Bible Study Series - The 1st General Epistle of John Chapter 4

1 John 4

Authorized (King James) Version

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1 John 4:1 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."

 
Chapter 3 ended in verse 24 about the Holy Spirit, it seems only fitting that we are now told in chapter 4 that the Holy Spirit isn't the only spirit around.

The bible here is giving us a warning, we are told not to believe every spirit. We are told to TRY every spirit whether they are of God: we are told it is because many false prophets, false teachers have gone out into the world.

These are lying spirits, unclean and full of deceit, speaking through the mouths of these false prophets.

How would you know you're not being deceived?

Are we to believe something is true by a feeling?

A burning in our bosom perhaps?

 

Scepticism is healthy and may save your life!

 
Whether you're saved or unsaved you should try to have a healthy scepticism concerning any teaching, to be open minded is to miss the strait gate:

 

Matthew 7:13-14 " Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: ¹⁴ because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

 
And when you miss the strait gate, meaning the narrow gate, you're on your way to destruction, in other words you're going to end up in hell. Being open to all manner of doctrines and other religions, accepting that all roads lead to heaven, is heresy and sadly, you will end up in hell.

We are warned over and over again not to be deceived, Jesus speaking about end times warns us of the following:

 

Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

Matthew 24:23-26 "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. ²⁴ For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you before. ²⁶ Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not."

 
Here he warns us of false saviours, and false prophets; Jesus tells us not to believe in these things, for the only time we shall see the Lord again will be in the like manner that he ascended into heaven.

Anyone who says that they saw Jesus is a liar, even if they claim it to be a vision, should you not question anyone who says they saw the Lord or the Father? 

How can you believe a story about a young teenage boy who claims (even though he can't get his story right…) to be in a grove, see two heavenly beings and identifying them as the Father (and no man has seen the father and lived) and the Son…I myself have a teenage boy of 14 and boy can he tell some pretty tall tales himself!

Why would you believe someone who claims to have had a vision about Hell, seen Jesus and tells them to warn people and then contradict every teaching in the Holy Bible?

Paul warns the Corinthians about false teachers:

 

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. ¹⁵ Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

 
Paul tells the Corinthians that even Satan himself will transform himself into an angel of light, I've heard people say to me that Satan cannot perform or make something appear pure, or give you a "good" feeling; how would you know? 

If the bible is telling us that Satan can transform himself into an angel of light, and his ministers also appear to be righteous, how do we know if we are being deceived?

We are commanded to TRY the spirits, how do we do this?
Paul says the following to the Thessalonians:

 

1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 "Despise not prophesyings. ²¹ Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

 
The test or to prove is to compare what is being taught with the clear teaching of the Bible. 

The Bible alone is the Word of God; it alone is inspired and inerrant. Consequently, the way to test the spirits is to see if what is being taught is in line with the clear teaching of Scripture.

The bible commends a certain group of Christians known as the Bereans who searched the scriptures daily to confirm the things they were taught were true or not.

 

Acts 17:10-11 "And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."

 

The Bereans are noted to be more noble than the Thessalonians, why?

Because the received the word or the teachings with all readiness of mind, and then they SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY.

To test the spirits, is to know how to examine the scriptures, this is God's Word. Rather than accept every teaching, every eagle-eyed discerning Christians should diligently study the Scriptures. 

The Christian must show thyself approved, you need to know what the Word of God says to be able to defend yourself against these lying spirits.

 

2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

 
The Word of God is to be a lamp and a light to our feet, the Psalmist wrote:

 

Psalm 119:105 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

 
We must let the light of God's Word shine on the doctrines of the day; the Holy Bible alone is the standard by which all truth must be judged. God's Word is pure and preserved:

 

Proverbs 30:5-6 "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. ⁶ Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."

Psalm 12:6-7 "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. ⁷ Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever."

 
God's Word is pure and preserved, he said every WORD is pure, not CONCEPT, EVERY WORD.

Not only is His Word preserved, kept pure, a lamp, and a light to our feet, but his Word is also known as the Sword of the Spirit:

 

Ephesians 6:17 "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:"

 
And it is the two edged Sword used to defend and attack against spiritual wickedness and evil:

 

Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

 
Just like a soldier who handles a sword in battle, he must train diligently with his sword to be able to defend and attack against his enemies, likewise should all self-professing Christians.

 

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 "(for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)⁵ casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"

 
Our battle is not a physical battle, but a spiritual one:

 

Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

 
The Holy Spirit uses the power of the Word to save souls and then to give them spiritual strength to be mature warriors for the Lord in fighting this corrupt, evil and wicked world we live in.

We must put on the Whole Armour of God! (Obviously this would be another article/sermon of its own!)

It's amazing how much you can get from just reading one verse in the bible (and that was just the first verse of chapter 4!), that why you need to be in the Word, and search the scriptures daily because you can learn so much in light of other verses. 

Continuing on with the study.

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1 John 4:2 "Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:"

 
John here is telling us, if you will, the first rule to discern if something is of the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God! Every spirit that claims that Jesus is the Messiah is of God!

This eliminates many religions out there, there are many religions out there that outright denies Jesus. Judaism rejects Jesus entirely, but then there are some denominations of Judaism that acknowledge Jesus but refuses to accept that he is the Messiah, but not only that they flat out reject that he is the Son of God as well as his deity: God manifest in the flesh.

Here is the deception, there are many religions that acknowledge Jesus, but hang on, that's not good enough, there were many people named Jesus, in fact how many times have you said you know that guy, or that person but really you have no personal knowledge or relationship with that person.

Many religions will profess Jesus, but they deny who he truly is, Islam denies that Jesus is the son of God, but they say that he was a good teacher, they acknowledge him. 

Jehovah witnesses acknowledge Jesus, but they say he was not God, they believe that he is Michael the Arch Angel, Mormon leaders say Jesus was a direct result of a physical union of God the Father and Mary, but he is the eldest spirit brother of us all, and that Lucifer (Satan) is our spirit brother also begotten by heavenly father and mother, I've asked Mormon missionaries if they believe that Jesus is God, but they never answer.

So we have these religions that makes these claims about Jesus, but they deny who he really is and what is written about him in the bible. If you deny any one thing about the Lord Jesus Christ that is taught in the bible then you are deny the true Jesus of the bible, I believe that what the Lord meant when he said, do not believe if they tell you that I am in the desert, or I am in the secret chambers, let no man deceive you!

