1 John 2:12-29

Starting our bible study up again! Let's jump right in.

Verses 12-14

I am writing to you, dear children,
    because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 

 I am writing to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
    because you have overcome the evil one. 

 I write to you, dear children,
    because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
    because you are strong,
    and the word of God lives in you,
    and you have overcome the evil one.

^{In this passage, John explains why he is writing: because God forgives us, because we know God, because, with God we have overcome the devil, because we are strong and we live by God's word.}

Verses 15-17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father^[a] is not in them.  For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

This passage says we cannot love both the world and Christ. We have to choose one or the other, but God is the better choice. Everything in the world takes away from us being able to be with Him forever. If we love God and forget about the world, He will take care of everything and we will be able to live with Him forever.

Verses 18-29
 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.  As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

This passage begins with talking about those who may have left the church or never belonged to the Church in the first place and who are trying to bring us down with them.  These people want us to love the world. These people want us to leave our relationship with God behind for the things the world is offering us, the things that will lead us off of God's path for us.There are people out there that believe that being a Christian means following God's rules and that's it. But we must also have a relationship with Him. John then goes on to explain that the anti-christ is anyone who does not believe in Christ, which I had explained earlier. We, those who believe in Jesus and have a relationship with Him, are surrounded by the Holy Spirit at all times and know the truth. John, in this writing, is trying to warn us of those who will try to tempt us off God's path onto the path of the world. By leaving His path, we can easily get caught in the prickers and trip over the fallen branches. John is also saying that we don't need anybody to teach us anything, we already know it. If we truly trust God, we know that He will take care of anything, and by listening to what others may try to tell us, we can be lead astray. John ends this chapter saying that by continuing in Christ we will be confident and ready when He returns, and that we will know that others are Christians by the way they act.
  

1 John 2:1-11

If you haven't read yesterday's post, I am writing a bible study on 1 John for all of you! Like I've said, I absolutely LOVE the message of this book of the Bible. Let's jump right in! 

Verses 1-6

"My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin: but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He who says 'I know him' but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: he who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked."

      Right off, John starts by stating, again, his reason of writing: to keep us from sinning. He also reassures us that if we do sin, Jesus Christ paid the price of the sins of the whole entire world. Everybody. Even for those who do not yet believe in Him. John is reminding us to be truthful to ourselves and to trust God. Not trusting God is also a sin. By trusting God more than we trust ourselves, we will not fall into sin. However, if we do not trust God's will, we are often led to temptation. If we do not trust God's will, we are saying that we are more righteous than God, which is SO far from the truth!
       By calling Jesus an advocate for us, this is saying that he speaks our case to our Father, because we may be unable to speak our own. Jesus knows what we go through. He lived on this planet and dealt with the temptations, too.
     This passage also states that by keeping God's commandments, we will know Him. In other words, by believing, trusting in, and obeying Him, we are walking in the light. If we accept Jesus into our lives, he rids all darkness. He IS the light. When we disobey, we are in darkness. Without Jesus' light, we are unable to see and are bound to stumble and fall.
     By being truthful with God, He is able to work within us. If we are not fully on His side, He can not work within us. By living by His word, God is able to bring our love for Him nearer to perfection. By living His word, we can walk in the image of Jesus: we can love as he loved, and act as he acted.

Verses 7-11
Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness still. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness still. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and in it there is no cause for stumbling. But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
  
     Since the beginning, God has always told us to obey Him. By not obeying Him, we are sinning. This is why it is called an old commandment. If we God has wanted us to obey Him from the beginning, what John is telling us is not new. God has never changed His love for us. God has never changed what He wants for us. However, John states that he is writing a new commandment. "Why?" you may ask. Because it is now true in us and in Christ. By Christ's life, death, and resurrection, this has been made true. God has united us with His son. We are one with Him. Thus, it is true in both of us. We are reminded that the darkness passes as we are in the light. When we step out of the darkness, it passes us by if we stand strong in the light of God.
      We read that if we hate others, or even judge others, we are still in the darkness. To be in the light, we must let God do the judging, and love everybody as God has loved us. By loving others, we realize that in Christ we are the same. We are all able to be made clean again. By knowing this, we are less likely to stumble. Our eyes are opened and we love others as God loves us. By living in the dark, not realizing that others are like us, judging them for their sins, we stumble over our misunderstandings. We do not fully understand the truth in God's word. God guides us through His light. If we turn away from that light, we are going to stumble.

1 John 1

I absolutely love 1 John. It is one of my favorite books of the Bible filled with such a great message. I studied it during youth leadership meetings at church a while back, and I just wanted to return to it once again, sharing it with you! I'll start with 1 John 1 for this post, and within the next few days/weeks will touch upon the other chapters!

In 1 John, apostle John is writing to give reassurance to those who are strong Christians, but also to expose those whose conduct does not align with their claims and beliefs. 

Verses 1-4 
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. 
  
Here, John begins by announcing a message: We must testify what we have seen and heard in the Word, truth from the beginning. He announces this message so that others may come to God as we have. 

Verses 5-10
"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."

In this section, we read that if you are with God, you cannot also be against him. There is no way you can mix God's light with the world's darkness. By living according to the truth, how the Bible wants us to live, we are living for God and walking in His light. Even if we are living with, say, only one sin in our lives that we cannot get rid of, we are not walking in God's light. You can't say there's a peeing section in a pool, or that having just a tiny bit of poop in your brownies is okay, can you? It's the same with sin. If you continue to sin, you are still walking in darkness. However, verse 9 tells us that if we confess, He is faithful. No matter how dark of a place we are in, if we confess our sins and repent, we are able to walk in His light. God forgives us if we confess. God's word cannot be in us if we do not admit to our sins!