THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TRUTH
1 John 5:10-12 NLT
[10] All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son. [11] And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
What a serious indictment! How can we, mere mortals, call God a liar by refusing to believe that Jesus is the Son of God despite the Father’s own verbal and public affirmation of His Son and get away with it?
Why do people refuse to accept the Father’s testimony about His Son? From Jesus’s perspective, the whole issue is about sin. Adam chose independence from God in the Garden of Eden, and people today still want to be independent so that they can indulge in whatever they choose without being accountable to God.
John 3:18-20 NLT
[18] “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. [19] And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. [20] All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.”
Trouble is, it doesn’t work that way. It’s a unilateral declaration of independence which God does not sanction for a very good reason. God has the right of ownership because He created Adam and every human after him. Man may deny that ownership but that does not invalidate the fact that God has the authority to call the shots, not people.
The next sober truth is that the Father has commanded that everyone must repent of sin and turn to Him.
Acts of the Apostles 17:30 NLT
[30] “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.”
There are serious and eternal consequences for those who insist on their independence regardless of God’s requirement.
2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 NLT
[7] “And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, [8] in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.”
God has invested everything in His Son. Through Jesus, our debt of sin has been paid; our sins are forgiven; we have a new standing in God; He has restored us to fellowship with Him as His sons; we have eternal life in Christ ; He has prepared a glorious future for all who obey His command to repent and believe the good news.
We have to make a choice that will affect us for eternity. If we choose independence, God says we can have it but, that means we forfeit every part of who God is forever, no love, no truth, no life.
If we choose to believe in Jesus, we give up our independence. Our lives are forever joined to Him and under His authority, leadership, and protection, forever. We have a future with Him beyond imagination and beyond description.
1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT
[9] “That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
God has already decided what He will do but He leaves the final decision to us. That’s the truth about the truth.
Monthly Archives: October 2023
WHAT DOES IT MATTER?
WHAT DOES IT MATTER?
1 John 5:6-8 NLT
[6] And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross—not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. [7] So we have these three witnesses— [8] the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree.
It mattered to John that Jesus was both a real human being, not another kind of being, as some were teaching. He took pains to point out that those who taught otherwise were against… anti Christ. It mattered to him that his readers were sure that Jesus, the human was also the real Son of God. To prove this testimony to be true, he had to produce at least two or three witnesses.
John delves into the unseen realm to produce his witnesses.
1. He recalls Jesus’ baptism and the voice from heaven. He must have heard the words of that heavenly witness, “This is my Son!” The Father meant the crowds around John the Baptist that day to hear His words.
1 John 5:6 NLT
[6] “And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water…
2. Another powerful witness to Jesus’ identity as God’s Son is the whole cross event. Before His death, Jesus prophesied that He would be crucified and rise again. What other human could make such a ridiculous prediction and pull it off? And John saw it all!
1 John 5:6 NLT
[6] And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son… by shedding his blood on the cross—not by water only, but by water and blood.
The cross event was no happenstance in history. It was planned before history. It was executed in time. It has eternal consequences. No other event in history has affected the world since creation as did the death of Jesus on a Roman torture stake. Who can deny the evidence that Jesus Christ was no ordinary man?
3. The Holy Spirit, lost to humanity when Adam sinned, was restored to the earth on the day of Pentecost. He took up permanent residence in every believer then and now. He constantly and persistently bears witness, in our spirits, to the truth of all that Jesus is and claimed to be.
1 John 5:6 NLT
… And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony.
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would reveal His (Jesus’) identity to us when He (the Spirit) came, and He does. With the Spirit, we cannot know Jesus. He reveals and interprets all that Jesus is and does, in our hearts as we read His Word and experience Him in our lives.
John 16:13-15 NLT
[13] When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. [14] He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. [15] All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’
1 John 5:9 NLT
[9] Since we believe human testimony, surely, we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son.
So, John, you have proved your point that Jesus is both Son of man and Son of God.
FIGHTING THE WAR THAT’S WON
FIGHTING THE WAR THAT’S WON
1 John 5:4-5 NLT
[4] “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. [5] And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”
How is it possible that we must continue to fight a war that has already been won? Let’s look at it like this. We fight this in the spiritual dimension against an enemy that is inside us. This means that every child of God must overcome the enemy within to participate in the victory Jesus has already won over the enemy who rules in the world around us.
