1 John 2:29-3:3

If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who does right has been born of Him. See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when He is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And all who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure. (NRSV)

It is well known that the epistle written by James is about what Christians should do. James writes: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? (2:14 NRSV). But I rarely (if ever) hear that John also writes about what we should do, but rather more about who God is. But here, in the beginning of 1 John 3, John gives us a very strong admonition that we are to live pure lives: All who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure.

Peter also writes about holy living when he talks about our hope in 1 Peter 1: Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. Instead, as He who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (v. 13-16 NRSV).

Thus, as Christians, there is a mandate between our behavior and who we are in Christ, not that we earn our salvation in any manner (for we know that we can’t), but rather that we must respond to our salvation in a specific manner. I go back to the example of a married couple. They get engaged, plan the wedding, attend the showers and parties, and show up at the church on the assigned day, she in her gown, he in his tux. They meet at the altar in front of many witnesses, say their vows, and then walk out of the church never to be together again. He goes back to his many girlfriends; she goes back to her many pursuits. They fail to consummate the relationship or in any other way to act “married.” Are they then actually married? In word only, but certainly not in deed.

It is the same with believers. We may walk down the aisle and say the “sinner’s prayer.” We may attend church and Bible studies, go to conferences and read books, sing songs and know the lingo. But if our behavior isn’t changed, if we continue to embrace those sinful behaviors that we know dishonor the Lord, are we truly saved? Are we truly a child of God?

Matthew Henry wrote:

“Those then who hope to live with him must study the utmost purity from the world, and flesh, and sin; they must grow in grace and holiness. Not only does their Lord command them to do so, but their new nature inclines them so to do; yea, their hope of heaven will dictate and constrain them so to do. They know that their high priest is holy, harmless, and undefiled. They know that their Go and Father is the high and holy one, that all the society is pure and holy, that their inheritance is an inheritance of saints in light. It is a contradiction to such hope to indulge sin and impurity. And therefore, as we are sanctified by faith, we must be sanctified by hope. That we may be saved by hope we must be purified by hope. It is the hope of hypocrites, and not of the sons of God, that makes an allowance for the gratification of impure desires and lusts” (emphasis mine).

Gratification is an important word in this process. Gratify has interesting connotations. It can mean to reward, to be the source or, to give satisfaction to, to indulge, and to satisfy. Paul talks about gratifying in Romans 13:

Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires (v. 12-14 NRSV).

He contrasts living “honorably” with reveling, drunkenness, debauchery, licentiousness, quarreling, and jealousy. He also contrasts putting on the Lord Jesus with making provision for the flesh. He tells us to make no provision. Matthew Henry told us not to make any allowance for the gratification of impure desires and lusts. John wrote: If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who does right has been born of Him. . . . And all who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure (2:29, 3:3, NRSV). We know if we are His because we do right. We do right (purify ourselves) because of the hope we have in Him. There is a strong sense that, while we are not saved because of our behavior, our behavior must and will change if we are truly saved . . . and if our behavior doesn’t change, then we have need to ask ourselves if we are truly saved.

We also need to be careful that we are using this judgment against ourselves and not in angry or hatred against the sins or behavior of others. Jude writes:

Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren’t contaminated by their sins (v. 22-23 NLT).

We are to be strong against our own sin, but to be merciful against the sins of others. If another Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself (Galatians 6:1 NLT).

It is so easy to look at the sins of others; not so easy to look at my own sin. And yet, the Holy Spirit wants very much to reveal to me those areas where I am not pure, to purge those sins from my life, and to make me holy in His sight. When I sin, I have an Advocate in the Lord Jesus. But my goal should be not to sin, to be so in tune with the Lord that I’m aware before I sin that my choice may lead me astray. My prayer is that I will not sin today . . . in His power.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Romans 6:1-2, 6

Romans 6:1-2, 6

Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? . . . We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. (NSRV)

Forgiveness, grace, and sin. Huge topics in scripture. Not only are they discussed in great depth, but they are basically the focus of God’s Word to us. The entire Bible is dealing with the sin problem—that which separates us from God—and providing a solution, forgiveness through God’s grace. However, I think that, for many of us and at many times, we have become so used to hearing about it that we have forgotten that grace and forgiveness were (1) paid for with a great price, and (2) provided to us interactively.

It is said, sometimes, that what we get for free, we rarely value. We see that in a society where social entitlements are bankrupting our nation, where many expect to receive without working. But how are we any different? Grace and forgiveness came without a price for us! The price—the great price—was paid by God Himself through the body and blood of the Lord Jesus. Here it is that our Lord, the Master of the universe, was crucified—brutally killed—for us. Have we heard the story so much that it no longer pierces our hearts? That we no longer feel the guilt, but simply accept it as something we’re entitled to? Because we’re not! We are not entitled to grace and forgiveness. It is something that God extended to us only at great sacrifice to Himself. When did we become so self-centered that we stopped appreciating the sacrifice made for our salvation? When did grace stop truly being amazing?