To confess Jesus as the Christ or Messiah, the Anointed One, is to have Him as your Saviour. 

This, to me, is saying, we must believe that the Word of God took on the form of flesh and dwelt among us. Inside that flesh, dwelt the Spirit of God. He was Emmanuel which means, "God be with us". We must know who Jesus is, before we can have faith in Him for salvation.

The Word, this Jesus is God manifest in the flesh, by whom Salvation must be obtained by.

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1 John 4:3 "and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."

 
Anyone who denies what I explained in the previous verse is of that spirit of antichrist, notice this is singular, it is THE antichrist that shall come, this wicked soul that will eventually come to persecute the saints. 

The bible says here that this antichrist will spearhead the great Tribulation of the end times, and what is also known as Daniels 70^th week, in the midst of this week the antichrist will turn his attention to persecute and slay all Christians, all the true believers in Christ.

This antichrist spirit is here now, and we can see it clearly working in the children of disobedience, and that great city, Babylon which in our day is definitely the United States of America, why do I say this?

Out of all countries in the world, which country has the most apostate churches/religions in the world? America

Which Country houses the United Nations as its headquarters (to bring in the one world global government)? America

Which Country in the world deceives all other countries with its sorceries and tricks (Movies, TV shows, Fashion, Music, Propaganda)? America

Which Country has its presence felt in almost every other nation in the world (Military bases, Embassies, businesses)? America

Is this country NOT modern day Babylon?

Show me another country that fits the bill in Revelation, and that's chapter 18 I'm referring to!

(Would love to do an article on the entire book of Revelation, keep your eyes peeled!).
2 Thessalonians talks about the coming of the antichrist:

 

2 Thessalonians 2:3-8 "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; ⁴ who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. ⁵ Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? ⁶ And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. ⁷ For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. ⁸ And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:"

 
The final Antichrist will not be something new, but will be the ultimate embodiment of all the antichrist spirits that have perverted truth and propagated satanic lies since the beginning. 

The man of lawlessness is still to be revealed, but the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. 

Once he (the antichrist) receives his deadly wound, Satan will counterfeit (by actually possessing the body of the antichrist himself) a resurrection to fool the world into thinking that he is the messiah.

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1 John 4:4 "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world."

True believers have nothing to fear, for even Satan hosts with their perversions can't take them out of the Lord's hand. We belong to God and have overcome them, I have said before in my articles that term overcome is synonymous with being saved: greater is he that is in you, the Holy Spirit leads into sound doctrine for genuine Christians, proving that salvation has actually transpired.

 

Romans 8:17 "and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."

 

He that is in us is Christ, the Apostle Paul says this in Galatians:

 

Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

 
It is Christ in me that overcomes the enemy.

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1 John 4:5 "They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them."

 
They are of the world, this "they" is speaking of non-believers, they follow after the lust of the flesh, they live in the world, these people live for the things of this world, and they appeal to their own desires and not the things of God. 

For this reason, the things of God is foolishness to them from their philosophies to their own selfish desires, they are caught up in the world.

They have no hope, because they base everything they believe on what they can see with their eyes and their other senses. They have eyes to see, and they do not see, and ears to hear, and they hear not. 
They place their faith in this world, and they shall perish with this world.

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1 John 4:6 "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."

 
We are of God: Christians will receive this message that John and the other true apostles are bringing. Christians have ears to hear, and they hear; the children of this world will not hear.

For this reason, Christians will know the difference between the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. I can't count how many times I have sat in places listening to sermons, studies and going to churches and to just listen to what people say, and then suddenly my ears tingle, my hairs on the back of my neck raise as if the Holy Spirit within me just raised alarm bells to tell me what I'm hearing is not of the truth.

I can even sit there and listen to so-called Christians talk about their faith and immediately know something is off. This is the Spirit bringing in remembrance of the Word to defend you against false teachers or teachings.

In stark contrast, demonically evil, wickedly inspired teachers either reject the teaching of God's word, even to question the validity without reason is a wicked thing to do.

 

2 Corinthians 4:2-4 "but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. ³ But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: ⁴ in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

 
God give us a warning to those who will seek to add, change or take away from this book:

 

Revelation 22:18-19 "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: ¹⁹ and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

 
I've had the deceived and the wicked say to me, but this is only applying to the book of Revelation!

Seriously, how wicked do you have to be, to think something like that? 

Look what is says in other places of the bible then?

 

Deuteronomy 4:2 "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you."

Deuteronomy 12:32 "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."

Proverbs 30:6 "Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."

 

Do not tamper with the Lord's Words, these modern bible translators should take heed of the warnings also, one only needs to do a study and background of the so-called older manuscripts which only account for 5% of the majority of texts, and even these older manuscripts don't even agree with themselves in many places let alone agreeing with each other.

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1 John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God."

 
Let us love one another, James calls this the royal law: for love is of God; and everyone that fulfils this royal law is born of God.

 

James 2:7-9 "Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? ⁸ If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: ⁹ but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors."

 

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1 John 4:8 "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."

 
Those who do not love do not know God, because God is love. This is a true statement, when you find a person filled with hate, you know that he or she, has never experienced that great unselfish love that God has for each of us. 

There is a need in every person to be loved. Some have never realized that anyone loves them. When you find a person in this condition, if you can make them understand that God loves them, they will change. 

Too many false prophets will use these verses to show that people who do not love are either unsaved or will use this to teach you can lose your salvation; this is false, this is not a salvation passage! 

In light of other clear scriptures that contains the word saved, justified, or salvation you cannot get such a teaching from these verses.

This is why it is important that you make sure you are teaching sound doctrine, if you were to teach from these verses that you have to love, turn from your sins to be saved, you are teaching a works salvation!

Can you honestly say that you as self-professing Christian say you've never hated or disliked anyone?

Can you say to yourself you have stopped sinning? 

If you did, you are a liar, the bible says so.

We should love one another, but we will still stumble over our own sins, does that mean you've lost your salvation? No, it's eternal.

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1 John 4:9 "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him."

The Love of God manifested toward us because he sent his only begotten Son into the World so that we might live through him, notice the word "might", not "will", it says might; again not all believers will suddenly have a change in their lives because they got saved. 

