In the same way, John writes to three groups at different levels of spiritual maturity.  Those who are recent believers are his dear children.  They are just learning how to walk as Jesus walked.  It sometimes seems that John’s primary concern in this treatise is for these immature Christians.  He desires greatly that they persevere in their walk and not get side tracked by the world.  They are still vulnerable to being pulled away from God by the world.  He reminds them that it is their faith that has got them this far.

Those who have been Christians for a long time are the fathers, mature in their faith and walk with God.  They have fought the good fight, they have run the race.  John knows that unlike the children who are just getting to know the Father, these Christians have a deep and abiding relationship with God.  They have a strong attraction to God.

The young men are those out on the front lines defending the faith and the faithful from the attacks of the enemy.  They get the most attention in this passage from John.  In part this is because they are the most active of the three groups, in part because they may need the most encouragement.

Although they have reached a level of spiritual maturity that keeps them from being easily vulnerable, they are still in the fight and if they let their guard down, they could be overcome.  But John reminds them that they have already overcome the evil one.  Don’t be discouraged, don’t be afraid.  “You are strong,” John writes, “the Word of God lives in you.”

No matter what level of spiritual maturity we find ourselves in, John reminds us that we are God’s children.  We need to continue our walk with Christ and walk as Christ.  As we do, we will find ourselves slowly moving from spiritual children, to active Christians fighting the good fight, and on to spiritually mature Christians who have proven themselves over and over again and now walk with ease in the Light of God.

We can be encouraged that this maturing does happen and that God is there with us, empowering us by His Spirit.  At times, we may feel like we have slipped back to being a little child or that we are loosing the fight.  Hang on to God’s Word, hang on to God’s love and we will overcome.

Questions:

1. What do you see in these verses?  What are the ideas and concepts that strike you as important as John addresses the maturing process associated with following Christ?
2. John twice addresses each of these three groups of children, young men and fathers in these verses.  What are the similarities and differences in each reference to each group?  What does he repeat?  What does he say different?
3. What do these similarities and differences tell you about where each of these groups are and what the challenges before them might be?
4. What does this progression from child to young man to father tell you about our following of Christ?  How does this line up with your current understanding of what it means to be a Christian, one who is a Christ Follower?
5. What does it mean to you to have your sin’s forgiven ‘on account of his name’ (NIV) or ‘for His Name’s sake’ (NASB)?  What is this ‘name’ and how and why are we forgiven our sins on account of it?
6. What do you think that the evidence would be for each of these three stages of our journey?  What do you think that it would look like to be strong, to have the Word of God living in you and to have overcome the evil one?  To have your sins forgiven for His Name’s sake (NASB) and to know the Father?  To know Him who was from the beginning?
7. Where do you think that you stand on this progression and journey?  Again, what is the evidence for that assessment?

Please post your observations, comments, and questions as we move through this study of the book of 1John.

“What’s old is new again.”  A common saying that points out that each generation discovers something new to them that is old to a previous generation.  Clothing, music, words and even games from the past become the hip new thing.  But often for many things, as fast as they become popular again, they are on the way out.  On the other hand, some things continue to trudge on as “a good thing” to be discovered as new by each generation even as the previous generation smiles to itself knowing that it has always been good.

Loving one’s neighbor is one of those truths that march on throughout the ages as “a good thing.”  Sometimes it seems to be forgotten for a time.  The reason for this is simple; at times mankind seems to choose, as a whole, to walk in the darkness, rejecting the light.  Worse, those of us who walk in the light don’t let it shine to drive back the darkness.

Unfortunately, as Christians we also can slip into that darkness and “forget” to love our brother.  We engage in gossip, backbiting, envy, and even out right hatred.  We don’t always even recognize that we have slipped into the darkness.  It may be only against one person or a class of people.  It may even be against “sinners.”  But even still, we are walking in darkness which can lead us to stumble and fall on the other things in that darkness.

Love is what binds us to each other and to God.  Love propels us into action, gives us purpose, and protects us from the enemy’s attacks.  Hatred too can propel us into action and give us purpose but instead of protecting us from the enemy’s attacks, we become the enemy.  The darkness envelops us, warps us, and drives us away from God.

“Love!” must be the one command that we follow.  We must shine God’s light upon ourselves to drive out any darkness that would prevent us from loving.  We must seek out others who will shine God’s light upon us to drive out the darkness that we are often too blind to see.  We must be willing to allow other Christians who approach us in love to point out the darkness we may be flirting with, that we might obey the command, “Love!”

