1 John #1

Text: 1 John 1:1-10
Translation: NKJV

In this passage, Johns’ original readers are having some difficulty accepting the fact that Jesus lived in the flesh. Through out verses 1-4 John uses such phrases as "we have heard", "we have looked upon", etc. to emphasize the fact that Jesus was and is real and walked the earth in a human body. Now, this brings up an important question: Is it important for those that believe to have first hand knowledge of Jesus (i.e.- actually seen him, etc.)? Of course not. In the gospels, Jesus says to the apostles that they are blessed because they have seen him and believed, but even more blessed are those that have not seen Jesus and have still believed. Think about it. We as Christians today are more blessed than the apostles because we have believed in Jesus as lord without seeing him. This is pretty awesome stuff.
Another question that arises is this: Christ being flesh and blood, did he die on the cross and rise on the third day for the sins of the elect; and is this important to Christianity?
The answer is an emphatic YES!!! The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is one of the historical claims of the Bible and without it there is no salvation. Christ’s death on the cross assures the elect of remission of sins because he was the last and perfect sacrifice. His resurrection assures the elect of eternal life because Christ conquered death. To not believe in these two major historical claims, in my opinion, greatly weakens the faith of those claim to be Christian and yet do not believe in these two things.
Now, in verses 5-6, John is saying that the message of the gospel they have heard from Jesus and declare to the people, and that if the have (or claim to have) fellowship with God, and yet walk in evil ways, then they should be considered liars. But if they walk in light they are telling the truth. We as Christians need to be careful of our actions. There is a lot of talk in the church today about how we need to focus more on our "Silent witness" and less on the gospel. Well, if you are focusing on our silent witness then maybe we should take a step back and look out how we dress ,act and speak. Are we guilty of not living up to the so-called "silent witness" that we promote. (Just a confession: this is one sin I know I am pretty guilty of).

Verses 8-10 bring up an issue that needs to be addressed. We as Christian do NOT claim to be perfect. What we do claim is that our set of moral standards are right, and we strive to hold ourselves to these standards even though we know that we fail miserably all the time.

Questions: 1)What are some of the disadvantages of having just a silent witness?
2) What are some of the disadvantages of having simply a verbal witness?
3) Can the two be combined?