Epistle for April 7, 2024

 

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
1 John 1:1-2:2
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This epistle is obviously written by the same hand and with the same mind as the writer of the Gospel of John. It is profoundly Christ centered, and lifts up many of the same themes introduced in The Prologue to John in the first chapter of the Gospel:

• The incarnation of the Word of life.
• His identification with life and eternal life.
• The identification of God with light, and his power over darkness.
• And above all the purifying power of the atoning death and blood of Jesus Christ.

John writes of Jesus as the one who has been seen and touched — he is no “myth,” no mere “idea;” he doesn’t merely “appear” to be real, as one early heresy known as Docetism claimed.  No, Jesus is the incarnate Word of life.  This reality, that God has become a human being, is the basis of true fellowship of the Son with the Father, and the Christian communities’ fellowship with one another and God.

John also insists on moral purity as the result of what happens when we walk in the light.  This is no cheap grace.  The believer cannot claim to be in relationship with God if they are intentionally and habitually walking in darkness — i.e., sin.  But walking in the light of Christ in and of itself continues the process of purifying the believer from sin.

However, John recognizes the reality and the difficulty of overcoming sin.  He makes it clear that no one can claim to have been sin-free. That is self-deception.  Moreover, the power to deal with sin is conferred by God when the sinner confesses sin.  Then God forgives sin, because it has been brought into the light — and God not only forgives, but also purifies the believer from all sin.

Finally, John makes clear where this source of power over sin is derived.  The power to overcome sin rests with God, not human beings. Moreover, that is the very purpose that Christ has come into the world — to be the Counselor (also translated Advocate) on behalf of the sinner, interceding with the Father. Through the Son’s atoning sacrifice he removes all sin.

The term Advocate suggests a courtroom metaphor, that Christ becomes the defense attorney for the accused sinner — but the atoning sacrifice also reminds us of the sacrifice of life for life established by the sacrificial system from Exodus and Leviticus.  Jesus is therefore an advocate for the sinner and the substitute for sins.

APPLY:  

This passage is full of life and light and hope for us.  On the one hand, this passage is realistic about our sinful nature. On the other it is supremely optimistic about God’s power to overcome that sinful nature.

First the bad news — We can’t deny our sin without deceiving ourselves and others.  Nor can we do anything about it by wishing it away, or by our own moral effort.

We must come to terms with our sin, and confess it to ourselves, to one another (see the Epistle of James 5:16), and to God.  Only by bringing our brokenness into the presence of God can the Great Physician heal our sin — because only then do we recognize our helplessness to heal ourselves, and cease from the futile efforts of self-help. Obviously, God knows our sin before we do — but by confessing our sin, we are able to turn the redemptive work over to him.

The famous Twelve Steps from Alcoholics Anonymous recognizes this important principle in their first step:

We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.

But now the good news — God in Christ has taken on human form as the Word of life and lived among us; he has become our Advocate, and our atoning sacrifice.  And through him we are not only pardoned from the consequences of sin, we are also purified from sin.

In my tradition this is called justification (pardon from sin) and sanctification (purification from sin).  What God has done for us he also does in us. Or, as the wife in the film Junebug says to her exasperated, out of control husband:

God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way.

And all of this is grounded in what Christ Jesus has done for us!

RESPOND: 

I used to drive past a church with a marquee sign that sometimes had pretty good theological insight. During Holy Week one year, I passed this church several times, and noted the words:

Holiness is not the way to Jesus.  Jesus is the way to holiness.

I couldn’t say it any better than that!  If I try to be perfect or righteous or even good in my own strength, I end up frustrated and perfectionist and legalistic.  And all my righteousness, as the book of Romans and Galatians reminds me, is insufficient to attain justification.  But Jesus both pardons me and purifies me from sin. Only his righteousness is sufficient to make me right with God.

I believe this is an ongoing process.  I’ve certainly not “arrived” in any sense of the word.  But I trust that God will finish what he’s started in me.  As Philippians 1:6 says:

he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Our Lord, thank you that I have an advocate and an atoning sacrifice for my sins, and that you continue the process of purifying me.  My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
“1 John 1:5-7” by WC Ferrell is licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication license.