In fact, there are people who got saved out there who go on living their worldly lives!

Consider the Parable of the Sower Jesus gave in Matthew chapter 13:

 

Matthew 13:19-23 "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. ²⁰ But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; ²¹ yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. ²² He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. ²³ But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

 
Now what I'm about to say to you is important and you need to understand this, there are 4 groups of people here, there are many more scenarios or situations that are not listed here but generally but, ONLY one group is not saved; that's right and that's the first group, the other group Jesus is talking about are all saved, which category do you think you fit into of the 3 saved groups?

If you believe you fit one of them, then you are probably not being truthful to yourself, most Christians would more than likely slip into anyone of these categories throughout our entire lives!

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1 John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

 
And in this verse is the whole reason why John was saying those things in the previous verses, the word "herein" is used to introduce something that depends on or arises from what has just been mentioned.

So john is explaining what love is and he says this, it is not because we loved God, but it is because God loved us, and because God loved us, he sent his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ to be what?

The Propitiation for our sins, to be our SAVIOUR, the anointed one who would come to free us from the very thing that imprisons us; sin.

Propitiation can mean atonement, in other words, He paid the penalty for our sins in full, we have no debt to pay, our bill is marked paid in full; the great love of God for man is made real to us in this alone!

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1 John 4:11 "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."

 
God taught us by example of the unselfish love that we need to have for each other through the Lord Jesus Christ. If the world today needs one thing, it is love. 

Take the time to hug someone and say you love them today, greet that stranger you meet on the street, give that person you don't know a smile, let the love that God has shown you shine through you and make someone else's life a little brighter!

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1 John 4:12 "No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us."

We know that no man can look upon the face of God and live. Moses came the closest, when he saw the back side of God as He passed by, and because of that, his face glowed for like 3 days and they had to put a veil over his face because it was freaking them out!

We can see God by looking at Jesus, who is the image of the Father. The disciples asked Jesus to show "us the father":

 

John 14:8-10 "Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. ⁹ Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? ¹⁰ Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works."

 
Jesus told the disciples, if they had seen Him, they had seen the Father. This just meant that the Spirit of God dwelled within Him. Jesus was the manifestation of the Godhead on the earth.

Jesus' actions were not of himself but done to show us the Father, he did nothing of his own will, but the will of the Father; when we are full of God's love, we are full of Jesus. The more "full" of Jesus we are, the more love we have for others.

Love is the heart of Christian witness, nobody can see God loving since His love is invisible. Jesus is no longer physically in the world to manifest the love of God. We as Christians ought to make God's love known through our conduct which is in love so that it may benefit our fellow man, and our own brethren.

How do people know that everything they see around them is from God, and that he loves us that we might all come to him? Through our display of love to one another we can show the world God's Love!

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1 John 4:13 "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit."

 
We know this because we dwell in him, and he in us, and why is this possible?

Because God has given us his Spirit, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, when Jesus went to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, He promised to send the Holy Spirit to dwell within each of us.

 

John 14:16-17 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."

John 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."

John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."

Romans 8:9 "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

 
The fact that we have the Spirit within us, tells us that He has never really left us at all!

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1 John 4:14 "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world."

 
The purpose of the Father sending his Son, whom is God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16) on the earth was for the salvation of all mankind. 

This Jesus, who was the Word of God in heaven, the bread that came down from heaven, took on the form of flesh as the Son of God to save us.  

He took on the name Jesus because it means "God is Salvation" or "Saviour". He is our Saviour and our Lord.

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1 John 4:15 "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God."

Anyone who confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God will dwell in him and he in God. Boom! This is an equivalent Salvation passage.

Whosoever should confess with their mouth that Jesus is the Son of God, God the Holy Spirit will dwell in him! Let's look at the parallel passages:

 

Romans 10:9-10 "that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Romans 10:13 "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Matthew 10:32 "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven."

 

This is in the very words of Jesus Himself. There is no question, when we confess, to confess is to tell a truth. We know in our heart, and confess with our mouth as proof that we are full of Jesus!

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1 John 4:16 "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."

 
Our families and friends may turn against us, but we know that God loves us. We need never be lonely or blue; we have the love of God filling us. This is not just an sporadic love, but a love that is forever eternal!

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1 John 4:17 "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world."

 
He is not suggesting sinless perfection, but rather matured love manifest by confidence in the face of judgment, so that we may stand bold in that day: Jesus is God's Son in whom He was well pleased; we also are God's children (Which we learnt in chapter 3) and the objects of His gracious goodness. Jesus called God Father, so may we, since we are accepted in the Beloved!

To know this love gives us perfect confidence to stand before the Judge of the world on judgment day. 

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1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."

 
As an unsaved sinner, we should have a fear of God, in respect of Judgement and our final destination for those who do not have Christ. All sinners will taste the second death, eternal punishment in the lake of fire.

But those who are in Christ and he is in them, the saved, the children of God are in HIS love, it is his love that makes us perfect and casts the fear from out of us, because of this, Christians will stand boldly at the Judgement seat knowing that they have been made righteous by the blood of the Lamb, because of him, our Lord Jesus Christ, his finished work made it possible. 

You can know you have eternal life, you need not fear death; as the Lord said my yoke is easy, and my burden is light…brethren, you do not longer have to fear any longer for the Love of the Lord is always with us.

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1 John 4:19 "We love him, because he first loved us."

 
Just like in the previous verse, it is His love that we come to love him, he loved us first for this reason we love him!

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1 John 4:20 "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"

 
This scripture makes me think of what Jesus said, Inasmuch as ye have done it for the least of these, ye have done it unto me. – Matthew 25:40

We cannot express our love for God directly, except in praise. We cannot buy dinner or provide clothing or give money to Jesus. We can, however, buy dinner or provide clothing and money to someone who is hungry, in need of financial assistance or in need of raiment to keep themselves warm in the name of Jesus.

When we love our brothers on the earth, we are in turn loving Jesus who made them.

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1 John 4:21 "And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also."

The commandment from the Lord to love one another as he loved us, we love him and in turn we love one another; this commandment fulfils the law. 

My Brethren love one another.

This pretty much sums up chapter 4.

