Living in the Light

In my sermon Sunday from 1 John 1:5-7, I meditated on what it means to "walk in the light as he is in the light." Here are 7 truths trying to get at what it looks like to live in the light:

Living in the light means living in fellowship with God.
Living in the light means striving for purity.
Living in the light means rejecting the deeds of darkness.
Living in the light means practicing the truth.
Living in the light means loving our brothers.

Living in the light means acknowledging and confessing our sin.

 Living in the light means treasuring Jesus whose blood cleanses from all sin.

Let Us Love One Another

1 John 4:7-12 is extremely helpful for those of us who struggle to love others like we should. John basically gives us the theological foundation for loving one another.

Here are the 3 points I meditated on in our Wed evening Bible Study:

1. We are to love one another because we know the One who is love (v. 7-8).
-God is love and He imparts Himself to us when we are born of Him.
-To not love is to fail to manifest the nature of the One who we claim to be our Father.

2. We are to love one another because God has loved us in Christ (v. 9-11).
-The Cross reveals God's love.
-The Cross propitiates God's wrath.
-The Cross fuels our love for one another.

3. We are to love one another because God is seen in our love for one another (v. 12).
-God’s love is revealed when we love one another.

Sinclair Ferguson on the Cross as the demonstration of God's love:
“When we think of Christ dying on the cross we are shown the lengths to which God’s love goes in order to win us back to himself. We would almost think that God loved us more than he loves his Son! We cannot measure such love by any other standard. He is saying to us: I love you this much. The cross is the heart of the gospel. It makes the gospel good news: Christ died for us. He has stood in our place before God’s judgment seat. He has borne our sins. God has done something on the cross we could never do for ourselves. But God does something to us as well as for us through the cross. He persuades us that he loves us.”

11 Evidences of the New Birth

In chapter 10 of Finally Alive, John Piper draws out 11 evidences of the new birth in 1 John.

Those who are born of God...

1. Keep his commandments (2:3-4; 3:24)
2. Walk as Christ walked (2:5-6)
3. Don't hate other but love them (2:9; 3:14; 4:7-8; 4:20)
4. Don't love the world (2:15)
5. Confess the Son and receive (have) him (2:23; 4:15; 5:12)
6. Practice righteousness (2:29)
7. Don't make a practice of sinning (3:6; 3:9-10; 5:18)
8. Possess the Spirit of God (3:24; 4:13)
9. Listen submissively to the apostolic Word (4:6)
10. Believe that Jesus is the Christ (5:1)
11. Overcome the world (5:4)

1 John 2:1-6

It was a joy to teach on 1 John 2:1-6 last night. We searched out 20 observations on verses 1 and 2.

We rejoiced in the fact that Jesus is our righteous advocate with the Father because He is the propitiation for our sins.

Jesus is in every way qualified to be a suitable and all-sufficient Savior!

5 Key Ideas from 1 John 1:1-4

1. Life Comes In and Through Jesus Christ.
2. Jesus Christ has eternally existed with the Father.
3. Jesus Christ was manifested in the flesh.
4. Fellowship with God is the basis of fellowship with each other.
5. Joy is made full (completed) when we share in it with others.

Jesus in 1 John

Here are some of the references to Jesus Christ in the book of 1 John. Christianity is about Jesus Christ. He is the content of the Christian gospel.

-Jesus is the eternally existent Word of Life (1:1; 5:12).
-Jesus was with the Father and made manifested in the flesh (1:2).
-We have fellowship with Jesus (1:3).
-Jesus’ blood cleanses us from all sin (1:7).
-Jesus Christ is our advocate with the Father; He is righteous (2:1).
-Jesus is the propitiation for our sins (2:2; 4:10).
-Jesus is our example of how to live (2:6).
-Jesus is the Christ (2:22; 5:1).
-Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also (2:23).
-Jesus appeared to take away sins (3:5).
-Jesus appeared to destroy the words of the devil (3:8).
-Jesus laid down His life for us (3:16).
-Jesus has come in the flesh (4:2).
-The Father sent Jesus as an expression of His love (4:9).
-Jesus is the Savior of the world (4:14).
-Jesus is the Son of God (4:15; 5:5).
-Jesus came by the water and the blood (5:6).
-Life is in Jesus (5:11-12).
-Jesus came to give us understanding (5:20).