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!

Amazing: to fill with wonder. Have I heard the “wondrous story” so often that it is no longer wondrous?

I will sing the wondrous story of the Christ who died for me.
How He left His home in glory for the cross of Calvary.

Either grace is amazing, wondrous, almost indescribable in its saving qualities . . . or it isn’t truly God’s grace. And when it ceases to be for us what it actually is, then it begins to be easier to ignore it, to belittle it, to forget . . . and then, perhaps, to not care. Paul writes: Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! What if I took some poetic license and wrote:

Should we continue in sin because grace abounds?

Paul says, “by no means” and ends it with an exclamation point. However, I think that many of us—were we to be completely honest—might say, “Well, perhaps. I mean, we are all sinners and Christ died for all of our sins. So it really doesn’t matter if we sin or not . . .”

And while we might not articulate it just that way, in truth, how we live this is probably close to what we think and wish to believe. We continue in sin specifically because of grace, because we are depending upon the fact that Christ will forgive all of our sins. And if it simply means a loss in our rewards in heaven, well, that is a small price to pay to enjoy the lustful pleasures of this life.

Perhaps we are not as “dead” to sin as we would like to be. Certainly the current state of our nation is evidence that the Church is refusing to confront her sin and turn from it. 2 Chronicles 7:14 states: “If my people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (NRSV).

If we truly understand grace as Paul understood it, we will know that grace requires that we humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways. There is actually no other hope for America other than that. We can protest, write letters, scream at politicians, sign petitions, design websites, join causes, support conservative groups, and any number of other things including voting. Nothing will change until the American Church changes, until we understand that grace isn’t a blank check to sin but the very reason that we should hunt out sin in our lives at every turn and spend every waking moment at the foot of the cross in confession and repentance.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

1 John 2:26-28

I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from Him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before Him at His coming. (NRSV)

It is possible to be deceived. To be honest, I think that it is very likely that many of Western societies are deceived for we live in cultures that deceive on a regular basis. Most of the focus of what we hear, read, and learn is for the purposes of deception.

Think about it.

We focus on looking and acting young in an effort to deceive ourselves that we are growing older and facing death.

We focus on entertainment (books, movies, TV, music, video games, the Internet), the vast majority of which is fiction, in order to forget our problems at least temporarily and believe that “someday” our lives might be like that.

And then there are those who actively deceive themselves: the men and women who pretend to be something they are not by falsifying their resumes, by cheating on tests, by presenting themselves as single on dating sites when they are actually married, by fantasizing and losing themselves in those fantasies rather than to face life as it actually is.

There are those who would deceive us and that deceit isn’t always going to be a frontal attack. It will come into the areas where we are weakest. (The enemy is smart!)

There is also deception within our churches, doctrine which is passed off as legitimate but is from the pits of hell. Some of this doctrine is obvious . . . and some is not!

We can be deceived.

Let me challenge you in one small area: church music. Music is the door to the soul. It can convict or it can debase. And music, unfortunately, seems to have taken over the church (and I am a musician and a worship leader). Churches, seminars, and retreats are advertising their musicians and music as if people will fail to come if the music isn’t up to a certain level. There are books, university courses, seminars, and websites claiming to be able to teach people how to be worship leaders. And yet, as I travel throughout the country, Christian music seems to be on a decline.

There are three aspects to Christian music: musicality, lyrics, and doctrine. Musicality is how well the song is written and, if it is to be sung by a congregation, how easily it can be learned and sung. Lyrics are, of course, the words which should easily fit into the melody and which should reflect our relationship with God. Doctrine is the spiritual lessons taught by the song.

Unfortunately, Christian composers (and publishers) have more sold out to “the hook” then anything else. And a hook is what makes a song catchy. If you find yourself singing it involuntarily, it may be because the song has a great hook. But is it truly a great song? Here are some questions to consider:

• What does the song say about God and our relationship to Him?
• Does the song properly honor and respect God?
• Do the music and lyrics show respect and honor or a more gross familiarity?
• When you sing the song, are you at the Throne of grace or simply feeling good about singing?
• What doctrine is the song teaching?
• When the song is sung in church is everyone singing and participating or has it become a performance? And if it is a performance, what is the purpose of the performance?

There are, of course, many other questions you can ask in order to evaluate whether or not a song is actually a Christian song or simply something the publisher is making money on.

