1 John 4-5, 2 John (July 29th)

Hey guys! So for today we’ll be continuing on with 1^st John, starting with chapter 4.

In this chapter, John goes into the discernment of false teachings. He tells us that since as true believers we have the Holy Spirit, and therefore we can trust that He will guide us in learning and understanding what is true and what isn't. In addition, John expands upon the supreme call of Christians to love in everything that they do. In 1 John 4:9 he writes “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” John tells us that we must follow the example of God’s love in the way that He sent His own Son to die on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins. In the same way, our love must be sacrificial, not selfish. We cannot love for any self-seeking agenda, any cause of our own or any reason to boast in ourselves. We must love truly, honestly and without bounds, just as God loves us.

One of the topics that John touches on in chapter 5 is stated clearly in 1 John 5:4: “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” John defines believers as those who defeat, those who persevere and those who overcome the world. What is the world? Planet Earth? Well, yes but here John implies that the world is the worldwide system of man’s wickedness. Our faith in God and His Son gives us the power to overcome it. Jesus has claimed victory over this sin with His death. And since as believers we have union with Him in that sacrifice, we too can claim victory. We can overcome the world.

Moving on, I’m lucky enough to read and write about the entire book of 2 John! In this short letter, John once again reiterates the great importance of walking in love. After all, it was the greatest commandment of Jesus. We must love any everything that we do. It is this love that defines us as true believers, and it is this love that protects us from the false teachings. John writes in 2 John 6 “And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.” In this way love is a commandment and as followers we must obey. We must be obedient in truth, in love and in everything that is Jesus.