1 John [Day 7] – John starts to apply the pressure even more that you can not have one foot in the world and one foot in the Lord’s work. Your entire existence and all that you do must be focused solely on the Kingdom of the Father and the purposes for which He put you here. Any deviation from this path is loving the world more than Him. This is why selflessness, caring for the poor, and leading people to Himself are all that the Lord Jesus was about and John knew this.
Top Level Notes for 1 John 2:12-17:
- Verse 12 – John loves his congregation. You get the sense that he deeply cares about them and wants them to understand what they have in their Savior. It is through the Name of Christ alone that we have forgiveness of sins; through His name who we have put our faith and trust in.
- Verse 13/14 – Fathers characterize knowledge. Young men by their activity in conflict. The Fathers would have been old enough to have known Jesus. The young men have victory over the wicked one in verse 13 but in verse 14 they have the Word of God (the Sword of the Spirit) abiding in them. The boys (or lads) mention that they have come to know the Father. The other difference between 13 and 14 is that the tense of 13 is “I am writing to you” (the perspective of the reader) and 14 is “I write you” (the perspective of the writer).
- Verse 15 – This is a simplification but I see this as – you can’t love the Father and spend all of your time dwelling on Him when you chase after loves of the things here on earth. You see this in overwhelming focus someone will put into a hobby but not devote the same or more time to the Lord in His service, worshipping, or learning more about Him.
- Verse 16 – John covers all of the bases:
- Craving for sensual gratification
- Greedy longings of the mind
- Assurance in one’s own resources of in the stability of earthly things
- These are all things of the world and not of God. Don’t fall into the trap that somehow through the pursuit of these things you can argue living for God alone.
- Verse 17 – The things you do for the Lord in your life here on earth last forever but the indulgence on the things list above are only temporary.