By This We Know the Spirit of Truth (1 John 4:4-6)

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:4-6 NKJV)

How do we know of the spirit of truth and the spirit of error? Those who are of God have overcome the spirits of dark age coming out of the flesh, the seat of the devil. The dark power cannot prevail over the children of light no matter how it might be cunning, vicious, malevolent, and ferocious. It is because, as John says, Christ who is in us is greater and stronger than the prince of the world, the master of lie and murder. Jesus says so in an occasion when some accused Him of driving out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” (Luke 11:20-23 NKJV)

Therefore, those who hear of the spirits of age are of the world. But those who are of God hear and take heed to the word of truth, the gospel of Christ Jesus and Him crucified. Those who do not hear of the gospel of Christ Jesus and Him crucified and rose again from the dead are of the spirit of error. “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2 NKJV)

Jesus says His disciples to enter by the narrow gate not to fall either to the right or to the left. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV) Jesus Christ is the narrow gate. Those who are of God enter through Him, because He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him crucified (John 14:6).

No one can follow the truth unless he denies himself and takes up his cross daily (Mark 8:34). We cannot follow Jesus until we love to take up the humiliation, shame, guilt, brokenness, sorrow, pains, and sufferings just as our Lord did on the cross in Calvary. By this we know that we are of the truth not of error.

By This We Know the Spirit of God (1 John 4:1-3)

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” (1 John 4:1-3 NKJV)

How do we know the Spirit of God? This is the age of spirit. "Do not believe every spirit but test the spirits,” says John. There are all kinds of other gospels than the gospel preached by the apostles and prophets. They are merely coming out of the human thoughts and ideas. It is called the thought of the flesh infiltrated and occupied by the devil. However, it is not necessarily the problem of twenty first century, but of the first century as well. The false and fake gospels have been flooding throughout the centuries over centuries. So, John says to test the spirits whether they are of God because many false teachers and prophets have gone out in the world. They are the antichrists.

The test is this: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. This is the spirit of the antichrists. Jesus Christ warned His disciples not be deceived in the Olivet Discourse. “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.” (Matthew 24:4-5 NKJV) Why is this test so significant? It is because if the coming of Christ Jesus as a human was denied then the whole thing prophesied in the scriptures would turn out to be sheer false. The whole scriptures, especially the Old, are aiming one Man the promised Christ to come.

In Hebrews Chapter 2 reveals the truth on why Jesus Christ must be a human just like us. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:14-18 NKJV)

If any spirit is to be true, then it must be true in every way, especially when it is experienced in life. The truth remains and lasts the same forever, never being changed, contaminated, bended or compromised at times and by circumstances.

Earlier in this letter John says, “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?.” (1 John 3:17 NKJV) Jesus Christ didn’t remain seated in heaven and just told us, “Your sins are forgiven.” In fact, that remarkable statement uttered by our Lord Jesus’s own lips to a woman caught in adultery. Jesus did not only speak in such a comforting and encouraging word, but also laid His own life for the woman and the whole race. As Hebrews tells us that He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is now and forevermore able to help us who are being tempted.

Our Lord Jesus is a remote celestial being who is watching over us, folding His arms around. No, absolutely not. He is in us, the hope of glory! In order to purchase and possess and made us righteous, He was crucified, shedding His sinless blood, died, buried, and most significantly raised again from the dead, because death cannot hold of him.

He agonized and struggled in prayer on the eve of the most torturous crucifixion in the Olivet Garden when the Father God in heaven made Him sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was totally left alone and the disciples slept and deserted. He wanted to evade the terrible ordeal, crying out three times, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

On the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ in extreme agony and pain loudly cried out, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). Although nothing can harm His life, He Himself gave up His spirit, saying “It is finished!”

All these things our Lord Jesus has done are in our place. We were crucified and died with Him, buried with Him, and raised from the dead again with Him. That’s the whole gospel. That’s the test.

By This We Know He in Us (1 John 3:24)

“Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” (1 John 3:24 NKJV)

How do we know that Christ is in us? “He who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him,” says John. That is exactly what our Lord Jesus Christ had the relationship with the Father during His earthly messianic ministry. “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” (John 14:10 NKJV) The Father God and the Son Jesus are one, one unity (John 17:21-23).

