"Since you have purified your
souls in obeying the truth
through the Spirit in
sincere love of the brethren, love
one another fervently with
a pure heart,
having been born again,
not of corruptible seed but
incorruptible, through the
word of God
which lives and abides
forever..."
1 Peter 1:22-23
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Good day! Let's seek the Lord...
"Father God, today we will be reading about being a child of God again. Lord I pray that You will fill each reader here with the knowledge of Your will for her life. I thank You that You have promised us the eternal. I thank You that You have shown us more about Yourself in Your holy word.
I ask forgiveness of my sins, Lord, and pray that You will wash me clean and release me from the bondage of my sins, Lord. I pray for healing and cleansing this day.
I lift up each lady reading this study here today. I know she is going through her own challenges and tasks today, so I pray that You will come along side her and give her peace. I pray that You will go to her, hear her prayers, and speak to her through You word. I pray that she will earnestly seek You with all her heart.
In Jesus' name...amen."
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Knowing the True- Rejecting the False
As we begin the last portion of 1 John, we will notice that it is a basic review of all that we have learned in this little book.
John takes us on a journey of assurance in these last verses of his first epistle. He teaches us how to grow in assurance with the opening words: "we know" in each verse.
The whole purpose behind John's first letter is for Christians to have assurance and to grow in that assurance. How wonderful it is that we serve such a loving God who wants His children to grow in the knowledge of Him and His grace.
1 John 5:18-19
"We know that whoever is born of God does not sin, but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one."
Victory Over Sin
In our openeing verses, we read that obeying God keeps us, purifies us, and spreads the love of God around. These verses echo all that John has written in his epistle as well.
This theme is repeated through the New Testament letters written by the Apostles because they are writing to encourage, convict, and prosper the believer.
1 John 3:9
We already know what John says about the believer sinning or not sinning. If we are believers then we cannot habitualy live in our sin. It is impossible because the incorruptible sin lives within us. Jesus will not allow us to continue in sin.
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"..but he who has been born of God keeps himself..."
1 Thess 2:13
We "keep" ourselves through the reading and studying of God's word. Because we were given that perfect word of God, we are capable of not sinning.
One who is born of God cannot continue in the sinful lifestyle of the non-believer. The Holy Spirit now abides in the believer and will not allow the believer to continue in sin.
God sent us His Son, the keeper of the sheep: our Good Shepherd.
John 10:27-30
John 17:8
But the Bible also tells us Christians to keep ourselves....
1 Tim 5:22
James 1:27
Rom 12:2
Jude 21
It is most imperative that the Christian know that Scripture is the key to keeping ourselves pure enough to commune with a holy God.
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"And the wicked one does not touch him...."
The greatest and most effective thing the devil ever did was to convince the world he does not exist. When a Christian begins to believe that the devil has nothing to do with her anylonger, that is when the devil begins to win the battle.
We have an enemy. That enemy is real. That enemy was an eye-witness to the life of Christ as much as John was. That enemy was there when the book of 1 John was written and he is here now.
To deny this is to live in willful ignorance.
John gives is the hope that we live by: the wicked one does not touch us once we are born of God.
2 Thess 3:3
John 17:15
We are told that Satan is our enemy and that he roams around the earth waiting to devour all in his path. But for those who are in Christ, this enemy has already been defeated for us....not by us....but for us by Jesus Christ who conquered death once and for all.
So it is useless and pointless for us to dwell on the power of Satan, but rather it is best for us to remember that he exists and that he is a conquered foe because of Jesus...and he does not touch us.
The Greek word for "touch" here means "to fasten one's self to, adhere to, cling to". The only other time John uses this word is in John 20:17 when Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene after the resurrection (The Epistles of John, 2006, p. 209)
"Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father."
So, picture how Mary must have clinged to Jesus....and imagine Satan wanting to cling to you! Yet because of Jesus having been resurrected....Satan has no power over you.
Take time today to thank Jesus for being our Good Shepherd...for being our Keeper.
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"We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one."
If we know that we are born of God and we know that as a result, the wicked one does not touch us....then why do we love this world that "lies under the sway of the wicked one"?
The world was created for a purpose: for us.
God created the world and everything in it for us to enjoy and take care of. But once sin entered into the world, we became slaves to it.
It is hard for the Christian to give up the world, isn't it? There is still so much beauty in the world although it has been tainted by sin. Letting go can be hard.
1 John 2:15-17
But we must remember where our loyalty must lie: with Christ who died for us. The world never died for us nor will it ever give up anything for us. But Jesus gave it all for us.
John reminds us that to love the world and everything in it is futile since all in the world is passing away. To be prideful, boastful, in anything is vanity...or emptiness....because all is finite.
Only Christ is eternal.
John separates the believers from the non-believers in this one phrase: we are born of God, the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. Once you belong to Christ, you are separated from this world.
It is now up to us to live that way. Take time today to praise God for separating us from a world that is dying.
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Life Application
So many Christians live their lives still in bondage to sin. I know, I was one. I had completely convinced myself that I needed sin in my life and I didn't want to let it go.
As I read so many of the verses above, I am filled with the joy of knowing that I am no longer a slave to sin. I am freed from that bondage and now have a NEW and loving Master forever: Christ Jesus.
Rom 6:18
I am now a slave of righteousness! Praise God. My Master is most loving and caring. Although I am not free to do whatever I want, I know that my Master knows more than I do so I trust Him with everything.
I once felt convicted to pray and lay my son on the altar before Christ in order to completely give him over to my Master. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do! So many thoughts went through my mind:
What if God takes my little boy now? (Nathan was 3 at the time...)
What if I lose Nathan?
I had to come to the realization that my son doesn't belong to me at all, but to Christ. Just as those born into slavery belong to their master, my son belongs to God. And God can use him in anyway shape or form.
I also placed my art, dreams of college, and marriage on that altar long ago. It was so hard to give over to God the things that were most important to me, but I knew they already belonged to Him anyways!'
But we forget that we belong to God. We forget that we are slaves to righteousness and should live that way.
Rom 6:19
"...for holiness."
We must remember the higher calling of God: for holiness.
Then and only then will we receive the desires of our hearts!
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Until next time...
"So many people think that they are free, yet they are in bondage to the prince of darkness. But the gospel opens our eyes to know who we are in ourselves and who we are in Christ, and then we confess gloriously 'I am His and He is mine'. We look at this world with all its attractions and see it as shallow and empty. If you belong to God by faith in Jesus Christ, then take care that you do not live as those who belong to the world."
-Dr. Joel Beeke (The Epistles of John, 2006, p.211)
Blessings,
Ruth
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