s deeds were righteous. So, if
this is how you live, and it is what you continue in, then you abide in death,
not in life, and you don’t have eternal life with God abiding in you. Please
take this seriously!
God is going to judge you for
your sins. One day he is going to lay low your pride, but the goal, I believe,
will be to humble you in order to turn you away from your moral filth, your
pride, your selfishness, your sinful addictions, your lying excuses, your blame
games, and your apathy (your spiritual indifference), and to turn you to
repentance, obedience and purity of heart and mind. But, the choice is still
yours to obey or to not obey.
Yet, for those of us who are
walking in the Spirit, and sin is not our practice, i.e. we are not walking
according to the flesh, we can expect that we will be hated and mistreated by
those who are living according to the flesh. They will hate us, for we stand
for righteousness, and they know that what they are doing is wrong. So, if we
love others enough to tell them the truth about their sin, and to call for
repentance, and obedience to Christ and his Word, like did John the Baptist, in
preparing people’s hearts for Jesus, then we should expect that we will be
hated and persecuted for righteousness.
In Deed and Truth
1 John 3:16-18 ESV
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
If we truly love our brothers
and sisters in Christ, or the people of this world, we will willingly lay down
our lives for them, i.e. we will tell them the truth about their sin and what
they need to do to be free, even if it means they will hate, abuse, misuse,
slander and blame us, in return.
Please know this: True faith
in Jesus Christ, the kind which saves us, comes from God, and is divinely
persuaded by God as to his righteousness and holiness, and of our need to
repent of our sins and to walk in obedience to Him. If we buy into the lies of
these deceivers, and we think we can continue in sinful addiction and treating
others abusively, while claiming Christ as our Lord and heaven as our eternal
home, we will be in for a big surprise, and not a good one! True faith in Jesus
Christ walks the talk. It does not just talk the walk and then not put faith into
action. Truth faith, which saves, loves God and others, not just in words, but
in action (in deed) and in truth.
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September
11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is
falling.
Jesus Christ is gently
calling
You to follow Him in all
ways.
Trust Him with your life
today.
Make Him your Lord and your
Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow
Jesus.
He will forgive you of your
sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new
within.
Men betraying: Our trust
fraying.
On our knees to God we’re
praying,
Seeking God to give us
answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all
things.
Nothing from His mind
escaping.
He has all things under His
command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently
calling
You to follow Him in all
ways.
Men deceiving: we’re
believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our
future.
For our wounds He offers
suture.
He is all we need for this
life.
Trust Him with your life
today.
Friday, April 6, 2018, 6:46
a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for this teaching from Your Word. Bring it home to our
hearts, I pray in Jesus’ name.
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