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The 1st Epistle of John

The 1st Epistle of John. As Christ’s life manifested the Father, our life should reflect Christ. Background to 1 st John.

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The 1st Epistle of John

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  1. The 1st Epistle of John As Christ’s life manifested the Father, our life should reflect Christ

  2. Background to 1st John • The first epistle may have been written before AD70 [2:18, last hour, 1Peter 4:7], or sometime later, around AD90, with the 2nd and 3rd epistles shortly thereafter. • John’s approach in the 1st epistle is paternal, both in the affectionate expressions he uses, and the authority with which he writes. • The 1st epistle has three basic themes: • God is light—truth, holiness, righteousness • God is love—mercy, goodness, compassion • God is life—the eternal life 1 John

  3. The emphasis in John’s gospel—how Christ’s life manifested the Father • The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner… I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me. [John 5:19] • I and my Father are one. [10:30] • He who has seen me has seen the Father… I am in the Father, and the Father in me. The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority; the Father who dwells in me does the works. [14:9] [Most quotations are from the NKJV or NASB] 1 John

  4. The emphasis in John’s epistle—how our life should manifest Christ • If we walk in the light as He is in the light. [1Jn 1:7] • By this we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. [2:3] • Everyone who practices righteousness is born of him. [2:29] • He laid down his life for us; we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. [3:16] • The truth is designed for God manifestation: to reveal the character and outlook of God in those who embrace it. 1 John

  5. The Word of the life was manifested • That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, seen with our eyes, looked upon, our hands handled, concerning the word of the life; the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you thateternal lifewhich was with the Father and was manifested to us. [1John 1:1-2] • He has promised us eternal life. [2.25] • God has given us eternal life, in His Son. [5:11] • That you may know you have eternal life. [5:13] • We are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ; this is the true God and eternal life. [5:20] • The eternal life of the Father from the beginning, was manifested in the Son, and promised to us. 1 John

  6. We are called to be partakers of the divine nature in a moral sense now! • His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature. [2Pet 1:3] • Faith such as Abraham had, gives a believer a right to eternal life. Before he died he differed from all natural men, in that he was ‘filled with the knowledge of the Deity’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,’ and became ‘a partaker of the divine nature’ in a moral sense; in this sense he was a spiritual man. [Eureka 2:250] 1 John

  7. Fellowship with the Father and Son • That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write to you that your joy may be full. [1John 1:3,4] • Abide in me, and I in you… I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit… these things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, that your joy may be full. [John 15:4] • Holy Father, keep through your name those you have given me, that they may be one as we are. [17:11] 1 John

  8. Fellowship with the Father and Son …is a participation in the life which Jesus shares with the Father, the eternal life that was with the Father from the beginning, and was manifested in His Son. • This is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. • These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. [1John 5:11-13] • This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. [Jn 17:3] 1 John

  9. God is Light • This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. [1John 1:5] • In him was life, and the life was the light of men… the true light which gives light to every man. [John 1:4] • Proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. [1Pet 2:9] • While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light. [John 12:36] • The emphasis in the figure of light is on the moral aspect of God’s being, the perfection of His moral goodness, His holiness. • All who would have fellowship with God must commit to flee from evil and hold fast to good. 1 John

  10. Walking in darkness • If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. [1Jn 1:6] • Everyone practicing evil hates the light, does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. He who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. [3:20] • I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. [John 8:12] • To walk in darkness is to be living and moving in a spiritual and moral climate that is away from the light of God’s truth and His holiness. 1 John

  11. Seven tests of true discipleship • If we say we have fellowshipwith Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. [1:6] • If we say we have nosin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [1:8] • If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. [1:10] • He who says, “I know him,” and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, the truth is not in him. [2:4] • He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk as he walked. [2:6] • He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. [2:9] • If anyone says: Ilove God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. [4:20] 1 John

