Bourland Family Blog

Top Level Notes for 1 John 2:27-29

• Verse 27: Huge verse! As for those of us who have kept the Gospel in our hearts from the beginning->we have the Holy Spirit residing in us…therefore we don’t need anyone to instruct us. Everything we need is in Him and He is in us.
  • Because God now abides in us through the Holy Spirit, we can find all answers through Him and His word.
    • Jeremiah 31:34
    • John 6:45 & 16:13
  • The Anointing -> Giving of the Holy Spirit
  • Abides -> Live permanently in you.
  • You must abide in -> An active, minute by minute, effort to stay in close relationship and knowledge of God.
    • Being rooted in His word
    • Knit to Him
    • We do this but the exact word of God we are studying tells us to.
• Verse 28: Once again John uses his term of endearment ‘little children’ to emphasize the reason we stick close to God through His word, prayer, and righteousness.
  • That we might be overjoyed and not dismayed or embarrassed when He returns.
  • That we will be able to run to Him in confidence and boldness that He has been the object of our affection and study. [Horrible analogy coming but all I could think of] Like getting to know someone as a pen pal for years, learning all of their likes and dislikes, and who they are and then finally getting to meet them. You know them without having seen them and so you run and hug them and connect immediately because seeing them face to face has not mattered.
• Verse 29: If our faith is true and we have the deep internal knowledge that Jesus is the Son of God and came in flesh as a man to earth to live a perfect life and then die for the sins of the entire world -> then we will have the discernment to know those who are righteous and true believers in in the same. We will know by their heart in works and how they live their life that they live for the One Who purchased them from death.

Top Level Notes for 1 John 2:22-26

• Verse 22: Who is more of a liar than the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? That person is an “anti-Christ”; one who over and over again denies and refuses to acknowledge the Father and the Son.
  • Anti-Christ here is meant in the abstract not personal. To deny that Jesus is the Christ, or that He is the Son of God, or that He came in the flesh, invalidates the whole.
• Verse 23: Anyone who has denied Jesus has also denied God the Father. However, anyone who confesses and acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
• Verse 24: As for you -> the church, hold fast to what you have heard from the beginning. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we continue to hold onto what we know to be true then we will actually be dwelling with the Father and the Son always!
  • (Keep in your heart what you heard from the beginning) Seed that has taken root
  • You will dwell -> that seed in us will transform us into the likeness of Him.
• Verse 25: Jesus Himself has promised us THE LIFE, the ETERNAL LIFE.
  • Permanent consummation of abiding in the Son and in the Father.
• Verse 26: The reason that John is writing these down is so that we have something to reference when others are attempting to lead us astray.
  • I think this is so important -> that we should always look to the word ourselves so that the Lord through His Holy Spirit can confirm in us the truth.

Top Level Notes for 1 John 2:18-21:

• Verse 18 – John is using words that Jesus used to keep the church in a constant state of vigilance and readiness.
  • This has been continuing for 2018 years
  • Anti-Christ -> Hostile person: someone claiming to be Jesus but counter to everything Jesus taught or the way He lived.
• Verse 19: These people who went out from us but were never of us are those who came to church for what it could do for them, having never been called by God; then when not finding what it could do for them, leave and talk badly of the church or defining their own version of christianity that befits them.
  • The fact that they went shows that they were not called and therefore did not have the perseverance needed to last to the end.
• Verse 20: Anointing -> The ability to discern the Lord’s instruction through His word. Having an anointing and knowing the Truth is the same thing. Verse 2:27 also captures this.
• Verse 21: John is writing these words not to correct but to reinforce what we know through our anointing.

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.

John starts into his real focus of the book -> LOVE, and how powerful it is in determining our walk with God. Love is foundation to our walk and sanctification process. Without it we are lost; living in darkness.