Music isn’t the only place we can be deceived as Christians. We need to constantly be at the Throne asking the Spirit to reveal to us the areas in our lives where we need to turn away from deception.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever. (NRSV)

When I was growing up, there was a TV show that my family watched called “I Dream of Jeannie.” In this show, an astronaut (Tony) found a bottle and in it was a blond-haired genie named Jeannie. Tony would wish for something (or Jeannie thought he did), his wish would be granted, and then the problems began. Of course, like all Hollywood sitcoms, all came out well in 30 minutes (or less). But I wonder how many of us wish we had a genie’s three wishes . . . and if we did, what would we wish for?

John writes that we are not to love the world or the things in it. The word translated “love” is agapao. According to Strong’s, it means: “to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly; to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing.” In other words, nothing here should be pleasing to us. We shouldn’t believe that anything in this world would make us content.

What do we want? What do I want? I think that Americans are beginning to understand how fragile their happiness is when their happiness is based on material possessions. But even if we base our happiness on relationships or experiences, how permanent is that? People get mad and leave (or die). Experiences are often not nearly as good as the anticipation.

Solomon wrote, in Ecclesiastes:

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? . . . The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. (1:2b-3, 8 NKJV)

What we gain here on earth satisfies, but usually only for a moment. Only Father God is eternal and only in Him can we find eternal contentment. John describes this life with three characteristics: the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride in riches. When we choose to love the things that are here, we are choosing a second master. The Lord Jesus warned us that we cannot serve two masters:

No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Matthew 6:24 NRSV).

We cannot live with one foot in heaven and one in the world. We cannot serve God and yet long to be here with the things and people that surround us. If we ever hope to be a strong Church, we must decide whom we serve. If I ever hope to be a spiritually strong believer, I must place my hopes, my passions, my desires in heaven with the Father.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

1 John 2:9-11

Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness. (NRSV)

John juxtaposes two pairs of concepts here: love and light; hate and darkness. Because he is using light as a metaphor for righteousness and darkness as a metaphor for sin, I can know that he is also stating that there is no middle ground. There is love and there is hate and there is nothing in between.

Why is that important?

Because, in our society, we have created moral and ethical neutrality, the gray that exists that is neither good nor bad, neither appropriate nor inappropriate, neither right nor wrong. But for the apostles—and for our Lord—there is no middle ground. There is only righteousness and sin. Thus, following this pattern, I can be assured that there is only love or hate.

That makes sense when I look at the definition of love from 1 Corinthians 13:

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (v. 4-7, NRSV).

In this definition of love, I do understand that love is more than a feeling, but it a set of actions that I choose as behaviors toward someone else. In this context, I act and the feelings may or may not follow. But I choose based on scripture and trust God to take care of everything else.

In the passage in John, the apostle John is careful to note that this hatred is about believer-to-believer relationships. And the hatred he is talking about is defined (by Vine’s) as “of malicious and unjustifiable feelings towards others, whether towards the innocent or by mutual animosity.” When I show malice toward someone, I want to bring them harm. Oh, I may not want to actually hit them or shoot them, but I could want less than success or God’s blessings for them. I can want vengeance by having them fail.

Have you ever known Christians who were mean and hateful? Who perhaps used their position to control, manipulate, or even bring harm to you? I have. I can think of at least three people in my life who were angry, spiteful people and who did their best to harm me, sometimes even after I was out of their lives. The thing is, my concern shouldn’t be about their harming me. Ultimately, they can’t harm me because Father God has promised in Romans 8:28 that He will work out all things to my good. Unfortunately, it is so easy in those situations to hate back, to want harm to come to them. It can be almost impossible to be patient and kind. But that is exactly what God is calling me to do.

The NLT translation says: Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged (1 Corinthians 13:5). Unfortunately, I have to admit that I have kept records of being wronged. And those records—those memories—have made me irritable.

The apostle Titus wrote:

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. (Titus 3:3 NRSV)

“Passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.” People who are like this Titus calls foolish and disobedient, being led astray. That is me and I want it to be me no longer.

Have you ever wondered why Paul began his description of love with “patient?” I hadn’t really thought about it until today. You see, I think that—for most of us—our idea of patience is far different than the actual definition. The dictionary definition of patient is “bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint.”

Bearing pains or trial.

Calmly.

Without complaint.

To be honest—to be brutally honest—I’d simply rather not bear pains or trials at all, no less calmly and without complaining. And yet, if I love patiently, I am willing to bear pains, to go through trials, without being agitated, without fighting against it, without complaining.

Oh my!

