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How to Understand John’s Closing Notes to the Children

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A Letter to the Children (Part 15)

© 2025 C. O. Bishop

1st John 5:14-21, Final Notes

14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death. 18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. 19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Introduction:

To begin with, John wraps up his first epistle with several related comments: He offers Encouragement, Teaching, and Admonishment.

Encouragement in Prayer

Obviously, knowing God hears us is a real source of encouragement. This is because we know we are not just “talking into the void.”

There are several verses about answered prayer, in the book of First John, and we can learn about prayer, here.

Teaching, Regarding Sin, and Judgment, and Righteousness

We see that God calls something a “sin unto death.” We will have to compare the rest of Scripture to understand that concept, but it is there for us to learn. Also, we see a definition of sin, here: one of four such definitions in the New Testament.

Admonishment Regarding the Difference Between the One True God and Idols

Finally, John reiterates the union with Christ that has been conferred upon us. More specifically, that we actually can know Him, and we have been placed into Him.

Furthermore, he reiterates what Jesus said in John 17:3. “This is eternal Life that they may know thee the One True God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”

And, finally, in contrast to that One True God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, he admonishes us to avoid everything that is not that “One True God.” He says, “Little Children, keep yourselves from idols!” Amen!

What do We Know About Prayer?

Obviously, Jesus encouraged his disciples to always pray.

Also, Paul told the Thessalonian believers to “pray without ceasing.”

Paul also told Timothy that the believers were to pray for all men everywhere, and especially for the leaders, so that the believers could have peaceful lives. God also says this was a “good and acceptable” thing. He said God “ desires all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

Sometimes we say, “Well, prayer is just talking to God!” That is an extremely simplistic view of prayer, but true, if only in the same sense that “talking is just communicating with your voice.”

There is More to Prayer thanThat!

Scripture lists different kinds of prayer. The most common prayer we seem to experience is “supplication,” or “petition:” It means asking God for something, whether for ourselves or for someone else. There is nothing wrong with asking: in fact, Philippians 4:6, 7 commands it, along with the giving of thanks. James 4:2, 3 says that sometimes we don’t have what we need because we did not bother to ask the Lord: But he also says, sometimes we do not receive what we asked for because we had wrong motives in asking.

Confession of our sins and our failings, to the God we serve, is also a type of prayer. And it probably should usually precede the other kinds of prayer, because the psalmist said, in Psalm 66:18, that “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

When we Praise God, that is a form of prayer. When we Worship or Adore Him, it is also a form of prayer.

We should make the Giving of Thanks a constant part of our prayers: Paul told the Thessalonian believers (1st Thessalonians 5:18) “In every thing give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you!”

Sometimes I remind myself of the other kinds of prayer, so that I do not always come to God asking for something, but rather bring the confession and worship. I use an acrostic, C.A.S.T.

Confession, Adoration, Supplication, Thanksgiving. He commands us to “Cast” all our cares upon Him because he cares for us. 1st John 5:14, 15 is a final review on Prayer.

What Do We Know About Sin, Judgment, and Righteousness?

in John 16:8, Jesus said, “When He (the Holy Spirit) is come, He shall convict the World of Sin and of Righteousness and of Judgment.”

So, it seems fitting that John discusses those three again, here, near the end of the New Testament. There are several things to notice, and some questions to ask, here:

  • The people in verses 16-18 are all believers. John addresses believers, and he refers to the one in sin as a brother.
  • All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin NOT unto death
  • But there is also a sin that IS unto death: What KIND of death?
  • If the sin is not a “sin unto death,” what kind of sin is it? And why would we need to pray for that brother to save his life, if it is not a sin unto death anyway?
  • Why does John immediately confirm, seemingly, that “real believers don’t sin?” Or does he really say that?

Where Did God Judge Your Sins?

If a person is a genuine believer, where did the Lord judge their sins? And, what portion of their sins did He judge there? (When Jesus died for YOUR sins at the Cross, how many of YOUR sins were still in the future? The answer? All our sins were future, and He judged them All at the Cross.)

Jesus said, (John 5:24) that the moment you believed in Him and His finished work at the Cross, you crossed over from spiritual death into spiritual life! (And it was written in “perfect tense,” which implies that you can’t cross back into that spiritual death. You can’t be “UN-born-again!”

So…what kind of death are we talking about? I can experience a sort of “walking dead:” a separation from fellowship with Jesus, caused by any unconfessed sin that I hang onto, whether anger, lust, or any other sin I am unwilling to confess.

Definitions of Sin

Verse 17 says “all unrighteousness is sin” This is one of four New Testament definitions of sin:

  • 1st John 3:4 “…sin is the transgression of the Law.”
  • 1st John 5:17 “all unrighteousness is sin.”
  • James 4:17 “…to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
  • Romans 14:23 “…whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

What is a Sin Not Unto Death?

But v. 17 also says “there is a sin not unto death.” So, it can’t be either of these types of spiritual death. You can’t be lost again, but you DO separate yourself from fellowship every time you choose to sin. Neither of those can fit in this context. That leaves only physical death.

There are sins that call for capital punishment. If a Christian commits such a crime, (and they can do so: We are warned in 1st Peter 4:15 to not be a murderer, etc.) then John says, in such a case, we are not to pray that they escape judgment. Their sins were judged at the Cross, yes: but there are always consequences for sins, in this life.

New Testament Examples

And there are cases in the New Testament where believers were literally “taken home” by God for sins that the world would not have judged, at all: But they were actions which undermined the holiness of God’s work on earth. In Acts chapter 5, we saw Ananias and Sapphira, who were believers, but who lied to God, trying to gain honor before other believers. And God revealed their sin, and took their lives.

In 1st Corinthians chapter 11, we read of people who took lightly the holiness and solemnity of the Lord’s Supper. Paul said many of them had been physically sick, and some had physically died, because of that sin.

In both those cases, God decreed that their sin was “unto death,” and it was physical death, but it was for sins that the world would not even have seen as sin, but about which God does care. God does not “ignore our sin.” He hates sin, but He loves the sinners and died for them. And even among believers, He may say, “You have gone far enough! I am bringing you home!”

What About “Sinning Believers?”

In verse 18, John said, “18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. 19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.”

Some folk attempt to teach that this means “real Christians never sin!” That teaching is not only contrary to the experience of every born-again believer I have ever known; it is also contrary to the truth of God’s Word. Christians do sin. Every single genuine believer is a saved sinner, trying to live in the reality of their new born-again nature. And we often fail!

A New Testament Example:

Peter was already a believer when he denied Jesus, cursing, and swearing that he never knew Jesus. How do I know? Jesus said so! In several places, actually, but specifically, in John 15:3, Jesus told the eleven (including Peter) that they all were clean, through the Word that Jesus had spoken unto them.

And, in Antioch, long after Peter had received the Holy Spirit, both Barnabas and Peter were caught up in the hypocrisy of the Jews who claimed that they could not eat with the Gentile believers. (Galatians 2:11-14) But, honestly, Why would John tell the believers to confess their sins and be cleansed, in 1st John 1:9, if believers never sin?? The answer is, they do sin!

But a believer should not be comfortable in their sin, nor should they willingly continue in sin. One of the results of genuine saving faith isa true continuing repentance, as we see the sin in our lives and confess it, and desire to completely abandon our old way of life.

We know that the World will continually present us with temptations and traps, attempting to ensnare us and to render us unfruitful in our Christian life. But if you have been born again, then you are literally the offspring of God, and you will desire to be with Him, and to walk with Him and to work with Him. You will desire to see Him at work in your life, and desire to see your new life transformed into His holy, righteous life.

The New Life and its Source

20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Jesus, the Son of God, came, born in human flesh, and provided eternal life through faith in His shed blood at the Cross.

Through Him, every believer begins to learn the reality of the New Life in Christ. We have been placed into Him by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in our bodies, as a guarantee that we cannot be lost again. He is the true light of the World, the true life that God offers to the World, and the true God in the Flesh who died for us.

Jesus said, in John 17:3 “And this is eternal life that they may know thee the One True God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.”

He invites us to know Him on an experiential basis, joining Him in His work, in His Love, and in His Life. This is the invitation of God which has been extended to the World from the beginning.

Avoiding Idols

Anything we allow to distract us from the relationship He has offered, is an idol. We ignore the true source of the Living Water, and we go “drink from a muddy creek,” contaminated by the World, the Flesh, or the Devil.

We can either accept HIS invitation, responding daily by faith, or we can ignore it, and miss out. Those are the choices.

Lord Jesus, we ask that you would shine more and more brightly in each of our lives, through the study of your Written Word, and by the authority of Your Holy Spirit, so that we see that we truly have been called as your ambassadors, to be your hands and feet and voice, here on Earth. Give us the faith to follow You in every way.

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How to Understand God’s Testimony To You About Jesus

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A Letter to the Children (Part 14)

© 2025 C. O. Bishop

1st John 5:6-13

6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Introduction:

We have been studying through the first epistle of John, and finally have come to a fairly “cryptic” passage. It actually contains a somewhat “controversial” passage, as well.

The first question, in my mind is, “What is this about the water and the blood?” There are several possibilities, each with its own group of adherents:

  1. Perhaps he means the Water and Blood that both came out of Jesus’s side when the Roman spear pierced Him.
  2. Or, perhaps the Water of His Baptism by John, and the Blood of the Cross.
  3. Or, finally, the Water of the Word. (Jesus fulfilling ALL the prophecies about His birth and life and ministry.) And the actual sacrificial pouring out of His Blood at the Cross.

Two Out of Three, Probably

Undoubtedly, it at least alludes to the first idea. John also said that both water and blood came out, when the spear pierced His chest at His Death.

(John 19:33-35) “33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.”

Why is that so important? Perhaps because the third possibility is actually the underlying truth. Jesus was and is the Living Word.

He had to fulfill all the prophecies of His Written Word, and He could not stop short of the Cross. He couldn’t just “check all the boxes,” and “touch all the bases.” He couldn’t just “declare Himself King.”

Jesus had to go to the Cross and lay down his life. He specifically shed His blood as final payment on our sin debt. Romans 3:25 specifies that He is the propitiation for our sins, “through faith in His Blood.”

They Pierced Only Jesus: Why?

They could have stabbed the spear into the other two men as well. Possibly they would have seen something similar. But, Jesus laid down His life just in time to avoid thebreaking of His legs. He fulfilled one more prophecy: “They broke none of His bones.”

The Romans did not spear the others, though they were crucified. So the testimony of the Water and the Blood only was about Him.

The Water of the Word

Remember that John also emphasized the Water of the Word, in John 3:5. Jesus said, “except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.”  

Peter agreed, in 1st Peter 1:23. He said, we have been born again “by the Word of God.”