Go to 1 John Chapter 1 2 3 4 5

Bible Study Series - Romans Chapter 4

Romans 4

Authorized (King James) Version

 

 

Romans 4:1 "What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?"

 
As you recall, chapter 3 ended with a call to establish the Law by or through faith, Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and the prophets, he came to fulfil. 

The Law is still in effect and by no means gone. Paul said for us to "establish" by faith the Law, the word "establish" means to set up on a firm or permanent basis or foundation, and who is that foundation?

That foundation is no other person than the Lord Jesus Christ of course!

 

1 Corinthians 3:11 "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

 
In the book of the prophet Isaiah we read the following:

 

Isaiah 28:16 "therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste."

 
This scripture is quoted in many other books of the bible, one of them being recorded by Matthew chapter 21 in the words of Jesus himself:

 

Matthew 21:42 "Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?"

 
The Lord Jesus Christ is the rock, the foundation, he is the head or chief of the corner stone where the church must build its foundation upon.

 
Now Paul starts Chapter 4 using the patriarch Abraham, whom God promised his seed would be a father of all nations as example to explain faith.

"As pertaining to the flesh, has found?" near the end of Chapter 3 the context was about boasting, Paul asks the question where is boasting then? 

So what works of the flesh did Abraham have to boast with?

The scriptural answer would be none, before God for the scriptures says, there is none righteous, and they have all gone out the way. As the next verse explicitly tells us.

 

Romans 4:2 "For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God."

 
This scripture concludes that "IF" notice conditional proceeds Abraham's justification by works, so if Abraham were justified by his works, what works does he to glory in?

Well, Abraham had the works of circumcision, and the notable event of when he proceeded to offer up his son Isaac to the Lord. But the scriptures says, these works he had to glory in, but not before God. If not before God, then who?

 
Abraham would glory in works before man, NOT God.

 
You know, I've had people challenge me on the whole Works Vs Grace issue and say to me, that this event with Abraham which is also mentioned in James chapter 2, was him being justified by his works, and use this to prove that we have to have good works to get into heaven.

They'll say nobody else was around when Abraham offered up Isaac, which is correct; but the event was written down so that man may read of how great of the faith of Abraham must have been in the Lord to do such a thing. Not many of us could do such a thing with our own child.

When we read this event, we can conclude to ourselves that this man, Abraham had such great faith in the Lord by his WORKS.

 

James 2:23 "And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God."

 
Who is calling him the friend of God?

 
Man is calling him the friend of God. If you interpret this scripture some other way, you create a contradiction, and there is no contradiction in light of other scripture because James is talking to his fellow man, to the saved.

The scriptures tell us that Abraham was justified before God long before he got circumcised, Abraham got circumcised around the age of 99 recorded in Genesis 17:24 but we read earlier of the account when he was imputed righteousness by God in Genesis 15:6 which is referred to in the next verse.

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Romans 4:3 "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."

 

 
So we can see here that Abraham was counted to righteousness before God, because he BELIEVED.
The word counted has many synonyms in the bible and are used interchangeably such as, imputed, and all convey the meaning of crediting to an account, or chalk up, or accredit.

According to scripture we see no reason why Abraham was justified in the sight of God, but to the fact that he believed, this scripture references Genesis 15:6.

In fact, some people will say that the Old Testament you had to follow the Law and in the New Testament it is all about grace, this is not true as the bible teaches from the beginning of the cover to the end of the cover that it has always been by grace that man is justified in the sight of God.

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Romans 4:4 "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt."

 
To those who work, or try to justify themselves before God for Salvation by their own deeds, believe that it is because we feel we owe God something, a debt; this is NOT grace. 

Salvation is a free gift from God, by his grace he will impute righteousness to anyone who believes, even to those who are dead in sin.

 
Regardless of what we have done, by God's grace, salvation is obtain through faith, and it is not of our own works, lest any man boasts.

The Apostle Paul put's it perfectly in the epistle to the Ephesians in chapter 2:

 

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ not of works, lest any man should boast."

 

Mockers will call this cheap grace, what a heresy! Grace is unmerited favour and not achieved by any man's deeds, no man can boast of his own works to obtain salvation, it is given freely by God's grace to those whom do believe on him.

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Romans 4:5 "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

 
I love this verse, it's straight to the point, and every time someone decides to defend their works based beliefs and they say, show me where in the bible does it say that you don't have to do works to be saved?

And I put on a big smile and say turn to Romans 4:5 and boom! It says plain as day, to him that worketh NOT, but believe on him, who?

God, who justifies the ungodly, who is the ungodly?

Mankind…of course, unless you think you're godly enough to come to God on your own good works?

 
Sinners, all of mankind, if you believe on him who justifies the ungodly, YOUR FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Love that verse!

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Romans 4:6 "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,"

 
Even King David, a man who is said to be a man after God's own heart back in the Old Testament who too was dead in sins, was saved by faith. 

Remember, David committed adultery with Bathsheba the wife of Uriah and had him murdered to cover up his sin with Bathsheba, whom God punished for that act of sin for a season.

The doctrine of Imputation is described as being given, inherited or accounted something by another source, or person because you satisfy a condition.

David describes this in the book of Psalms Chapter 32:

 

Psalm 32:1-2 "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. ² Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile."

 
Interesting that this verse recorded in Psalm at the end says to those whose spirit has no guile, if you ever give the gospel to someone or when you're out soul winning, you can come across people who pretend to get saved, or don't really believe it even when they say they do (generally just to get you off their backs) but they really don't believe at all.

Or you come across people in other religions and you're trying to evangelise them, especially religions based on works salvation who just won't let go of their religion, these people will not get saved until they do this, it's Faith Alone.

Ever tried evangelising to the cults? It's very difficult to get past their indoctrination of their institution of manmade (Or satanic) fables.

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Romans 4:7 "saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered."

 
Upon belief, God has forgiven all iniquities committed by the sinner, and whose sins are covered, meaning any future sin you are going to commit will also be covered. 

When you get saved, you don't automatically stop sinning, you will continue to sin in the flesh.

This scripture reinforces the doctrine of eternal security, you cannot lose your salvation.

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Romans 4:8"
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."

 
Again, the scripture states how blessed is the man whom the Lord will not IMPUTE sin, which emphasises the fact that all believers will still sin, God knows this until the day of redemption, the Lord's Day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns; known as his second coming.

