What's love got to do with it?

Ok, short and sweet.
Text: 1 John 4: 7-12

What is love?
Del Cook, of Worldview Academy, once said, "Love is delighting in the delight of others." It is not that WE love God, but that God loved us, and wanted us to delight in his delights and obey his statutes that he sent Jesus Christ into the world so that we might love God. Our sin nature prevents us from loving God, but Christ's death allows us to love Him.
That's all.

By Their Spirits

Text: 1 John 4: 1-6

Translation: NKJV



Here is where the rubber meets the road. Either you believe Jesus is God, or you don't. And Christians are only supposed to believe those who profess Jesus to be God. Now, we can be led astray by those who do say that they believe; however, we who profess that Jesus Christ is fully man and fully God, incarnate in the flesh, and that the Bible is the inerrant word of God know that we are saved. According to the 6th verse, it is the Spirit of Truth that shows us this, i.e. the Holy Spirit. Soli Deo Gloria!!!! This is why I harp on the whole "unity of belief" theme a lot. If we have unity in what we believe, we can't be led astray as easily, if we don't have this unity then we are pretty well screwed in our witness as Christians, our communal life (church), and our relationship with God (self-doubt about what we believe). This is why in these verses we are given a litmus test of sorts to test people against to see if what they say has any measure of truth to it. I'll leave off here due to shortness in my personal schedule but I will leave you with this:

The more concise, systematic and logical our worldviews are, and the more unity we have on all matters doctrinal, theological, and scriptural, the better witness we present to the world, and the more Godly we may become. Remember, if we can't give the world a reason to see that we are different and for concrete reasons, they will never see the reason to convert to Christianity, because who is ever put under conviction of sin by ideas and a God that seem no different and fallen than they are.

The Outworking of Love

Text: 1 John 3:16-23

This text is pretty strait forward. We know love because Jesus died for us, and sacrificed for us. We as Christians show our love not just through saying "I love you" but through going out into the world spreading God's love, caring for the needy and those brethren who we see in need. We show love by the combination of works and words, recognizing that our works are empty without the gospel.
The rest of this passage is pretty strait forward.
-Scribe.

Sin...OOGGA BOOGGA!!!!

Text: 1 John 3:1-12

Alright, there are a lot of issues covered in these 12 verses so I'll try and be relatively brief.

First off: we can only act according to our nature, ergo a sinner will sin a righteous person won't and Christians will be somewhere in between, sinning everyday but striving against their old natures because of the righteousness granted to them by God. Christians (and this is our own fault most of the time) are perceived as a bunch of "Holier than thou art" religious nut jobs. Some of us are, vast majority of us aren't. Why are we hung up on sin? Because we recognize the sin in our lives, hold ourselves accountable to the revealed word of God, his law, and as a result hold the rest of the world accountable in our beliefs. No, I'm not promoting theocracy, merely explaining why we believe what we do.

Secondly: The reason why Christians tick people off- Because we love one another, warts and all, hold each other accountable and point out the stick in our brother's eye (hopefully after taking care of the log in our own) and strive to do Godly men and women. Just by being a Christian we are going to tick people off because Christianity automatically assumes as one of its main presuppositions that man is flawed...that he has sin ( OOOGGGA BOOGGA!) oh my, what an insulting concept: man isn't all good, he is all sin and evil and only God save him.

Questions:

1: Should we love the sinner and not the sin?

2: Is Christianity really that polarizing or is Scribe just mouthing off?

3: How should we love and show love to our fellow believers?

4: What is righteous and what isn't? (Generally speaking, specifics would be nice but not necessary)

Let Truth Abide In You

Text: 1John 2:24-27

Translation: NKJV

Alright, so we read through this passage and we think to ourselves, hey, wait a minute, I don't need anyone to teach me how or what to believe, ergo, I don't have to go to church, because they tell me what to believe...etc. etc. There are many variations of this conclusion, but this seems to be the most prominent. Now first off we would be wrong, why? Well, Jesus TOLD people what to believe, he didn't just sit around and let them find stuff out for themselves by osmosis from his speaking in glib, shallow words. He told them what to do, how to pray, and what to believe. John and all the authors of the other books of the New Testament that come after the gospels are expounding upon what Jesus taught and said. Specifically, as John here has "written to you concerning those who try to deceive you." (v. 26) John and other New Testament authors are expounding upon the words of Jesus and adding according to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit "abides" in them and in us, guiding us. It is important to note here that even though these books are written by men, they are inspired by the Holy Spirit abiding in them. Any serious, and long study of scripture shows that instead of there being a mishmash of ideas and thought processes, there is in fact a congruent, logical, well thought out flow to scripture. This is because the Holy Spirit abided in John and others, and abides in us today, revealing the meaning of Scripture to us. R.C. Sproul once said, (and I paraphrase),"If , after studying the scripture, you find yourself interpreting it along the lines of universally recognized heretics, then your interpretation is most likely wrong and you need to seriously consider revising it."