In Ephesians 5:26, Paul said, Jesus cleanses the Church, “…with the washing of water by the Word.”

The Water of the Word is absolutely necessary for salvation. Romans 1:16 says, The Gospel of Christ, being believed in, is the only thing God defines as “The power of God unto Salvation.

So, it was also critically important that Jesus fulfilled His own Word, as well as providing the blood sacrifice for our sins. Both had to be there.

Making it Real

Ultimately, only the Spirit of God can make these truths a working reality in the believer’s life. No amount of mental “imagining” can make the crucifixion or the resurrection a reality in my life. In fact, He says to set aside imagination: we are to accept the engrafted Word, by faith.

Around 1978, I was wrestling with some scriptural idea. I struggled to “reconcile God’s Word with my sense of justice.” (something along those lines)

I remember, it suddenly occurred to me, for the first time, that, “It really doesn’t matter what I think. It only matters what God says!” And I meant it: I accepted His Word, and His authority by faith! And I had peace in my own mind, because the conflicted thoughts ended immediately.

So, the Holy Spirit bore witness to my spirit that the truth of God’s Word overruled all other concerns. The Spirit bore witness, because the Spirit is Truth…just as verse six concludes.

A “Textual Controversy,” and How I Address It:

I warned that there is controversy here. Up until the late 19th century, few people made argument over it. Some obscure scholars debated whether it was “in the original manuscripts.” But, (I hasten to remind you:) We do not have the “original manuscripts.”

So, about 160 years ago, scholars publicized three previously obscure “codices.”

(A “codex” is a book that opens like what we consider “regular books,” as opposed to scrolls, that unroll.) These codices are now famous. In them, (as well as others) that verse is missing. The critics triumphantly declared that verse to have been erroneously added.

The Textus Receptus, from 1516, includes that verse. The older English translations, including everything from the Tyndale Bible, to the Authorized, or King James Version, all still have it. Some of the newer translations include it, but they have a note in the margin declaring that it is of doubtful origin.

Some translations are a little more “sneaky:” They completely leave out verse seven, and then split verse eight, and use the first half of verse eight as “verse seven,” and the last half as “verse eight.”

There are Several Problems With Doing Such Things.

  1. The verse doesn’t say anything that is not also confirmed elsewhere in the Bible: It strongly confirms the truth of the Trinity, stating that the Father, the Word, and the Spirit are One. Why would there be a problem with that? It simply teaches in one verse what the rest of the Bible teaches in many passages.
  • I don’t think I am “wise enough,” personally, to “pick through the Bible” and declare that this verse or that verse should not be there. When there is undeniable, recorded history demonstrating that a passage (or a whole apocryphal book) has been added, so that we know who added it and why they did so, and when…then that is a different matter. But to start revisiting individual verses and passing judgment on them as “suspicious,” I don’t consider myself qualified to make that call…and I don’t particularly trust many of the people who claim that they are so qualified.
  • And, finally, this is the problem that gives me the most pause: When we begin “slicing and dicing” the scripture, telling people that their Bible “is not really God’s Word, in its entirety,” then there is no logical stopping point. People who begin to do that in their own minds will often continue “discarding more and more” until they have nothing left that is worth believing. So, they abandon their faith, and suffer the bitterness of a lost love, and a lost relationship with the God of the Bible.

A Personal Example

My own Dad did exactly that. It began when one of his college professors began posing questions he could not resolve. “So (as he told me) “I decided I just didn’t believe that part of the Bible.” But that led to more and more “exceptions” until (he said) “Finally, the only thing I had left was ‘salvation by faith,’ and without the rest of the Bible, that didn’t make any sense either: So, I dropped that, too!” That is a pretty sad story, isn’t it? And it made a wreckage of his life!

So, I go ahead and teach this as the Word of God, just as I do the rest of the Bible. It confirms the Trinity, and I have no problem with that: The Trinity is taught all through the Word of God, and it is inescapably true, with or without this verse.

What About the Other Three Witnesses?

8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

If we continue with the idea that the “Water” in this passage refers to the Word of God, then we see that the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and the Shed Blood of Jesus collectively testify of the Grace and Love of God, offered through the Cross. These three witnesses are in complete unity.

In any court, when three witnesses, each unimpeachable on his or her own strength, bear essentially identical testimony, but from three separate perspectives, the court has a fairly solid reason to make a decision: The court chooses to believe the witnesses. This is a pretty common standard for courts, and for any other choice to believe

God’s Three-fold Testimony

But remember that all three of these testimonies are from God! His testimony is greater than human testimony. God testifies to the human race regarding Jesus: The Messiah…God the Son.

John concludes that whoever believes this testimony “has the witness within himself.” If you have placed your personal trust in the Gospel, believing the witness of God, then the Holy Spirit now indwells to and continually confirms the truth of that message. But if you do not believe it, then you should know that you are calling God a liar: He is the source of this testimony, He bore record of Jesus, the Messiah, the Only Begotten Son…You have to choose how to respond.

So, What is the Record?

11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

The Record is simple:

  • God has given Eternal Life to the Human Race
  • That Life is in the Person of His Son.
  • Whoever possesses the Son of God, has the Eternal Life God offered.
  • Whoever does not have the Son of God, does not have the Life.

So…why did John go to such lengths to tell us this simple message?

There are Two Stated Motives:

John said, “These things I have written unto you who believe on the name of the Son of God; “

  • “That you (plural…ye) may know that ye have (present tense) eternal life, and
  • “That ye may (continue to) believe on the Name of the Son of God.”

Think about the importance of this message:

This knowledge, that you have eternal life, is the only protection for your mind, against the slinking, sneaking fear, and distrust, constantly whispering, “What if you are wrong?? You are  a foul sinner: far too corrupt to survive the wrath of God! His Grace cannot reach to you! He will surely reject you now!”

This message, being believed, is the “Helmet of Salvation” required in Ephesians 6:17. If you cannot believe this passage, then you cannot put on the helmet of salvation, as protection for your mind, against the onslaught of Satan’s lies.

If anyone has questions about this security, offered by God, on the basis of Grace, through faith alone, I would be happy to address those questions with you.

Lord Jesus, help us to believe Your Word, and to apply it to our own lives in every area. Teach us to Walk with You by Faith, and to experience Your Joy and Peace as a result.

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How To Know and Experience The Love and Victory of God

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A Letter to the Children (Part 13)

© 2025 by C. O. Bishop

1st John 5:1-5

Introduction:

John begins this passage with the critical importance of Faith:

1 Whosoever believeth [trusts…is persuaded: Greek “pisteuon”] that Jesus is the Christ [the Messiah] is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat [the One who “sired” you as a born-again child…the offspring…of God] loveth him also that is begotten of him. [The other “born-ones” of God.]

First, the “belief” implied here in 1st John 5:1, is not simply “intellectual assent.” It is not just a casual “admission of a fact.” Rather, it is a decision to trust in Jesus as the Messiah, with all that the name “Messiah” implies. It is a deliberate choice. It is a commitment to depend upon His blood at the Cross, as our only hope for salvation.

Also, the result of that choice (which we call “saving faith”) is multifaceted: At that very moment, The Holy Spirit placed each of us into the Body of Christ, permanently. Finally, (also permanently) the Holy Spirit indwelt each of us, individually. Also, we gained a new position, in Christ, and a new destiny as His born-again child…His offspring. As a result, we began a new relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe. We do so through the Person of Jesus the Messiah. And, as we daily choose to engage in that relationship, He works daily to “transform us through the renewing of our minds,” by His Love.

Furthermore, Romans 12:2 encourages us to choose that continual renewal. He calls us to embrace that transformation. In contrast, he says to avoid being compressed and deformed by the World. Avoid being forced into its mold, conforming us to its values.

What Does That “Transformed Life” Look Like?

2 By this we know that we love the children [“tekna“…offspring] of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

Compare Jesus’s words in John 14:21-23.

“21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

The agapé love always manifests itself in behavior. As we allow our experiential knowledge of Christ to grow deeper, we will find ourselves more thoroughly committed to obey Him. As we learn to love God with the agapé love, and learn to walk in obedience to Him, we suddenly realize that in so doing, we are also loving the brethren.

Change in Perspective

We discover, experientially and progressively, that His way is literally always the best. So, we choose, more and more consistently, to follow His lead. As a result, we respond to our “fellow-travelers” and we react to our surroundings more and more consistently the way Jesus would have us to respond and react.

One of the results of that particular transformation is that unbelievers see the change in our attitudes and behavior, and they have to admit to themselves that “whatever they’ve got, it seems to be real!” (Remember, Jesus said, “by this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Again, this is the agapé love, not just brotherly love.)

3 For this is the love of God, [this is what marks people who love God, as opposed to loving the World, or loving self.] that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. [Not heavy…Not burdensome.]

A genuinely transformed life is willingly seeking to obey the Word of God, Jesus, Himself. We seek to obey the Spirit of God. We desire to walk in fellowship with Him, in Partnership with Him in His Work.

Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work.” The “transformed life” begins to echo that desire, seeing the completion of His work as the beating heart of God in our daily lives.

Serving With Jesus

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus said, “28 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.”

Remember that, when Jesus said, “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” He meant exactly that! Clearly, the life He calls us to enjoy is impossibly hard in the flesh…it can’t be done at all! However, He never asked us to “live the Christian life” in our own strength. On the contrary, He said “apart from Me ye can do nothing!”

I am told that the Greek word Jesus used for “yoke” implied a double-harness, whereby two workers could share a load, and get far more accomplished. He did not say, “Here, put my yoke upon you and become my slave.” Rather, He invites us to join Him in double-harness, and work with Him.

Laborers Together With Christ

This is what is different about being a “disciple” of Jesus, as opposed to being a disciple of any human teacher: We are not just “trying to emulate our teacher,” or trying to “earn His favor” through obedience. He conferred His favor upon us “unearned.” (We call that Grace!)

He has already “blessed us with all spiritual blessings, in the heavenly places.” He is working with us, and as we walk with Him, He is transforming us from the inside, so as to make us His fellow-laborers. And He promises to reward His “fellow-laborers.”

But allowing Him to live through you makes even the things we consider “major trials” to be relatively easy. Unbelievers experience the same sorts of things, and they have no supernatural “comforter” on whom they can lean and find “rest for their souls,” as Jesus promised us.

What About “Victory in Jesus?”