Questions:

1. What do you see in these verses?  What are the concepts and ideas that strike you as important as John talks about this old command that has been made new?  What are the questions that come to mind as you read and ponder these verses?
2. What do you think that this ‘old commandment’ is that John’s audience has had from the beginning?  What is this message or word that they have heard (v.7)?
3. What do you think that John means by this old command becoming new?  How can the fact of the darkness passing and the true light shining make this old command into something new?
4. How do we go about seeing this ‘new’ truth in Jesus?  How do we distinguish this new truth from the lies that we have believed in the darkness?
5. What is the evidence that John is pointing to in these verses as an indicator of our walk?
6. What do you think that it means to love your brother?
7. What do you think that it means to hate your brother?
8. What do you think that God means by love and hate?  How do we go about discerning the difference between what we think love and hate are and what God is telling us about loving and hating our brothers?
9. Where do you stand today?  What is the evidence of your life telling you about whether you love or hate your brother?  What would those who are closest to you think that the evidence says?  What do you think the Holy Spirit says?
10. What can you do to open your eyes, to ‘un-blind’ them to what the Light would reveal to you about the truth of your faith and walk?

Please post your observations, comments, and questions as we move through this study of the book of 1John.

There are three types of people in the world; those that sin and don’t care, those that think they don’t sin and are never forgiven, and those that sin, confess and are forgiven.

We are called to “walk as Jesus did” (2:6).  This is a tall order since he walked and never sinned.  That is why John is so gracious to start with the fact in today’s passage that if we do sin, and that is pretty much a given, Jesus will stand up for us in the Court of Heavenly Law and we will go free.

But we don’t get off scott free.  Oh no.  There was a stiff penalty paid.  You see, the penalty for sin is death (Romans 3:23).  We sin, we stand before the Judge, and we are convicted and condemned.  There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation.  If a murderer goes before a court of law and tries the “but I’m a good person” defense, or the “look at all the good I have done” defense, or the “I am not as bad as they say” defense, he will still be convicted, sentenced, and pay the penalty.  In the same way, we have no defense when we stand before the Heavenly Judge.

But when we walk with Jesus, he goes as our advocate before the Judge, who is his father and our Father, proclaiming that he has already paid the penalty for our sin when he died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  The Father smiles at His Son and declares us forgiven.  We owe Christ our lives.

And so, we are called to “walk as Jesus did.”  We are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-40).  And when we slip and fall, Jesus is right there to help us back on our feet and help us walk as he did.

Questions:

1. What do you see in these verses?  What are the ideas and concepts that stand out to you?  What are the questions that strike you as you read these verses?  What do you think that John is trying to communicate to his audience at the time that he wrote and what do you think he is trying to communicate to you?
2. What is your understanding of the reality of sin?  Is sin something that we can avoid or is it something we are doomed to always be guilty of?
3. Who or what is this Advocate that John speaks of in v.1?  What does John say about this Advocate in these verses?  Also read and compare John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26-27 and 16:7 where the same word (parakletos; one called along side) translated here as ‘Advocate’ is used.  What do these verses say to you about what God has done and is willing to do in order to help you as you follow Him?
4. What do you think that it means for Jesus to be the Atoning sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the world?  What does this sacrifice have to do, if anything, with His being our Advocate and Helper or Counselor?
5. How is it that John says that we know that we have come to know this Advocate and Helper?
6. How do you see and what is your attitude towards obedience or keeping (NASB) of God’s commands?  How does our attitude towards and the reality of our keeping or obeying His commands impact our relationship with our Advocate?
7. What are the results of our obedience (vv.5-6)?
8. What do you think it means to have God’s Love made complete in you?
9. How would God’s Love being made complete in you and your being or living in Christ impact your walking as Jesus did?
10. What is the evidence that you see John pointing to in these verses as being crucial to understanding what it means to know God and validating that we do, in reality, know Him?

Please post your observations, comments, and questions as we move through this study of the book of 1John.