The Bible is the infallible word of God, made even more glorious by the fact that the Holy Spirit abides in us, revealing to us through study its meaning. To God be the Glory.

Love that food? Where will your descendants eat it?

Text: 1 John 15-17

Trans.: NKJV

Okay, we all know the praise song that, granted is monotonous and not all that great, "Jesus, lover of my soul". Now, were not supposed to lover the world and not obey fleshly lusts.(say last two words like a Shakespearian actor & it sounds cool) How many of us consider ourselves "materialistic"? Not many, I know I don't. Then I look at my schedule. Tonight, I'm going to meet my friends at a coffee shop for fellowship and good times. Tommarrow, homework and a lot of other things. Now, this is my schedule to a great extent. I go out, do school, come home, repeat, lather and rinse. I am for all intents and purposes a very materialistic guy. Sure, I study the Bible, have a very indepth relationship with God and the rest, but I don't say "Hey, Gordo, maybe you should just relax and be with God instead of surffing the net, watching tennis, or Dr. Who" whatever it is. Then I look at what will come after I die. I like food, but I wonder where I will eat that food, and what my actions of my own will determine where others will eat there's. No one is going to remember that awesome prank I pulled on one of my friends on a youth retreat or what possesions I have ( if they do, they need a life bigtime). I should be more concerned about what I am leaving behind after I die on the passing world. What will my legacy be? Sure, the fellowship with my friends is important, I don't deny it, but at what cost are we as a society, especially those of us who claim to be Christian, paying to enjoy the now when we leave no legacy behind us. This is especially true for Christians today. Look at the bible, at all the geneologies that are in it. They say "Look where you have come from, what you are expected to uphold, and what you must pass on to the next generation." There is an excellent teaching dvd on the subject of legacy that can be found at Worldview Acad.'s website. It is called "The Next Name in the Toledoth". I encourage everyone of you to buy and watch it. Because really, if we don't leave a legacy of not being in love with this world then what reason is there to spread the gospel, go to church or believe in God himself? There comes a time to say, yes that trip with the youth would be fun to do, or yeah I'd like to really go do that, but that trip with the youth might be just another fun trip disguised as Christian fellowship and devotionals, or that trip by yourself could be your way of giving in to your flesh. Don't get caught up in satisfying what you want to do in the present and instead focus on what you will leave behind for the future when you are gone, whether it be death or you simply leave your current situation. If we can't give future generations of Christians something more than a fun outing or a trivial teaching on how Jesus loves kids then they won't have anything to run the race with and our descendants will truely dine in Hell.

There won't be any questions for this post, just this: Granted that man needs material things and stuff of the Flesh, ask God what things need trimming in your life.

Lies, Huh?

Text: 1 John 2: 18-23

Trans: NKJV

Alright, we know about the wolf in sheeps clothing thing. Beware those that claim to be Christians but really aren't and will lead us away from Christ. Now we here about the Antichrist. The person that will blatantly, and mostlikely pretty subtlely, lead the world away from Christ. What is an antichrist? Anyone who is against Christ, bluntly put. Yes, there is THE ANTICHRIST, the end-times guy, the big satan, etc., but there are also antichrists plural, lowercase, who are people NOT endtimes guy, yet are actively against Jesus Christ. How do we know them? They deny the Father and the Son and are therefore liars.

Christianity is based on the very fact of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and of the Father God Creator, and of the Holy Spirit, indweller. To deny this and yet claim to be a Christian is to be an antichrist. Jesus is both God and man, the two natures in one. This is to say that Jesus was perfectly God and perfectly man. The nature of man was perfect, pre-fall, therefore Jesus could and can be and is the second Adam.
How do we know this? We've got the Bible people! If a little light bulb of revelation just went off above your head, congrajulate yourself. The Bible is the truth by which we judge the world because it is the inerrant word of God. We judge our and others actions by it.

