Welcome to episode 128 of Grasp the Bible. In this episode, we begin our study in the Book of 1 John, covering chapter 1. The series is called “Unshakeable.” Today, we will cover:
- The prologue to the letter (vv. 1-4)
- Walk in the light (vv. 5-10)
Key takeaways:
- God’s revelation of himself in Jesus and continues by the authoritative testimony of the apostles and others to that revelation. It is Jesus, and not a system of thought, who is the essential core of the Christian proclamation.
- Many professional religionists have a system today. But a system is not life, nor does it transform a life. A system in and of itself is nothing. What Christianity has and the others do not have is life, in fact, the life of Jesus himself, the one who is the creator and sustainer of all life and who as the life is also the light of men (John 1:4). It is Christ, then, who is proclaimed in Christianity.
- Fellowship with the Father and His Son, then, is essentially the same thing as having eternal life.
- To remove oneself from God’s presence through sin is of necessity to remove oneself from the source of life, and therefore, death is the only place to go.
- The truth cannot be in those who deny their sin, because by definition a Christian is one who lives by the truth that Jesus died to cleanse their sin.
- Because of God’s character and His faithfulness to His promises that Christ fulfilled, cleansing from confessed sin is assured.
Quotable:
- If you want to know if a religious movement is Christian or a cult, ask them who Jesus is.
Application:
- As a Christian, what do you do when you sin? What should you do when you sin? Sometimes, even for Christians, sin is something we do and then deny. We love to rationalize it, and we love to refine it. Sometimes we just don’t take seriously the reality and consequences of our sin.
We claim closeness with God but then defy His will and live contrary to His character! Even for Christians, sometimes the three hardest words to say when they ought to be said and like they ought to be said are “I have sinned.” But when we utter those words in sincerity, God’s response is always “You are forgiven.”
- if God is light, then God Himself by virtue of His being and character defines the moral standard of human life.
- The test of truth is not belief—though that is not excluded—but action, deeds, and conduct.
- Only when believers are walking in the light can we have fellowship with God, a fellowship that is embodied as fellowship with one another. Our vertical relationship determines our horizontal relationships.
- People don’t need just more good ethical instruction; rather, they need purification from all that separates them from the presence and purposes of God. Christ’s atonement for sin achieves a reconciliation with God that restores fellowship.
- For any who think, for whatever reason, that they have not sinned, John holds the strongest accusation. Rather than being faithful Christians, they are in fact making God a liar because God says we have sinned, and he sent His Son into the world to atone for the very sin that it has become so popular to deny.
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