1 John 2:1-6

1My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.  (ESV)

 

I just love reading John. He words always seems to be one that talks to me. So lets continue on with 1 John 2:1-6.  John seems to teach like he a parent, but yet he understands the that most of the people are adults and are just less mature Christians. In verse 1, John  continues the "I write you" stuff thing by talking about sin. In chapter 1 verse 8-10 claiming to have fellowship with the Lord God Almighty and yet walk in darkness. We are liars and the truth or Christ (what ever you choose) is not in us. BUT, if we know we sin and ask the God for forgiveness, we are forgiven and then purify of all unrighteousness. John is telling us this so we know that we must walk in the light but if claim to fellowship with God. But sometimes we slip and that is why Christ is an advocate for us. In the ancient Greek, advocate is paraklētos (G3875 Strong's) which means an intercessor, consoler or an advocate and comforter. (Three times in the gospel of John, Jesus refers the Holy Spirit as a comforter (ESV says helper), which is the same Greek word.)

Since Christ is advocate for our sins, he became an atonement or propitiation for the world sins according to verse 2.  Paul writes in Romans 3:24-25, "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." God crushed his Son (Isaiah 53:10) for our sins. John stress that it was not only for Christians but for the whole world. God loved the world and came to save it (John 3:16-17). 

Verse 3 makes a claim to know Christ is to obey him. That is what also write in John 14:15 & 21. An example in the old testament is King David. King David obeyed God after he was corrected by the prophet after is affair/murder. Verse 4 tells that people who do not walk with the Lord and claim they do are liars because the truth is not in him. This truth is Christ. This truth is God's words (John 17:24-26) and God's Words is Christ (john 1:14) If we remain in Christ, we come to know Christ. Also if we remain in Christ, our love for God is perfected. This is because Christ remained in God's love (John 15:9-10) and was the perfect sacrifice. for our sins. And this comes to the last verse I am going to talk about in this post. Verse 6 says 'whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. " Abides also means to remain to obey. So if we remain in Christ and the truth, then he must walk as Jesus did. He must love our brothers and love God. We need to make disciples for Christ. Is that not what Christ did?

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that as Christians that we live like the example of your son. That we not only show that we are Christians by the way we act but also that we tell people about your son. I pray that your will is done in their life and ours as we spread the word of you around the world. I pray all this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

1 John 1:5-10

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (ESV)

 

This post comes as I have not been obedient to God and what he has said. The good thing is there is no time to dwell in it. Here he go.

Back to First John Chapter 1 verses 5-10. I thing we need to remember is that when the Bible was written, it did not have verses or chapters. John continues to tell the churches that he is writing to that message that God as proclaim to the world is that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." (verse 5)

Light has not been used yet in 1st John. The word light in Greek is phōs. It means lights as we know light and also a metaphor to show that "God is light because light has the extremely delicate, subtle, pure, brilliant quality" (BlueLetterBible.com)  So darkness would be the opposite of darkness or the ignorance of divine things. So to saw that God is light shows us that he is right, not flowed. And as Christians, according to 1 Cor 1:9 says; "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. ", we need to have fellowship with God. John stresses in verse 6 that if we claim to fellowship with God and yet we ignore the divine things we lie and God's word is not in us.

How is this true? Well if God is light and we walk in darkness, we would not have fellowship with he because God has no darkness (verse 5). That makes you a liar and the truth (God's Word John 17:17) has not entered you body.

As we know from 1 John 1:4, that fellowship among Christians is also among God. But also if we (Christians) walk right with God, we have a fellowship with God. That is when the Blood of Christ cleanse us from our impurities.  Is that not why Jesus says in Math 26:27-28, "And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. " The blood of Christ is to make us cleans.

That is because as humans we sin, Paul writes in Romans  3:23, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,". So John gives a warning to Christians in verse 8 and 10.  Verse 8 is "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." and 10 is "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." When people say that have not sin, not only to they deceive themselves, they also make God to be a liar and now walk in darkness. John also says that the truth is not in them.

BUT..... if you confess your sins and say that you are not worthy of God's grace. God forgives you and then purifies you by the blood of Jesus for all unrighteousness.

So if claim to follow our Lord and savior, walk with him in fellowship to stay in the light b/c you lie when you claim to in him and walk in darkness. AMEN!!!

 

O Lord our God and Redeemer, your son died on the cross so we got be right and not suffer the torments of your wrath. O Lord, I want to pray for all the so-called Christians that claim to walk with you but are in darkness. Lord, have someone show them that they are wrong and that they need to walk with you. I pray all this in the name of your Son. Amen.

