The first test!

-

 I John 2:2-6

  We need to visit the good news in I John 2:2 before moving on in the Epistle series.  Not a verse to skip!!!( I remembered while I was working on this series the vs in Hebrews about Moses---the , :"By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin. 26He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward.…" Berean Bible)

2:2 "And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our sins only , but also for the sins of the whole world"

"Sometimes it only takes one person to hold your hand to remind you that everything is going to be ok"  --- Roger Lee ( thank you to my fb friend who shared this on Thursday )


Advocate in orig language means 'called alongside' especially in the courts of the law. He pleads the cause of the person on trial as counsel for the defense!  Matlock , better than!  Better than Perry Mason or that guy who has the big billboards to defend you from the 18 wheeler accidents.

The Righteous and He is the Propitiation for our sins...two important words we need if we are going to go to heaven.  

What a great encouragement!!!

----Today point 1 is in vs 3 ---the 1st application of the tests or the moral/obedience test.  ( in the outline I gave out)

" And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments" 2:3

The word is in the present tense keep= " If we are keeping His commandments"  This means watchful, observant obedience, not perfect obedience .  Calvin- if we are " forming our life in obedience to God"

John Stott said it this way " NO RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IS VALID IF IT DOES NOT HAVE MORAL CONSEQUENCES"

Titus 1:16 says ," They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him."

vs 4 John hits it out of the park, "  The one who says, ' I have come to know Him and does not keep His cmdts is a liar, and the truth is not in him"

Self check- what commandment are we habitually breaking?  Is it putting God first?  Do not covet?  Love you neighbor as yourself?  Anger?  Work takes priority over home, family and God????

Vs 5-  tells us that if we are forming our lives in obedience to God that our love for God has been perfected.

The proof of love for God is loyalty Mt 21:28-31  The man had two sons and which one was faithful????

vs 6.   He that says He abides in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked. 

  In His Steps This is the inspirational novel that popularized the expression, What Would Jesus Do? Written by a Congregational minister, it tells of four prominent members of a small town who resolve to undertake no action without first considering Christ's example. Originally published in 1897, it continues to speak to modern readers  by Charles Sheldon

I Peter 2: 21, 22 is a complementary vs.   " For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an ex. for you to follow in His steps

Conclusion----How do we fare on John's first test?  2:3  Are we forming our lives in obedience to God?  This comes from the Bible.  How well do we know the standards we are to keep?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Balancing our Romans 5 Justification with holiness in the life Romans 6

-
  A Balance to Justification Romans 6     Last week we discussed the area of grace in the operation of our salvation.  We saw in Romans 5:1-8 that salvation, we call it justification is by faith through the un-merited grace of the Eternal Trinity. Without peace with God we have no eternal life.  That peace with God and the person of Christ is there as we develop relationships with other Christians in the Church. This is what was so important. "That is to say, in the Christian community we do not relate to one another “immediate[ly],” we relate to one another mediately – through the “mediation of Christ.” For that reason, we love others not directly, but for Christ’s sake."  Article on Life Together by Bonhoeffer.    We said in summary we are not seeking a rules-based Christianity necessarily,  but have grace to access to God through His life-changing Gospel of the good news, that Christ died for the ungodly, and we were all that before Christ came to us.  We did not come to H
Read more

Walk worthily Philippians 1:27

-
  Worthily   Philippians 1:27 Some of my favorite vs are in the Philippians letter.  1:6, "  being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" 1:21 " For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Ch 2 talks about unity through humility and being like Christ, doing things with the mind of Christ.Ch 3 is great too about our citizenship being in heaven and awaiting the Savior from heaven, Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly bodies at the Resurrection Ch 4 may be the best with not being anxious and to cast all our care upon Him and not being anxious.  But in vs 27 of ch 1 we are exhorted to " walk worthily of the gospel of Christ"    As a noun, axiom refers to a statement that is accepted as true and serves as the basis for argument or inference. It can also mean an established rule, principle, or self-evident truth.  Walk worthily of the Gospel of Christ, v. 27 recognized as
Read more

The Vine and the Branches John 15

-
  John 15.  The Vine and the Branches   This is obviously a well-known part of the teaching of Jesus.  Every time I come to it, I gain something new from it.  It makes sense because Israel too was known as a vine.  Unfortunately Israel did not always behave in the way God required of them.  " He looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes." Is 5:2  If we are part of the vine and the branches we too know this all too well. Our intentions may be pure but somehow we act in such a way that we do not experience God's peace.  It usually has something to do with us, not God, for His calling and purposes are always good. 1.  God calls us as He did with the people of Israel.  They did not follow before His call of them individually and as a people.  We too are called to Him .  Vs 16 " Ye have not chosen me, but I have chose you and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit." We cannot be proud or boastful for we know before we
Read more