How did Jesus demonstrate His obedience to the will of the Father, the commandments of God? “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:8 NKJV) Charles Wesley wrote in a hymn, “'Tis mystery all: th' Immortal dies!” Nothing could snatch away His life but He gave up His spirit in order to fulfill the will and commandment of the Father. The will of God is to save all the people who are chosen before the creation of the world. He did not save Himself although he could, but laid down His life for the friends and children of Father.

Throughout this letter, John clearly identifies what the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ is. It is to love one another. “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” (1 John 3:23 NKJV)

When we manifest our brotherly love to others in our midst, it is evident that Christ abides in us. Why so? It is because that is exactly what our Lord Jesus does in us. Jesus Christ gave us the examples of brotherly love in the parable of the sheep and the goats. It is to care one of the least in our midst like feeding the hungry and thirsty, inviting strangers, clothing the unclothed, looking after the sick, visiting a friend in prison (Matthew 25:31-46).

Whatever We Ask (1 John 3:21-23)

“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” (1 John 3:21-23 NKJV)

John treated the condemning heart in the previous verse, “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” (1 John 3:20 NKJV) Now, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. We can access in boldness and confidence to the throne of grace since we have peace with God (Romans 5:1-2). The throne of grace is not a remote place in some space but right in our heart in which the sanctuary of God resides (Psalm 73:17).

Jesus Christ offered a woman in Samaria the living water which will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14). Our Lord Jesus invited the people to come unto Him to drink and then rivers of living water will flow from within them (John 7:38). A spring of water and rivers of water indicate the Holy Spirit who indwells in our heart. The Spirit is our inner Teacher who reveals the truth that we have been righteous through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross in Calvary.

If that is true and it is true, then John adds this amazing truth. “Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” What a marvelous revelation it is! Whatever we ask we receive from Him. This reminds us of the promise of Jesus Christ uttered in the Upper Room Discourse.

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 13:13-14 NKJV)

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” (John 15:16 NKJV)

“In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:23-24 NKJV)

It is a remarkable promise, maybe the most amazing promise of all. Whatever we ask we receive from Him. It intrigues many a people who come to this promise because they experience exactly the opposite. Nevertheless, the word of God never lies even the heaven and the earth disappear. Do not miss that prerequisite of the mighty prayer. It is to obey His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. What is His commandment? Is it not to love one another?

It is not possible for us to love one another unless we come to the end of old life and be imparted His new life. This is the mystery of Christ. We cannot love one another until we are clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ through the faith in the Son and His blood. So, whatever we ask indicates His love. That is what we desperately need the most, so that we may obey His commandments and do love the unlovely brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Love is in want in our humanity now and forevermore. God is love and evermore pours out His love unto those who ask earnestly and faithfully. We must obey His commandment and love one another. His demand is immovably set before us to keep without an iota of compromise or contamination. But the good news is that we don’t have to try our best to keep the commandment. Just as He demands us to keep it in perfection, so also He provides us His power to keep in perfection. The power is love, the love of Christ Jesus and the unfathomable love of the Father.

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom andknowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!

“Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?”

“Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay them?”

For from him and through him and for him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:33-36

By This We Know Love (1 John 3:16-20)

“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:16-17 NKJV)

How do we know love? By this we know love, because Jesus Christ the Lord laid down His life for us. Love is ever giving, not taking. God is love and gives us everything, even the Son as the ransom price. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32 NKJV)

Likewise, those who received such an outpouring love shall love others just like the Christ did for them. They passed from death to life, because they love one another (1 John 3:14). In fact, only God can love that kind of love, laying down the begotten Son for the world. In that love, the death of the sacrifice involved and thereafter the resurrection follows.

We who are born of God can love one another, because we died with Christ and thereafter rose again with Christ (Galatians 2:20). This kind of love can be manifested only by eternal life. Therefore, it is not us who love others, but Christ in us does. We have received Him by faith as Lord and submit to Him whenever we face the moment when we cannot love others.

