This week I’ve already posted two major take-a-ways from John’s conclusion to his epistle. Theology is incomplete without application, and so far we’ve observed that genuine faith results in, at least, believing prayer and loving “carefrontation.” The third major application from 1 John is joyful obedience. We know that anyone born of God does not…
Category: Keeping In Stride
Applying 1 John:: 2
Yesterday I began this week’s series of pulpit posts by sharing the first application from the epistle of 1 John: Believing Prayer (1 John 5:14-15). Today I want to share the second application from John’s conclusion, Loving Carefrontation. If you see a Christian brother or sister sinning in a way that does not lead to…
Applying 1 John:: 1
The first half of the fifth chapter of 1 John summarizes the theological arguments of the book. Here, John explains that genuine faith is composed of three elements: belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; love for one’s Christian brothers and sisters; and obedience to God’s commands. If one or two of those…
Faith Full
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christa has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God…
Understanding Christian Love:: 4
This week I’ve been posting reflections from John’s third exhortation on the subject of Christian love in his epistle. Yesterday I noted that God’s indwelling love enables us to love others. In this final section John points to how God increases our capacity to love. “And as we live in God, our love grows more…
Understanding Christian Love:: 3
Before we can understand how we are to love each other, we have to first understand a couple of things about God’s love. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, God’s love flows out of his character. His love is most clearly demonstrated through the sacrificial gift of Jesus Christ. That brings us to my third…
Understanding Christian Love:: 2
“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the…
Understanding Christian Love:: 1
There’s an old story that’s told about a young preacher who was called to his first assignment as Pastor of a church. The congregation was excited about his first day in the pulpit and the young pulpiteer did not disappoint. After the service the congregation congratulated themselves on finding this diamond in the rough, and…
Be Discerning:: 2
Today we face different challenges than John’s first century audience, but there are challenges nonetheless. God has given us three tools to help us be discerning regarding the messages we hear. The first tool God has given us is the Bible. One thing the New Testament Church lacked that we have readily available is Scripture….
Be Discerning:: 1
God has always encouraged his people to think critically about the content of the teaching they hear. Twice in Deuteronomy (13:1-5; 18:22) and again in Jeremiah (28:9), tests are provided the verify the authenticity of the prophetic message. Jesus addressed this as well in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:16-20) with the challenge, “You…