  12. Walk in the light • If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. [1John 1:7] • He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. [2:9] • You were once darkness, now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. [Eph 5:8] • The blood of Christpurge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. [Heb 9:14] • You were not redeemed with corruptible things… but with the precious blood of Christ. [1Pet 1:18] • Fellowship with one another and cleansing from sin are both dependent on walking in the light. 1 John

  13. The blood of Christ stands for his complete redemptive work • Having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved… through him. [Rom 5:9] • In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. [Eph 1:7] • To reconcile all things... through the blood of his cross... in the body of his flesh throughdeath. [Col 1:20] • The shed blood was the offered life; for the life of the flesh is in the blood. [Lev 17:11] • “It was the literal blood of Christ that was ‘the precious blood of Christ,’ but its preciousness lay in its spiritual relations, that is, it was precious because of what the shedding secured for us, and precious, because of the excellence of Christ.” [R Roberts, Christadelphian, 1878, p137] 1 John

  14. The law of sin within us • If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [1John 1:8] • By one man’s disobedience many were made [constituted] sinners. [Rom 5:19] • Sin that dwells in me [in every cell of my body]. [Rom 7:17] • The law of sin which is in my members. [Rom 7:23] • If we say that we are essentially good, that our nature is not sin-prone, that there is no need to crucify the flesh, that Christ did not come in the flesh, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John

  15. The two aspects of sin • The word sin is used in two principal acceptations in the scripture. It signifies in the first place, thetransgressionof thelaw; and in the next, it represents thatphysical principleof the animal nature, which is the cause of all its diseases, death, and resolution into dust. • It is that in the flesh which has the power of death; and it is called sin, because the development, or fixation, of this evil in the flesh, was the result of transgression. • Inasmuch as this evil principle pervades every part of the flesh, the animal nature is styledsinful flesh, that is, flesh full of sin; so that sin came to stand for the substance called man. [Elpis Israel, p126] 1 John

  16. If we confess our sins • If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgiveour sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness [1:9] • Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works. [Titus 2:14] • Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. [Gal 1:4] • Christ went to the cross to crucify the inherent evil in the nature he bore―sin nature must be put to death to provide a righteous basis for God to forgive our sins. • We are forgiven because we are one with the Lord Jesus Christ, and identified with what he did and why. 1 John

  17. If we deny our sins • If we say that wehave not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. [1John 1:10] • My little children [an expression of affection, endearment], these things I write to you, that you may not sin [2:1] • Man’s heart is evil from his youth. [Gen 8:21] • Heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. [Jer 17:9] • From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts. [Mark 7:21] • He who covers his sins will not prosper; whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. [Pro 28:13] • Fellowship with God depends upon acknowledging our sinful condition, and trusting His forgiveness. 1 John

  18. An advocate with the Father • If anyone sins, we have an advocate[3875 parakletos: comforter]with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. • He himself is the propitiation [2434]for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. [2:1,2] • It is Christ who died, and is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession[1793] for us. [Rom 8:34] • He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession[1793] for them. [Heb 7:25] • There is one God and one mediator[3316] between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. [1Tim 2:5] 1 John

  19. Advocate, helper, comforter • I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper[3875], that he may abide with you forever… the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. [John 14:16] • When the helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me. [15:26] • I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you. [16:7] • Helper is parakletos, rendered advocate in IJohn2:1. 1 John

  20. Propitiation—forgiveness, reconciliation • He loved us, sent His Son to be the propitiation[2434]for our sins. [1John 4:10] • Whom God set forth as a propitiation[2435] by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. [Rom 3:25] • In all things he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation[2433] for the sins of the people. [Heb 2:17] • God, be merciful[2433]to me a sinner! [Lk 18:13] • The cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat [2435].[Heb 9:5] • The place where God extends mercy to those in Christ, where sins are forgiven and covered, where man is reconciled to God. 1 John