The first chapter of this letter from John is a foundation.  Everything that follows is built upon the concepts and ideas that John introduces here, so it would behoove us to spend some time looking at what it is that is being introduced here in order to better understand what is to follow.  Take a moment now and read through this chapter.  Get pen and paper or a word processor and jot down what you see in these verses.  What are the ideas that John is introducing?  What are the questions that come to mind as you read?  Take a shot at making a short summation in your own words of what it is that John is saying.  Do it now.  It is important that you begin to come to grips with the foundation, with the argument or word that John is proclaiming.  If you can’t do it now, identify a time when you can concentrate.  Whatever it is that I have to say can wait for you to come to some kind of grip on what it is that John is say in this chapter.

I see three main ideas in these verses, all under girded by the idea of evidence, that all that John is saying is based in what he has heard, seen, examined or looked at and actually touched.  The first of those ideas is the Word of Life, a life that was from the beginning, was with the Father and has now been revealed and it is this Word, this Life that is driving John’s writing of his letter.  The result of coming to grips with this Life is fellowship; something held in common and shared which results in close association and relationship.  That fellowship is with John and those with him, with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

The second of those ideas is the message of God being Light and in Him, in that Light there is no darkness at all.  Again, evidence follows hard on the heels of this message.  If we claim to have fellowship with Father and Son we should be displaying the characteristics of one who knows where they are going, sees the bumps in the road, avoids them and practices the Truth, not just paying lip service to that Truth.  The result is that we, again, have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

The third is that of confession.  This is not some willy-nilly telling God what we think He wants to hear in order to get out of our current jam but rather a being of the same mind as God about our sin.  It is the result of our thinking that we are in the light and finally recognizing that we have been walking in darkness, recognizing that the fall we are continually taking as we walk out our lives is the result of our ‘missing the mark’ because we really don’t have the Light we need and simply acknowledging that we don’t know what we are doing.  Again, it is our acknowledging the evidence of our lives and putting it into the proper context.  The result is not the wrath of God, as if He suddenly has been informed of something that He didn’t know, but rather He finally gets to do what He has been waiting and yearning to do; forgive us of those sins and cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness.

The whole point is for each of us to get real with God, acknowledging the evidence of our lives, confessing the darkness and letting Him show us His Way.  He is not some philosophical construct to argue about but the Real and Living God who has revealed Himself in His Son Jesus Christ.  He has not left us to figure it out on our own, but rather He has given us His Light in order to illuminate our steps.  First and foremost, He has given us Himself, His very Life, He has not and will not leave us alone.

These are the things that, at least in my opinion, we need to be on the lookout for as we study through 1John.  The point of these posts is not to tell you what to think or what to think about, but rather to stimulate you to come face-to-face with the Word yourself, to hear, see, look at and touch for yourself what it was that John came face-to-face with.  Set aside time daily to give yourself the opportunity to do exactly that.  Go out to Flatland Learning and post your comments, questions and observations.  Button-hole someone at church and ask your questions, develop your discussion and grow in your understanding.  Because that is exactly what John did.

Please post your observations, comments, and questions as we move through this study of the book of 1John.

I like to be called “nobody” because everyone knows, “nobody” is perfect.  We all like to think, at least secretly sometimes, that we are as good as it gets.  But generally, we know we have our faults and need to improve.  When we don’t acknowledge our faults, we almost always find ourselves embarrassed.

Not long ago a star football player declared himself to be the best football player available.  Yet here we are during the off season and he isn’t on a team, with several teams and coaches saying they don’t want him.  Why not?  Because despite all his talents, all the good things about him, he has a lot of faults that make him undesirable.  One of the biggest faults is that he doesn’t even recognize that he has faults.

If we think that we are good enough to get into heaven because of what we did or who we are, to pass through those pearly gates on our own merits, we fool ourselves.  We just can’t get in.  It doesn’t matter that we have the qualities of Ghandi or Mother Teresa, we still have our faults, we still have our sins.  Those sins repel us from God.  We can have nothing to do with Him.

If we haven’t confessed before God that we are sinful and need his forgiveness, we are as sinful as the lowest of sinners.  We must accept the work of Christ on the cross, that fact that His work is sufficient to take away our sins and purify us from all our unrighteousness.  When we confess our sins, then God draws us in to Him because Christ declares us right before Him.

