When the Apostle John was writing this letter, there were some false things being said about Jesus and what it was meaning to even be a Christian.
There had been teachings from within the Christian church itself that had gotten away from believing in Christ Jesus by faith and were now promoting a whole different way of being a Christian.
Here were just a couple: 1) one idea was that Christ Jesus really had not been 100% man. Even though he appeared like a man, lived like a man, and even died like a man...He had His special powers that saw Him through all that...He could not have been entirely like us.
2) Another false teaching was a matter of deduction. It was being taught: our spirit is good, and our body is bad. True Life comes from God through His Spirit into our spirit, our physical body and its desires are not affected by what is going on inside of us, within our very spirit. So, the results are: we can be spiritually close with Christ Jesus regardless of the passions or desires our physical bodies want to act out.
John was an older man at the time this letter was written, which most likely was 50 to 60 years after the death of our Lord Jesus.
John had some unique qualities of his own since being called to be a servant of Jesus Christ. First, he was one of the first to be called to discipleship by the Lord Jesus Himself. John was the youngest of all the original apostles (the 12), and he was the last of the original 12 to still be alive.
John was often the one that shared the love God has for us...a central theme in all of His writings....Gleanings from 1 John 3:1-3
"Think of being a Christian like this. First, accepting the fact the love our Heavenly Father has for each of us... and He reaches out to extend His very love to us...daily. I mean, think about this... He calls us His children...and why?...because that is what He says we are!
Now, as far as those who do not refer to themselves as Christian, which is defined as a person who rejects the fact Christ Jesus went to the Cross voluntarily for each of us, because we as mankind had a bounty on us...and that bounty was death. Yet, by Christ going to the Cross, He paid in full the bounty...He paid for all the sin and wrong we had done to God and to others, and now we were made free to live a life created by Christ Jesus Himself.
But those who reject this Work done by Christ Jesus, will have a hard time taking you seriously in your life as a Christian. In fact, not only will they not take you seriously, but they will have all these preconceived ideas of what they think a Christian ought to be, and when you "fail" one of their so-called "how a Christian should act" lists...they will then "throw it in your face" and point a finger at you labeling you a "failure". Why do they do that?..it's simple...because they do not know Him...in fact they do not have a clue who He really is! And because they have already made the decision that Christ and the work He did for each of us...wasn't what they thought God should have done...they really have no understanding of His Way of Life and the Lifestyle that is given to us through our Lord Jesus. But they will judge you...on their terms and conditions...that is just the way it is.
But listen, don't let any of that stuff discourage you....for we are totally secure in whom we really are...children of our loving Father! We do recognize the One who has Risen and accept His Work at the Cross as the price He paid for our "Death Bounty"...and now we trust Him in our individual lives as our True Messiah!
And guess what! This is just the start! We don't even know how great this thing is going to get!...because when we see Him...when He appears...and we see Him for who He truly is...no veil, no shield to protect us from His invincible Glory...we shall see Him as He is!...and we will be transformed...to be like Him!
This is what we live for...this is what it is all about my friends...this is why we do adhere to the Scriptures...this why we do our best to keep ourselves pure...because He is Pure...and we now are made pure because of Christ's work at the Cross.
There had been teachings from within the Christian church itself that had gotten away from believing in Christ Jesus by faith and were now promoting a whole different way of being a Christian.
Here were just a couple: 1) one idea was that Christ Jesus really had not been 100% man. Even though he appeared like a man, lived like a man, and even died like a man...He had His special powers that saw Him through all that...He could not have been entirely like us.
2) Another false teaching was a matter of deduction. It was being taught: our spirit is good, and our body is bad. True Life comes from God through His Spirit into our spirit, our physical body and its desires are not affected by what is going on inside of us, within our very spirit. So, the results are: we can be spiritually close with Christ Jesus regardless of the passions or desires our physical bodies want to act out.
John was an older man at the time this letter was written, which most likely was 50 to 60 years after the death of our Lord Jesus.
John had some unique qualities of his own since being called to be a servant of Jesus Christ. First, he was one of the first to be called to discipleship by the Lord Jesus Himself. John was the youngest of all the original apostles (the 12), and he was the last of the original 12 to still be alive.
John was often the one that shared the love God has for us...a central theme in all of His writings....Gleanings from 1 John 3:1-3
"Think of being a Christian like this. First, accepting the fact the love our Heavenly Father has for each of us... and He reaches out to extend His very love to us...daily. I mean, think about this... He calls us His children...and why?...because that is what He says we are!
Now, as far as those who do not refer to themselves as Christian, which is defined as a person who rejects the fact Christ Jesus went to the Cross voluntarily for each of us, because we as mankind had a bounty on us...and that bounty was death. Yet, by Christ going to the Cross, He paid in full the bounty...He paid for all the sin and wrong we had done to God and to others, and now we were made free to live a life created by Christ Jesus Himself.
But those who reject this Work done by Christ Jesus, will have a hard time taking you seriously in your life as a Christian. In fact, not only will they not take you seriously, but they will have all these preconceived ideas of what they think a Christian ought to be, and when you "fail" one of their so-called "how a Christian should act" lists...they will then "throw it in your face" and point a finger at you labeling you a "failure". Why do they do that?..it's simple...because they do not know Him...in fact they do not have a clue who He really is! And because they have already made the decision that Christ and the work He did for each of us...wasn't what they thought God should have done...they really have no understanding of His Way of Life and the Lifestyle that is given to us through our Lord Jesus. But they will judge you...on their terms and conditions...that is just the way it is.
But listen, don't let any of that stuff discourage you....for we are totally secure in whom we really are...children of our loving Father! We do recognize the One who has Risen and accept His Work at the Cross as the price He paid for our "Death Bounty"...and now we trust Him in our individual lives as our True Messiah!
And guess what! This is just the start! We don't even know how great this thing is going to get!...because when we see Him...when He appears...and we see Him for who He truly is...no veil, no shield to protect us from His invincible Glory...we shall see Him as He is!...and we will be transformed...to be like Him!
This is what we live for...this is what it is all about my friends...this is why we do adhere to the Scriptures...this why we do our best to keep ourselves pure...because He is Pure...and we now are made pure because of Christ's work at the Cross.
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