The end of old life must come first in order to obey the new commandment of Jesus Christ. That is the only case we practice the righteousness of God, because we cannot stand before God without the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no practice of love and hate at the same time. Neither is there practice of neither love nor love. It must be only choice, either love or hate.

“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.” (1 John 3:18-19 NKJV)

Love must be accompanied by deeds. If anyone has the goods and sees a brother in need and yet doesn’t take an action to help the needy, there is no love of God in him. Of course, we may not respond to all the open doors in practicing the love of God due to our shortcomings and blindness. But we cannot keep bogging down the opportunities to love others in our midst.

The truth doesn’t breed lies. If we are truly born of God, we must obey His command, love one another. The test of obeying Jesus Christ is to love in deed and in truth. The deed of love must be done truthfully because we are of the truth. Jesus says that the truth will set us free (John 8:32). That is what we are since we entered into the family of God and became the children of light.

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32 NKJV)

Truth gives birth to freedom. Truth never changes or bends no matter how long time elapses, no matter how wide race and culture differ, no matter how high even in heavens, and no matter how deep even in the depth of the earth. Truth lasts eternally. Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus Christ is the truth which reveals all the mysteries of life.

The truth leads us to the Father in heaven. Jesus said to his disciples, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus Christ is the truth and assures our hearts before the Father. The truth is the narrow path. One can fall from the truth either to the right or to the left. Which side he falls doesn’t make any difference. To walk in the truth is to love others in deed and in truth.

“For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” (1 John 3:20 NKJV)

Here the condemnation of our heart doesn’t mean the judgment call of God. It means the sense of guilt caused by the missed opportunity of loving others. Apostle Paul pertinently described his experience and all Christians’ reality in Romans Chapter 7. What he would do was the thing he did not. But what he would not do was the very thing he did. He cried out, “What a wretched man I am!”

But the grace immediately comes in when our heart condemns us, proclaiming the truth, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ.” God is greater than our heart and knows all things. He understands that we fail and bump down the road, so He does not condemn us but raise us up to walk again in the truth. He reads what is inside our hearts.

Purchased and Possessed and Made Righteous (1 John 3:10-15)

“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” (1 John 3:10-12 NKJV)

How do we know that one is the children of the devil or of God? It doesn’t lie on the religious activities like going church, singing hymns, and donating the gifts. Nor it doesn’t depend on the works achieved or ancestry. It really lies on practicing righteousness, the righteousness of God, not self-righteousness.

What is the righteousness of God? It means what God behaves. That is worth in full. The measuring stick of righteousness is God Himself. There is nothing in the world can measure up His righteousness. Relating to God is the only way to know whether one is righteous or not. God is light which is straight and never turns to the right or to the left.

How can we be righteous then? The Scripture says that there is only one way for anyone to be righteous. It is to be clothed with Jesus Chris the Lord who paid the full price for the inherent and embedded problem in humanity. It is called the gift of faith. Through faith and by faith in Jesus Chris the Son of God, we can be called the sons of righteousness.

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26 NKJV)

So, we have been made righteous through the faith in the Son of God Jesus Christ, because He purchased and possessed us with the price of His death with blood. For the first time, the moment when through faith we are pronounced righteous before God, we have entered into the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus and evermore. For the first time, we can stand in confidence before God with the full of worth, the righteousness of God.

Those who are made righteous practice loving one another. God is love which is fully and perfectly manifested in the Son Jesus Christ, especially even on the cross in Calvary. Jesus gave a new command to His disciples who have been cleansed and washed by His word of truth and His blood.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35 NKJV)

The new command is to love one another, as Jesus Christ has loved us. In actuality, it is not possible for us to love one another until we are clothed with Him through the baptism with Him. It is Christ Jesus who indwells in us does love. It is His imparted life in us. We cannot love one another but only God can. That’s why He imparted the life of Christ Jesus in us when we are baptized with Him.

“For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:19-20 NKJV)

Those who have been born of God are made righteous and love their brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus just as the Lord has loved them. But those who are not born of God cannot do so like Cain. He presented his offering but was rejected the righteous God who cannot be deceived. He was a man of wickedness and so his works were wicked and couldn’t love his brother Abel but killed him. Abel was not killed because he was wicked but because he was righteous.

“Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:13-15 NKJV)

IT IS FINISHED! (1 John 3:4-9)

“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.” (1 John 3:4-6 NKJV)

Sin is lawlessness. What is lawlessness? It doesn’t mean the violation of traffic light or speeding. Of course, they are illegal and deserve to get the fine. But the lawlessness is much deeper than that. It fundamentally and profoundly rejects the primary law of life. That’s sin. Sin twists and distorts the truth and reality some degree, even slightly, which misleads many a people into illusion and delusion unnoticeably and unwittingly.

This unyielding and unbending lawlessness is observed as early as in babes and all humans. Something has gone wrong badly, yes really terribly in humanity. It is a terrible thing to imagine that any parents would like to teach their children how to be stubborn and rebellious and even murderous. No one teaches them that way. But that is what they are and what we are as well. We are born of Adam. That’s why we are lawlessness.

The devil has diabolically invaded into humanity since the fall of the first man. The threefold human has been collapsed into the twofold being, operating and functioning by body and soul and dead spirit. No matter how humans achieve something spectacular and even maybe unattainable, they are still lawlessness. That’s why they are always unsatisfied and more specifically unfilled. The moment they think they got it is the very moment of complete disappointment and dismay.

Desperate restoration was urgent in our humanity. For that, in right time, God sent His Son and took away our sins. We are set free from sin, because in Him there is no sin. This is once for all a historical event happened in the land of Palestine about two thousand years ago. The Immortal God died for the lawlessness of humanity in order to liberate us from the deep-seated and die-hard rebellion in our hearts.

Jesus Christ on the cross uttered the marvelously amazing words that shattered the heavens and the earth, “Tetelestai!” “IT IS FINISHED!” It is paid in full! There is no more condemnation to those who are in Jesus Christ the Lord of all. The Lord Jesus Christ uttered the wonderful words of truth for the world to hear and take heed to it.

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32 NKJV)

So, anyone who remains in Him does not sin. Of course, it doesn’t mean that we never sin after the conversion. Rather, it means that we don’t continue to sin whatever we committed in the past before coming to the Lord Jesus. John says the more astonishing words of truth.

“Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9 NKJV)

Those who are born of God cannot sin. Again, it doesn’t mean that we became sinless when we were born of God. Nor it doesn’t mean that we don’t sin at all. Christians still sin which we experience every day. It means that we cannot keep on sinning just like nothing had happened, because Jesus Christ lives in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

Therefore, anyone who continues to sin has not seen the Father nor known Him at all. He is not born of God. He is just a pretense and sham. Anyone who is born of God has seen Him and known Him. There is no lie in the truth. Nor the truth doesn’t breed lies. God cannot lie but always speaks truth. Here are the words of warning and exhortation in the last hours which John penned down for the saints.

“Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:7-8 NKJV)

It’s Only the Beginning, the End Yet to Come (1 John 3:1-3)

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3 NKJV)

Is there any better hope than that John describes here for us? By the bestowment of the love of God, we are surrounded and filled with His garment of grace and mercy eternally. That is who we really are. We are the children of God! That is only the beginning! We also know that when he appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Eugene Peterson renders like this.

“What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to. But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.” (1 John 3:1-3 MSG)

That marvelous love the Father bestowed upon us, just look at it! That is all the strength and dynamics we have now and forevermore. The love of God has reached out to us who are drawn by the Father and transforms and changes like the world upside down. The long bondage and slavery to the dark authority and government has ended by the spell of God’s unconditional love manifested in public on the cross of Jesus Christ, the Son of God some two thousand years back in history.

A hymn writer, Charles Wesley, wrote like this. “Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!” We have that kind of God. The Immortal God died in our place. Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13 NKJV) Just like He said, He laid down His own life for us. He was arrested like a criminal and tried before the most religious group of people. He was spitted on the face and struck without any cause. He was scourged ruthlessly by the Gentiles and crowned with the thorns. He was mocked by the all kinds of people and insulted even by the bystanders.

In the end, he was crucified and shed His blood to death. He was pierced and nailed to the hands and feet. He was even forsaken by the Heavenly Father and cried out loudly. “‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ (Matthew 27:46 NKJV)  He was deserted by His own disciples and left totally alone. He was thirsty. That is how God demonstrated His love for us. Who can look up Jesus Christ the Son of God on the cross without tears and sorrows and heartbrokenness?

