2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
Today’s passage, 1JN 5: 18-21, deals with the kind of protection from the adversary that God gives us when we are “in Christ.” “We know that no child of God keeps on sinning, for the Son of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we belong to God even though the whole world is under the rule of the evil one. We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we know the true God. We live in union with the true God-in union with His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and this is eternal life. My children, keep yourselves safe from false gods!” Verse 18 is, to my way of thinking, another way of restating the principles revealed to us by Paul in RO 6. Let’s review some of these important verses.
RO 6: 4, “By our baptism, then, we were buried with Him and shared His death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.” (6-7) “And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on His cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin. For when a person dies, he is set free from the power of sin.” (10-11) “And so, because He died, sin has no power over Him; and now He lives His life in fellowship with God. In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.” (14) “Sin must not be your master; for you do not live under law but under God’s grace.” (17-18) “But thanks be to God! For though at one time you were slaves to sin, you have obeyed with all your heart the truths found in the teaching you received. You were set free from sin and became the slaves of righteousness.” Paul’s teachings here lend a deeper understanding to JN 8: 31-32, “…If you obey My teaching [Jesus said], you are really My disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
It’s so marvelous, the way Scripture interprets Scripture, isn’t it? We need to understand that we still have the ability to sin. What is different is that we can choose not to sin, a choice we didn’t have before we came to Christ. Moreover, our inner spiritual selves propel us to want to act righteously. The further along in the sanctification process an individual is, the stronger his inner spiritual being is and the greater his ability to overcome the temptations of the flesh. You can read more about this conflict that exists between the spirit and the flesh in RO 7: 14-25. Let me share the best news that comes from this passage found in (24-25). “What an unhappy man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death? Thanks be to God, Who does this through our Lord Jesus Christ! This, then, is my condition: on my own I can serve God’s law only with my mind, while my human nature serves the law of sin.”
The metaphor of a parent offering protection for his child is very appropriate here. A responsible parent teaches his child what is right. That doesn’t guarantee that the child will act on his advice, but it does offer the child guidance and protection when it is taken. The example of God’s relationship with Israel over her history also demonstrates that His love for us is unconditional, even if He has to punish His children when they are disobedient. Of course, there are limits to how much sinning God will tolerate from His children, just as there are limits to how much disobedience any parent would endure from a child. If there were no limits, God couldn’t demonstrate His righteousness [see RO 3: 26].
I have written before about the link that is put in place when one comes to faith between himself and the persons of the Trinity. It bears repeating. JN 14: 9, [Christ speaking] “Whoever has seen me to seen the Father.” JN 14: 11, “Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. If not, believe because of the things I do.” JN 16: 13-15 completes the believer’s link with the Trinity. “When, however, the Spirit comes, Who reveals the truth about God, He will lead you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own authority, but He will speak of what He hears and will tell you of things to come. He will give Me glory, because He will take what I say and tell it to you. All that My Father has is mine; that is why I said that the Spirit will take what I give Him and tell it to you.” Can anyone question just how connected to the Trinity the believer is? Of course, I am speaking here of the true believer, not a person who says he believes, but doesn’t have firmly grounded faith or is trying to deceive us.
From a practical point of view, we need to understand how all these Godly principles actually apply to our own lives. We are all exposed to deception, temptation, and other forms of spiritual warfare from the adversary and his followers. Truthfully, believers sometimes sin. The difference is that because of the Holy Spirit’s presence, we are convicted when we sin in such a way that we make the choice not to continue the sin. God knows this and wants us to learn lessons from our mistakes. He wants us to seek Him out first. I’ll give you an example from my own life. When Pete first lost his job, I felt real fear that we wouldn’t be able to have the basics of food, clothing, and shelter. That was the adversary encouraging not to pay attention to the many wonderful messages God gives us about His protection. God wanted me to learn to trust and obey Him, and my faith was being tested. Now that I look back on it, I might have had a lot easier time getting through the 18 months that Pete was searching for a job, had I taken God’s advice in PS 46: 10, “Be still and know that I am God, supreme over the nations and supreme over the world.” MT 6: 25-27 was right there from our Lord Jesus had I accessed it sooner. “This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn’t life worth more than food? And isn’t the body worth more than clothes? Look at the birds flying around: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren’t you worth much more than birds? Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?” There is no question that when we keep our faith nourished and healthy, we find ourselves equipped to deal with whatever trouble comes to us. That is how our loving Abba protects us. When we listen to Him, no false god can ever be victorious over our lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, You are aware that we, who are “in Christ,” are tent-dwellers in this world ruled by the evil one and his followers. You have asked us to seek you out first when tempted, in pain, or suffering any kind of loss. Yet, we often forget to do this, giving sway to our fears. We need to remember that You offer us the protection of a loving Parent in form for guidance, advice, warnings, understanding, explanations, and power to nourish our faith through the Holy Spirit. The only time the adversary is victorious is when we allow him to be. By Christ’s example in dealing with temptation from the devil in the wilderness, we should know that when we believe in Him, He gives us the power to overcome the Satan’s machinations. We confess this sin and offer You thanks that You have given us the Holy Spirit to convict us of it and Christ’s death on the cross to make it possible for us to choose not to continue this sin. Your children approach You in humble contrition to not only acknowledge our sin, but to express our faith in Christ and our dedication to stop committing this sin. We offer You our faith and trust. We praise and glorify You for giving us the gift of Your grace, that supernatural link that exists between ourselves and the persons of the Trinity when we have true faith. We thank You for giving us the power to discern truth through the Holy Spirit and thus, to reject false gods who try to deceive us. In Christ’s name, we worship and adore You. Amen.
Today’s passage brings 1JN to a close. Tomorrow, we will begin looking at the precious messages of 2JN. Know that we are loved and protected by the greatest Parent anyone can have, the one true God, Jehovah. Find comfort in the fact that He gave us His Son Jesus Christ on the cross and that Christ sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. Peter and I send you our heartfelt love too.
Grace, Peace, and Love,
Lynn