Top Level Notes for 1 John 2:7-11:

• Verse 7 – The old commandment that John is speaking of is Love.       The same love that Jesus spoke about as the one of the 2 most important commandments. Love your God with all your heart, soul, and spirit and Love your neighbor as you yourself would want to be loved. Love one another as I have loved you – Jesus
• Verse 8 – John decides to take a negative approach and create a new commandment which essentially interrogates the one on Love in verse 7.       When you are walking with Jesus then the Truth of the statement in verse 9 shines through.
• Verse 9 – You cannot say that you walk in the Light if you hate your brother or sister in Christ because that would be going against the commandment Christ gave above.
• Verse 10 – When you love your Brothers and Sisters in Christ you LIVE in the Light and the Light is in you. In the Light there is not room to stumble.
• Verse 11 – If you hate your Brother or Sister in Christ YOU ARE WALKING in darkness. Not may be or could be…YOU ARE. This person is straying away and is truly blinded to where he/she is going.

1 John [Day 4 and 5] – Background on 1 John: This was likely written towards the end of the first century after the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. It is also likely that John was the pastor of a church for the years after Jesus ascended into Heaven. The reason that it is believed he was a church pastor and not a traveling missionary like Paul was because there are no letters written by him to remote churches with salutations customary when writing such letters. John had seen personally many of the miracles, the death, and resurrection of Jesus. Based on the timing of this letter (late first century) he is up there in age and has a well founded church; so it is with enduring love that he refers to his church as his children.

On Friday (Day 3), I read through verses 1-17 of 1 John 2 but did not have a quiet time on Saturday (Day 4). Today I am re-reading through 1 John 2:1 – 6 and will dwell and meditate on that passage.

Top Level Notes for 1 John 2:1-6:

• DO NOT SIN!
  • Refrain, resist, turn, and don’t indulge
• If you sin:
  • Thank goodness we have an advocate in Jesus a the right hand of God in heaven interceding on our behalf.
    • It is like Jesus is our filter only representing the best of what we are and absorbing the cost of the sin we commit. So, when I sin I must have the picture in my mind of Jesus absorbing the blow that I most definitely deserve.
    • I decided to do a little word picture to represent that thought.

• PROPITIATION: Turning away of wrath by an offering. Similar to expiation but expiation does not carry the nuances involving wrath.
  • Jesus is the propitiation of my sins and the sins of the whole world.
• How am I able to see for myself that I am growing in my knowledge of Jesus?
  • I bear Him in mind in all that I do.
  • I observe, obey, and practice His teaching and commands.
• What does it mean to KNOW?
  • To perceive Him
  • To recognize Him
  • To understand Him
  • To be acquainted with Him
• If I say I know Him but fail to keep and obey His commands then I am a LIAR -> The Truth (Gospel) is not in me.

BUT!!

• He who treasures God’s Word in its entirety -> the love of and for God has been perfected, completed, and reached its maturity.       When this happens I will know, recognize, and be sure that I am IN Him.
  • When I say I abide in Him; as a personal debt, I owe it to Jesus to walk and conduct myself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.

I thought I would share the study plan that Marianne has put together for this deep meditation we are doing in our Life Group for the month of June.  If you would like to follow along here is the plan for week 1 (Our Life Group is on Tuesday nights so that is while the week runs Wednesday to Tuesday 🙂 ).

WEEK 1: I John 1:1-2:17

WEDNESDAY: Pray before you begin.  Through your prayer time, ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to see His truth in His word and to open your heart to allow His word to take deep root.  Next, read I John 1:1-10.

THURSDAY: Follow the above structure of prayer, then read I John 2:1-6

FRIDAY: Follow the above structure of prayer, then read I John 2:7-16

SATURDAY: Follow the above structure of prayer, then read I John 2:12-17

SUNDAY: Choose a verse or a topic/section of verses and meditate on them all day.  If you aren’t sure what meditation looks like, search God’s word for examples, find a podcast, or talk with other Christians who might help you define it.

