1 John 2:12-14 (NLT): “I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus. I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.

I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father. I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong.

God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.”

A lot of what Selwyn has written today speaks for itself.  However, these remarks, stood out for me: “One of the evidences of love is the ability to embrace all ages. … It is a sign that you are maturing in love when, like John, you can take an interest in people of all ages. It is a sign of immaturity when you can be at home with only one age group – your own.”

I agree with Selwyn’s remarks, but I’m afraid that in practice, many people do not support the idea that we should be able to embrace all ages. As a man in my ‘older’ years, I’ve found that  whenever I strike up a dialogue with a person (who is not one of my relations),  in a different age group; it is actively frowned-upon by my own peers. I think because of the reporting in the media, of abuse of vulnerable, young people by people in a position of authority or trust; there is a heightened awareness of inappropriate-age (sexual) relationships. The unfortunate outcome of this awareness is that it casts a shadow over all relationships – even those where the dialogue is centered on Jesus.

Jesus welcomed little children into His presence – today, some of the modern-day Pharisees would no doubt raise their hand – to question the appropriateness of His actions. Satan never changes, in the way he operates!

What did you get out of today’s study?

1 John 2:9-11 (NLT): ‘If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.’

I though that Selwyn’s conclusion was particularly powerful: ” … So it is with the human mind, heart and spirit. Worse than the loss of sight (previous reference to blind cave fish) or flight (penguins, etc) is the loss of the ability to see spiritually. When we allow hate to enter our hearts, and fail to live by the law of love, we drink deeply of a poison, a poison which destroys and kills.”

Hatred survives because of an inability to forgive – if you ever feel that it’s impossible to forgive – just pause, and look at the cross. Jesus has forgiven you – and you have done nothing to deserve His forgiveness. He died in your place; and, at that time you were living in darkness – there was no way out of the darkness except by His light. He choose to shine His light on you – you, can also choose to forgive because His Spirit now provides you with the ability to completely forgive. Agree?

1 John 2:7-8 (NLT): “Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.”

The second commandment is different to the ‘golden rule’, in one very important way – the love we are to show to everyone (our neighbours), is the same type of love as God’s love. Selwyn expresses this truth in a much better way: “Was John thinking here of the statement of Jesus in John 13:34: ‘A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another’? I think so. That last phrase of Jesus, ‘As I have loved you,’ lifted the commandment from the Old Testament to the New, from law to grace. This mystery of love would never really have been understood by this world unless Jesus had come and demonstrated it by His words, by His deeds and by His death.The word ‘love’ would have been barren had not Jesus filled it with the content of the purest and highest love this world has ever seen.”

The Greeks have a word for this type of love – the love of our God – ‘agape’, it is the highest form of love. We, by God’s grace through the power of the Holy Spirit – can also love in this special way.

[To love another as we would like to be loved - without using the standard God has set for love - is not special; as Jesus may have said in His time here on earth - 'even pagans do that'.]

1 John 2:3-6 (NLT): “And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.”

To obey God’s commandments means that we must make a decision ‘to obey’; and, our lives must reflect this decision. It is not a decision we make in some remote part of our brain but forget to transmit this decision to our ‘heart’ – the seat of all our desires.

Selwyn states, in today’s study: “Those who claim to have a knowledge of God but have experienced no cleansing from sin, no re-orientation of will, no setting of the affections in the direction of the moral excellence revealed by Jesus, have no true understanding of God. Their so-called knowledge is a sham, an attempt at self-exaltation. ‘Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did’.”

We cannot follow Jesus if we continue to follow our own ‘sense of direction’; at this fork in the road, we must make a decision – which way do we go?

Any comments?

1 John 2:2 (NLT): “He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins – and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”

I thought Selwyn’s comment on world religions brought into focus the main area which separates Christianity from all other known religions. He writes: “This issue divides all religions into two types: one sees salvation as the work of man, the other as the gift of God. … (throughout history), man, feeling the estrangement between himself and God has tried many and various ways to get back into fellowship with God. He has offered sacrifices, given of his possessions and endeavoured to perform righteous deeds.