But there are many a people out there who are numb even to that marvelous love. Why? It is because they do not know the Father, says John. Since they do not know the Father, they do not know us the children of God either. They have no idea who we are. As a matter of fact, the Christians are the obscure and ordinary people. There is nothing particular in them. They are almost invisible by the worldly people’s eyes.

But we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, says Jesus Christ the Lord. Although the world doesn’t recognize us, we don’t lose heart, because our Lord Jesus Christ was treated like a criminal in our place and submitted Himself to the Father unto death. Jesus taught His disciples the truth regarding the hatred of the world toward them.

““If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’” (John 15:18-25 NKJV)

Nevertheless, we don’t lose heart because the love of God continually sheds abroad in our hearts by the Spirit in our midst whatever the circumstances they may be (Romans 5:5) and because it is just the beginning and the end yet to come. Knowing that we shall like be Him when he appears, for we shall see Him as He is, we continually purify ourselves as He is pure.

How can we purify ourselves? Of course, it is not possible without the blood of Christ Jesus the Lord. No one can stand before the Holy God without being cleansed and washed by the blood of the Son Jesus Christ and His word. Just as John said earlier, when we confess our sins, He is just and faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). That’s the way to stand in confidence before Him at His appearing. Keep on being purified by Jesus Christ forever! That’s what our Lord Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3 NKJV)

Stand or Be Ashamed in Shame at His Appearing (1 John 2:28-29)

“And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” (1 John 2:28-29 NKJV)

No one can escape from standing face to face before Jesus Christ the Lord of glory. When would it be? No one knows the times and seasons, even the Son of Man (Matthew 24:36, Acts 1:7). But it is not difficult to see that the encounter would be happening right at the end of physical life for each individual. Two possibilities lie ahead to each of us when the time comes, either standing in confidence or being ashamed in shame.

Yes, only two cases lie ahead for all the humans, either standing or collapse, salvation or destruction, life or death, eternal life or eternal condemnation. There is no middle ground in between the two. Only one choice will be left in the end. Till then, abide in Him now, John says. Live deeply in Christ Jesus the Lord now and to the end.

What does it mean to abide in Him? John describes what it means earlier in this letter. Since the light shined upon us, we entered into the family circle of God forever. We have been born again as the beloved children of light. We have been reconciled with the Father through the price of our Lord Jesus Christ’s death. The broken relationship with God has been restored when we entered into the realm of faith on the cross of Jesus Christ.

So, we are in God and Jesus Christ the Lord. Fellowship follows after the restoration of relationship. Relationship is what we are and fellowship, what we have. Relationship indicates our new identity as the children of God and fellowship, our experience of His presence in our midst now. Relationship is that we are in Christ and fellowship, that Christ in us.

To abide in Christ Jesus, we eat His flesh and drink His blood every day. That is what our Lord Jesus says in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum (John 6:59).

“Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58 NKJV)

Practically, abiding in Him means continual reading and meditating the word of truth in the midst of pressures and stress. Life is tough and challenging. Storms come one after another. Of course, good times come as well. However, we experience bitter sweetness even in good times.

Life is complicated and complex, and hardly answerable in a word. Some say that, some, this, and yet some, another. Life is uncertain and thereafter at times scary even. Nonetheless, we have to move on forward, not backward, for we are alive. All needs desperately the light to straighten up all the distorted and twisted viewpoints on what the life really is.

That is why we must live deeply in Christ Jesus. God is light. There is no distortion or twist in Him. There is no decline either to the right or to the left. He is the perfect balance, the wholeness in full. When we abide in Him, we are gradually growing like Him in the way of thinking and understanding and deeds. We are budding and developing His likeness in length, width, height, and depth.

The act of death of our Lord Jesus Christ is once for all and forever acceptable by the Holy God. The avalanche of His grace is forever overflowing upon us who fail and stumble at times after the birth. When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and forgives our sins and cleanses us from our unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). We are continually clothed with Christ Jesus who is our righteousness.