4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

We frequently sing the hymns, “Victory in Jesus,” and “Faith is the Victory,” but I think we seldom connect either of them with this passage. 1st John 5:4, 5 spells out the fact that our faith in Jesus as the Messiah, as the incarnate Son of God…God in the flesh…that faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

Hezekiah’s Example

The moment King Hezekiah (In 2nd Chronicles 29-32) set out to trust the Lord and to worship Him only, God began blessing Him with protection and sustenance. And, when the enemy (King Sennacherib, of Assyria) laid siege to Jerusalem, Hezekiah was already in the habit of trusting the Lord for all things. So, he simply continued to do so. And you may recall the rest of the story: The Angel of the LORD went out that night (We call Him Jesus) and He killed 185,000 troops in the enemy army. The rest packed up and went home. And the enemy king was murdered by his own sons while he worshipped in the temple of his god, Nisroch.

That Victory belonged entirely to God, but it was given to Hezekiah and Jerusalem by Grace, through Faith. And God says that if you are trusting in Jesus as the Son of God, the sacrificial Lamb of God, then He has made you a victor over the World. You have been declared the victor, by Grace, through Faith.

No Coincidences!

As we continue to trust Him and walk with Him, and Work with Him, the victories become more pronounced. We will no longer feel tempted to just say, Well that was serendipitous!” or “What a coincidence that was!” We will recognize His hand at work in our lives, and we will be encouraged to exercise still greater faith.

There was no “coincidence” that caused 185,000 troops to die that night outside Jerusalem. And, it was not due to any “coincidence” that the remaining forces decided they had better things to do, back in Assyria.

It was no coincidence (and no surprise to us,) that Sennacherib was murdered by his own sons. We have learned the character of God: People who mock Him and who attack His people will be judged by Him.

What Are You Seeking?

Our victories may not be of such earthshaking character. But, in our own lives, the lives of our friends and families, and in our church family, we can learn to look for such victories. We have frequently noted that “God has big hands, and He leaves big fingerprints.” If we learn to watch for them, we see His fingerprints everywhere.

J. Vernon McGee told about a big game hunter who spent five months in India When he came home, he was regaling some friends and acquaintances with stories of the hunt. But someone asked about missionaries, and he remarked that he saw missions as a waste of time and money. He said, “In the five months I was there, I didn’t see a single missionary!” An old man on the edge of the group asked, “Pardon me for asking, but how long did you say you were in India?”

The man replied, “Five months!”

The old man pressed on: “And, why did you go there?”

The hunter replied, “To hunt tigers!”

“And, did you see any tigers?”

“Oh, yes,” the man replied: “We saw scores of them!”

The old man said, “That is very odd! I was in India for thirty years, and I never saw a tiger! But, then…I was there as a missionary, and I saw hundreds of other missionaries! It must depend upon what one is looking for!”

Make it “Personal:” What are YOU Seeking?

As we walk by faith, seeking God’s will, and looking for His “fingerprints:” As we seek the evidence of His handiwork, we gain deeper and deeper insight into His Word, and we become increasingly alert to His working in our lives. And that is exactly what He wants us to do!

Lord Jesus, teach us to love the Brethren, to obey Your Word, and to learn to see the victory of God in our own lives.

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Do You Know how to Apply the Agapé Love in Your Life?

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A Letter to the Children (Part 12)

© 2025 by C. O. Bishop

Notes on the Agapé Love

1st John 4:14-21

14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

Introduction:

We have seen quite a bit about the Love of God in the last several weeks. Specifically, we saw that the only form of love discussed in John’s epistles, is the agapé love. We saw the difference between that love and other words. We also saw that agapé is a huge part of our testimony as believers. What do people see when they look at our lives?

Notice that verse 14 does say that “we testify”…this is normal behavior for believers. We testify that God the Father sent God the Son (Jesus) “to be the Savior of the World!” (Not “the elect”) As a result, we offer eternal life to whoever is interested.

We offer that life on the basis of the shed Blood of Jesus. We offer the Grace of God, not a “contract” of some sort, whereby people can “earn” eternal life. Finally, we offer the Gospel as the gift of God. It was freely offered to all who will put their faith in Him. Romans 3:25 says that Jesus is the “propitiation” (the satisfaction of God’s Holiness and Justice) specifically through faith in His Blood.

A “Package Deal”

However, there seems to be a “package deal” here. Anyone who possesses the Son as their Savior will also confess that Jesus is the Son of God. But these are also the same people who confess that Jesus is truly the Creator God, in human flesh. They confess that He willingly sacrificed Himself for the entire human race. So, those who place their faith in Him are those named in verse 15. “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God…”

This confession is not a “magic password” that somehow “gets you in the door.” It is a symptom of believers. Those believers are the ones who are “in God.” God dwells in them, and they dwell in God. When we compare some of the other passages regarding the indwelling Spirit, we see that this verse corroborates everything we have learned regarding the deity of Christ, the deity of the Holy Spirit, and the Mystery of the Trinity, (which in scripture is simply called “the Godhead.” See Colossians 2:9; Romans 1:20.)

What about the Virgin Birth?

Verse 15 also means that I have to confess that the Virgin Birth is a fact. It is not a myth or a legend. Verse 15 means that I must admit that Sin was (and is) the “bad news” in this world. The Bad News necessitates the “Good News” of the Cross. Jesus bled and died, there, and satisfied the Holiness and Justice of God regarding our sin…the sins of the whole Human race.

Without a complete break in the procreational chain, to escape the sin nature transmitted through the man, we could not escape our old nature. Jesus had no Human father, and was truly the Physical offspring of God. He provided that “break” in the “chain-reaction” of Sin. Through rebirth, He gave us a new nature. (Which is why 1st Corinthians 15:22 says we are either “in Adam” as our old spiritual head, or “in Christ,” as our New spiritual head.)

Yes, the Virgin Birth was absolutely necessary, and is not a “light doctrine,” unimportant to salvation. If He is not literally the Son of God, then we have no savior! It is that simple. There is an amazing amount of information tied to this passage that is not explained here, but requires further reading on our part.

Knowing and Believing the Love of God

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.

Remember that the only “Love” mentioned in 1st John is the Agapé Love. Also, that the only “knowledge” mentioned in this chapter, is the “ginosko” knowledge…the ongoing, experiential relationship sort of knowledge. Now another word is introduced: “Believe.” We entered into our walk with God by faith, and we also walk with Him by faith, believing in His goodness, and His Love and His faithfulness to care for us.

And, John says “we have personally experienced the Agapé love that God HAS (present tense) for us.” Some false teachers claim the Bible only says that God loved us” (past tense,) but that it does not say that He loves us (present tense.) I don’t know why they teach that.

Yes, God loved us (past tense) by dying for our sins: that is the teaching of John 3:16. But John 14:21 says (Jesus speaking) “He that loveth Me shall be (future tense) loved of my Father.” And 1st John 4:16 just taught us that we experience the agapé love that He has for us…(present tense.) God’s Love covers our past, present, and future!

He loved us in the past, before we knew Him, by laying down His life for us. As believers we daily experience His love, in this present life, as He answers our prayers, encourages our hearts, and teaches us to trust His Will through the truth of His Word, by His indwelling Spirit. And we look forward to a future encounter, where we will be received into Eternity with Him, as His Love envelops us completely, and we never again fear judgment.

How Agapé Love Finds Completion

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. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect [completed] love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

As Jesus taught in John 5:24, a believer needs no longer fear the coming Judgment, as He promised, “He that heareth My Word, and Believeth on Him that sent me HAS everlasting life, and SHALL NOT come into condemnation, but is PASSED from death unto life.” Notice that the Salvation Jesus offers us also covers our past, present and future!

For those who have placed their faith in Jesus as their Savior, those three promises are all secure. We will never be condemned with the World, as we are no longer of the World. We have a new citizenship, in Heaven. (Philippians 3:20)

That is why John can encourage us to set aside timidity and fear. We have no further cause to fear anything in this World. Why? Because God has “declared Himself in,” on our behalf! Romans 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can be against?” 2nd Timothy 1:7 echoes this, saying “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of Love and of a sound mind.” The word translated as “fear” is the Greek word “phobeo.” It where we get our English words “Phobia, phobic, and all the words with the suffix, “-phobia.”

Many of us have secret fears, or phobias. Some have become enslaved to those fears, so that they are effectively crippled by fear. God offers us freedom from that enslavement, and across the board, He offers freedom from fear.

Love is Entirely From God.

19 We love him, because he first loved us.

No one starts out with even the capacity to “love God.” Many claim to do so by nature, but the reality is that we may love the idea of a “loving, compassionate God,” but we cannot Love Him as He truly is, because we are sinners and God hates sin, and judges sin. And we hate judgment!

The only reason we can claim to love God, as natural humans, is that we have “redefined God” to fit what we think He ought to be. We describe Him as all-loving, to the extent that we deny His Holiness, and His Justice and His supreme Authority as the Creator. We have redefined Him into a “nice, lovable, old man,” or worse.

What Do We Really Believe?

Nowadays, many people  use the Impersonal word, “Universe,” to supplant the Person of God, as though, somehow, all the uncountable, non-living particles, asteroids, suns, planets, comets, etc. are deity! They believe that the unimaginable physical mass of the combined non-living galaxies, somehow collectively possess an intelligent will, and that collectively, as “the Universe,” they can together exert that will in our lives, for better or worse.

They deny the Creator, as an intelligent creator, and they then declare that the physical creation itself somehow has a collective intelligence, and a will. Romans 1:22, 23 says, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the Glory of the incorruptible God into an image, made like unto…” and then it lists various parts of the living creation “men, birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” But we have gone a step further and have chosen to redefine God as a huge collection of Non-living things. There is a word for that: It is called “pantheism,” meaning that “everything is God,” or that everything is a part of God.

We Have No Authority to Redefine God

But we do not have the authority to “redefine God” at all! One of the names by which He introduced Himself to Abraham and, to the Pharaoh, and to all the ancient world was “I AM.” He said, “I am that I AM!” 

He is who He is, the self-existent, uncaused cause of all things! God is the only truly immortal being, with neither beginning nor end. He defines Himself as the Judge of all the Earth, in John 5:22.

“The Universe” has nothing to do with authority or intelligence, except that it stands as a witness to His eternal authority and unimaginable intelligence. The universe itself has no intelligence of its own, and no will of its own. He is all of the Authority, and the entire Universe bends to His Will alone!

So, the only reason it has become possible for us to truly “Love God” is that He extended the true Agapé Love to us at the Cross. We saw last week, in 1st John 4:7, that God is the only source of this love. Those who have received Him as Savior also have received the indwelling Holy Spirit, and thus (whenever the Spirit is in control) we are able to experience and demonstrate this Love. We love Him only because He first loved us!

The Final Test of Agapé Love

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?

There is a logical necessity here: the Agapé Love has only One Source. But Agapé Love has a necessary outlet: we are to extend it to others. If we decide that someone is “beyond hope, and unworthy of love” then we need to remember that God loved us when we were “beyond hope, and unworthy of love!” Ephesians 2:11-12 spells that out: When God reached out to us, we were without God and without Hope, in the World!