When another believer brings pain or trials into my life, John is saying that I must greet such with love. I must refuse to become irritable and not keep a record of this wrong done to me. I must bear the pain or trial without complaining and without becoming agitated. I must forgive (70 times 7, mind you) and allow God to take care of me. I must love and not hate. If I don’t do this, John says that the darkness will overtake me in such a fashion that I will actually become spiritually blind.

Thankfully, John began this chapter with this verse:

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (v. 1).

The Lord is telling me that this is how I should live. But if I fail, then I have an advocate in Jesus Christ Who will forgive my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

I have a long way to go in learning how to live this way. I have to admit that my inclination is for spite and not for forgiveness, for self-protection and not for embracing pain with patience. But I’m learning to trust the Lord and I’m leaning on Him to help me learn to live quietly and lovingly with the believers around me, even the ones that are so hard to love.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

1 John 2:4-6

Whoever says, “I have come to know Him,” but does not obey His commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys His word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in Him: whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as He walked. (NRSV)

Do you ever get tired of being sacrificial? Of feeling like you’re the only one who gives in, who ministers, who forgives? I do. I have even wondered why God refuses to take up my cause and make things happens the way that I want them to happen. Which, of course, is the problem. Because the Lord Jesus never demanded that things happen in His own way.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:3-8 NRSV).

When John talks about believers walking as the Lord Jesus walked, he is talking about this description in Philippians. The Lord Jesus did nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but regarded our need for salvation as being more important than life itself. He looked to our interests.

This is hard for me to do, particularly when someone has harmed me (usually again and again). The world tells us that we need to look out after ourselves, to mind for our own needs, to tend to ourselves. Scripture tells us something totally different. Scripture tells us that we are to be obedient to God, putting aside our own needs and looking to not only the needs but the interests of others. For what we might think is only an interest, rather than a need, might actually be a need for that person. And we are here to provide for others . . . and to trust God to provide for us.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; (1 Corinthians 13:4-5 NRSV).

Love doesn’t insist on its own way, but rather is patient and kind. Love—God’s agape love—understands that it was necessary to provide salvation for us even when we were sinners. There was no other way. In a similar manner, God’s love in me must reach out to others while they are sinners and in need. There is no other way because there is no righteousness except in Christ. If I wait for people to “deserve” my love, that day will never come. And my love will be useless. God understood that and loved us even when we didn’t deserve it (and we will never deserve it!). And He calls on us to walk as He walks, to love as He loves, and to trust Him with everything else.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

1 John 2:3

Now by this we may be sure that we know Him, if we obey His commandments (NRSV).

I’m spending my summer in Clarksville, Tennessee, with my son and daughter-in-law (they’re expecting our first grandchild). Prior to coming, I spent some time looking at maps to acquaint myself with the general area. I also spent some time online learning a little about the town and the nearby Army base, Fort Campbell. But, I have to admit, that I didn’t know anything about Clarksville until I came here. And even now, I know very little (except how to get from home to the Wal-Mart). Why? Because I haven’t lived here; I haven’t become a citizen.

One can know of the Lord Jesus, even be an expert on the Bible and other historical documents that tell of Him, without knowing Him. There is knowledge and then there is knowledge. The apostle Paul taught that knowing Christ was essential for salvation:

I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings by becoming like Him in His death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:8-11 NRSV).

The apostle John isn’t saying that we are saved by obedience, but that we can be sure of our salvation. In other words, while obeying the Lord’s commandments isn’t how we’re saved, it is the evidence of being saved.

Two people plan to get married. They schedule the wedding, arrange for a minister, hire a hall. They invite all of their friends. The bride purchases a beautiful gown. The groom rents a fine tux. The day comes. They walk down the aisle and, in front of all their friends, pledge their love for each other. The minister pronounces them husband and wife. Once they walk out the church, they both go their separate ways, never to be together again.

Are they really married? Even in the eyes of the law, a marriage that isn’t consummated may not be a real marriage. The evidence of a marriage is, once marital vows are taken, that the husband and wife live together, creating a home and family.

It is the same with being saved. We can “take the vows” of salvation, but the evidence of true salvation is whether or not we are obedient to Christ’s commandments. I think that we often make the evidence of salvation so esoteric: “the power of the Spirit” or “the evidence of the fruit.” And yet, really what are these things? They are simply obeying God’s Word in every way. Choosing to be obedient.

That first means that we learn what the commandments are! In order to obey them, we need to know what it is we should obey. Before getting our first driver’s licenses, it was important to study the driving laws and to know those laws by putting them into practice as we drove. We learned and then implemented what we knew. As Christians, we need to learn what the commandments are and then implement them in our lives. And the willingness to do this may be the first indication that the Spirit actually lives within us. We know that the Lord Jesus is the Word (John 1:1). We truly know Him when we are living out His will and wishes in our lives.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.