Then, when He appears, we are confident and bold, standing in His sight, because we have been cleansed and washed away from guilt and shame and clothed with the righteousness of God all along the way through continual living in Jesus Christ. We can stand with boldness in His presence, not on our own, but on His unending provision of grace and mercy.

On the other hand, those who have not practiced righteousness will be ashamed before Him at his appearing. The NASB translation renders that they will shrink away in shame at His coming. They are not born of the Father, but of the father of lie, the devil. That is why they do not practice righteousness. They live in illusion and delusion, not in reality.

Choice is ours, even God willing. Live on our own, or live deeply in Him. Stubbornly deny and reject the love of God, or continually accept Him and remain under His tender care. Go far and further away from the hand of God, or come nearer and closer to His bosom. Keep walking in the counsel of the wicked and unrighteous, or delight the law of the Lord and meditate it day and night.

“Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so,

But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the ungodly shall perish.” (Psalm 1:1-6 NKJV)

The Prince of the World Not in the League of the Christ (1 John 2:26-27)

“These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” (1 John 2:26-27 NKJV)

Why was the letter written by the hand of Apostle John? John says that there are many antichrists to try to deceive the saints and lead astray. This is the age of confusion, deception, and darkness. By all means, the antichrists try to lead astray the elect. The lie they appeal is that humans can resolve all the problems in humanity in the matter of time and money based on humanism.

The elect have been attacked from all directions throughout the centuries. The devil uses two tactics in attacking the elect, either seduction by masquerade or violence, or both. The devil appeared to the woman in the Garden as a shining one and deceived her. Apostle Peter warns the elect of the devil who is looking for preys to devour like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8).

Despite the colorful enticement and relentlessly vicious and malevolent harms against the elect, why have they been standing firm and immovable centuries after centuries? It is not possible that they have been standing on their own might and strength. The devil is craftier and more cunning than any other creatures (Genesis 3:1).

Then, what is it that they stand firm in the midst of countless wolves and their temptations? John answers for us. It is the anointing whom they have received from God. Christ Jesus the Lord abides in them. That is why. The strength and might to stand firm to the end come directly from the Lord Jesus Christ, the anointing of God. Eugene Peterson renders beautifully how the elect are blessed and protected by the power of Jesus Christ the Lord of all.

“I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ’s anointing, no less!” (1 John 2:26 MSG)

The lure and violent attack of the father of lie is not in the league with the protection and strength of Jesus Christ the Lord of heavens and the earth. Jesus Christ is incomparably stronger than the enemy number one and the last one, the devil. “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.” (Mark 3:27)

Jesus explained why and how He could expel the demons in the Gospel of Luke because some accused Him that He drove out demons by the hands of Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.  Jesus says that the kingdom of God has come upon anyone when He drove out the demons by the finger of God. Here is the full text.

“And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” (Luke 11:14-23 NKJV)

Coming back to John’s exposition what is happening in the elect, we find one of the most astounding truths in the scriptures.

“But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” (1 John 2:27 NKJV)

The elect do not need anyone to teach because the anointing teaches concerning all things. What the anointing teaches is true, and is not a lie. He is the truth, the way, and the life forever and ever more. It is not right if you read it as if you don’t need anyone to teach about the truth like listening to sermons or going to Sunday school.

Again, Eugene Peterson renders it this way. “You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.” (2 John 2:27 MSG)

The elect have the inner Teacher who is always available and willing to give the uncontaminated and unadulterated answers by a single line about life, eternal life, the real life. That is the good news! That is the gospel to all who believes in Him. Therefore, we live now and forevermore just as we have been taught by letting the anointing abide in us!

The Truth Doesn’t Breed Lies (1 John 2:20-25)

“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.” (1 John 2:20-21 NIV)

The children of light have an anointing from the Holy One. The anointing here indicates the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the anointed by the Father God as the Messiah, the Savior of the world. The children of God born of the Spirit have received Jesus Christ in their hearts. Once Jesus Christ has come in the hearts of His children, He never leaves nor forsakes them like orphans (Hebrews 13:5).