Questions:

1. What do you see in these verses?  What are the important concepts and ideas that strike you as you read these verses?
2. What makes it so appealing to claim we are without sin and so difficult to confess those sins?  Why would our thinking that we are without sin be evidence that we are deceiving ourselves and the Truth is not in us?
3. What are the deceptions that we buy into individually and culturally?  What is it that makes those concepts and ideas deceptive?  How do we go about recognizing deception within ourselves?  What do you think would be clues to the fact that you are being deceived?
4. What do you think that it means to confess?  Is it some rote recital of ‘I pinched sister, I lied to Daddy’?  What is your reaction to public confessions of wrong-doing?  What is it that leads you to believe or disbelieve those confessions?
5. What do you think is the foundation of a confession that would lead God to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness?
6. What do you think that God wants out of our confession?  Do you think He looking for an excuse to punish us or might there be some other purpose for our confession in His View?
7. What is the Word that John is implicitly stating needs to be in our lives?
8. Why does our claim to be without sin make God into a liar and prove that His Word has no place in our lives?
9. How should we go about recognizing the sin that is in our lives so that we can confess it?  Are there things in our culture that are identified as ‘sin’ that God might not see the same way?  How would we distinguish the two?  How do we go about identifying what God specifically sees as sin in our lives?
10. What do you see as the sin in your life?  How does that sin impact your relationship with the Holy Spirit?
11. The root of the word translated here as ‘confession’ essentially means ‘to be of the same mind’.  Do you want to be ‘of the same mind’ as God?  Is the desire of your heart to be a reflection of what it is that He says in True?  What is it that you need to confess today?

Please post your observations, comments, and questions as we move through this study of the book of 1John.

There is nothing so scary, lonely, and upsetting than to find oneself walking in the dark.  We feel alone and vulnerable even when we are with others.  The darkness envelops us and isolates us, even small glimmers of light offers little help or hope.  Whistling doesn’t help.  Talking doesn’t help.  No, there is no help.

Yet spiritually, all too many walk in the darkness.  They wander apart from God and apart from the salvation offered.  Some go so far as to try to redefine the darkness as walking in the light.  They ignore their own plight and drag others with them.  They set themselves up as leaders proclaiming that they are in the know.  They think very highly of themselves and put down any that don’t follow them.  But they are delusional and found wanting for God is light and only those who walk with God are in the light; those not in the light, bump and crash about, miserable and wretched.

Those who walk in the light benefit from that light.  We are freed from sin and its effects.  No more bumping around in the dark, stubbing our toes.  We can walk quickly without wavering because we can see clearly where we walk.

As we walk in the light, we have fellowship with God to receive his blessings.  As we walk in the light, we can say with the Psalmist, even when we walk through the darkest valley, we have no fear because God is with us (Psalm 23:4).  Walking with God brings us peace and restoration.

Finally, we enjoy the fellowship of others who also walk in the light.  There is no better company than to be with other Christians.  Even the most dreary house party is better when we fellowship with others in the Light.  And when we feel lost or frightened because of the darkness out there, others in the Light can encourage us and build us up, pointing out in the Light all that is clearly seen for us.

Questions:

1. What strikes you as the important concepts and ideas that John is laying out in these verses?  What do you see as what John is trying to say here and why do you think that he sees these ideas as important?
2. Think about what happens when the lights go out in your house.  One moment you are moving about easily and without problem and the next you are in complete darkness.  What is it that makes the darkness a problem?  How long have you been walking around the furniture and other obstacles in your house without problem?  Why are you all of the sudden barking your shins on every couch, chair and table that you own?  Could you ultimately learn how to live in this darkness?  What would be the problems with living in your house in perpetual darkness?  What would be the benefits?  What would you have to do in order to successfully live in the dark?
3. What is the message that John is proclaiming?  What, if any, is the relationship between this message and the ‘Word of Life’ John said he was proclaiming in v.1?
4. What do you think John is trying to say when he states that ‘God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all (v.5)’?  What is his authority for making this statement?  How would one go about verifying that authority?
5. What does it mean to have ‘fellowship’ with God?  What do you think that the basis for the fellowship is?  What would be the concrete evidence of that fellowship?  Is there any concrete evidence available for our fellowship with God?
6. What do you think it means to ‘walk’, whether that walking would be in the light or in the darkness?
7. What are the implications for our claiming to have fellowship with God and continuing to walk in the darkness?
8. If God is light, what do you see as the implications for what it means to walk in the light?
9. What do you think that the impact of light is on a life that has been walked in darkness?  What do you see as the changes in behavior that would be associated with walking in the light?
10. What is the relationship between light, fellowship, truth and the blood of Jesus that John lays out here?  How does the fact that Jesus is the Son impact these relationships?
11. What is sin?  What does it mean to you that the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin?  Does that purification impact your walk?  In what ways will sin or your being purified from it impact your walk today?
12. Are you walking in light or in darkness?  How would you recognize if you are walking in the darkness?  How would you recognize the light?