So, if we persist in thinking that way about others, and persist in acting on those thoughts, then, when we claim that we “love God,” we are lying. (Does that sound harsh?)

Here is what is really harsh: It is us, when we forget that God accepted us in all our rotten rebellion and pride, but we reject other believers for lesser offenses! Remember that Unity and Love are two of the three criteria that Jesus gave, by which the World is invited to judge the Church.

The Bottom Line

21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

This is not an “optional” thing. There is no one to whom God says we do not owe the Agapé Love. In fact, Romans 13:8 says, “Owe no man any thing, but to Love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the whole law.” The implication is that we DO owe every human the Love of God.

How does that work out in reality? We are not called to “feel nice feelings” about others. The descriptions in 1st Corinthians 13:4-8 have nothing to do with feelings. They are all actions words: What are you doing, as a result of your commitment to serve the Lord? How are you being a blessing to those around you? Are you pouring yourself out to do what God has called you to do? Or are you primarily concerned with how you feel and whether your needs are met?

Does everyone have the same needs? No, of course, they don’t. So, the way Jesus met the need of the Woman at the Well (in John 4) was very different from how he spoke to Nicodemus, and met his need, in the previous chapter. In the same manner, we are called to be perceptive as to what are the real needs of people around us.

Be discerning, but still be looking for opportunities to love with the Agapé Love. That is the commandment Jesus gave in John 13:34, 35, and John reiterates it here, once again.

Lord Jesus, please help us to understand Your word. Help us to understand and experience Your Love, and to pass it on to others.

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Learn How To Understand The Love Of God

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A Letter to the Children (Part 11)

© 2025 C. O. Bishop

1st John 4:7-13

How to Understand the Agapé Love

Introduction:

It is interesting to note that “Agapé” is the only word John uses for “Love,” in his three epistles. The only place the Greek word “phileo” even occurs in his epistles, is as part of another word, in 3rd John 9. Where Diotrephes “loveth to have the preeminence,” the Greek word is “philotropeuon.” (Not a good love!)

One other “key” place where John uses the word “phileo” is John 21:15-17. John quoted a conversation: “phileo” happened a total of four times: Jesus had asked Peter, “do you love (agapé) Me?” and Peter replied using “phileo,” saying “Yes, You know I love (have deep affection for) You!”

This exchange happened twice. But the third time, Jesus also used the word “phileo.” It grieved Peter, because this time Jesus asked, “Do you phileo Me?” But he again replied using “phileo!” (Peter may have felt he could not claim “full commitment” to Christ, as just six weeks earlier, he had denied that he even knew Him!) Therefore, he claimed nothing greater than affection.

John used the word “phileo” eight times, in the Gospel of John. He also used it twice in Revelation (3:19 and 22:15.) Total of 15 times, always regarding the idea of “affection.”

Those are the only times in ALL of John’s writings where he used the word “phileo.” But he used the word “agapé” a total of 73 times!

John committed himself to the principle of Agapé!

The Principle of Agapé Love

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

John says “beloved (to all believers) let us love one another, for… (because) Love is of God…”

I have long felt that “probably” the true agapé love was only possible by the Holy Spirit. This verse seems to confirm the notion. I will no longer say “probably!” Here’s why:

  • (Agapé) Love is of God (as opposed to any other source!)
  • Every one who loves (with agapé love) is born of God.
    • (You must be born again, or it can’t happen!)
  • AND (using “ginosko,” the experiential, practical, ongoing personal relationship word) knoweth God! It means you not only must be born again, but you have to be in fellowship with God at that moment, so that the Holy Spirit is in control! It does not mean simply that “you are acquainted with Him!”

You see, John gave us three facts: (a) God is the only source of agapé love. (b) Therefore, only a born-of-God believer can experience it, and (c) It can only be experienced by one who is currently under the control of the Holy Spirit!

On the basis of those three facts, John says, “Let’s put it into practice!”

Love and Fellowship

8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

If we bear in mind that the word for “know,” here, is “ginosko” (meaning an experiential, ongoing, “present-tense relationship” knowledge) and that the only word for Love, in this epistle is “agapé,” then we can see that John states unequivocally that if you are not exhibiting the agapé love, then you are out of fellowship! (And why?) Because “God is Love!”

People routinely quote this passage as if it were some sort of “Re-definition of God.” But, while God exemplifies the Agapé Love in every way, this passage does not say “God equals Love.” Therefore it also cannot be inverted to claim that “Love equals God.”

Thus, it also does not say “God is the Author of anything and everything that anyone might call Love!” So, the people today, claiming, “Love is Love!” are dead wrong. This verse is specifically about the Agapé Love…nothing else!

Attributes of God

Some people also want to use this passage to claim that “God’s primary attribute is Love.” This is also not true: His primary attribute (stated over and over, in both the Old and the New Testaments,) is Holiness!

In Isaiah 6:1-8, the Seraphim, surrounding the high throne of Christ, did not remark about the Love of God: They cried out, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of Hosts! The whole earth is filled with His Glory!” And Isaiah, in response, did not say, “Wow! I’m surely glad to know He loves me!”

No! He said “Woe is me, for I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts!”

Isaiah thought he was about to die, because he, as a sinner, had seen the King! He saw the Holiness of God, and his own unholiness! He feared the inevitable, terrible Judgment of God! (That is a good fear! God says so, in Psalm 19:9!)

But Isaiah went on to learn the Love of God.

The Love of God

9 In this was manifested [made known] the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

This matches perfectly the Love described in John 3:16. “For God ‘so’ loved …” Meaning, “In this manner God loved: God demonstrated His agapé Love in this way. In the Spanish Bible, it is very clear: “Porque de tal manera amo Dios al Mundo…” In this manner, God loved the World….

What IS Agapé Love?

The Love of God has nothing to do with emotions or feelings: It has to do with a commitment to the well-being of the recipient of that Love.

We have discussed all of this, before, but, when we look at 1st Corinthians 13:4-8, where God gives the most comprehensive description of the Agapé Love, we find that every single descriptor is an action word: Nothing is dependent upon emotions or feelings. All of it has to do with how we respond to the needs of those around us.

God demonstrated that agapé love by going to the Cross for us. Jesus, as God in the Flesh, willingly presented Himself as the only acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the whole human race.

What Changed?

Hebrews 10:5-10 explains the transition between the Old Testament sacrifices (all of which pointed toward the Cross) and the Cross itself:

“5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering [The Old Testament offerings] thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Notice that Jesus came, knowing why He came! (“A body thou hast prepared for me! I come to do thy will. In the volume of the book, it is written of me!)

Despite God the Father confirming that Jesus, God the Son, was the Creator (see Hebrews 1:6-13, especially verses 8-10) Jesus (God the Son) came in obedience to God the Father, to be the sacrifice for our sins!

The Ultimate Source

In Jeremiah 2:12-13, God calls upon the whole creation to see the two evils that His people, the Jews, had committed:

  • They had forsaken their God, the only source of Living Water (compare John 7:37-39.)
  • They had made for themselves “cisterns” (holding standing water at best… rains, whenever they came, would fill the cisterns.) But, the Cisterns were cracked anyway, and could not even hold water…the stale water they thought they would use rather than depend upon an ongoing love-relationship with their Creator to provide the fresh, living water they truly needed.

The Only Source

He, (Jesus specifically) is the only source of Living Water: He is also the only source of the Agapé love! When we try to manufacture a pious-looking “love,” via programs, or 12-step plans, or any other human “gimmickry,” we are missing the point.

Trying to “achieve His Love” by our own strength or our own “clever methods” is comparable to the Israelites attempting to “store up manna” for the next day. It did not work! They had to gather the Manna every day, for that day alone! The Creator God has to be the source of The Love of God, on a continuing basis: You can’t “store it up and use it sparingly,” hoping to “have enough for later.”

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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

The Love that God requires from His people has only one possible source: It emanates from an ongoing love-relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. The source is invisible, but the results are not!

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.

God’s love does not need “perfecting,” as we use that word. The word translated as “perfect” in scripture usually has to do with “completion:” God’s Love finds completion as it is exemplified in His people by means of the Holy Spirit actively working through them. We become His hands and His feet. Speaking as His ambassadors, we serve as His mouthpiece. We Love the People in His Name, and by His Spirit.

Our Confidence in Him

13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

Each of us, as believers, can look back and remember the times when God has stepped in, and by His Holy Spirit, conformed us to His image, in one area or another. We are aware (to one degree or another) of His abiding presence, and we are grateful that He will never leave us.

God also calls us to see that presence as permanent evidence that we have already been placed into the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit has permanently indwelt us. All of this happened at the moment you were born again. But He also gives us the ongoing witness of the Holy Spirit, encouraging us, and comforting us. He is always there, and He reminds us that we are not alone. (See 1st Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:12-14.)

The Biggest Change

But the change in our lives that is most astonishing is that we can actually care for someone else, without being concerned with our own selfish interests. A young woman once shared with us how she had gone to a “women’s retreat” of some sort. After the retreat began, the leaders assigned the women times wherein they would help serve food or wash dishes, etc..

She told us, “ And, I thought, ‘But I didn’t come here to serve! I came here to be served!’ ”  Immediately, the Holy Spirit used His Word to convict her heart: She instantly remembered what Jesus said, in Mark 10:45, “The Son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many!”

The result? God changed her heart, on the spot! She served cheerfully, knowing that in so doing, she was obeying Him and blessing others!

As believers, and as followers of Jesus, we desire to see the Lord change our hearts in similar fashion!

Lord Jesus, please steer us way from the trap of being conformed to the values of the World. Inspire our hearts with Your Holiness and Your Love, and transform us by the renewing of our minds! Fill us with Your Living water, and let it flow through us to the World beyond.

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Do You Know How to Recognize a False Teacher?

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A Letter to the Children (Part 10)

© 2025 C. O. Bishop

1st John 4:1-6

Introduction

John gives another warning against false teachers, here. But he couches it in terms that can be confusing. He says, “try the spirits.” We saw in Ephesians 6:10-18 that there is a war in progress. He says that our enemies are spiritual beings. The human individuals seeming to be our enemies are simply the unwitting victims. They are tools of the real enemies. God gives us a test. Is the human agent speaking by the Spirit of God, or as an agent of the enemy?

For years, I have read and re-read this passage, and found it very confusing. How do you get a “spirit” to confess anything?

