Word@Work, Let God's Word energise your working day!

1 John

Filter by Chapter Number

Two Sets of Children

1 John 3:9-10

It is said that you can tell the character of the parents by watching their children.  Whether or not that is always true, the children of God have been born-again into His family, and He wants them to acquire His nature.  However, our sinful nature still exerts its influence.  John started his letter by writing, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).  The godly response is to loath our sin, confess and repent of it and receive God’s forgiveness (1 John 1:9).  The ungodly response is to continue in sin without repentance: tha

Hatred Is Normal For The World

1 John 3:11-13

Life, as a child of God, should be full of love.  Our eternal life starts when we repent of our rebellion against God and receive His love and forgiveness.  Love is normal for God because He is love; and so for those who have His seed (1 John 3:9), loving is the normal way of relating.  Jesus commanded that His disciples should love each other as He loved them.  Indeed, love was to be the hallmark of discipleship (John 13:34-35) – the stamp of authenticity of being a child of God.

Love in the Family

1 John 3:14-15

Love is a characteristic of God’s people, because it is an intrinsic quality of God Himself (1 John 4:8).  John has just been using Cain as an example of someone who did not love his brother, Abel (Genesis 4:1-12; 1 John 3:11-13).  Murdering Abel was shockingly wicked, and its deadly echo has reverberated down through the centuries.  That dreadful act of hatred was an epic example of being against God's family and therefore against God.  

Practical Love

1 John 3:16-18

Love is not primarily an emotion which makes us feel good.  It is a deep passion which compels us to complete acts of self-sacrifice so that the person we love can receive the best we can give.  The ultimate act of love is to surrender our lives so that others may live.  Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:13).  He proved that by accepting the punishment of our sin when He died on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).

Confident that We Belong to God

1 John 3:19-20

John had just set the test of true discipleship as loving our believing brothers and sisters in a practical and sacrificial way (1 John 3:16-18).  But it is a test with two edges.  The first is the confidence which flows from knowing that we are living in God’s love as we gladly help other believers who are in need. That tells us that the family of God matters to us as much as our own family (Acts 4:32).  It reassures us that that we belong to Christ who is the Truth (John 14:6).

Confident to Receive from God

1 John 3:21-22

Confidence before God only comes to believers who know they are loved, forgiven and accepted by God when they repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15).  Knowing the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus, our hearts can rest in His presence (1 John 3:19).  We know that we are no longer under God’s wrath (John 3:36) nor condemned by Him (Romans 8:1); instead, we have peace with God (Romans 5:1).

God's Great Commands

1 John 3:23-24

Everybody, with a conscience towards God, wants to know what they must do to please Him.  That desire is embedded into every heart, however much it is suppressed.  John had heard Jesus answer the question, "'What must we do to do the works God requires?' Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'" (John 6:28-29).  There are many specific commands which enable believers to keep in step with God’s will, and the Holy Spirit has been given to believers to explain what is written in the Bible (John 14:26) – but those who do not first believe in Jesus’

Do Not Be Gullible About Spiritual Influences

1 John 4:1-3

Although it would be nice to think that all religious people basically believe the same things about Jesus and the gospel, it would be naïve, because they do not.  John wrote this warning that many false prophets (with evil spirits) have gone out into the world (Matthew 24:24).  His use of words implies that they are 'on a mission' to substitute their philosophies for the authority of King Jesus.  So it is vital for church leaders, and indeed every believer, to know whether a person is speaking truth from God or not (2 Peter 3:17-18).  

Listening to the World or to God

1 John 4:4-6

The people you listen to, will be the people who shape your life.  Listening (as opposed to being aware that somebody is speaking) is a choice based upon what you really want: so the people of God should listen to Him because they desire Him, and His holiness.  But many people reject the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, preferring the world with its 'feel good' agenda.  And so those who desire the world's standards will listen to worldly wisdom and be functionally anti-Christ (2 John 1:7), whilst those who desire the Lord will listen to Him (John 10:27).

Love Comes from God

1 John 4:7-9

Every family share certain characteristics.  These may be physical similarities, or the way they walk or talk.  God's family is marked out by God's character which is full of love.  In contrast to the way of the world, where love is valued if it does not cost too much, the children of God have the wonderful privilege of being loved by the only person who is in charge of everything, everywhere for all time and eternity; and He will spare nothing to show His love (1 John 3:1-2).

Pages

BeaconLight
Word@Work
CrossCheck