Off the Shelf Sunday School--1 John
Warren Mueller
Christian Author & Lake Ecosystem Scientist. Manager Environmental Assessments at Ameren (Retired).
Blessed Assurances (5:1-15)
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. ?
1.????Faith in Jesus Christ is required to be a genuine Christian (born again spiritually). This faith is confirmed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. This faith is a gift from God and cannot be earned. (Jn 3: 3; 1 Cor 6:19; Eph 2:8-9)
2.????Born again Christians love God and their fellow believers. The Holy Spirit changes our thoughts and desires so that we can obey God’s commands. This is why God’s commands are not burdensome. It is by God’s transforming grace that we can keep his commands and do the good works that he has prepared for us. ?(Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:10) ?
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3.????The only way to overcome the world (sin and death) is by faith in Jesus. (Jn 14:6)
4.????John refutes heretics such as the Gnostics by stating that Jesus was born in the flesh and that he died an atoning death on the cross for sin. Jesus came by water in a natural birth and died a violent death on the cross.
5.????The miraculous signs that happened when Jesus was baptized and when he died also testify to the fact that he is God. The Holy Spirit within believers also reveals these truths and confirms them to those who have faith in Jesus. (Mt 3:16-17; Lk 23:44-47; Rom 8:16)
6.????Christians can approach God confidently in prayer and in heaven because we are his adopted children through the blood of Jesus. God listens to his children and answers prayers that align with his will. Proper prayers are not primarily about asking for what we want but seeking God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Rom 8:12-16; Heb 4:14-16; Lk 11:1-4)