Please post your observations, comments, and questions as we move through this study of the book of 1John.

Although there are a few that always seem to deny the truth and even run from it, most of us find the truth to be the one thing that always pulls us to it.  We say with Joe Friday, “Just the facts.”

Even as John wrote his words, he was the last of those who had witnessed everything Jesus had done.  Generations have been born and raised with no first hand knowledge of Jesus.  There were many who had started to twist the Gospel and even deny the truth of who Jesus was.  And so, John writes with certitude about Jesus and wants us to grasp and accept it.  He was there.  He saw, heard, witnessed, even touched the truth and that truth gives us eternal life.

This certitude is so very important in our daily walk.  We are constantly assaulted by the world which denies the work and person of Jesus Christ.  But we have confidence in our beliefs because we have the witness of those who were there from the beginning.  When we start questioning the truth, we find ourselves being pulled away from God and into the world.

Questions:

1. What do you see in these verses?  What are the ideas and concepts that you see as important as John begins to lay the foundation for what he is going to say?  What do you think John is trying to say in these opening verses?  What are the ideas and concepts that he appears to be introducing?
2. How does this introduction differ from those of Paul that we have studied over the last months?  What do those differences suggest to you as to the purpose of John’s writing?
3. What does John state about the ‘Word of Life’ in these verses?
4. What do you think might be the difference between what John had ‘seen with our eyes’ and what ‘we have looked at’ (v.1)?  What do you think that the difference between ‘seeing’ and ‘looking at’ might be?
5. What is the importance of this ‘Word of Life’ being from the beginning?
6. Why do you think that John specifically states that the Word of Life was with the Father and had appeared or manifested (NASB) itself to them?
7. What is this ‘fellowship’ that John refers to in these verses?
8. What does John say about why he is writing in these verses?
9. What are the concepts and ideas that you see in these verses that we might be on the look out for to be more fully developed in the coming verses and chapters?

Please post your observations, comments, and questions as we move through this study of the book of 1John.

Think back with me over to where we have gone in these last months.  In Flash Forward we began to map out our journey.  We looked at where we were, where it is that we are going and what might lay in between on that journey.  We looked at the Parables of the Sower and the Vine as we began to define what this journey was going to look like.  Census 2010 looked at the call to follow, essentially asking the question ‘How do I get from where I am to where I want to be?’  We bounced all over scripturally, looking at everything from the Law and Prophets of the Old Testament to the Gospels and the letters of Paul in the New Testament.  Then, in Fresh Start we focused in on just what this journey, this call to follow has looked like in the past in the Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah as the Jews of the Babylonian Exile were called to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple and the city walls.  Finally in Why Religion Doesn’t Work, we looked at Paul’s letter to the Galatians as he explains why our following is one of the Spirit; of being transformed from a slave to legalism into the freedom of a child of God.  It has been a challenging journey, to say the least.

Now we come to the 1John, a letter that we really don’t know a whole lot about.  The author doesn’t identify himself specifically, nor does he identify his audience and we can only guess as to when this letter was written.  What we do know is that the author knew Jesus personally, that he saw, heard, looked at and touched Him with his hands.  Given the obvious similarities between this letter and the Gospel of John, it isn’t a huge leap to identify the author as John the Apostle, but that is guess none the less.

What I can tell you is that 1John is about what it means to be a child of God and the evidence that points to the reality of that transformation.  John had the unique opportunity to literally see and hear and touch Jesus and to ponder and debate just what it was that he saw, heard and touched.  We have no less of an opportunity to literally see, hear and live with the Holy Spirit, to ponder what the Word of Life says to us today and observe the evidence of the Life working within ours as He transforms us from what we were into a child of God; one who loves with the Love of God living in and through them.

Get ready to be challenged.  Take some time to think back over the last eight months.  What were the lessons that you have learned?  What are the questions that you have asked?  What stands out to you about this journey that we have been on?  What are the immediate challenges before you in your life?  Take some time today to read through 1John and prepare to face the center of Gravity in your life.

Please fee free to post your comments, observations and questions as we study through the book of 1John.