  21. How we know that we know him • By this we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He who says, “I know him,” and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. [1John 2:3,4] • That I may know him, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death. [Phil 3:8] • You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. [John 15:14] • They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him. [Tit 1:16] • We must do what we know, or we lie when we speak the Truth. • To know God is to manifest His character. 1 John

  22. Keep his word and walk as he did • Whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected [complete] in him. By this we know that we are in him. He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk as he walked. [1John 2:5,6] • Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. [Rev 22:14] • If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. [John 14:23] • The assurance that we know him, and the motivation to keep his word, results from the love of God being perfected in us. 1 John

  23. An old commandment • Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. [1John 2:7] • Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does notlove his brother. This is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. [3:10] • Not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. [2John 5] • The commandment was not new to them; they had known it ever since coming to know the Gospel. 1 John

  24. A new commandment • A new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. [1John 2:8] • A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you… By this all will know you are my disciples, if you love one another. [John 13:34] • This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down his life for his friends. [John 15:12] • If God so loved us, we are bound to love one another. [1John 4:11] • A love which willingly, as Christ did, lays down its life in service to the brethren. 1 John

  25. To walk in the light is to walk in love • He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. He who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. [1John 2:9,11] • We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. [3:14] • In loving one another we effectively manifest our true fellowship with him who first loved us, as those who are born of God. 1 John

  26. I write to you… • Little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake—because you have known the Father. • To be in the condition of knowing the Father is to be in that condition in which sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. • Fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. • Knowing God is a developing process of experience and mature awareness of God. • Young men, because you have overcome the evil one—because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you. [1John 2:12-14] • The evil propensities of the flesh dominate the world, but they had come out of the world and were gaining the victory over the evil. 1 John

  27. For thy name’s sake • For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great. [Ps 25:11] • Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake. [Ps 79:9] • O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee. [Jer 14:7] • O LORD, hear; O LORD, forgive; O LORD, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. [Dan 9:19] • If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. [Ps 130:3-4] 1 John

  28. “The evil one… • … is John’s vivid personification for the terrible force which came into human experience at the Fall—the unregenerate human nature which works within us all and whose ravages are among us and about us—into whose hand the whole world was delivered when ‘by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin’. • It corresponds to Jesus’ references to ‘the prince of this world’ who was condemned by his death.” • Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. [John 12:31] 1 John

  29. Love not the world • Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [2.15] • All that is in the world—lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. [v16] • The world is passing away, and the lust of it; he who does the will of God abides forever. [v17] • Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. [Rom 13:14] • Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [Gal 5:24] • As sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. [1Pet 2:11] 1 John

  30. Antichrists and false prophets • Little children, it is the last hour; as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know it is the last hour. [1John 2:18] • They went out from us, but they were not of us; if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. [v19] • John sees their departure as providential: it had served to separate the false from the true. • Every spirit [or prophet] that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh… this is the spirit of the Antichrist. [4:3] • Many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. [2John 7] 1 John

  31. It is the last hour now for us • Let no one deceive you, that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed… whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. [2Thes 2:3] • In later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars… they forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods. [1Tim 4:1] • In the last days perilous times will come.[2Tim 3:1] • Who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. [1Pet 1:5] • The last hour here relates to ‘the Gentile times’, characterized by the emergence of antichrist. 1 John

  32. Denies the Father and the Son • You have an anointing from the Holy One [Christ], and you know all things [the truth]. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. [1John 2:20-21] • Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father. [v22-23] • You denied the Holy One and the Just. [Act 3:14] • The heresy was a denial that Jesus was the Christ, the true Son of God, begotten of the Father; and that God had manifested Himself in Jesus. • God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. [2Cor 5:19] 1 John

  33. Abide in the Son and in the Father • Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. • This is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life. [1John 2:24,25] • Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. [4:15] • Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; everyone who loves Him who begot loves him who is begotten of Him. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. [5:1] • If we believe that Christ came in the flesh, and that he overcame sin in all its forms, we will make every effort to identify with his victory over sin, and walk as he walked. 1 John