MONDAY: Re-read chapter 1 and write a personal theology.  *This is NOT a competition nor is it for a grade.  This process is about seeking to know and understand God’s word at a deeper level so that we begin to see God’s foundation for our lives.  Reading God’s word should be a process of gaining understanding and wisdom and this exercise helps us SEE it.

TUESDAY: Re-read chapter 2:1-17 and write a personal theology.

1 John [Day 2] – The entire laying out of the Christian life is right here in verses 6 – 10. What a joy to read the specificity in which John lays out the truth in simple if-then-that-else-this statements.

• THEOLOGY – When we say we are Christians and proclaim that we are partakers in the divine fellowship with Christ, yet follow and indulge in worldly desires and do not refuse temptation, then we are liars and do not practice the Truths of the Gospel. (Verse 6)
• THEOLOGY – Walking and living in the light means to live out the characteristics of Jesus. (Verse 7)
• THEOLOGY – The only way to have true unblocked/unfettered fellowship with Jesus and other Christians is to walk in the light. (Verse 7)
• THEOLOGY – When I walk in the light I am CONSISTENTLY cleansed from all sin that could mar my relationship and fellowship with God. (Verse 7)
• THEOLOGY – Heart, Heart, Heart, Heart, Heart!! We are fallen human beings born into sin through Adam.  This fleshly body sins -> full stop. We must HATE our sin, otherwise we are fools and convince ourselves that we are GOOD people and deserve to go to heaven…only you can not earn you way to heaven. (Verse 8)
• THEOLOGY – When we ADMIT (present tense) our sin right away and are truly heart felt repentant of that sin, God fulfills His promise to forget/forgive that sin and will CLEANSE (present tense) us continually of all things that are not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action. (Verse 9)
• THEOLOGY – If we ignore God’s word and make deliberate statements believing we have not sinned, we are in fact calling God a liar and false|not existent. It is the manifestation of the fact that His Word (Jesus) is not in us.

Today begins a study we are doing, as a Life Group, on the 1st Epistle of John. So for the next 30 days I will be posting my thoughts and revealed theology on this wonderful book. Today was spent praying, reading verses 1 through 5 in chapter 1, and writing down what the Lord was revealing to me as the Holy Spirit confirmed as foundational knowledge of Him and His word.

• THEOLOGY – John is very clear about the distinction of the first 2 persons of the Godhead. The Father and the Son have always existed together. (Verse 2)
• THEOLOGY – It was God’s plan all along to send Jesus His Son to be revealed to all who saw Him. (Verse 2)
• THEOLOGY – Many people saw Jesus before and after His resurrection; multitudes! The Apostles are witnesses to His transfiguration into heaven. (Verse 1)
• THEOLOGY – Faith realizes what we have not seen as spiritually visible.  We do not see until we have faith. (Verse 3)
• THEOLOGY – We are partakers of the “Divine Nature”. We know God only by having fellowship with Him. (Verse 3)
• THEOLOGY – The Holy Ghost is not mentioned for it is He, or by the Holy Ghost (Spirit) of the Father and Son in us that we are enabled to have fellowship with the Father and the Son. Believers enjoy the fellowship OF, but not WITH, the Holy Ghost.  Through Christ God closes up the chasm that separated Him from us (the human race) -> He imparts Himself to us in the communion of the Divine Life. (Verse 3)
• THEOLOGY – Our joy can only be complete when we are spreading the good news of Jesus and winning more people to the fellowship of the Father and the Son. (Verse 4)
• THEOLOGY – God IS Light, and there is NO darkness in Him AT ALL, not in ANY way.  When we trust in Him and follow His ways and purposes we can be assured that He will work ALL things together for good. (Verse 5)

DISCLAIMER – These Theologies I am writing down are what I take away from the scripture as I read it and cross reference with other supporting passages in the bible. I am not a linguist who is able to decipher the original Hebrew and Greek text, I must rely on the Holy Spirit to reveal in me His truth as I read it.