Also, if you here people who claim to have gone through church and are here to tell you about Jesus and they can't get off the fact that he is just a man, but seem uncomfortable with him being God as well, they most likely aren't Christian. Why? See what I just wrote above. To claim to be christian and to deny that Jesus is God and then "be a witness" to others "for God" is nothing but heresy.

Yes, I just used the "H" word. Everyone scream bloody murder. Want to know something else? These people should also be anathema. (or cursed and ostricised from our company). That, dear children, is what is known as the "A" word. Christian curse word class dismissed.

Closing: We should be wary of anyone uncomfortable with the fact that Jesus came to earth as both God and Man.

John: The Purpose and the Reason

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Text: 1John 2:12-14

Translation: NKJV

These verses are, on the surface, the reason that Paul has written this letter. However, there are some interesting phrases in this passage. Note that when Paul mentions a group of people and the reason that he is writting to them, the reason is actually their spiritual state. The letter is written to be helpful to these people due to there spiritual state, etc. etc.

Questions:

1)What is your own spiritual state as compared w/ the people in this passage?

2)Even though non-believers are not mentioned in this passage, can the book of 1 John still be useful in evangelizing?

3)If yes to #2, how?

Touchy- Feely sort of day.

Text: 1 John 2:3-11

Translation: NKJV

All right, so this might sound like beating a dead horse decides to defend itself but I would like to disagree. The first...well all 9 verses of this passage are very pertinent to the church today.

First off, if a person is committing sin time over and again, attends church, appears for all intents and purposes to not be repenting, then it is extremely possible that they are........*gasp* not a Christian. We as Christian are indwelt with the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sins. If we claim to be a Christian then we are saying (among other things) that we know we are sinners and are uncomfortable in our sin.

But what should fellow believers do about people that claim to be brothers and sisters in Christ and yet repeatedly sin in a public (or at least pretty blatant) manner? Confront them with their sin privately, one on one. Then is confession and repentance are not forthcoming, repeat what you just did, only with a friend. And if this doesn't work, then take them publically before the church, whether the congregation or in front of the elders or deacons.

Now, some of you might be saying, "Hey, Scribe, that isn't very loving! Shouldn't we just be kind and leave those people with God since we can't look into their hearts?"

WRONG,WRONG, WRONG! A) because, if that person is indeed a born again believer, they need to be told that they are sinning so that their walk w/ the Lord is not compromised, they are no longer a bad influence on other Christians within the Church, and that they are not an influence for evil to nonbelievers.

And B) because if they aren't born again believers, then they are simply lying to themselves that they are and this might be what wakes them up to the fact and actually gets them saved. Also, if it doesn't then at the very least one has gotten a wolf in sheep’s clothing out of the fold.

It is always important to remember that true God does not allow us to feel good in our sin, ergo all believers should not feel good in their sin. This is not to say that if a believer falls into a pattern of sin he will not become complacent, because it does and this has happened to me before. The discernment to see sin for what it is comes from the Holy Spirit, and the discernment to confront people about their sin comes from the Holy Spirit. Also, since there is a standard of living expected of Christians, i.e.- 10 commandments, what Jesus commanded the disciples, great commission etc., we as Christian should realize that it is NOT love to let someone continue on in sin and stand by humming in the storm thinking nothing will come of it. (See points A and B above)

We aren't called to be touchy, feely, goody two shoes wimps who cover our eyes hoping that the evil in the world and the evil that from time to time enters the church will go away because we can't see it. We need to realize that because we are Christians we hold ourselves to a higher authority than ourselves and that we hold the rest of the world up to that standard as well. We should confront our brothers and sister with the speck in their eye (AFTER WE HAVE DEALT WITH THE LOG IN OUR OWN---EMPHASIS ON AFTER), so that they will no longer be a stumbling block to others or themselves. At the same time, this is an effective way to remove wolves in sheep’s clothing. We as a church have focused so much on the personal side of our walk w/ God that we have forgotten that there is also a communal side as well, which can easily be destroyed be someone being allowed continuance in sin.

1 John #2

1 John 2: 1-2
Translation: NKJV

This will be a short post. When we sin, we have and advocate with God(Jesus) and also, we are suppossed to read the Bible more since the things in it (at least this book) were written that we might not sin. Talk about a really good reason to be literate in what the Bible says as well as basic Christian doctrine and theology.

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?