Thirty years ago, a teacher claimed to use this verse to check for demon possession. He said he addressed the person, saying, “I want to speak to your spirit!” Then, depending on their response, he demanded, “Do you confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh?” And their “spirit” verbally responded, “No!” He claimed thereby to determine that the person “had a demon.” But there are some problems with this:

In the first place, nowhere else in scripture can we see such a thing is even possible, let alone a recommended practice. (Regarding demon possession, there is no mention in the epistles at all, either in how to detect it, or how to evict such a spirit, if we knew it was there!)

In the second place, consider the remote context, 1st John 2:18-20, and the immediate context, 1st John 4:1, 3-6. Both suggest that the issue, rather than detecting demon activity, is about detecting false teachers and false brethren. And, in both places he referenced multiple “antichrists.”

But, What Does He Mean, When He Says to “Try the Spirits?”

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.

So, we immediately see, in verse one, that the key phrase is “many false prophets.” False teachers, and false prophets are one of the plagues of the church age. And it seems that one of the key clues in “spotting false teachers” is, “What do they teach about the incarnation?”

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

If we simply see the name “Jesus Christ” as His “first and last name,” then the question, “Did He come in the flesh” would be akin to asking whether Robin Hood ever existed. Or better yet, asking whether some modern celebrity was ever born. It becomes a silly question. God does not “ask silly questions,” so, He must intend the question to go deeper.

What Is He Really Saying?

John is asking whether the Savior, the Messiah, actually was “God in the Flesh.” Was He truly the Creator God, who alone was the “offended party” because of our collective sin? More to the point (as we recently read, in 1st John 3:16) did He, as God, choose to become a man, live a perfect life, and arrange to become the only possible sacrifice for the sins of the Human Race?

Did Jesus, as the Immortal, Eternal God, choose to take upon Himself mortal flesh, and die in our place to satisfy the righteous demand of His Own Holiness? That is the question!

And, as we have seen throughout the years, this is one consistent mark of all the cults: They absolutely deny the full Deity of Christ. Some will “hedge,” and try to say that He was a “lesser God” or a “manifestation of God.” Most conclude that “He was a wonderful man, and a great teacher: A genuine prophet, perhaps…but not God!”

The Spirit of Antichrist

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.

This is another puzzling passage, as it uses the word “antichrist,” and we are primarily familiar with that word as used to describe the Antichrist: The person described in Revelation 13:1 and following. (Some think it is only a political entity…but it surely seems to be a person, to me!)  

Since we primarily understand the word, “antichrist” in that prophetic context, and since John is the only New Testament writer to use that word, we need to reexamine what the word means.

What Does “Antichrist” Mean?

The prefix “Anti-” usually means “against.” But it can also mean a “replacement.” Theologians use the paired words, “type” and “antitype.” There is no question of conflict or evil: It means something in the Old Testament which is a prefiguring of something (or someone) in the New Testament. ( A GOOD something!)

The Ark in Genesis is a “type” (a prefigure, or photograph: The old term would have been “tintype,” when photography was in its infancy.) It is an Old Testament picture of Christ. So, Jesus, then, is the “antitype:” (He is the “real thing.”)

Noah’s Ark reflects the truths of the Messiah in about eighteen different ways, and Jesus fulfilled all of them. So, in terms of our focus of attention, we have shifted our gaze away from a gigantic wooden barge, (with the capacity to offer shelter and salvation to those who trusted in it,) to a miraculous incarnation…a Person!

Who Is the Person?

That Person has the capacity to save all who trust in Him. In Him we have security for eternity. He bore the judgment of God, and He rose above it, just as did the Ark. There is only One Way in: after you entered, God closed the door, ! Once you enter His Grace, by faith, He will never lose you! The list goes on and on. Jesus is the Antitype, as the perfect fulfillment of all that the Ark predicted.

Want one that will really boggle your mind? 1st Corinthians 10:4 states categorically that the Rock in the Desert, from which 2.4 million Israelites (and all their herds!) received the water to survive …WAS Christ. And it was accompanying them through the desert! He doesn’t even say it was a “figure of Christ:” He says, “that Rock was Christ!” Think on that one for a while!

What about Negative meanings?

But, we are looking for a “negative sense” of the prefix “anti-.” And Both possibilities are open: The spirit of antichrist is the spirit in the world, today, that tries to thwart and contradict any teaching regarding one’s personal need for a Savior, and particularly, any teaching revealing Jesus as God in the Flesh: The Creator, willingly dying for His Creation! The spirit of antichrist stands against all Biblical teaching regarding the incarnation, and against any teaching of our clearly stated individual need for such a Person as our Savior.

Many False Christs

However, the history of our world is also full of “false messiahs:” Replacement messiahs. There have been several of them in our lifetime. The Korean false prophet, Sun Myung Moon, was a charlatan. He claimed to be the Messiah.

The “Guru Maharaji,” was an Indian teenager fifty years ago. He claimed to be the “Perfect Master.”

Father Divine lived in New York, sixty years ago. He openly claimed to be God. There have been many other false messiahs, some more famous, some less so.

Jim Jones claimed to be a prophet, and Divine. He physically threw down his Bible onstage, and said, “You don’t need the Bible! You need Me!” Then he hustled his followers off to South America and forced them into a mass suicide. His enforcers simply shot anyone who attempted to back out of drinking the cyanide-laced drink, or who attempted to escape .

David Koresh claimed he was the “final prophet.” He and many of his followers died in a police standoff at the “Branch Davidian” Complex, in Waco, Texas. They died either by gunshot or self-inflicted immolation, as the followers set the whole place on fire and most of them died in the flames.

All False Christs are of the Spirit of Antichrist

The point is: any “Replacement Messiah” teaching is also the spirit of antichrist at work. But one thing they share in common: They uniformly deny that Jesus is Almighty God, in Human flesh.

Incidentally, what importance does that lend to the teaching of the Virgin Birth? It turns out that the Virgin Birth is absolutely necessary to the true Messiah. All the prophecies concerning the Messiah, including that of the Virgin Birth, were fulfilled in that One Man. The very first prophecy of the Savior, in Genesis 3:15, necessitates the Virgin Birth!

Our “Secret Weapon”

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.

The Indwelling Holy Spirit (in fact, the Indwelling Christ) is the “secret weapon” of the Church. “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the World!” Jesus promised to send the indwelling Holy Spirit in John 14:16-17, but He went on to (at least) imply in verses 18-21, that both the Father and the Son would also indwell the believers, in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Colossians 1:27 lets us know just how important this is: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”  YES! Jesus lives in You! That is your “secret weapon!”

In Romans 8:9, God says that if you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you do not belog to Him. And that is true! But in 1st Corinthians 12:13, He says that the moment you trusted Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit placed you into the Body of Christ and that you were indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Also, Ephesians 1:13, 14 says the Holy Spirit is your guarantee that you will spend eternity with Jesus. He is the “earnest”…the “engagement ring” that says “YES, Jesus is coming back for you!” He will never leave you: Never forsake you! You belong to Him forever!

So, Who is Listening to Whom?

5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 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.

When people who claim to be believers consistently reject the written Word as authority in their lives, we have reasonable cause to doubt that they truly are believers. Worldly people most comfortably embrace Worldly teachings. Christians most joyfully embrace the teachings of Christ, and thereby the teachings of the whole Word of God. John and Paul repeatedly identified Jesus as “The Word,” and “The Word of God.” If you are willing to reject the written word of God, you must confess that, in doing so, you are rejecting the authority of Jesus.

To Whom Do You Listen?

At the very least, a believer should be willing to go back and check the scriptures to see whether what they are hearing is truly what the Bible teaches. The folks in Berea (Acts 17:11) who, for the first time, heard the Gospel of Christ, at least had the sense to go back and read the Old Testament Scriptures, to determine the truth of what Paul and his fellow-laborers were teaching. They were Jews who believed the authority of the written Word of God. The Old Testament was all they had, so that is where they went! And they found the answers there! They confirmed the Gospel in the Old Testament!

Jesus taught his disciples from the Old Testament. In Luke 24:25-27, He began with the books of Moses, but traced through all the prophets. He demonstrated to them that He Himself was the central theme of the entire Old Testament! That is why we attempt to emulate Jesus, and to consistently teach the whole counsel of God.  It is also why we avoid teaching extrabiblical opinions or politics, including current events and special holidays. 1st Peter 2:2 defines “Sheep food” as being the Word of God.

The Responsibility of Feeding the Flock

God has given us the responsibility of “feeding His Flock.” We dare not “throw in some stuff that we just kinda think they might enjoy,” and thereby dilute the Word, or, worse yet, replace it with Human Reasoning. Our core content has to be the Written Word of God.

Believers will find themselves drawn to such teaching and they will thrive on it. The Word will eventually repel unbelievers and they will leave, or it will convict them and they will be saved. So, when a church grows, that resolutely teaches the whole Word of God (and only the Word of God,) it usually is healthy growth. People who are hungry for the Word will tend to stay. Those who are not, eventually will drift away, perhaps because “church isn’t entertaining enough,” or “the teaching is uncomfortable,” or for some other cause.

But all we can do is follow the directive of Jesus: “Feed My Flock! Tend My Lambs! And that is what we hope to do! Feed the Flock on the Word of God, and Trust Jesus for the results!

Lord Jesus, convict our hearts to follow Your Word, to seek Your Face in the Pages of Your Word, to seek Your fingerprints in the circumstances in which we live. We trust in Your guidance and we desire to see Your will worked out in our lives.

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How To Have More Confidence In Your Relationship With Jesus

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A Letter to the Children (Part 9)

1st John 3:17-24

© 2025 C. O. Bishop

Agapé Love is an Action Word

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? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but [in contrast] in deed and in truth.

The agapé love is a practical matter. It is not a matter of “how we feel” or “what we say,” although those ideas can be involved. It is a matter of what we choose to actually do to benefit another.

God described His own Love, in the Gospel of John 3:16…He said “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It is interesting to note that the phrase “God so loved…” means “in this manner, God loved…” In the Spanish Bible this is translated, “Por que de tal manera amo Dios al mundo…” in this way, God loved the world… He Gave His own life for ours.

Compare Two Similar Passages

Last week we saw (in 1st John 3:16) that the Creator God, Himself laid down His life for His Creation. If we fail to understand the Deity of Christ: that He Himself is the Creator, then we have a problem. That verse sounds like a contradiction of the passage in The Gospel of John 3:16. But it is the same writer (The Apostle John) and the same Author (the Holy Spirit.) So, evidently The Lord gave this to us, just to underscore the Unity of the Trinity.

We saw something similar in Acts 20:28. Paul stated that God purchased the Church with His own Blood. (Some translations balk at that idea. They insert the words “the blood of His Son.”)

But Paul called the elders to shepherd “the Church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

God teaches the Deity of Christ throughout the Old and New Testaments. He truly is God in the Flesh!

So, What Action Did Jesus Take as a Result of Agapé Love?