  34. The anointing abides in you • These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. [1John 2:26] • But the anointing which you have received from him abides in you, [the word of God, v14] and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him. [v27] • You shall not go out of the tabernacle, the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. [Lev 10:7] • You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. [1Pet 2:9] 1 John

  35. Confidence when He comes • Abide in him, that when he appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed [when the heart is made bare] before him at his coming. • Not confidence in what we have done, but a quiet assurance in the transformation he has wrought in each of us. • If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practicesrighteousness is born of him. [1Jn 2:28,29] • Learning to be righteous, to acquire his attributes, conformed to his image; not perfectly while we are burdened with flesh, but our basic way of life. • The Truth is a way of life; not just a set of beliefs 1 John

  36. Confidence Confidence[3954]courage, boldness, calm assurance. • By this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him… If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. [1Jn 3:19] • Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. [1John 4:17] • Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. [Heb 3:6] • Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. [Heb 4:16] • Cast not away your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. [Heb 10:35] 1 John

  37. Practices righteousness Practices[4160]do well, carry out, execute; a way of life, a course of conduct; a manner of thinking. • If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not practice the truth. [1Jn 1:6] • Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is [becomes] righteous… whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. [1John 3:7,10] • I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. [Matt 7: 23] • The works of the flesh are evident: adultery, fornication, uncleanness those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. [Gal 5:19] 1 John

  38. What manner of love… • Behold what manner of love[agape:divine love] the Father has bestowed on us, [with the goal] that we should be called children of God! [1John 3:1] • God demonstrates [proves] His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [Rom 5:8] • Agape: a self-sacrificing desire to serve, motivated by an enlightened mind; love that is self-denying and devoted to its object. • It is pre-eminently God’s love as shown in His work of redemption, and is reproduced in the hearts of believers by the power of the Word, with the goal of begetting sons and daughters to His glory.

  39. Agape Love • “Agape and agapao are used in the NT: • to describe the attitude of God toward His Son; toward the human race, generally; and believers on the Lord Jesus Christ particularly; • to convey His will to His children concerning their attitude one toward another, and toward all men; • to express the essential nature of God. • “Love can be known only from the actions it prompts. God’s love is seen in the gift of His Son love had its perfect expression among men in the Lord Jesus Christ. • Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in implicit obedience to His commandments. Self-will, self-pleasing, is the negation of love to God.” [Vine’s Expository Dictionary]

  40. Self-sacrificing agape love • By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us; we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. [1John 3:16] • In this was manifested the love of God toward us, that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. [4:9] • He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father; I will love him and manifest myself to him. [John 14:21]

  41. What we shall be… • Now we aresons of God;what we shall be is not yet revealed [apparent, made manifest, visible].[1John 3:2] • The apostles had seen the risen Christ, and knew that when he is revealed, we shall be like him. • As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. [John 1:12] • As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. [Rom 8:13] • The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us… the sons of God. [Rom 8:18] • When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. [Col 3:4] • Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body. [Phil 3:21]

  42. We are now in the Valley of Humiliation • We must fellowship the suffering of Christ, before we fellowship his glory; when the battle is over, we will know “that the sufferings of the present time are nothing to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us”. • For the present, we are in the Valley of Humiliation, in a state of weakness and sin; but keeping our eye fixed on the morning dawn so long held up in promise to human view, we are enabled to persevere and work until the night comes, when no man can work. • A night that has come to all who have gone before us, and may come to us, but which will quickly be ended by the bright rising of that Sun of Righteousness, who will usher in eternal day.” [RR,Christadelphian,1868 p198] 1 John