Knowing this, God will not impute or account any sin to the believer that they will commit in the future, but you say, you can't just keep on sinning, and the cheap grace promoters will say you can't just live anyway you want to when you get saved!

What these works based Salvationist heretics don't understand is what the bible teaches true believers is what is called the doctrine of Divine Discipline.

I will cover this in another post at another time.

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Romans 4:9 "Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness."

 
If we say that Abraham was made righteous by his faith, was it then only given to the circumcised only or upon the uncircumcised as well?

Could you only be justified by God's grace ONLY if you got circumcised?

We'll find out the answers to these questions in the following scriptures.

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Romans 4:10 "How was it then reckoned? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision."

 
The word "reckoned" means to "count", "add up", "and establish calculation", "figure", or it's synonyms are "believe", "think", "be of the opinion", "be of the view", "be convinced".

So here in this scripture, it is written, that Abraham was imputed righteousness when he was uncircumcised and NOT before; also referring back to Genesis 15:6.

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Romans 4:11 "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:"

 
Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of his faith when he was still uncircumcised. When Abraham got circumcised, God made a covenant or a promise with him that he would be father to all people that believe, from all nations, kindred's and tongues.

The false teachers we're running around trying to pervert the Gospel and undermine Paul by saying to the people that they had to get circumcised or they couldn't be saved, that they had to follow the laws and ordinances to be acceptable to God.

But the truth is, God is not a respecter of persons, it doesn't matter what colour you are, what nationality you are or whether you are circumcised or not, if you believe on him, that is good enough!

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Romans 4:12 "and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised."

 
Abraham was made a promise of God that he would be a father to all as discussed in the previous verse, be it of the circumcision or uncircumcision it doesn't matter, those who walk in the same steps of faith as according to Abraham when he was made righteous before he received the sign of circumcision, and that Faith, is to believe on the Lord God, whom we now know his name to be Jesus.

 

Romans 4:13 "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."

 

For the promise, what promise?

The promise that he should inherit the world, was NOT made to Abraham and his seed, note the word "seed" is singular not plural, this seed is the Lord Jesus Christ, that the promise was not made through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith, notice how it wasn't worded as just faith?

The promise was made through the righteousness of faith, does that not mean that to have faith is to have righteousness?

Bingo!

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Romans 4:14 "For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:"

 
Now read this carefully, those who think keeping and doing the law will get them into heaven, and gives them the right to be heirs are sorely wrong, you couldn't be more wrong than wrong, look at what it says next, FAITH IS MADE VOID, and the promise is made of none effect, that right, the promise is cancelled out.

If you try to approach the Holy God by your works of righteousness, this act in itself cancels out Faith, it means you have no faith at all, and you are not under the promise, because the promise was given by the righteousness of faith.

If you trust in your own works to get you into heaven, then you don't have faith in God, and there would have been no reason for him to come in the form of man to sacrifice himself would there?

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Romans 4:15 "because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression."

 
The Law works wrath, this is God's wrath, and those who trust in their own works will meet in the end with God's wrath, not something I'd be looking forward to…

For where there is no law, there is no transgression. What does that mean? Does that mean that if you have never heard of the law, you cannot sin?

God forbid! The answer to this verse is actually found in Romans Chapter 2!

 

Romans 2:12-16 "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; ¹³ (for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. ¹⁴ For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: ¹⁵ which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) ¹⁶ in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel."

 
So here Paul is contrasting those who had the law, the Jews and those who didn't have the law, the Gentiles. We read that the law is written in the hearts of the gentiles, so there is no excuse.

Chapter 4 verse 15 is stating that there is no transgression if there is no law; but if we know that the law has been written in our hearts then there is transgression, because God wrote those laws into our hearts, and our conscience either convicts us or allows us to make excuses for our transgressions towards God.

This internal law by the way I believe is our moral compass, our boundary that we would normally not step over, and in the case with reprobates: those people who constantly rejects God's calling, God removes this moral compass and gives them over to their own lusts.

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Romans 4:16 "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,"

 
For that reason, it is of faith, and by grace through faith, the promise which was made with Abraham can also be given to all the seed. 

So it is not only given to the Jews, but it is given to all who believe, because Abraham was imputed righteousness by faith, and so are all who come to the Lord by faith because he is the father of us all.

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Romans 4:17 "(as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were."

 
As it is written in Genesis 17:5 where Abram gets his name changed to Abraham by God because he has been made a father of many nations!

What's interesting about the last part of the verse, "even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were."

God whom quickens the dead, the word quicken means "to make alive", but the most interesting part of this verse is what comes next, where it is said that God calls all those things which be not as though they were; this means that God speaks and tells us of these as if though they had already happened, even though it actually hasn't happened yet, this is true of biblical prophecy and that we can know, that the Holy bible is God's word because there is no other book in the world that accurately predicts, and is proven to be true with the prophecies written within this holy book.

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Romans 4:18 "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be."

 
Against hope believed in hope, this is faith:

 

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

 
Abraham believed on the Lord God and was given the promise that he shall be father of many nations, and that same promise is given to his seed, that seed being the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and God.

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Romans 4:19 "And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:"

 
Being not weak in faith, to a works based Salvationist heretic a person with weak faith would be someone who had very little works, this would be their point of view, however, Salvation is not by works, it is by faith, and to say in a biblical truth one who has weak faith is someone who trusts in their own works, rather than completely trusting in the Lord.

Trusting in only the Lord is strong faith, we place our trust and hope in something that is not seen, yet hoped for, and it is described in Hebrews chapter 11 as a substance, not nothing.

Even at his age of an hundred years old consider he himself not dead, along with his wife's womb to be dead (She was about 90 years old) especially when the angel of the Lord came to tell him and Sarah would born a child at such an old age; this event is recorded in Genesis 18:10.

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Romans 4:20 "he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;"

 

 
The last few verses expound more on verse 19, he staggered not, meaning he was not shocked or amazed at the promise given to him by God because of unbelief; but was strong in faith, what we talked about before, his strength of his faith by placing it all on the Lord God, and giving him all the glory!

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Romans 4:21 "and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform."

 
Abraham being fully persuaded, it is his faith that he is able to be fully persuaded, and Abraham knowing that God cannot lie, will keep his promise enabling Abraham to perform, or to do God's will.