He willingly sacrificed Himself to serve as a substitute for us…Jesus became our sin! He took the place of the vile mess of the sins of all humanity. In this way, God the Father could pour out His wrath on our sins without destroying us all.

The Lord gave every believer, a new nature, and He provided us with a guaranteed entry into His eternal presence. He placed His Spirit within us, and promised never to leave us. Jesus pleads continually on our behalf, and He promises He will never lose a single one of His “Born-again” children. He says, “I give unto them Eternal Life and they Shall Never Perish!

And What Does He Require Of Us?

The Bible tells what He asks of us on the basis of the Agapé Love which He implanted in us. Wouldn’t you agree that the things He asks are very fair, and reasonable requests? All He asks us to do is to reflect the light of His Love. We don’t even have to “produce it!”

We reflect His Love by offering it to those around us in practical ways. He says in verse 17, that if we see a need in a brother or sister’s life and if we close our hearts against them, ignoring their need, that is the opposite of Agapé. We are choosing to not meet their need.

John goes on to say, “let us not Love in word or in tongue, but in deed, and in truth!” This is a very practical matter! It is not just Theory!

James Agrees!

James 2:14-18 confirms this concept:

“14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”

People often quote this passage in James in an attempt to teach that salvation is by works. But notice, in verse 18, that the challenger is a fellow human: “A Man may say ‘Show me your faith without works: I will show you my faith by my works.’” Humans cannot “see faith” without the “object lesson” of works.

Paul Agrees, Too!

God sees the heart. He justifies the sinner By Grace through Faith, alone. But Humans only agree that a person is righteous if they can see the accompanying works that should follow.

God reminds us of that in Ephesians 2:10, saying that as believers (saved by Grace through Faith) God has “Created us in Christ Jesus unto Good Works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.”

So, James and John and Paul all agree that “works should follow faith”…But, if NO change is happening in your life, especially in terms of how you view the brothers and sisters in Christ, and how you reach out to meet their needs, then you do have serious cause to question what sort of relationship you really have with Jesus.

So, How Can I Examine My Own Walk With God?

19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

There are two possibilities here: one is that we feel “convicted” about something, and John’s comment would mean, “If you think it is a bad thing, how do you suppose God feels about it?” So, if we are living with Him in such a way that our life is marked by the joy of the Lord, then we have confidence before Him.

Another Way to Understand this Verse

But, the other possibility is that, as Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us, our heart is deceitful, and it may condemn us needlessly. If we are “feeling guilty,” when God’s Word does not condemn us, then the “accuser of the brethren” may be the true source of the self-condemnation.

In that case, John’s comment may be to assure us that God is the final judge of all things. He is the one who, by Grace, has declared you righteous on the basis of faith alone. (See Revelation 12:10, and remember who the accuser of the brethren is!)

Romans 8:31-34 echoes this idea, saying “31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”

God is Backing His People!

So, following that idea, we can see that from God’s perspective we are already “home free” with Him. Ephesians 2:6 says that we are already seated in the Heavenlies in Christ. This is absolutely beyond my comprehension if I try to “Think in terms of my new location.” All I can do is accept it by faith, and rejoice in humble thanksgiving, that He has declared me to be already Accepted in the Beloved…already Redeemed…already Forgiven!

Are there times when we have sinned, and our heart is condemning the sin? Yes! And, rest assured: God hates sin far more than we ever can. But He has already made you clean, through His Word. So, all He asks now, is that we go back to 1st John 1:9, and confess: agree with Him concerning that sin. Then He calls us to return to obedience by faith.

What about Answered Prayer?

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

Notice, here, that “answered prayer” is a “conditional promise.” If you are walking with Him and doing what He asks, then there is an increased chance that you will also be praying according to His will. Here, too, John reminds us of what the primary commands are: Faith in Christ, and Agapé love for the brethren.

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.

If we are ignoring those two conditions, then we have no reason to expect Him to answer our prayers with what we requested. (Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me,”)

The Indwelling Holy Spirit

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.

According to Ephesians 1:13-14, the Indwelling Holy Spirit is the “Earnest of our inheritance.” In real estate sales, the buyer may make a money deposit to assure the seller that his or her intent is serious, and that he or she fully intends to complete the transaction. This deposit is called the “earnest.” In similar fashion, in traditional American culture a suitor will provide an engagement ring, as a guarantee that he intends to follow through with the pending marriage.

The Engagement Ring of the Bride of Christ

A young fiancée may spend a lot of private moments looking at her engagement ring, and thinking of the changed future she now faces. Her constant assurance is in her future husband, but the ring is the constant reminder that he is hers and she is his. We find that same assurance in the indwelling Holy Spirit. He is the “Engagement Ring” for all members of the Bride of Christ!

In Genesis 24, we see a very tender story of the Servant of the Father, travelling to find a Bride for the Son. After the Servant had presented the offer, and once the Bride had agreed to go, nothing on earth could separate her from that Servant whose only task, from that moment forward, was to Bring Home the Bride! And, when the Servant returned home, He reported to the Son, not the Father. Interesting, isn’t it?

Bringing Home the Bride

The Holy Spirit is not going to allow you to “get lost again” by any means. He will deliver you to the Son, without fail!

So, when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we are “looking at our wedding ring,” and declaring the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus, as well as His Second Coming. By the Holy Spirit, we have been given the confidence to say, “Yes! The Bride-Price has been paid, at the Cross!

Jesus, the Messiah, died, fulfilling the promises of God, and satisfying the Justice of God. He was buried, demonstrating the absolute fact of His death. He was resurrected on the third day, fulfilling the Promises of God, and demonstrating that God was absolutely satisfied with His sacrifice. Finally, the human witnesses all testified to the truth of the resurrection, even though it cost many of them their lives.

The entire concept of the Bride of Christ is founded upon those historical facts, but the facts are continually affirmed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. He seeks to build our confidence in His Grace, and to confirm us in His Love.

Lord Jesus, we pray that Your Love will be continually before our eyes, and that Your Holy Spirit will find freedom to direct our ways, as we look to You in faith.

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How to Understand the “Other Side” of John 13:34, 35

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A Letter to the Children (Part 8)

© 2025 C. O. Bishop

1st John 3:7-16

Examining The “Other Side” of John 13:34, 35

Remember that Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples….” Well, the word, “ALL” includes us, as believers. Jesus gave the World three means by which to judge the church…meaning us! They are to “critique” us…we who “claim the name of Jesus.” Jesus gave those three criteria to the World. He invites them to look at our lives and judge whether what we say is true, and whether our lives reflect the truth of God’s Word.

  • The Agapé Love: John 13:34, 35
  • The Unity of the Spirit: John 17:21; Ephesians 4:3
  • The Good Works that God has ordained for us to do. Matthew 5:15, 16; Ephesians 2:10

We can use those same three ways (and others,) to look within the church and recognize potential trouble before it grows too big to deal with. Paul warned the Ephesians elders, in Acts 20:28-31, that predators (“grievous wolves”) would arise from within the church, even from among the leadership, trying to lead away people to follow them instead of Christ: They try to persuade people to believe their doctrine instead of believing the sound teaching of the Word of God.

And those elders in Acts 20 were to guard against such predators. So, how can we recognize the counterfeits? Primarily by becoming so familiar with the “genuine article” that fakes are obvious.

There are Different Sources of Wisdom

In James 3:13-18, God warns all the believers, as to how to distinguish the difference between Godly Wisdom and counterfeit “wisdom” from other sources. He names three “other sources:” The world, the flesh, and the devil (He used the words, “earthly, sensual, devilish.”) But He gives a nine-fold “checklist” as to how to recognize God’s Wisdom. If any of those attributes of Godly Wisdom are clearly missing, especially in a continuing, repeating pattern, then we can safely conclude that the source is not the Lord.

Self-Will-Sourced “Wisdom”

Some people claim their “own wisdom.” But it is rooted in the flesh: Self-will. Self-proclaimed wisdom. (Romans 1:22 “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”)

Crowd-Sourced “Wisdom“

Some may say, “Well, Everybody knows that…” but if whatever it is that “everybody knows” is not in full agreement with the Word of God, then they are simply tapping into the “pooled error,” and “pooled folly” of the World. Romans 3:10-12 says, regarding the human race, “10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together [collectively] become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Paul was quoting Psalm 14.)

And some will go so far as to teach counter to the Bible: They imply that the Bible is just “out of date,” or “obsolete,” or they claim that parts of it are “mythological” in nature. This practice is directly from the pit, as Satan said, in Genesis 3:4, “Thou sssshalt not ssssurely die…!” (Hear the hiss of the Serpent!)

You see, one of Satan’s “sharpest weapons” is Denying the truth of God’s Word. First, He convinces us that “We are pretty sharp characters! We are really wise!”

Then he convinces us that collectively, we are obviously wiser than any one of us acting alone could be. (Many times, in history, ONE person alone has stood for what was right. Others persecuted and often killed them for their faithfulness to the truth. But history proved that the ones who stood alone were correct, and that their persecutors were simply murderers!)

The teaching, here in 1st John 3:7-16 corroborates all the other passages about “false brethren.” (Compare 2nd Corinthians 11:26 “…perils among false brethren.”

Also, Galatians 2:4 “…false brethren unawares brought in.” Unbelievers infiltrated the church, and were corrupting the teaching.)

False Brethren

7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. [Remember that the verbs here are continuous, not intermittent. This is a lifestyle issue, and a “common practice” issue, not a question of “sinless perfection.”]

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.

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.

It is possible that this verse is in direct reference to the New Nature of the born-again believer. It would fit, as it refers to “His Seed:” the new nature of a born-again believer is created in the likeness of God in righteousness and true holiness (see Ephesians 4:24.) that new nature truly cannot sin. But our problem is that we still have our old sinful nature, which cannot be repaired so as to practice righteousness. So there is a constant war in progress.

10 In this the children [tekna] of God are manifest, and the children [tekna] of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Origin of All Humans

Please remember that all of us began life as the “spiritual offspring” of the Evil One. (Ephesians 2:1-3 says, “1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”

No human (apart from Jesus,) is exempt from this fact: Jesus confirmed it in John 8:44. He told His accusers that they were the children of their father the Devil. But the Ephesians passage tells us that we all started there, too! (Paul included himself in that “we.”)

In What Way is the Church Different?

So, how does the church differ from the rest of the human race? 1st Peter 1:16-23 says,

“6 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: 18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

19 But [you were redeemed] with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. 22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”

Those are all “Positional Truths.” They are true of all believers, because of their “position” in Christ, without regard to “how they are doing” right now. But, if those things are not true of a person, he or she is not a believer at all. Can I “see into another person’s heart?” (No, I can’t!) But God does give us certain clues, and He expects us to use them for the protection of ourselves and of the flock.