All these are man’s attempt to bridge the gulf between himself and God. However, we cannot climb to God on any of these ladders – God has to come to us. The Word had to become flesh and bear our sins in His body on the tree. (1 Peter 2:24)”

I liked the last part of 1 John 2:2 – God has no limits in regard to salvation – His perfect atoning sacrifice covers an infinite number of sins – more than enough to cover the sins of the whole world. In reality – there will be a finite number of people saved by God (the human race, as we know it,  will not continue forever)  – but, that has no bearing on His loving, infinite nature.

1 John 2:1(NLT): “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.”

Selwyn has set the above verse for today’s reading and meditation. The highlighted verse clearly tells us that it is possible with God’s help – not to sin. Many Christians, I’m afraid, turn more than a little deaf – when they hear those words – none of us can put forward the excuse – ‘oh, it’s only natural – we’re all sinners – no one is perfect’.  

Any sin is an act of rebellion against God’s holiness – and we, given the gift of the Holy Spirit, should always strive to lead a sinless life – at the very least, as an act of love and gratitude for what Jesus has done for us.

Consequently, I really liked what Selwyn has written (as follows) in today’s study.

“There are many ways in which the human mind goes about dealing with sin. One way is to do what the Gnostics did – relegate it to material things only. Another way is yo deny its existence – as do many modern philosophers. Still another way is to say that sin is an integral part of human nature anfd thus inevitable. A fourth way is to condemn it, but resign yourself to it. The right way to deal with sin, however, is to acknowledge it as an intrusion, confess any participation in it and ask for Christ’s perfect cleansing and forgiveness.

The apostle goes onto say that if we do sin, we are not left in that state of awful loneliness and estrangement which sin inevitably produces, for ‘we have One who speaks to the Father in our defence’.”

Since, my conversion in 1991 (and, when my eyes were opened to the reality of sin) – there were sinful areas of my pre-conversion life, which I’ve never re-visited. I take none of the credit for doing that – it’s all due to the magnificent love and power of the one, and only God.  However, there have been ‘new’ areas – where I have fallen short of the standards set by Jesus – and, the Holy Spirit ALWAYS highlights these failings, and shows me a way to address these issues; and He offers me, His power to avoid making the same mistakes.  We can live a holy life – as commanded by God – it’s up to us to make an effort – it’s up to us to hold up our hand, and say ‘help me, please; for without Your helping hand, I will sink beneath the waves of sin’.  Jesus loves us too much to let go of our hand. Do you believe that?

1 James 1:8-10 (NLT): “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.”

I think Selwyn makes some really good points in today’s study: “The apostle (John), we should remember, was writing to address the teaching of the Gnostics who believed that sin exists only in the flesh and has no reality in the realm of the spirit. The Gnostics lived ‘in the spirit’, and were were unaffected (they claimed) by their contact with matter, which alone was evil. They denied they had any sin from which they needed to be cleansed. John therefore, wrote these words to address this erroneous view, and states quite plainly that the human spirit is stained by sin, and that the only way it can be cleansed is by the blood of God’s Son.”

He goes onto say: “Sin separates us from God and prevents us having fellowship with Him, but we are assured that ‘if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins’. … Once we have been purified by the blood of Jesus, fellowship is possible – fellowship with God and fellowship with each other.

In John’s Gospel, 13:3-17 (NLT), we read: “Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.” “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”

Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!” Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples (except one) are clean, …

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.”

In our daily walk, following along after Jesus – often our feet will get dirty and they’ll need to be washed; so that we might be entirely clean. Likewise, on a regular basis we need to examine ourselves and seek  God’s light, to highlight any sinful area that needs to be addressed. We need to seek God’s forgiveness and to also ask for His power to  enable us to change those things in our lives that led to the sin. Finally, we should always show our gratitude for His endless grace – His water of eternal life – that is freely available to us. If God did not love us – we would all, be dead! Do you agree?