Epistle for April 11, 2021

 

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
1 John 1:1-2:2
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This epistle is obviously written by the same hand and with the same mind as the writer of the Gospel of John. It is profoundly Christ centered, and lifts up many of the same themes introduced in The Prologue to John in the first chapter of the Gospel:

• The incarnation of the Word of life.
• His identification with life and eternal life.
• The identification of God with light, and his power over darkness.
• And above all the purifying power of the atoning death and blood of Jesus Christ.

John writes of Jesus as the one who has been seen and touched — he is no “myth,” no mere “idea;” he doesn’t merely “appear” to be real, as one early heresy known as Docetism claimed.  No, Jesus is the incarnate Word of life.  This reality, that God has become a human being, is the basis of true fellowship of the Son with the Father, and the Christian communities’ fellowship with one another and God.

John also insists on moral purity as the result of what happens when we walk in the light.  This is no cheap grace.  The believer cannot claim to be in relationship with God if they are intentionally and habitually walking in darkness — i.e., sin.  But walking in the light of Christ in and of itself continues the process of purifying the believer from sin.

However, John recognizes the reality and the difficulty of overcoming sin.  He makes it clear that no one can claim to have been sin-free. That is self-deception.  Moreover, the power to deal with sin is conferred by God when the sinner confesses sin.  Then God forgives sin, because it has been brought into the light — and God not only forgives, but also purifies the believer from all sin.

Finally, John makes clear where this source of power over sin is derived.  The power to overcome sin rests with God, not human beings. Moreover, that is the very purpose that Christ has come into the world — to be the Counselor (also translated Advocate) on behalf of the sinner, interceding with the Father. Through the Son’s atoning sacrifice he removes all sin.

The term Advocate suggests a courtroom metaphor, that Christ becomes the defense attorney for the accused sinner — but the atoning sacrifice also reminds us of the sacrifice of life for life established by the sacrificial system from Exodus and Leviticus.  Jesus is therefore an advocate for the sinner and the substitute for sins.

APPLY:  

This passage is full of life and light and hope for us.  On the one hand, this passage is realistic about our sinful nature. On the other it is supremely optimistic about God’s power to overcome that sinful nature.

First the bad news — We can’t deny our sin without deceiving ourselves and others.  Nor can we do anything about it by wishing it away, or by our own moral effort.

We must come to terms with our sin, and confess it to ourselves, to one another (see the Epistle of James 5:16), and to God.  Only by bringing our brokenness into the presence of God can the Great Physician heal our sin — because only then do we recognize our helplessness to heal ourselves, and cease from the futile efforts of self-help. Obviously, God knows our sin before we do — but by confessing our sin, we are able to turn the redemptive work over to him.

The famous Twelve Steps from Alcoholics Anonymous recognizes this important principle in their first step:

We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.

But now the good news — God in Christ has taken on human form as the Word of life and lived among us; he has become our Advocate, and our atoning sacrifice.  And through him we are not only pardoned from the consequences of sin, we are also purified from sin.

In my tradition this is called justification (pardon from sin) and sanctification (purification from sin).  What God has done for us he also does in us. Or, as the wife in the film Junebug  says to her exasperated, out of control husband:

God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way.

And all of this is grounded in what Christ Jesus has done for us!

RESPOND: 

I used to drive past a church with a marquee sign that sometimes had pretty good theological insight. During Holy Week one year, I passed this church several times, and noted the words:

Holiness is not the way to Jesus.  Jesus is the way to holiness.

I couldn’t say it any better than that!  If I try to be perfect or righteous or even good in my own strength, I end up frustrated and perfectionist and legalistic.  And all my righteousness, as the book of Romans and Galatians reminds me, is insufficient to attain justification.  But Jesus both pardons me and purifies me from sin. Only his righteousness is sufficient to make me right with God.

I believe this is an ongoing process.  I’ve certainly not “arrived” in any sense of the word.  But I trust that God will finish what he’s started in me.  As Philippians 1:6 says:

he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Our Lord, thank you that I have an advocate and an atoning sacrifice for my sins, and that you continue the process of purifying me.  My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
“1 John 1:5-7” by WC Ferrell is licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication license.

