John Albert Thomas Solo Piano

1 John – What It Says About God

When studying a passage of Scripture, the first step is always Observation.

I’m preparing a study of 1 John, and I decided to log some of my observations for my own benefit, and hopefully yours as well.

One technique is to print out a copy of the passage and highlight the passages using different colors to point out what it says about God, what it says about obedient believers, and what it says about everyone else.

In this post, I want to catalog what John’s first letter says or implies about God:

• Jesus is the “Word of Life”, and in Him we find eternal life
• Jesus is the manifestation of God in human flesh
• Jesus is light, and in Him there is no darkness
• The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and unrighteousness
• Jesus takes away our sin
• God is faithful and just
• He forgives us our sins if we confess them
• Jesus is our Advocate with God the Father
• God the Father accepted Jesus’s death as sufficient payment for our sins
• Jesus is the promised Messiah, Deliverer, Savior of the world, the True God
• Jesus anoints us with the Holy Spirit
• The Holy Spirit teaches us everything that is true
• Jesus is returning to judge all of mankind according to his deeds
• Jesus is righteous, obeying the Law of God completely and perfectly
• The relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit defines what true love is
• God extended His love to us first as a Father to a child
• God is pure, without sin
• Jesus came to destroy the works of Satan; He is greater than Satan
• Jesus laid down His life for us
• God is a greater judge of our hearts than we are, and He knows everything
• God commands us to obey Him
• The Holy Spirit remains in us to teach us the truth, give us understanding, and help us obey
• His power is greater than Satan and all who serve him
• Jesus proved His own authenticity by baptism, death and resurrection, and the fulfilled promise of the Holy Spirit
• God the Father’s testimony about Jesus trumps our own assessment of Him
• God the Father testified that Jesus is His Son, and that He will only grant eternal life to those who believe in Him
• God the Father hears our prayers and grants us everything that agrees with His will for us
• God protects His children from the evil one and his power
• Jesus, the Son of God, has come to give us understanding so that we may know God the Father, and receive eternal life from Him through the Son

Awakened Heart and Mind Set Free

Thirteen years.
The time it took to nap.
Drifting in and out of consciousness.
Mind and heart like two bed buddies saying, “It’s OK. Go back to sleep.”
But heart finally told mind, “NO! It’s time to wake!”
And wouldn’t you know?
When heart awoke,
Mind set free.

A Call To Obedience

The subject of Christian obedience has greatly eluded the dialogue of Contemporary Christianity.  It is often based on feelings of love for God rather than behaviors of love written about in the Word of God.  As for myself, due to spiritual abuses in my past, I’ve associated obedience with legalism for far too long.  I’m so thankful to be in a church that has helped me come away from that mentality.  I have also begun to read a 19th century book called, “The School of Obedience” by Andrew Murray.  The Holy Spirit has been using this book among other things to convict me of areas of disobedience in my life, and has helped me to understand some practical ways to surrender daily.  I wanted to share these thoughts with you.

The Call to Obey

As I read about the subject of obedience I am discovering that it permeates every pore of Scripture.  You will often read in the Old Testament statements like, “And ____________ did as the Lord commanded him, and the Lord honored/blessed him.”  God often predicated His promises with a call to obedience with statements like, “IF you do as I have commanded you, THEN will I bless you and honor you.”  So the doorway into His honor and blessing is found in a life of obedience.

Our Failure to Obey 

When God calls us to obey, He is not only concerned with His glory; He is concerned about us.

Jesus said, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”  (Luke 6:46-49, NIV)

What kind of house am I building?

The First Step of Obedience

The first step of obedience is found in Romans where Paul talks about the “obedience of faith”.  (Romans 1:5, 16:26, NAS)   

The Scriptures do not speak of “inviting” someone to Christ.  Rather, it commands that every human “repent and believe”.  And on that account, all men stand guilty. 

Paul said, “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” (Acts 17:30, NIV) 

Later he said, “First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” (Acts 26:20, NIV)

So obedience starts when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.  The next steps are futile and meaningless without this first step.