1 John 1:1-4

"1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life  was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life,^, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete." ESV  (Text copied from BibleGateway.com)

    

     John is write this letter to different churches. John starts his letter is a similar fashion as the start of his part of the Gospel. "That which is from the beginning" (1 John 1:1) is close to "In the beginning was the Word." (John 1:1) John starts out to say that what is from the beginning that he and others have heard, seen, touched was concerning the word of life. The word of life is Christ. In the Gospel of John, John writes that Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1 & 14). This Word is the bread of life (John 6:48). So John is telling the Christians reading this, that he (John) has heard, seen, and touched Jesus. John would continue to tell us that "life was made manifest." (1 John 1:2) Manifest is translated from the Ancient Greek word phaneroo (fä-ne-ro'-ō). Phaneroo means "to make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown, to manifest, whether by words, or deeds, or in any other way." ( BlueLetterBible.com) 

     This life that was manifested to us through Christ, John used it to proclaim Christ so you can have fellowship. The Greek word John would use is koinōnia. Koinōnia means "fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse." ( BlueLetterBible.com) So fellowship is like a club which everyone would have something in common. This fellowship that John is talking about is a Christian fellowship that the God the Father and his son Jesus Christ are part of. So this fellowship would have the things of God on our mind, which is what Jesus talked about and John proclaimed to these Christians(and us). That everything that John learned from Jesus and the Holy Spirit, he told these Christians so they would have a common believe of the Lord. John is telling this to us because fellowship in the Lord and other Christians would complete our joy in the Lord (1 John 1:4). Jesus talks about  joy in God and that if the Disciples would obey God they would receive the joy (John 15:10-11). John also writes in his third letter verse 14 that he has no better joy then know that some he should Christ to is walking in the light. Paul even told the Philippians, "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind." (Philippians 2:1-2) Paul had joy knowing that the Philippians had the same mind as him.

     These first four verses in John are about sharing the Bread of Life (John 6:48) that was made know to us so we can have fellowship with other Christians, with God, and his son Jesus. Doing this would complete our joy in God.

 

O gracious Lord of all, I want to thank you for the great word you have put on this sinful world. Your word will stand forever and ever. Lord, I pray that we as Christians can continue to share the Gospel and with your power, help heal some wounds  that have hurt the growth of Your Church, turn more people to your word. Let our joy be complete but living in obedience to your commandments and following your way. I pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ, you son. Amen.

1 Timothy 5:17-19

     In chapter 5 verse 17, Paul continues to tell Timothy advice that that he need to help his church.  Paul tells Timothy in verse 17, "Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching."  Paul told Timothy in verse 1 of chapter 3 that elders seek a "noble task." Elders are called by God to serve the church, to teach and show the light that comes from God. Since they are teachers, they are judge stricter ( James 3:1) because they are teaching the body. They they are not teaching the Word right. They are not teaching the truth, they are not helping the church to grow in Christ. In verse 18 Paul writes, "For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,'and, 'The laborer deserves his wages.' " The reference that Paul uses is Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7. In the first verse, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain." is used twice (besides this time), the other time is 1 Corinthians 9:9. When Moses wrote this law, it was a miscellaneous law. In the the Hebrew, it means to stop/cover a mouth of an ox when it crushes grain.  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:9-10, "For it is written in the Law of Moses: 'Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.' Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest." Paul is using Deuteronomy 25:4the same way in 1 Timothy 5:18. So Elders should be able to have a share of what they help produce. This is way Paul also writes, " 'The laborer deserves his wages.' " This verse is used in Luke 10:7 after Jesus sent 72 out to proclaim his name. Jesus in Luke 10:5 & 6 is telling them to find a house with a man of peace. In verse 7, Jesus tells them that they are to eat what every is given to them for they deserve the wage for proclaiming his name. The 72 are out to reap a harvest is what Luke said in Luke 10:2. So the elders deserve to share the harvest of believers and to get what they deserve for it.

     The next advice Paul gives Timothy is "Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses." In context with what Paul is writing to Timothy, it makes sense. In chapter 3 of 1st Timothy verse 2, Paul tells Timothy that "overseers (or Elders) must be above reproach." So if they are wrong, there needs to be two or more witnesses to it should that the one did not take it wrong. Deuteronomy 19:15 even says that a person who accuses/charges a brother must have 2 or 3 witnesses. Back then they did not have DNA testing our finger prints. They had to have a witnesses to crimes to even prove people guilty. Deut. 19:18-19 says that false witnesses would receive the same punishment that the person the accused would have been given if they would have been found guilty. What would happen if he would only require 1 person to convict people of crimes? I think that a lot more people would be in jail for doing something they did not do because someone did not like them. The same would happen to elders in the church. A person did not want to believe or disliked what an elder said could get him fired from being an elder.

 

Pray Request:

Please pray from my Grandfather and Great-Grandmother they are both towards the end of their lives and are having a hard time getting around. Please Pray for me as I try to stop my problems with sexual immorality, especially with pornography. This was been the main problem with not doing my Bible Studies every week.

1 Timothy 5:3-16 Widows

This post has been a long one for the making. I have done a lot of searches in the bible about widows. In Exodus 22:22-24, Mosses writes law that tells that anyone who miss treats a widow or fatherless will die and his children will be fatherless and his wife a widow.
     Verse 3 of 1 Timothy says, "Honor widows who are truly widows." Verse 4 talks about how the widow's children and grand-children should give back their mother. In other words to care for her since she cared for them. The more I was thinking about these verses as I looked for other verses, it came to me.  Is not one of the commandments to honor your mother and father (Exodus 20:12)? Paul saw a need to tell Timothy that children need to take care of their parent when they got older. Paul tells Timothy in verse 8, "But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."  He would not be honoring is mother. They would also would not loving their neighbor as themselves, this breaking the 2nd greatest commandment. So to honor your parents is to help them when they are in need. I see this now because I have a great-grandmother that needs help (please pray for her). Her children take care for here even when they're busy. They know what is wrong with her health and are help her thru these times.
Paul sets a criteria to define a widow. He writes in verse 9-13;

Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.