That’s the unshakable and immovable ground as the children of the kingdom of light. All the genuine born again Christians have been sealed by the Holy Spirit of God until the Lord Jesus Christ comes again with power and glory, accompanied by thousands of thousands of angels and the sound of trumpets. What an unsearchable riches of glory it is that we have the anointing within forever!

Apostle John says that we have the anointing from the Holy One and we know all things. Here, ‘all things’ doesn’t mean everything in the universe. We cannot know it all. What John is saying is that we know that since we are born of the Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ we have the anointing in our hearts forever.

John says that he did not write this truth not because they did not know it but because they knew it and because no lie comes from the truth. Jesus Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Once they have been of the truth, they shall remain in the truth forever.

Of course, we do sin and fail at times and will sin one way or the other. However, the real Christians cannot continue to sin as they did in the past, because they have Jesus Christ who indwells within forever. They understand that if they confess theirs sins God will continually wash and cleanse them away with the blood of the Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:9).

But the antichrists who have come out of the church had never been born again in Jesus Christ the Lord. They might have looked pious and behaved like Christians but they were not the genuine. They were the tares which the devil planted at night in the church. The antichrists are of the devil the father of lie who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Otherwise, they would remain in Him forever.

“Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” (1 John 2:22-23 NIV)

Those who say that they believe in God and yet deny the Son Jesus as the Messiah are the antichrists. Were the Pharisees and the scribes in the Lord’s earthly days the ones who proclaimed that they believed in the God of Moses and Prophets but stubbornly refused to believe in the Son Jesus Christ? No wonder our Lord Jesus Christ directly spoke them that they were of the devil (John 8:44).

“Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” (John 8:42-47 NKJV)

Why is the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ the liar? It is because they deny the mediator and thereafter they want to be the gods on their own. In the Garden, the devil deceived the woman, saying the lie that you would be like God and know good and evil. That is the fall of human race! Man was designed and made to perfectly and completely recognize God as the Lord of all in every area of life.

Man cannot know good and evil on his own. He can know the truth only when he relates to God who knows good and evil in perfection and completion. That is why no matter how much in history humans have been putting every effort to improve the morality of humanity it is no avail at all, absolutely nothing. Man is not a god but creature. Stubbornly refusing Jesus Christ the Mediator is the evidence of truth that they are of the devil, not of the Father God.

 “As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eternal life.” (1 John 2:24-25 NIV)

But those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord have eternal life, real life. They are the ones who deny the lie, deeply recognizing the mediator in every area of their lives. They know that they cannot live on their own at all but on God only. They are the ones who by faith respond to the tender drawing of the Father in their midst.

Whose side are you? Whose side am I? Jesus Christ the mediator or the devil the father of lie? Truly and genuinely born of God, you have the anointing from the beginning, who never leaves you nor forsakes you. That’s reality and eternity.

Watch Therefore! (1 John 2:18-19)

“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18 NKJV)

If the first century was called the last hour by John, how much closer we are to the end of age. Why does the Scripture frequently and consistently mention about the end of age? It is because the time is moving toward to that culmination point since the creation of the world. When a life has been started to live by birth, it is equally true that the life has been begun to die, even gradually and slowly but surely. There is no exception. There is no favoritism or partiality. All is born to live and die.

In everything, there is beginning and ending. As there is the beginning of life, so is the end of life. As there is the beginning of winter, so is the end of it. As there is the beginning of storm, so is the end of it. As there is the beginning of school, so is the end of it. As there is the beginning of game, so is the end of it.

However, it is also true that there is no end because the end of one thing is the beginning of another. As there is the earthly life on earth, so is the heavenly one in heavens. We are now living in time and space but soon we will be in eternity forever. We are now bounded by the force of the law of gravity, but soon we will be free from the law of time and space and enter into the new dimension of living in heavens.

Apostle Paul helps us significantly to understand that how would it look like after this life in the letter to the Corinthians.

“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5 NKJV)

All humans and all creations are eagerly waiting for the hour to come, groaning inwardly and unceasingly with the hope of being eternally liberated from the unbreakable sense of futility and uselessness.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, buthope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” (Romans 8:18-25 NKJV)

Jesus Christ taught His disciples about the end of age in the Olivet Discourse recorded in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 and 25. The Discourse of the Lord Jesus Christ can be summed up with one phrase if you will as “Therefore, watch!” The time is every quickly moving and advancing toward to the Day of the Lord. Paul admonishes all the saints with this pertinent word of truth.