So, What is the Primary Command in Question?

11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. [John 13:34, 35]

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.

John draws a sharp contrast, here, between Righteous behavior and Evil. The evil will always desire to destroy the righteous: It will not seek peace and reconciliation.

13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

Remember that Jesus warned us about this: In John 15:18, 19, He said, “18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”

Believers can Fail in this, too!

We don’t want to be too quick to point a finger and declare that someone else is not a believer. But it does remain a possibility. How people respond to the Word of God is a good predictor to how they will respond to Jesus Himself: He is the Word!

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.

I can at least apply this test to my own  heart: Do I love the brethren (with the Agapé love?) Or do I see them primarily as a “bother,” and an irritation, as opposed to a “brother,” and a blessing? Do I wish for restoration of full fellowship, or do I just wish they would all “just straighten up and fly right?”

Remember that, in Revelation 12:10, Satan is called “the accuser of the brethren.”  I do not want to be a “junior accuser,” and join him in that evil work. I want to be careful not to become critical of others.

However, if we can easily see a continuing practice of accusations, gossip, harsh criticism, etc., a total lack of regard for God’s Word, and if we can observe a general discomfort around other believers, it might be a cause for suspicion that the person may not be saved. We need to be careful, though: A believer who is out of fellowship can behave exactly like an unbeliever. (In similar manner, a person in a deep coma looks pretty much like a dead corpse…but we don’t bury them…because they aren’t really dead! They just look that way!)

The Love of the Brethren as a “Litmus Test”

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

It is interesting to see that the teaching Jesus gave (Matthew 5:21, 22) in the Sermon on the Mount, regarding “hatred vs. murder” is reiterated in very clear terms, here in 1st John. Jesus expanded upon His Law, and pointed out that the root cause of murder was unreasoning anger and hatred. He said that the motive itself made you guilty before God.

But here, we see a contrast laid out for us!

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.

Notice Two things:

First,

It does not say, “We perceive the love of Christ.” It says, “We perceive the love of GOD, because HE laid down His life for us!” It (again) highlights the Deity of Christ! He is truly “God in the Flesh,” and He (as GOD) has laid down His life for us! (Ponder that one for a while!)

And,

Second:

The opposite of Murder is “laying down one’s life” for others. It usually does not mean “losing one’s life.” But it always means “laying down” one’s own life, with its plans, privileges and priorities, to meet the actual need of the brother or sister in question.

It means setting aside what seems good for me, in favor of what the real need in the other person’s life is. And what they need may not even be what they want: A brother whose sin is about to destroy his marriage (or in some other way is having serious consequences) probably will not “truly appreciate your pointing it out to him.”

Jesus Commands us to Go!

But Agapé love requires that you do so, anyway. Jesus taught that responsibility in John 13:6-16, in the washing of the disciple’s feet. Galatians 6:1-5 spells out that responsibility, and makes it clear what the real issue is: Restoration is the only acceptable motive. If you think you are there to “straighten ‘em out,” please don’t go.

Am I “comfortable” with coming to a brother and “washing his feet” by alerting him to the danger of the sin in which he is entangled? NO! I am not! But it has to be done. And, in truth, it may “blow up in my face!” He may mark me as his enemy, for my attempting to help. That is a risk we take. But if someone who is calls himself a brother continually rejects all admonition, God tells us to understand that he may not be a believer. (Matthew 18:15-17)

In that case, we approach him as we would approach a non-Christian, and we offer forgiveness and eternal life on the basis of the Blood of Jesus. We do not malign them, nor do we reject them, but rather, we consider them a “mission field.”

It is entirely possible for an unbeliever to “infiltrate” a local church. We don’t have to be blind to that possibility, nor need we be alarmed when it happens. We have been warned in advance!

Lord Jesus, help us to see the World through Your eyes, and to Love the Brethren in sincerity! Give us the Wisdom from Your Word to discern reality and meet their needs appropriately in the Love of Christ.

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Do You Understand the Amazing Love of God?

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A Letter to the Children (Part 7)

© 2025 by C. O. Bishop

1st John 3

Amazing Love

1 Behold, what manner of love [agapé] the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons [children, actually: “tekna”…offspring] of God: therefore the world knoweth [ginosko: relational, experiential knowledge] us not, because it knew [ginosko] him not.

My Apology and Explanation

I do not like to spend much time on “original languages:” The vast majority of believers today have no access to such information, and likely never will. The Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of teaching His Word without resorting to translational criticism. That being said, this is one of the passages where it maybe important to expose at least some of the original language. (Sorry!)

Some of the doctrinal problems we sometimes run into today are caused by translators who also had a “doctrinal problem.”

Historical Examples

For instance, though I teach from the King James Bible (for reasons I am perfectly happy to explain to anyone who wants to know) I know the translators were faced with many doctrinal issues. Regardless of their personal “doctrinal purity,” they were in a dangerous environment within (and under the full authority of) the church of England.

The Anglican Church had a number of bad doctrinal stances, carried over from their roots in the Roman Catholic religion. And the English monarch (King James, at the time) was (and is) always the head of the Anglican Church. So, they could not “correctly” translate certain words, or phrases, for fear of not only losing the privilege of producing an “Authorized Version” of the English Bible, but also running a risk of being persecuted by the religious powers of that time.

A Translation Example

One easy example to point out is that the word “baptize” is a Greek word: Not English. It had a very practical, common use, and meaning: it meant, “to dip,” or “to immerse!” Even today, the word is used when dyeing cloth, for example, as, when they “immerse” the cloth in a particular pot of dye, the cloth is permanently identified with that dye.

Why would that be a problem? Well… the Anglican church has always practiced baptism by sprinkling, and, specifically, as infant baptism. Both ideas are completely foreign to the New Testament, and both were taken directly from Roman Catholicism. So, if the translators had actually translated the Greek word, it would have revealed the false doctrine and erroneous practices of the Anglican Church, and definitely would have gotten themselves into deep trouble. It would also have eliminated the possibility of completing the translation on which they had worked so hard.

Why would that matter?

But, how would it have changed the scriptures? In cases where the English Bible says “dip” or “dipped”, it would have changed nothing! When Jesus “dipped” the sop in the cup, and handed it to Judas, the Greek word is “baptas” which is correctly translated into the phrases, “having dipped” and “had dipped.”

But in all the phrases where they used the Greek word “baptize” (transliterating, rather than translating,) it would change to dip, or immerse. (Repent and be dipped? John the dipper??) All the modern arguments about water baptism would never have occurred, and people today would have clear understanding about “what baptism is” (and “isn’t!”) But the translators, who clearly knew the correct meaning, were constrained by their circumstances to “hedge” on that idea, and just use the Greek word, instead of translating. There are other examples, too:

2 Beloved, now are we the sons [“tekna”…offspring] of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: [We WILL be “sons!”] but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

So, what would be the problem with translating “tekna” in this passage as “offspring” or as “children?” I’m not sure, honestly. But it definitely diminishes the truth that Jesus is the true SON, meaning the “crown prince,” or the Heir of all things.” The word translated as “Son,” where Jesus is concerned, is “huios,” meaning “the adult heir…and He is fully authoritative as the Heir.”

Sons of God

Right now, Jesus is the only Person who fulfils that definition. But as we see in this verse, “When He shall appear, we shall be like Him.” Romans 8:23 agrees with this, saying that we will experience the “adoption” (another poorly translated word…huiothesis means the “placement of Sons”) when we receive our new bodies! We will literally be like Him! And, it is definitely future tense. It will happen, without fail, but it has not happened yet.

So, I try not to use the phrase “sons of God,” too loosely: It has a specific meaning, and, although we have received the “spirit of adoption,” in the person of the Holy Spirit, (meaning the “spirit of sonship,” again using the word “huiothesis,”) we are not, as yet, called the “sons” …the huioi…of God. Currently, we are the offspring of God (teknoi,) born into His family by the New Birth.

We can be called “nepoi” as “babies, just learning to talk,” but we are encouraged to move beyond that as soon as we can. We are usually called simply “teknoi,” meaning “born-ones.” And sometimes we are called “paidia,” meaning “little children…or toddlers.”

Result of the New Birth

3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he [Christ] is pure.

The result of being born into God’s family by the new birth, according to Ephesians 4:24, is that we now have a new nature: A created new nature: Created in the likeness of God, in righteousness and true holiness. That new nature deeply and genuinely desires to be like Jesus, in His righteousness and holiness.

So, the “battle” has already begun in the new believer’s life: We still possess our old sinful nature, but we are now a separate entity, a new creation in Christ. And God only wants to deal with the new nature. We are in a daily struggle to learn to walk with Jesus. We are continually trying to behave like children of God, because we are children of God.

A Personal Example

We recently visited our daughter and her husband, with their new baby son, Luka. Ann and I noticed that when we were holding and entertaining Luka, and either Stephanie or Josip entered the room, Luka’s little eyes were fixed on them: He would ignore our attempts to entertain him at that point. He saw them as the center of his existence, and it was clear that he wanted nothing more than to be with them and to receive their love and care.

We are to respond to Jesus in that same way: We yearn to be with Him and to receive His love and care. We yearn to walk with Him, so as to learn from Him and to go where He goes, doing the things that He does. Ephesians 5:1 says “Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children.” That same devotion to “following Mommy and Daddy” that we see in small children is supposed to be our natural response to the Lord Jesus.

What Can Entangle Our Feet so that We Fall?

Hebrews 12:1 encourages us to “lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily besets us, and run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

Our own sin is the one thing that trips us up, and causes us to fail to walk with Jesus. Our new nature sincerely desires to walk with Him in holiness and obedience, but our old sinful nature still schemes to get its own way, and the enemy uses it against us.

So…What is Sin?

4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Here, again, it is good to consider the Greek verbs. At this point, I often encourage people to look at other translations, or look in Bible dictionaries, if they need to: You need to understand that the issue here is practicing sin. No human being, still in their natural body, is “without sin.”

I have only met a few people who claimed to “no longer sin.” When I questioned them even a little, it came to light that they had simply “redefined sin.” But, we know from 1st John 1:8-10 that we all sin: Anyone who claims that they do not sin is (at the very least) fooling only himself. In addition, there is a real possibility that he is not even a believer: Believers know they are “saved sinners.” But we do not want to be continuing in that practice.

When someone claims they never have sinned, I know for certain they are not a believer: Every believer came to Christ as a lost sinner, confessing that he or she needed a Savior, and by faith, they all have placed their trust in Jesus Christ as their one and only Hope of salvation from eternal judgment. There are no exceptions.