  43. We shall see him as he is… • See implies more than mere physical sight, and involves a discerning, perceptive mindthe redeemed will gaze upon Christ with the realization and marvel that they are one with him, both mentally and physically. • “Jesus was ‘perfected the third day’ (Luke 13:32; Heb. 5:9); and became the Author of aion salvation to all who obey him. A saint made perfect in this sense is as much ‘spirit’ as Jesus now is; for John, speaking of what the saints shall be when made perfect, says, ‘we shall be like him, and see him as he is’.” [Eureka, vol 1, p370] • “The saints shall be like him (1John 3:2) Paul styles him, ‘the Lord the Spirit’ the wise shall be like what he now is. They will therefore be partakers of the divine nature in a substantial material sense; in other words they will be spirit.” [Eureka, vol 2, p251]

  44. Everyone in hope purifies self • Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. [1John 3:3] • Purifies[to make pure, cleanse]. This necessitates a close examination of self and a constant effort towards eliminating “the garment defiled by the flesh”. • Having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. [2Cor 7:1] • He has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world through lust. [2Pet 1:4]

  45. Everyone who practices sin… • Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness, sin is lawlessness[458]. [1John 3:4] • Lawlessness: the absence of law or the non-observance of law; a way of life apart from the influence of God’s law; ignorant of it, or deliberately ignoring it; walking outside the direct guidance and control of the law of God; habitually living without regard for God’s law. • A person practices lawlessness when he lives in disregard of God’s law and is indifferent to its demands. It is not a single act of sin, but the continuous, persistent doing of it. 1 John

  46. Sin is lawlessness • I never knew you; depart from me, you who practicelawlessness [458].[Matt 7:23] • You outwardly appear righteous inside full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. [23:28] • Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many [most] will grow cold. [24:12] • Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, whose sins are covered. [Rom 4:7] • As you presented your members slaves of uncleanness, and lawlessness so now present your members as slaves of righteousness. [Rom 6:19] • You [theLord Jesus Christ] have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.[Heb 1:9] 1 John

  47. He was manifested to take away our sins • You know that he was manifested to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. [1John 3:5] • Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless[458]deed and purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works. [Titus 2:14] • Since he was manifested to take away sin, it is a denying of Christ if we practice habitually that which he was appointed to destroy, and was himself entirely without sin. • Let no one deceive you concerning this,what a person does is the indication of what he or she really is. 1 John

  48. Whoever abides in him does not sin • Abides[3306]remain as one, sojourn with, not depart from, not become different to. [1John 3:6] • Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself neither can you; abide in me without me you can do nothing. [John 15:4-5] • Does not sindoes not practice lawlessness.Practicing lawlessness indicates we have not been effected by Christ’s teachings and have not been born of God by the word. • Good intentions are not enough; there must be tangible results, visible improvement, a steady growth of godly attributes and weakening of earthly ones. • This requires a continuous absorption of incentive and direction and power from the Word; by constant study and reflection, gradually transformed by it. 1 John

  49. He who practices righteousness… • We learn what we practice; when we practice righteousness we become righteous. God’s character is gradually manifested in us to replace our natural selfthis is God Manifestation. [1John 3:7] • We deceive ourselves if we think it is sufficient to profess the truth without practicing it. • John is contrasting the person who practices lawlessness by living a life not subject to God’s Word, with the person who practices righteousness, whose life is built upon the Word. • Whatever we sow, we reap. Sow to the flesh, reap corruption; sow to the Spirit, reap everlasting life. [Gal 6:7] • Be doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. [Jas 1:22] 1 John

  50. He who sins is of the diabolos • We are born in a certain condition, with certain propensities, certain characteristics, which in the aggregate are known as the flesh, in which nothing good dwells: unpleasant, unlovely, selfish, earthy. That is our nature, what we begin with and must work with. [1Jn 3:8] • Through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil [diabolos]. [Heb 2:14] • Sin that dwells in me in my flesh dwells no good thing. [Rom 7:17 • The mission of the Lord Jesus Christ was to “destroy that having the power of death, which is the devil;” or sin’s flesh; in other words, to “take away the sin of the world;” and to “destroy the works of the devil,” or of sin. [Eureka, vol 4, p323] 1 John

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