This post by christinecoltman was originally published at GRACE PLACE
Staying the Course
Welcome to our next study in the book of 1 John!
Read 1 John 2: 15-17, James 4: 4
John wants us to know that if we are going to love God, we cannot also love ‘the world’. The Greek word that John uses for ‘world’ has various meanings. It can mean the created world, the natural world. But John isn’t exhorting us to hate the natural world, for it’s what God created to express His character in its beauty and splendour. What do you think John means by ‘the world’?
In v.16, how do you see the things John mentions being displayed in your own life? How can we combat these things?
It can be discouraging to realise how tainted we can be by the world’s sinful attractions and ideologies but go back to chapter 1:9 and remind yourself of the cleansing that is available from God.
Read v.18-23
In this section John talks about antichrists. This can mean a person who puts himself in place of Christ as a rival, or someone who is literally against (anti) Christ. Looking at these verses, how can we recognise who antichrists are? (Think about the pulse checks we looked at in November – believe, love, obey – what are the opposites of these checks?)
As David Jackman writes in his commentary on this section, “It is a dangerous hour. There are plenty of hostile forces at work. What we believe does matter, as does our fellowship with other Christians. We need to be realistic about our enemy, but confident in our Saviour.”
Read v.24-27
In this section John exhorts the church to do something that the antichrists and false teachers have not done – remain in Him. Notice, or underline, how many times the word ‘remain’ appears in these verses (some translations use the word ‘abide’).
The mark of a true child of God is that he or she remains / abides in God. Read v24a again – what is the key to this?
It is only by feeding on God’s word that we can grow as Christians at all. As someone once said, ‘Whatever you feed will grow, and whatever you starve will die.” The anointing that we’ve received (vs 20 & 27) will help us. What or who is this anointing? – see John 14: 26.
If you have God’s Word in your hand and God’s Spirit in your heart, you have everything you need to understand truth and grow in Christ.
Pray
Spend some time in prayer praising God for the anointing you’ve received and asking Him to help you to remain / abide in Him.