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Romans 4:22 "And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."

 
And for that reason, what reason? His Faith of course, he was imputed righteousness. By faith we have been justified by our Lord God's grace.

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Romans 4:23 "Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;"

 
It was not just written for Abraham's sake alone, that it was accredited to him, this is the doctrine of Imputation. We have inherited by faith, righteousness, not ours, but God's righteousness.

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Romans 4:24 "but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;"

 
So not just for Abraham's sake, but for us also, for those who believe, whom have faith in He that raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. 

This passage reflects on how I got saved, I was in the Old Testament and I believed on Him that raised up our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus said I and the Father are one, and also if you have the Son, you have the Father. Jesus is God manifest in the flesh, he is the God of the Old and New Testament.

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Romans 4:25 "who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."

 
Jesus Christ died for our sins, and the sins of the whole world, and God the Father raised him to life so that we all might be justified in his sight.

 
Amen.

Bible Study Series - The 1st General Epistle of John Chapter 3

 

1 John 3

Authorized (King James) Version

 
In the previous chapter we learnt a few things, like the difference between "to keep" and "to obey or to do", anyone professing they have no sin is a liar, the Antichrist and antichrists and its definition as Christ rejecters, false prophets/teachers, loving each other and loving not the world.

Let us now dive into chapter 3 and see what the Spirit of God is going to teach us in this chapter.

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1 John 3:1 "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."

 

John proclaims for us to BEHOLD! This means to see or observe someone or something of an impressive or remarkable nature. Here he is talking about the Father's love for us. 

When he says bestowed, means to confer or present an honour, or right, or a gift: to bestow, the Father has given us his love as a gift, it was not earned by us, showing the Fathers grace toward us, for what?

The privilege for us to be called the sons of God! And for this reason, the world does not know us because the world did not know him.

John 1:12-13 " But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: ¹³ which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

And we believers are born of him, because of his virtue, his righteousness.

1 john 2:29 "If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him."

Christians or believers are the aliens of this world, the Lord Jesus Christ was not of this world, and as we are born again, born of the Spirit we are no longer considered of this world; as the world rejects God, the world will also reject us because of him.

John 15:18 "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you."

From this verse, when John makes the proclamation about God's love, we see that from his love, HE initiated our Salvation, for God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son…

Ephesians 1:3-6 " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴ according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵ having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."

At the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will be re-united with our Father, who loves his children with untold love.

Romans 8:17 "and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."

Jesus paid the price of adoption for us to be the adopted children of the Father.

Jesus is the only begotten Son. We are sons by adoption. We have been bought and paid for by the precious blood of Jesus. We have been presented to the Father without blame, by the Son. Amen!

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1 John 3:2 "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."

John addressing believers here, he says that now we are sons of God: those who truly profess their faith will become a child of God at the moment of belief.

Romans 8:16 "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:"

John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"

2 Peter 1:4 "whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 

John says that our true selves has not yet been revealed, that's what he is saying when he says "it does not appear what we shall be:" but he develops this message by saying "but we know that," when he shall appear, our Lord Jesus Christ; we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

We shall be like him, meaning at the Lords appearing we will somehow be transformed to be like him, in his glory, this process has already begun with our spirits through the work of the Holy Spirit inside us, working us into the image of the Lord:

John 6:63 "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

Titus 3:5 "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"

Our bodies have yet to be redeemed, we are awaiting for the return of our Lord. 

On that day we shall see him as he is, in all his glory; I can't seem to find a word fitting to describe how glorious, wonderful…I need a word much better than this! But what a day it will be!!!!

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1 John 3:3 "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."

 
Through Faith, we establish the law, we should edify each other and love one another, this "Hope" which is the resurrection, the return of the Lord, that we should seek to purify ourselves in our daily living, our conduct as Christians, even as he is pure. 

This is not a Salvation passage, I know some readers may try to use this as a salvation passage but John is speaking to the saved, and we are not yet done going through this chapter to understand what John is conveying to us in his epistle.

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1 John 3:4 "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."

What we have here is John stating the truth about sin, whosoever commits sin, we ALL commit sin, whether we are saved or not, sin is a transgression or an offence against God's Holy character. 

Now, depending on what side of the coin you are on, will determine your fate. From not having your sins imputed to you as a saved person – Romans 4:7-8 or the unsaved, to everlasting damnation in the lake of fire - Romans 6:23, Revelation 21:8.


But regardless, sin is sin, if you sin you transgress the Law of God.

The law of God for the Christian is to love God with everything within us, and to love our neighbour as ourselves. If we do that, we will be pleasing God.

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1 John 3:5 "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin."

He was manifested, that is, God in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16) to take away our sins. Jesus died to sanctify the believers, to sanctify is to make one holy.

It is by HIS WORKS, that we have been imputed HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, not of our own which is but filthy rags; this is an important teaching to understand, in order for you to understand true salvation you must humble yourself and accept the work of Christ as the only way to heaven.

Jesus took on the sin of the whole world, he bore the sins of the entire world, past, present and future sins are covered by our Lord Jesus Christ!

2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; ²⁶ that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

John 3:14-15 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: ¹⁵ that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

Jesus was completely without sin. He had never sinned. His body had no broken bones. He was the Lamb without blemish, the perfect sacrifice.

He took our sin upon His sinless body. Our sin died on the cross. Our sins were only temporarily covered by the sacrifices of animals in the Old Testament, which had to be performed every year by the priests.

Our sins are done away with by the blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord. It is his righteousness that now lives in us until the day of redemption; the Lord's Day.

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1 John 3:6 "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him."

Whosoever lives or dwells in him sinneth not, as believers we take on the Lord's righteousness it doesn't mean the believer is not going to sin at all, if we are to say we sin not, then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Look if you were to read these verses on their own it would indeed seem to contradict a multitude of other verses including the verses contained in this epistle that John wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

So what do these verses mean then?

Stay with me, you'll soon see what is really being said with the help of other scriptures in the bible, these verses are stating the absolute facts about sin, we all sin period, with one exception in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord and saviour!

 
Whosoever, meaning whoever (synonyms: whatever person; anyone) that sins has not seen him, neither known him.