The Object and Motive of Obedience

What differentiates true obedience from legalism is the object and motive of our obedience.  Legalism elevates man as the master to be obeyed.  The Lord Jesus Christ is and should remain our true Master.  It is love for Him that drives us to obey.

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”  (John 14:15, NIV)

Paul wrote, “The love of Christ constrains/compels/controls us.”  (2 Corinthians 5:14, NIV)

What kind of love is this?  It is a love characterized by a longing to please the Father in every way.  It knows there is only one thing that pleases Him above all else–our loving obedience.

Our Example of Obedience

There is no greater example of this than the loving obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” (John 14:31, NIV)

Jesus’s primary goal was to give us eternal, abundant life; but his primary motive was to please His Father.  This should be our primary motive as well.

The Power to Obey

To help us in doing the same, Jesus Christ sent us the Holy Spirit to inhabit our hearts, convict us of sin, and convince us of our new identity in Him.

Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, “And when he comes, he will convince the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.”  (John 16:8, NLT)

Paul wrote, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”  (2 Timothy 1:7, NIV)

The Next Steps

1. If it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict us when we disobey, we must ask Him, “Holy Spirit, show me areas in my life where I am not being obedient to the Father.”  He will show us because this is His greatest desire for us. 
2. Take a sheet of paper and create two columns.  Above the first column write, “Areas of Disobedience”.  In the first column write down everything the Holy Spirit brings to mind.  Meditate on the following verses: 
   • “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” (James 4:17, NLT) What am I neglecting or refusing to do because I lack self-discipline.
   • “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”  (Colossians 3:17, NAS)  What am I saying and doing that does NOT bring honor to the name of Jesus, whom I claim to serve?
3. Confess your disobedience to your Heavenly Father, asking Him for forgiveness.  Receive His forgiveness by faith.  His Son was crucified and buried, but He rose from the dead and now sits at the Father’s right hand interceding for you.  “This is mine.  I died for him/her.”  Recognize your new identity in Christ.  Your old self has passed away, and your new self is here.  Bask in His mercy and His grace towards you.  You are His adopted child.  Sit in your Father’s lap and let him hold you and tell you how much He delights in you.  Stay there for as long as you need.  He has all the time in the world for YOU.
4. On your sheet of paper, above the second column, write “What Obedience Looks Like”.  
   • Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom to know where to start.  You’re going to need His power to do this.  You want to follow His plan, not your own.  
   • Choose ONE item from the left column that you know the Holy Spirit wants you to tackle first.  For me, it was setting a bedtime for myself.  The sin of not giving my body, the “temple of the Holy Spirit”, proper rest has been hanging over my head for years, and since many of my areas of disobedience hinged on that one thing, I believed that is the place to start.
   • Spend the next week focusing on that ONE area of obedience.  Be much in prayer, dependent on His strength, and giving yourself wholeheartedly to the change.  If you fall off the wagon, repent, believe in His forgiveness and get back on right away.  Each day is a new day.  Every morning give yourself to complete surrender to your Master’s desire for you.
   • After you have surrendered to Him in that one area of your life, you will likely find that other items on the left column have also been surrendered.  Write down what obedience looks like in those areas.  Add to the left column anything else the Holy Spirit brings to mind as you study His Word and pray.  Repeat this whole process with each area of disobedience.  If you fall back into a pattern of disobedience in one area, repeat steps 3 and 4.  
   • Don’t worry if your list keeps growing.  It will.  This is called sanctification, and it will happen till the day you die.  Only then will you be perfect as He is perfect.  Only then will your list be complete.  But each day you do this, you will become more like Christ.  More of Him, and less of you.
5. Thank God for the honor and the blessing that comes with each victory.  Share your victories with the world.  Your motive is not to get honor and blessing; it is to please your Heavenly Father and glorify Him to the world.  Your Father has promised to reward your obedience with honor and blessing as you give yourself to the sweet surrender of obedience daily, one victory at a time.  There is no room for boasting.  He did it.  He made the change.  You simply surrendered, and followed His directions in faith.

I have a lot more to learn about this subject, and I hope to come back and go into more detail on each section.