Jesus promised us His peace because He has overcome the world. What does He mean? Representatives of “the world”, ungodly society under the rule of Satan, subjected Jesus to the worst form of insult, humiliation, torture, and execution any human has had to suffer by a trial that mocked justice and a death by crucifixion. During the entire process, they tried their level best to get a reaction out of Him. They beat Him, they mocked Him, they taunted Him, they challenged Him to defend Himself but all they got was a prayer of forgiveness.
Throughout His life and even during those terrible hours before He died, He kept His eyes and heart on the Father. His passion was to do the Father’s will, whatever it cost Him.
Peer summed up His last hours like this:
1 Peter 2:23 NIV
[23]”When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”
Paul’s summary is equally beautifully expressed:
Philippians 2:6-8 NLT
[6] “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. [7] Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, [8] he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
Colossians 2:14-15 NLT
[14]”He cancelled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. [15] In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”
The Father’s final act of approval on His perfect life and atoning death was to raise Jesus from the dead and to elevate Him to supreme ruler of the universe.
Philippians 2:9-11 NLT
[9] “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Now, says John, if you believe that Jesus is God’s Son and if you trust in Him, He will give you the power to overcome the world as well.
What does that mean? The “world” is made up of ungodly people who live in rebellion against God, in a world system that is run by ungodly people. Their desire is to get us on their side. Our old nature, still at work in us, is in cahoots with the world. Although Jesus won the war against the world and its evil systems, we still have the battle against our old freshly nature going on inside us.
The only way to overcome our sinful desires is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us.
Galatians 5:16-18 NLT
[16] “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. [17] The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. [18] But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.”
Since we are no longer slaves to sin, grace enables us to overcome our fleshly desires by pointing us to Jesus and by living and obeying Him.
We win our battle against the flesh one moment at a time, one choice, one decision at a time until His righteousness in us is confirmed forever when we see Him
LOVING GOD MEANS LOVING HIS KIDS
LOVING GOD MEANS LOVING HIS KIDS
1 John 5:1-3 NLT
[1] Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. [2] We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. [3] Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
Loving God, loving God’s kids, it’s all the same thing to John. Obeying His commandments ties it all together. You see, when we love, respect and reverence God the Father so much because of who He is and what He has done for us in His Son, Jesus, that we wouldn’t dream of doing anything He wouldn’t want us to do, obeying His commandments isn’t difficult at all.
We have already learned that He has only two commandments for us to obey, so how can they be burdensome, especially when those commandments involve Jesus. Believe in Jesus! Again, what is difficult or burdensome to about believing in Jesus when He laid down His life for us?
What’s so burdensome about loving His children when He is busy changing them to be like Him? Some may be further along the way to becoming like Jesus than others but we are all facing the same way and going in the same direction.
On top of that, we have God’s love poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. What God is requiring of us, unlike His people under the Old Covenant which set the standard but provided no power to attain it, is adequately supported by His grace. In fact, God’s grace makes everything possible that God requires of us, from the smallest detail to the biggest hurdle. All we have to do is ask with humility, believe, and act upon that provision.
James 4:6 NLT
[6] And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
So, dear readers, by the 5th chapter of this letter, John has made very clear that living God’s children means being honest with each other, living in fellowship with each other, and taking care of each other’s needs. When we faithfully take care of these things, the evidence is clear. We love the Father and we love His Son.
LIAR!
LIAR!
“If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.”
1 John 4:20-21 NLT
Once again, repetition of an earlier instruction! The “apostle of love” must have had good reason to bring up the same subject more than once. Is it possible that the church in Ephesus, where he served, according to tradition, had members who were experiencing troubled relationships?
John gives no details but the fact that he had to address the issue more than once suggests that it was a real problem in this church. Since loving one another and unity among believers are the most powerful witnesses to the coming of Jesus to earth from the Father, any disturbance in relationships among God’s people threatened their witness to the unbelieving world.
John wants his readers to understand that there is a clear distinction between believers and unbelievers depending on the way they treat each other. Real believers sacrificially serve one another and work at preserving unity by their mutual submission. Ungodly people don’t! They expose their hearts by words and actions that divide, compete, and/or belittle others.
God’s children build others up in every possible way. Care for each other benefits the whole body. Those who care more for themselves than others, tear down, and fracture the fellowship, are exposing the condition of their hearts.
John would concur with Paul’s words…
Colossians 3:14 NLT
[14] Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
… since loving one another is Jesus’ command to His disciples. Obedience to any command in the New Covenant is empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit to obey. Without the Spirit, obedience is impossible.
So, we can conclude, anyone who claims to love God but diminishes a brother or sister in any way, is a liar. It’s as simple as that!