So what does this verse mean, well anyone that abides or believes on him does not sin, why because in light of other scriptures in the bible, it says we take on his righteousness. Look at what Paul says:

Philippians 3:9 " and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:"

So if you abide in him you are saved and you sin not, here's the important part of the verse, anyone who sins has not seen him, neither do they know him IF YOU DON'T ABIDE in him.

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1 John 3:7 "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous."

My dear brethren, let know man deceive you, this is the subject; do not let any man deceive you!

Since false teachers were attempting to pervert the fundamentals of the faith, this letter was written to the believers to not fall for their deception, to not be led astray by these false teachers.

He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous; this verse literally means what it says, a righteous man will do righteousness, even as our Lord Jesus Christ is righteous.

Before we move on (I feel another mini sermon coming on!), I need to expound on what righteousness is and need to make perfectly clear of its implications. 

If you do not know what righteousness is and how it is implemented in the bible, YOU WILL come away with false doctrines by interpreting scripture with a perverted view.

Now let's get this out of the way!

What does it mean to be RIGHTEOUS?

 
Righteous is synonymous with Justification, in fact being just is being righteous. When the Lord speaks to us through the bible he says we are justified, made righteous, imputed righteousness are all related to Salvation.

In fact it can all be summed up like this: Righteousness is the state of moral perfection required by God to enter heaven.

The bible clearly states that man cannot or rather is unable to achieve righteousness through his own efforts:

Romans 3:20 "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

Romans is a book that teaches all about righteousness, and in this passage teaches that anyone who tries to come before God by his own works, or rather, thinks he is going to get into heaven by following the Law shall not be justified (righteous) in HIS sight. 

By the Law is the knowledge of sin, which means the Law is to make aware that we are sinners.

The Law or 10 Commandments is to show us how far we fall short of God's standards. – Romans 3:23

The only solution to that dilemma is God's plan of salvation.

People receive righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour. Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, took man's sins upon himself and became the willing, perfect sacrifice, suffering the punishment mankind deserved. 

God the Father accepted Jesus' sacrifice, through which human beings by grace through faith can become justified or made righteous.

Romans 3:24-26 "being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: ²⁵ whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; ²⁶ to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."

Christ's perfect righteousness is applied (Doctrine of Imputation) to imperfect humans, believers receive the righteousness of Christ.

This process of imputing or crediting the person with righteousness is a free gift from God, which is called the Doctrine of Grace.

Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ is the essence of Christianity, TRUE Christianity.

No other religion offers grace, they all require some type of works on behalf of the participant, and human effort cancels out God's grace.

In light of this, 1 John 3:7 "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous."

Let no man deceive you, because Jesus is the only righteousness that the Father will accept, and you are righteous because he made you righteous by his precious blood that he shed for you.

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1 John 3:8 "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."

Those who commit sin are of the devil, the devil sinneth from the beginning as we read about in Genesis. 

For this purpose, for because of devil, sin crept into the world, and from sin, death; that the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, this verse is implying that the devil is the source of sin.

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1 John 3:9 "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

Whoever is born of God does not commit sin, born of God, born again, born of the spirit. 

Our spirit wrestles with our own flesh, our spirit is born of God and is made righteous by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Our flesh is stained in sin, our flesh has not yet been redeemed, in previous verses we learn that our body will be like his when he returns; glorified like his.

So when the bible talks about us being born of God, it is the spirit that is born of God, his seed remains in us through the Holy Spirit working in us, our spirit into his image, our spirit will not sin because our spirit is born of God.

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1 John 3:10 "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother."

The Children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: anyone who doeth not righteousness is not of God, and we established that to do righteousness is to be imputed with HIS righteousness, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and to make that happen, you must follow God's plan of Salvation. 

To do righteous is to be born of God, to be born of God is to be born of the spirit.

John makes a distinction as to which family you belong to in this world, you are either part of God's family or part of the devils family, and he who is not righteous, or hates his brother is part of the devils family, he calls you the children of the devil. Jesus speaking to the Jews says the following:

John 8:44 "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

Religious institutions that teach that all are God's children are in err and gravely mistaken in light of these scriptures, God clearly distinguishes that you are either a child of God, or a child of the devil.

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1 John 3:11 "For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."

Again John is re-emphasising what was taught from the beginning, and that we should love one another. Doing so will fulfil the Law.

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1 John 3:12 "Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous."

Did Cain fulfil the message to love one another?

The bible says Cain was of the devil that wicked one, and slew his brother Abel.

For what reason did Cain slay his brother?

The bible says it was because his OWN works were evil, and his brothers righteous. Time for another mini study!

 

Why was Cain's works considered wicked, and his brother's righteous?

 
By using New Testament scripture to interpret the Old Testament story of Cain and Abel, we can get a better, more comprehensive understanding of why God rejected Cain's offering and accepted his brother Abel's offering.

The story begins in Genesis chapter 4:

Genesis 4:3-8 "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. ⁴ And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: ⁵ but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.⁶ And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? ⁷ If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. ⁸ And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him."

After the two boys were born and after a considerable amount of time has passed, we learn that both Cain and Abel began to make offering to the Lord.

Cain's offering to the Lord were of the produce of fruit frown from the grown, this could've been a mixture of fruit and vegetables. 

Cain was what we would call in modern times an agriculturalist.

Abel made an offer to the Lord his firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. Abel would be called a Shepherd, he kept sheep.

What are the firstlings of sheep called? A lamb.

So then, why did God have respect to Abel's offering and rejected Cain's offering?

If we go back in Genesis chapter 3 where we read that God clothes Adam and Eve:

Genesis 3:21 "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them."

Prior to this, Adam and his wife were only covered by an apron made of fig leaves; this my brethren is a picture of man's own works, his efforts to cover up or, to atone for his own sins.

Then before God ejects them from out the Garden of Eden, we read that God makes them clothes, from what?

He makes them clothes from coats of skin, and how do you get coats of skin?

By slaying an animal of course, Blood had to be shed!


This verse alludes to the first instance of an animal offering made to cover man in his sins. 

God basically says get rid of that pathetic little fig leaf apron, which barely covers you and put on these clothes made from animal skins which I, the Lord Almighty have provided to cover you more adequately with.

And of course until, the Lord provides for himself the ultimate, perfect sacrifice…

Right, so why did God have respect to Abel's offering and not to Cain's offering?