Epistle for April 8, 2018

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
1 John 1:1-2:2
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This epistle is obviously written by the same hand and with the same mind as the writer of the Gospel of John. It is profoundly Christ centered, and lifts up many of the same themes introduced in The Prologue to John in the first chapter of the Gospel:

• The incarnation of the Word of life.
• His identification with life and eternal life.
• The identification of God with light, and his power over darkness.
• And above all the purifying power of the atoning death and blood of Jesus Christ.

John writes of Jesus as the one who has been seen and touched — he is no “myth,” no mere “idea;” he doesn’t merely “appear” to be real, as one early heresy known as Docetism claimed.  No, Jesus is the incarnate Word of life.  This reality, that God has become a human being, is the basis of true fellowship of the Son with the Father, and the Christian communities’ fellowship with one another and God.

John also insists on moral purity as the result of what happens when we walk in the light.  This is no cheap grace.  The believer cannot claim to be in relationship with God if they are intentionally and habitually walking in darkness – i.e., sin.  But walking in the light of Christ in and of itself continues the process of purifying the believer from sin.

However, John recognizes the reality and the difficulty of overcoming sin.  He makes it clear that no one can claim to have been sin-free — that is self-deception.  Moreover, the power to deal with sin is conferred by God when the sinner confesses sin.  Then God forgives sin, because it has been brought into the light — and God not only forgives, but also purifies the believer from all sin.

Finally, John makes clear where this source of power over sin is derived.  The power to overcome sin rests with God, not human beings. Moreover, that is the very purpose that Christ has come into the world — to be the Counselor (also translated Advocate) on behalf of the sinner, interceding with the Father. Through the Son’s atoning sacrifice he removes all sin.

The term Advocate suggests a courtroom metaphor, that Christ becomes the defense attorney for the accused sinner — but the atoning sacrifice also reminds us of the sacrifice of life for life established by the sacrificial system from Exodus and Leviticus.  Jesus is therefore an advocate for the sinner and the substitute for sins.

APPLY:  

This passage is full of life and light and hope for us.  On the one hand, this passage is realistic about our sinful nature. On the other it is supremely optimistic about God’s power to overcome that sinful nature.

First the bad news — We can’t deny our sin without deceiving ourselves and others.  Nor can we do anything about it by wishing it away, or by our own moral effort.

We must come to terms with our sin, and confess it to ourselves, to one another (see the Epistle of James 5:16), and to God.  Only by bringing our brokenness into the presence of God can the Great Physician heal our sin — because only then do we recognize our helplessness to heal ourselves, and cease from the futile efforts of self-help. Obviously, God knows our sin before we do — but by confessing our sin, we are able to turn the redemptive work over to him.

The famous Twelve Steps from Alcoholics Anonymous recognizes this important principle in their first step:

We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.

But now the good news — God in Christ has taken on human form as the Word of life and lived among us; he has become our Advocate, and our atoning sacrifice.  And through him we are not only pardoned from the consequences of sin, we are also purified from sin.

In my tradition this is called justification (pardon from sin) and sanctification (purification from sin).  What God has done for us he also does in us. Or, as the wife in the film Junebug  says to her exasperated, out of control husband:

God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way.

And all of this is grounded in what Christ Jesus has done for us!

RESPOND: 

I used to drive past a church with a marquee sign that sometimes had pretty good theological insight. During Holy Week one year, I passed this church several times, and noted the words:

Holiness is not the way to Jesus.  Jesus is the way to holiness.

I couldn’t say it any better than that!  If I try to be perfect or righteous or even good in my own strength, I end up frustrated and perfectionist and legalistic.  And all my righteousness, as the book of Romans and Galatians reminds me, is insufficient to attain justification.  But Jesus both pardons me and purifies me from sin. Only his righteousness is sufficient to make me right with God.

I believe this is an ongoing process.  I’ve certainly not “arrived” in any sense of the word.  But I trust that God will finish what he’s started in me.  As Philippians 1:6 says:

he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Our Lord, thank you that I have an advocate and an atoning sacrifice for my sins, and that you continue the process of purifying me.  My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
"God Is Light" uses the following photo:
“Lightbulb Photography” by Tim is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.