Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from 1 Jn 3:1 and following. Indeed, what in a normal family, constitutes the link between its members, it is love. Children receive it and learn it from their parents, then give it back to them and realize it among themselves. Weak image of the love that the Father gave us by calling us his children! We are not called to understand this love but to see it and, seeing it, to respond to it. Some believers might deduce that they do not have the life of God since they sometimes sin (1 John 5:18-21). Let us understand that the true self of the Christian is the new man and that he cannot sin. Car ce are those whose hearts do not condemn them, those who keep His command, and who do the things that please Him. Such people can be given blank cheques. It is Christians who love in action, not just in words; they are marked by this obedience that pleases God so much. He who is characterized by love and obedience will have his thoughts and desires in harmony with those of God so that he will ask according to His will, and he will therefore receive the things he desires.
We keep His commandments, but there is a commandment that stands out especially, and that is divided into two leaders – faith and love. We must believe in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and then love one another as He commanded His disciples, especially in John 13:34-35. Here we recognize the two things so often mentioned together in the epistles. Paul had not been to Colossi, but he thanked God for them “having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints” (Col 1:4). These two familiar things are proof of true conversion, evidence of authentic work by God.
What may not be so familiar to us is that faith and love are both treated as a commandment. It is worth noting that, among all the apostles, John is the one who wrote the most to Christians about the commandments given to us. He wrote when the other apostles were already dislodged, and when the tendency to transform grace into dissolution began to increase; that is the reason for this particular insistence. What John tells us in this epistle is so that we can be introduced into communion with God. For if we enter into this communion, we quickly discover the commandments, and there is nothing incompatible between them. They are in complete agreement, for communion is tasted and maintained only in obedience to the commandments. For obedience leads to him dwelling in us, as much as to us dying in him. If we dwell in Him, we necessarily draw from Him all the fresh sources of our spiritual life, and as our practical life is thus drawn from His, it is His life that comes to be manifested in us, and we see that He dwells in us. John brings out here what Paul states as his own experience in Galatians 2:20. It was because he “lived in faith in the Son of God” that he could say, “Christ lives in me.”
Through the Spirit given to us, we know that Christ dwells in us. The Spirit is the energy of new life that we have in Christ, and other passages show us that He is “the Spirit of Christ.” Other people may know that Christ dwells in us by observing at least something of His manifested character in us. We know this by His Spirit who has been given to us. The Holy Spirit was alluded to in chapter 2 as the Anointing, thus giving even little children the ability to know the truth; but now we think of Him as the Spirit by whom Christ dwells in us so that we can manifest Him here on earth. He also dwelt here on earth so that He could make the Word of God expressed. He did this in the beginning through the apostles and prophets He inspired. He is the power by which the Word of God is given, as well as the power by which it is received.
This fact provides antichrists with a point of attack. These early antichrists are known as the “Gnostics,” a word that means, “those who know.” They, too, spoke by a power that evidently emanated from a spirit. They claimed to know, and to establish their ideas in opposition to what had been revealed by the apostles. Digression was important at that time, and it is no less so today, as we will see in the next chapter.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
God’s Children:
- Fatherhood of God
Ps 68:6 The father of orphans, the defender of widows, is God in his holy abode. Isaiah 64:7 However, O Lord, you are our father; We are the clay, and it is you who have formed us, We are all the work of your hands. So Mt 6:9 This is how you should pray: Our Father who is in heaven! May your name be sanctified; 1 Pet 1:17 And if you invoke as Father the one who judges according to the work of each one, without acceptance of persons, conduct yourselves with fear during the time of your pilgrimage,
- Eternal hope
Help the believer at the hour of death Pr 14:32 The wicked is overthrown by his wickedness, but the righteous find refuge even in his death.
Assure immortality Acts 24:15 and having in God this hope, as they themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of the righteous and the unjust.
-A heavenly treasure Col 1:5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven, and which the word of truth, the word of the Gospel has previously made known to you.
Anticipates the coming of Christ 2:13 while awaiting blessed hope, and the manifestation of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ,
-The sure anchor of the soul Hb 6:18-19 so that, by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we find a powerful encouragement, we whose only refuge was to grasp the hope that was proposed to us.19 This hope, we possess it as an anchor of the soul, sure and solid; it penetrates beyond the veil,
-Based on the resurrection of Christ 1 Pet 1:3 Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, regenerated us, for a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
- The Duty of Charity
-The order of Moses Dt 15:12-14 If one of your Hebrew brethren, man or woman, sells himself to you, he will serve you six years; but in the seventh year you will send him free from your home.13 And when you send him free from your home, you will not send him back empty; 14 Thou shalt make gifts to him from your small cattle, from thy area, from one’s press, from what thou shalt have by the blessing of Jehovah, thy God.
-The counsel of the wise man Pr 25:21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; If he is thirsty, give him water to drink. Ec 11:1 Cast your bread on the face of the waters, for in time thou shalt find it again;
-The words of the prophet Isaiah 58:7 Share your bread with the hungry, and bring into your house the unfortunate without asylum; If you see a naked man, cover him, and do not turn away from your fellow man.
The commandments of Christ Mt 5:42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Lk 12:33 Sell what you have, and give it as alms. Make yourself purses that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where the thief does not approach, and where the ringworm does not destroy.
Paul’s exhortation Acts 20.35 I have shown you in every way that it is by working in this way that one must sustain the weak, and remember the words of the Lord, who said himself: There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.
- Doing good
Dt 6:18 Thou shalt do what is right and what is right in the eyes of the Lord, that thou shalt be happy, and that thou shalt come into possession of the good land which jehovah swore to your fathers to give you, 2 Kings 12:3 Only the high places did not disappear; the people still offered sacrifices and perfumes upon the high places. 1 Thess 1:3 constantly reminding us of the work of your faith, the work of your charity, and the firmness of your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before God our Father. 1 John 3:22 Whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing to Him.
From all of the above, we note that the division of mankind between the children of God and the children of the Devil is most absolutely established in 1 Jn 3:7-12 (John 8:38-45). Today in many religious circles this difference is ignored. That there are more or less practicing Christians, we agree. But that some declare themselves saved while others would be lost, they are accused of pride and narrowness. Well! Misunderstanding of the world, which can go as far as hatred, gives us the opportunity to be a little like Jesus here on earth (John 16:1-6). Soon we will be made like Him also in glory, for we will see Him as He is. The world’s hatred of the Father’s children should not surprise us (John 15:18-25). It is rather his kindness that could seem suspicious to us. As for love, the world can only conceive of counterfeits; his motives are never pure, never totally disinterested. Only the love of God is true, which finds its source in Himself and not in the one who is its object. It was with such love that we needed to be loved, since there was nothing lovable in us (Titus 3:1-7). And the cross is the place where we come to know the infinity of this divine love. The last words of the Apostle emphasize the need for a good conscience, a heart that does not condemn us. If we practiced only what is pleasing to the Lord, He could answer all our prayers without exception. Parents who approve of their child’s conduct will gladly grant him what he comes to ask of them (John 8:28-30; Jn 11:39-44). To abide in Him is obedience; He in us is the resulting communion (John 14:18-21; John 15:1-8). Plunge into the sea an open vase; it will be both bathed and filled. So be it with our hearts and the love of Christ! Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “put spirits to the test of God’s love for us. »
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.