He first says that they must be over 60 years of age. I can only guess that was age where they saw most widows needed help. A wife to one husband to show that they were faithful and cheating on the husband. They also need to show that they are Christians by the way they acted like raising children in the Lord, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, caring for the hurt and did make it feel like a burden to do everything. As I go thru that list of notice washing of the saints feet. There is one story that came to mind when I read that. That story is about serving. Jesus washed his disciples feet after there final meal. John 13:15-16 Jesus tells his disciples to follow his example (also 1 John 2:6) and then tells that not student is about his master.  Jesus served the people he loved. We as Christians need to also. Paul was telling Timothy and now us, that widows need to serve Christ.  Younger widows were not allowed to be part of this group. Paul talks about how the the younger should marry again and not give Satan a chance to pull them away from the church (1 Timothy 5:14-15). Paul tells the Corinthians that the young women and widows should marry if lacking in self-control so they do not fall into sin by lusting (Paul says before this that we wishes that they remain single 1 Corinthians 7:8 & 9).
As I end this post on Widows, I hope that it hit all subjects that need to be hit. I would also like you to pray that I can get doing a regular Bible study for the expansion of the Church and that what I say will be true to the Word of God and not based on the knowledge of men. If I am wrong please comment and I will look in to it and re-post the Bible study.

1 Timothy 5:1-2

Today is the first day of doing my Bible Study as a blog instead of a long page with words. I am starting at 1 Timothy 5:1-2.

¹Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, ² older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

The New Testament is written for Christians. The major of it is written by Paul to different churches through the Roman Empire. Every book he writes he tells. You could take this passage both ways as other Christians or to everyone. So the only way to find the meaning is to find out what God's Word says about these passages.
The first sentence is about about rebuking older men and treating them as your father. In the sense of rebuking, we would need to rebuke in great patience and careful instruction (2 Timothy 4:2). In the military, I can not go up to an officer and start yelling at him. That would be disrespecting to the officer. Instead, I would go up to him and talk to him as a normal person telling him that he is wrong and this is why. This would honor his authority that he has over me even if he is wrong. The same thing is here. John says, "I write to you, fathers, because you have know him who is from the beginning." Older men have know more about the world. Don't are fathers know more about the life we have on earth than we do? So we need to honor them with what we say. This also falls inline with honor your father and mother commandment that is presented in Exodus and then again in the Gospels. So to exhort older man is honoring him when they are wrong (since no one is perfect).
So what about older women and younger men and women. Paul tells us that we need to treat young men as brother, young women as sisters, and older women as mothers. Older women would have the knowledge to teach us about life just as older men. As young men as brothers is about helping each other out. That means when brother sins rebuke him (Luke 17:3-4). I did not have actually brothers but I had spiritually brothers that I left to so I could go to England. Before I left, we would meet with each other a lot and if one of us would fail to remember scripture, read our Bibles everyday, and/or do our Bible Studies, we would rebuke each other and try to correct what was wrong. This is how spiritual brother would help each other out to get closer in being like Jesus as we are called to do. The last thing that Paul mentioned to Timothy is that he must treat "younger women as sisters". Then he added, "with absolute purity." You can take who we are are to treat with absolute purity in a couple different ways. They are are everyone of just younger women. They are verses to support it both ways. We are called be the holy as God as holy (Leviticus 19:2). If we are holy we will be pure for sin. If we hated our people then we have murder in our hearts (1 John 3:15) and stand to be guilty before God. Now if you go with young women, lust would be the problem and that would mean you committed adultery in your heart which is a sin according to Jesus (Matthew 5:28). So it really does not matter if you take it both ways.
So the main point is that we are to all Christians with the respect. To honor the people and try to keep from sinning by not hating fellow Christians.

1 Timothy Chapter 4 (Moved from Webpage)

This weeks Bible Study was on Chapter 4 in First Timothy. Paul starts out to Timothy that people are going to fall away from the faith. Paul write in verse 1-3,

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.

According to Paul, false prophet are preaching a gospel that forbids marriage or certain foods. My guess is what was wrote about was being taught by false teachers during Paul's ministry. But this goes along with what Christ said in Matthew 7:15-20. Matthew wrote that Christ said, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." These False prophets are trying to get people to join there religion making look like Christian. They make their fruit look like good fruit but it is from thorns. How do we found out if the fruit is good or bad? Well let take some advice from John in 1 John 4:1-3, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." Test them with the word of God. If they do something thing that is considered sin in the Bible then that would not be a good religion.

My New Way of doing a Bible Study

This is going to be the new way of posting a Bible Study. I hope this will work.