Read the Bible in a Year (24DEC19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, December 24’s Bible reading is 1 John 1-5.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, December 25’s Bible reading is 2 John-Jude. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

1 JOHN Introduction

There were false teachers spreading misleading doctrine about the humanity of Christ in the early church. They did not believe that Jesus was both God and man. These teachers, otherwise known as Gnostics, also taught that the spirit was entirely good, and that matter was evil. John addresses the incarnation of Jesus from an eyewitness point of view and he attacks their lack of morality in this first epistle. John of Zebedee, apostle and cousin of Jesus, is believed to have possibly authored this book around 90 A.D. He also had to address to groups within the church, those who thought that they could have faith without any works and those who thought their works was what saved them. John aimed to keep the church down the middle path regarding this. 

1 JOHN MOMENT – (24DEC19) “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17). There were many false teachers during John’s day who made it their mission to cause division by teaching things that were contrary to what the apostles taught. John, as well as the other apostles, did their best to counteract the false teachers’ doctrines and remind the believers that they were giving them knowledge firsthand from what they had seen, heard, and knew of Jesus Christ and the Father’s plan for His people. John urged the church to live sanctified lives for to embrace the world was to be apart from the Father. John admonished them to live in what they knew to be true about the incarnate Christ and to test the spirits, for those who denied Him were not of God.  

John urged the church to show love towards one another as evidence of their faith in God. They were to also live sin-free lives, but if they did sin, they had an Advocate and High Priest in Jesus who died to take away the sins of the world. John wrote that Jesus, although God, came by water and blood which means that He was baptized and shed His blood in which the Spirit gave testimony to. The false teachers wanted to have the believers doubt Jesus’ incarnation, but the Spirit gave witness to this and the apostles who had walked with him were there to give testimony to this as well. Further evidence of this was what took place after Jesus’ death when a soldier pierced His side and from it sprang forth both water and blood. The Bible says: “But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.  These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: ‘Not one of his bones will be broken,’ and, as another scripture says, ‘They will look on the one they have pierced’ ” (John 19:33-37). John was a witness to these events and reassured the believers of this in the beginning of his epistle. He wrote this epistle out of great concern for the sheep and did not want them to be led astray by the Gnostics who sought to undo the work that the apostles had done. Many of the apostles’ battles not only came from those who did not know God, but from those who claim that they did. Nevertheless, the apostles were determined to keep the faith and encouraged the church to do the same.

There are many deceivers in the world today as it was during the apostles’ day. They will continue in their deceptive practices until Jesus returns. The antichrist will be a major deceiver whenever he comes to power as well, but anyone who teaches contrary to the Word of God is an antichrist. Nevertheless, this is why it is important for us to be students of the Word of God so that we will not be deceived. We are to love one another, live Godly lives, and stand on the Word of God so that the world will know that they too can come to Jesus and receive salvation. Time is of the essence, and it is running out. Let’s be sure to be sold out for Christ so that we can know deception when it comes, and help others to avoid its traps. Something to ponder….