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:11-14 NKJV)

Jesus Christ did not leave us alone to figure out what to watch when He warned the disciples to watch. First and foremost of all, the Lord warns us not to be deceived by the false prophets and teachers. That is what Apostle John is talking about in the Epistle Chapter 2 Verse 18.

“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.”

The last hour should be translated as the last hours because it has already been stretched out two thousand years since the latter was written. If the first century Christians ever lived with the looming sense of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, how much more we also live in this twenty first century with the same urgency.

There have already been many antichrists in the days of the dawn of century and throughout the twenty centuries and more. Who are the antichrists? John tells us in the next verse. “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” (2 John 2:19 NKJV)

The things antichrists teach are seemingly truths but not the truth. They look like genuine, maybe the ninety percent true, but errors, which fall into the wrong in entirety. Do not miss the point which those antichrists are not from without the church but from within. But they are not of the church but the tares which the devil planted in which Jesus Christ spoke in the parable of the weed (Matthew 13:24-30).

They are all but the fakes and shams from the beginning, being clothed with the lambs without and the wolves within. If they are genuinely born of God, they would never leave the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. God promised that He would never leave nor forsake the children of light who has been genuinely born again through the faith in the blood of the Lord (Hebrews 13:5-6).

When Apostle Paul was leaving Ephesus for Jerusalem, he warned of something unusual in his farewells that the wolves would be coming out of the church within and devouring the flock.

“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:29-31 NKJV)

Therefore, we shall remember what our Lord Jesus Christ lovingly and tenderly says to His disciples and take heed to it constantly and faithfully because the days are evil and indeed we are in the last hours.

“Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:42-42 NKJV)

Do Not Love the World (1 John 2:15-17)

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17 NKJV)

Why must we not love the world or the things in the world? Here the world does not mean the beauty of nature. What God has made is good, says the Scripture. When John says that we do not love the world, it means the way of the world in which man is highly esteemed at all. The standard way of the world is like man can solve the man’s problem. That kind of thoughts and judgments is from the earth below, the flesh.

If anyone loves the world, the way of the world, the love of the Father, the way of God, is not in him. The Lord Jesus Christ says that we cannot serve both God and money. We must choose to love one and hate the other.

““No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24 NKJV)

John says, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” The lust of the flesh always stirs the people to get whatever you want now, to get it first, and to blame everything on others. It could be not only sexual immorality, fornication, pornography, but anything the flesh desires physically.

The lust of the eyes drives the people to pursuit only whatever attractive and desirable emotionally, intellectually, and reasonably. It could be all kinds of achievements in arts and science, humanity and philosophy, expedition and technology, politics, or even religion. The pride of life is that man sits on the throne of glory and honor, being deluded and deceived by the thought that he is the caption of fate and so he can run his life. That is the lie of the devil.

The fleshy thoughts and beliefs convincingly and powerfully appeal to many a people who are gullible and ignorant. Is it not exactly what the serpent in the Garden seduced the woman? “Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5 NKJV)

But they are not from the Father but from the dark world where the devil reigns. The desire of the flesh is diabolically opposing against God. “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” (Galatians 5:17 NKJV) We humans cannot run our lives, not even a bit. We cannot breathe a moment without God who made everything.

The world is passing away and so does the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever. The Scripture says that all men are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field, the grass withers and the flowers fall (1 Peter 1:24). All the glittering and glowing things which are so attractive and desirable to possess are quickly disappearing and passing away, says the Lord of life.

Therefore, what we are supposed to pursuit and search is the Spirit who reveals all truths and realities in life. “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16 NKJV) The Spirit of God who is indwelling within heals and cures all the uncertainties and confusions on our lives and leads to the truth.

The Holy Spirit teaches us kindly and gently what the will of God is. It is a process, quite a long one, maybe lifelong. But that is the way it is. Life never means a picnic in summertime. It is an intensive and demanding reality which has been given once to everyone, so that we may learn the secret of life, how it functions really.

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:11-14 NKJV)