Cain brought the fruit of the labour of his own hands, and Abel brought a lamb as an offering to God.

Cain presented his own works, while Abel acknowledged himself to be a sinner worthy of death, who could only approach a holy God by means of a blood sacrifice which is a shadow of the true Lamb of God whose blood has purchased His sinful unworthy people.

It was in their manner of approaching the only true God that distinguished the one's works as being righteous and the other's as evil.

To "do righteousness" is to approach God through the sacrifice of His Son who gave Himself for our sins and clothed us in His own perfect righteousness.

1 John 2:1-2 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: ² and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."

We also learn that Cain was very wroth about this incident, his countenance fell, the Lord questions him ever so gently: Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? ⁷ If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
 


After this, we learn that Cain slays his brother in the field. 

This part of story is another study in of itself, but I'm going to quickly say here that, because Cain failed to humbly accept a correction from God, his pride drove him to murder his own brother, in comparison count the times that you failed to take correction from someone of authority and end did it end up well?

I'm going to stop here and continue on with the actual bible study or else we'll be here forever!

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1 John 3:13 "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you."

Don't be in wonder my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you why?

Because we are not of this world, and because he is in us, and the world hated him first! So do not be surprised that the world will hate you!

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1 John 3:14 "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death."

We have passed from death unto life, this is everlasting life, for what reason? 

Because we love the brethren, he that does not love his brother abides in death, or lives/dwells in spiritual darkness, in wickedness.

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1 John 3:15 "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, what he came to do was fulfil it, not only did Jesus fulfil the Law but he tells us that the Law is not just about our outward appearances and actions, but that the Law is spiritual and that sin comes from within, what is in our hearts he says the following in Matthew chapter 5:

Matthew 5:22 "but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."

And then goes onto say this in Matthew chapter 15:

Matthew 15:11 "not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man."

Hate comes from within, the mere thought of hating someone could easily manifest itself into a physical outward action resulting in murder. 

The action is preceded by the thoughts of the heart.

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1 John 3:16 "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

Jesus laid his life for us, this is the love of God, we should lay down our lives for the brethren also, and we should forsake our own lives for the brethren, our fellow saints like our Messiah did for us.

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1 John 3:17 "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"

But whomsoever has this world's good, or material possessions and denies his brother who has need, and has no compassion or sympathy on his brother, how does the love of God dwell in him?

This is a question, so it's best not try to give an answer, but to try to understand it, because it may very well be answered shortly!

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1 John 3:18 "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."

Brethren, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, in other words that saying goes "you're just all talk!"

We must show our love in deed and in truth, else how is our fellow man supposed to profit from our faith in the Lord if we do not show our love through our works towards the brethren? 

Not A salvation Passage!

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1 John 3:19 "And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him."

Hereby means "by means of" we know that we are in the truth when we do the deeds of love in truth, the love of God is in us, and because we are of the truth our hearts shall be comforted before him.

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1 John 3:20 "For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things."

If our hearts condemn us, the treachery it is capable of, we can be assured that God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. 

As believers we are still tempted to give into the lusts of our hearts, but we can be sure because God knows all things, he knows more of what's in our hearts than we do.

In light of John's strict teaching above, he may have felt that some readers might start to begin to despair. 

He assures them that, although our shabby attempts to honour God may leave us feeling defeated inside, God is greater than our own self-awareness and can justify us even when we would condemn ourselves. 

1 Corinthians 4:4 "For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord."

He sees not only our actions, which at times are disillusioned or imprudent, but also the motives and intentions behind them.

Sometimes we feel guilty about not helping someone when we really could not, and should not do it. 

Sometimes we blame ourselves when there should be no blame placed. We cannot, and should not, help everyone that asks. 

We should be asking ourselves, are we doing this to please God, or are we doing this to please man?

If we are unsure we should pray and ask God what to do.

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1 John 3:21 "Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God."

When a Christian identifies in his life the demonstration of love in their deeds and actions, it results in confidence about his relationship with God. 

Man will benefit from such works and see our faith and love toward God. 

In James chapter 2 he asks the question to the brethren, what does it profit? 

Who is going to receive any benefits from your faith if you don't act on it? (Not teaching about salvation or a faith that isn't there! Every Christian will have days where their faith is dead!)

This is talking about how we can now have a clear conscience about our sins, think about it this way, in the Old Testament, the animal offering was only to temporarily atone for ones sins, and it was a temporary covering.

When Jesus came he abolished our sins, and gave us a clear conscience. 

If we know in our heart that we have done the right thing, then we can stand before Jesus on judgment day with a clear conscience.

This clear conscience is also associated with rest, we can rest easy!

Hebrews 4:3 "For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world."

Hebrews 4:10 "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his."

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Even Jesus said it himself, those who come to me will rest, he says to take his yoke upon yourself and learn of him; for he is meek and lowly of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. 

His yoke is easy and his burden is light, I notice that people who believe in a works based false religion always say that getting into heaven and living like Christ is hard, if you believe this then you make Jesus a liar and the truth is not in you. You are NOT saved.

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1 John 3:22 "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."

Whatever we ask, whatever we ask in prayer, God shall give it, why?

The bible says it is because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight, if we do this, God will answer everything that we shall ask for.

In the next verse, we will learn what THE commandment is, and what things we do that are pleasing to his sight.

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1 John 3:23 "And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

Everything that we read in this chapter and including chapter 2 is culminated in this one verse, this is the eureka moment, the verse that should enlighten everything you have read so far, and honestly speaking, is a verse that ties in with all other scriptures of the entire bible and what it teaches.

This is the statement that should be burned into your hearts, the commandment that we have received from heavenly Father is this:

"That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another"

That's what he commanded us to do, from this we inherit everything that he, himself, the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished all, and the works he did for us so that we could enter into his rest, because it is easy to get saved!

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1 John 3:24 "And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us."

He that believes on the name of the Son and loves one another dwells in him, and he will dwell in him. And as a result of this, we know that he abides in us, why?

By the Spirit which he has given us, and this Spirit is the Holy Spirit of God.

John 14:16-17 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."

May hope and understanding come to you all, glory be to the Father, grace and peace be unto you, love our Lord Jesus Christ, in his name, Amen.

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