NOVEMBER 22 READING…1 JOHN 2
John reminds us that when we sin, we have an Advocate with God the Father…His name is Jesus. He does this because He is the propitiation (acceptable sacrifice) for our sin, and He did not just die for us, but for the entire world. But, the only way to appropriate this sacrifice, and it’s promised salvation, is through faith in Jesus. Our obedience to the Lord is evidence that we actually know Him. If we claim that we belong to Christ, we are to also walk as He walked. Our great commandment remains eternally what it is…we are to love God with everything we are, and to love one another. If we claim to walk in the light of Christ, we must love one another. Those who hate their brothers and sisters are actually walking in darkness. John teaches this to the whole church regardless of their spiritual maturity. Whether a person is a child in the faith, or an adolescent in the faith, or a mature person in the faith all can understand the simplicity of the command to love one another. We are told though not to love this world or the things of this world…if we do then the love of God is not in us. What are these things of the world that John is talking about? Certainly, not other people, who do not know Jesus…of course we are to love them, our love is seen as we are willing to share Jesus with them. The things of this world that we are not to love are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the ungodly pride found in humanity that does not know the Lord. These are not from God, but from the world.
John then begins to teach the reality of both the coming of the Antichrist, and the spirit of antichrist that is already in the world. “Anti” means both “against”, and “in place of”. So, John tells us of the Antichrist who is coming, and the fact that there have been many antichrists in the world. Anyone who stands in the place of Christ is an antichrist. Anyone who teaches false doctrine about who Jesus is has created a false “Jesus” for others to follow…these teachers are antichrist. These start in the church, but soon leave with their false teachings…they do so because they never really were part of the church…they are lost. But, we have the Holy Spirit and the written Word, so we don’t have to be led astray. We are called to stay in the Word…and never set it aside for the latest teaching that comes along. In the Word we have an objective source of truth, that never changes…in it we have our spiritual protection from false teachings and lies. Finally, John calls us to abide in Christ…as we do we will walk in His righteousness, and this affirms that we belong to Him.
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
TOMORROW’S READING…1 JOHN 3