Yet Another Translation Example

Incidentally, the phrase “transgresses the Law”  and “is the transgression of the Law” both are translated from the single Greek word “anomia,” meaning Lawlessness. The Greek word for “Law” is “nomos”, and the prefix “a-” means “without.” (For example, I suffer from “sleep apnea”…the Greek word for “breath” is “pneuma” and the word “a-pnea” means “without breath.” I tend to stop breathing when I sleep.)

So, this idea is one of lawlessness… not just failing to keep the Mosaic Law. It could also include the “New Commandment” Jesus gave us, the “royal law,” that we are to practice the agapé love toward one another. However, this is also one of the four definitions of sin in the New Testament:

            Sin is the transgression of the Law: lawlessness. (1st John 3:4)

            All unrighteousness (adikia) is Sin (1st John 5:17)

            If a man knows to do good and doeth it not, to him it is Sin. (James 4:17) and,

            Whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin (Romans 14:23)

Behold the Lamb of God!

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

John 1:29 says “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” Everyone who trusts in Him is placed into Him by the Holy Spirit (baptized into him…immersed in Him), and “in Him is no Sin.” The Lord sees the new nature of every believer as being in Christ, and He sees us without sin.

But since we still have our old sinful natures, He warns us that the enemy is going to try to pull us away, so that we give up walking with Him. But Jesus called us all to abide in Him: keep walking with Him. Abide in His Word. John 8:31 says “if ye continue in My Word, then are ye my disciples indeed.”

6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

This ties perfectly to the promise of God in Galatians 5:16 “…walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.”

The Impossible Call of God

Is it easy? NO! It is impossible without His continual oversight and control.

We turn our eyes upon Jesus, and we follow Him. And, we immerse ourselves in His Word, and we walk with Him. We go to prayer, and we talk with Him. Then, we listen for His voice in our silence, and we look again to His Word, hoping to see whether we have missed His reply.

This is how the disciples, down through the centuries have sought His face, and sought His Grace, and learned to apply His Word to their lives in meaningful ways!

Lord Jesus, please lead us to walk and live as Your true disciples, and not to follow our old patterns of apathy and sin.

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How to Understand: “The Last Time” and “Antichrists”

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Paired Concepts: “The Last Time” and “Antichrists”

© 2025 by C. O. Bishop

1st John 2:18-29

18 Little children [paidia], it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist [singular] shall come, even now are there many antichrists [plural]; whereby we know that it is the last time.

Introduction to The Last Times…“the Final Hour.”

We often think of the “end times” as something that begins after the Rapture of the Church; And in one sense, that is accurate. The “Day of the Lord” does begin with the rapture of the church. And it runs through to the Great White Throne Judgment after the Millennial kingdom.

It is important to remember that John was speaking to the Church at large, around AD 90, not AD 2025. So, we have been living in “the Last Days” ever since Acts chapter two, when the Church Age fully began. It has been nearly 2000 years! The first century Church understood that they were living in the last days, just as fully as we are today. They did not have all the modern fulfillments of prophecy that we have. They simply had the Word of God on the matter, and they believed Him.

Greek Roots

The Greek words “eskaté ōra” are translated as “last time.” (The words literally mean, “last hour.”)

The word “eskaté” is the root of the theological term “eschatology.”

Eschatology means the “study of last things.” Or, the “study of the end times.” But we usually mean “the study of the end times beginning at the rapture!” But John meant the entire Church age and everything to follow.

So, we know that we are already living in the “last hour.” Our behavior and priorities and choices should reflect that knowledge. The Greek word “eskaté” appears 54 times in the New Testament. But 46 of those times, it is translated “last:” Not always referring to the end times, either…it was used just as we use the English adjective “last.”

A Clue about the Last Times

One “clue” John gave us that we truly are in the end times, is that the world is full of the “spirit of antichrist.” (1st 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.”)

Many deny the deity of Christ and even deny the Incarnation, at one level or another. Some deny that He ever existed, though most do not. The secular historians of that time wrote about Jesus, but condemned him as a troublemaker and as a false messiah. No one in that time denied that Jesus had existed: they just rejected Him wholesale. This seems to be part of what John calls the “spirit of antichrist.” But more specifically, perhaps he means those in religious circles who deny that Jesus is “God in the Flesh.” He is the Creator God, incarnate. The Judge of all the Earth.

Who is Jesus, Really?

I heard a pastor say, “I don’t want people praying to Jesus!” But in Hebrews 1:6, God the Father commanded all the angels to worship God the Son, at the moment of His birth. The angels, of all beings, know to worship ONLY God: So, if they worship Jesus,  how much more should we, who, for the moment are lower than the angels, also worship Him?

In John 5:22, 23, Jesus said He is the ONLY Judge of all the earth. “The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

God the Father said Jesus is the Creator, in Hebrews 1:8-12 “8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.”

Some people—even some claiming to be Christians—hotly deny that Jesus is the Creator: This response reveals the “spirit of antichrist.” True believers are filled with Joy and Wonder to realize that their Savior is actually the Creator and Judge as well.

Doctrine (And How We Respond to It) Truly Matters!

Eventually, those who deny His Deity and His Authority will separate themselves from those who believe He to be as He reveals Himself in His Word. They leave, calling us deluded fools. They think we are “idolizing” Jesus. No! He is the true God of the Old Testament and He concludes the New Testament. Jesus is the exact opposite of an idol. He received worship from humans during His earthly life, and from the Angels even before He created the world. But His detractors eventually throw up their hands in disgust, and they leave.

19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

It is a mistake to use verse 19 to condemn anyone who leaves a local assembly as being “an unbeliever in disguise.” A person might drift away, or even suddenly leave, for many reasons. Some are drawn away by the “priorities of work and family:” They fail to see God’s priorities encompassing all their needs, including work and family.

Some were hurt by other people in the flock: That wound has not been healed. That disunity has not been mended. They left to escape trauma! Ezekiel 34:4 says some of the flock have been “driven away.” We do not condemn such a person as if they were somehow lacking when the truth is that the oversight of the shepherds is lacking. The flock is sinning (Ezekiel 34:17-22.) The flock is  scattered “…because there is no shepherd.” (Ezekiel 34:8)

The Holy Spirit Rules in Truth

20 But ye have an unction [an anointing] from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

All believers have the same Holy Spirit: He dwells in us. If we allow Him to do so, He produces Biblical unity…not forced conformity, but rather consensus: two or more coming to precisely the same conclusion, because they are guided by the same Spirit. (Two genuine believers may come to slightly different conclusions regarding the interpretation of some given passage of scripture, and there is no disunity implied.)

Satan’s lies are to turn us away from faith in The Lord Jesus, and to cause us to believe some other voice, in His place. The Holy Spirit never disagrees with the Bible. He is the Author of it. He agrees with the Living Word, Jesus, because He is God. There is no disunity in the Godhead!

Denying the Messiah

So, from the very beginning of the Gospels, some have rejected Jesus with great animosity. His own neighbors in Nazareth attempted to kill Him, intending to throw Him off a cliff. The enemies in John chapter 11 watched Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, and immediately plotted to kill both Lazarus and Jesus, to suppress the truth that Jesus was the Messiah.

22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

Jesus addressed this dichotomy, in John 5:22, 23, saying “He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which sent Him.”

Not everyone who “claims the Name of Jesus” has actually received Him as Savior. Maybe they simply do not see themselves as a lost sinner, needing a Savior. Maybe they have never understood that Jesus claimed to be anything more than just a man. I have met people who did not seem to be rejecting Jesus, but simply had no idea that Jesus was God in the Flesh.

“Antichrists” (Plural) or “THE Antichrist” (Singular)?

But those who do understand His claim and who openly reject it, seem to be the people John labels as being “antichrists” in the plural sense, as opposed to the Antichrist (singular,) who is clearly described and predicted in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3-12.

So, John warns us, here, against those who desire to subvert believers and to render them ineffective. We are to stay in the teaching of God’s Word and not allow ourselves to be diverted to some other belief, no matter how attractive it may sound.

Abiding in Christ, and in His Word

24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

Jesus taught on this idea in John 15:5-8, saying for us to abide in Him and abide in His Word (also see John 8:31 “If ye continue in my Word, then are ye my disciples indeed.”)

In 2nd Peter 1:19-21, He warns that we are to see His Written Word as our only source of Light in a dark world: We are to focus our attention on His light as we would focus our eyes on a physical light in a physically dark place.

25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

Each of us, individually, entered into our relationship with him, as we heard the portion of His Word that we call the Gospel of Salvation: It is the Good News of Jesus’s Death, Burial and Resurrection for our sake.

It is the fact that His blood fully paid for our sins…my sin, personally! He paid for Your sin, personally! And, having entered that relationship through faith in His promise of eternal life by His Grace, we continue therein through continued faith in His Promises and Obedience to His Word.

So, Why is This Passage Included in the Bible?

26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

This is another “purpose clause:” John knew that Satan, the enemy of our souls, will use whatever means he can, to deceive us and to “seduce us” away from our walk with Jesus. That enemy has done the same things to the entire human race, ever since the Creation of the World.

27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

As people sometimes say, “We have an Edge!” We have the indwelling Holy Spirit. He is guarding our hearts. We are not entirely dependent upon human teachers: Rather, we each have an indwelling teacher who quietly warns us when a deceiver speaks. I think each of you have experienced something of this sort: someone was expounding on a subject, and you suddenly felt a warning in your mind, that “Something is very wrong with this message!”

A Built-in Warning System

Bank employees are carefully trained to recognize counterfeits: How? By intense study of real currency and of real identification, etc. They may not even know “precisely” what is wrong about a bill or an ID card…they just know immediately that “something is wrong:” They can take it to their supervisor who will confirm their suspicion, and point out exactly what is wrong. 

We have the Author of Truth living in us, as our constant supervisor and Protector. He warns us in the same way. We study the “Real Currency” of God’s Word, to prepare ourselves to clearly see the world. When we hear teaching that just…sounds “off,” to us, we go back to the Written Word, to check and see precisely what is wrong. That is the practice for which the people in Berea were commended, in Acts 17:11. “They received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”  (Perfect! Do that!)

So, What’s The “Conclusion?”

28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

We “abide in Him,” ourselves, by continuing in His Word, and by striving to walk with Him in the Light, as we saw in the previous chapter. That ongoing experiential relationship gives us a growing confidence in the joy of His return, as opposed to our fearing His return. 

But He also gave us a way to “look around us” and spot bad teachers and false brethren. We are not “judging others” in a negative sense: We simply apply the standard God has given, so as to have godly discernment in our dealings with people.

Lord Jesus, teach us what it means to walk in the light, and to recognize the many false teachers in the world today, as we compare their teaching with the precepts in Your Written Word. Help us to apply Your Wisdom in every area of our lives.

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