John let us know that Christ is our Advocate with the Father as He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Both the Father and the Son are THE ABSOLUTE SOURCE of PURE LIGHT (Gk. phos) that ILLUMINATES and FILLS US with THE FATHER’S REVELATION, FULL KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING and TRUTH that dispels every segment of darkness in us.
John challenges ALL BELIEVERS OR SPIRITUAL SONS to be Spiritually taught by the Holy Spirit abiding in the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the DIVINE NATURE, that we received when we were Spirit birthed. We are to remain or abide in the Father and in the Son in all things that pertain to our new Spirit Identity in our Eternal life. We have to LIVE and WALK in our Spiritual decisions in our new Spiritual identity to fulfill the Father’s will in FULL OBEDIENCE on a regular basis. John declares where we are to use the Father’s Agape Love that He gave us and where we are NOT to use that Agape Love!
So, let’s look at some of these things in First John chapter 2 in a little more depth and see what THE FATHER might REVEAL to us about our LOVE AND OBEDIENCE IN TRUTH with HIM . . .
This week we will conclude our teaching in 1st John Chapter. In the two weeks prior brother Dwight Davis and Sister Brenda Gray have set before us the Father’s revelation into the Word of life presented in chapter one of this epistle. They gave us Spiritual insight which many in the church man-made religion today have not seen or heard. Let me start by saying, in chapter one, John reveals the mystery of the beginning, the Word, the Life, and the Light. This Spiritually powerful and in-depth chapter is covered in only ten verses. John covers these revelations in the first six verses with the last four verses he discusses “sin” which is probably some the most misunderstood verses in this epistle. 1John is the gateway into Spiritual Identity, Spiritual Birth and Sonship which he shares with his readers in this epistle. John also reveals the depths of the Father’s character and expression of His Divine Nature. Let talk about…
In the beginning of both 1 John and the Gospel of John, John explicitly dictates the Son of God’s origins much earlier than being conceived by the Holy Spirit and Mary’s immaculate conception. Instead, John begins with the revelation that the Word (Jesus the first-born Son of God) and God the creator of everything are equal. John is not writing about something that he heard from someone else but, is giving an account of an event that that he was a direct eyewitness of the resurrected Christ. He spoke with Him, he touched Him, he ate with Him. He came in direct contact with “Eternal Life.” (1 John 1:1-4, Luke 24: 34-43, John 20:19-23)
John states that he wrote to give assurance of eternal life to those “who believe in the name of the Son of God” (5:13). The uncertainty of his readers about their Spiritual status was caused by an unsettling conflict with the teachers of a false doctrine. John refers to these teachings as deceitful (2:26; 3:7) and to the teachers as “false prophets” (4:1), liars (2:22), and antichrist (2:18, 22; 4:3). Docetism and Gnosticism while distinct, are related early heresies that challenged the view of Jesus’ nature in the church.
A brief review of the two false teachings. Gnosticism, with its emphasis on secret knowledge (gnosis) for salvation, often involved a dualistic view of the world, separating the material and the Spiritual realms. While Docetism, stemming from Gnostic ideas, specifically denied the true humanity of Jesus, claiming He only “appeared” to have a physical body and thus could not have truly suffered or died. Docetism and Gnosticism are not as widely accepted in the mainstream church today, but there is another false teaching that has been widely accepted within many churches and among many religions and that is “hybrid born-again believers.” False teachers and preachers have “pieced together” Old Testament Scriptures and New Testament Writings creating a false “hybrid born-again believer.” The “hybrid born-again believer” is someone who is considered “saved” through repentance, and has taken on the identity of Israel, (the Church being Spiritual Israel) and are waiting to be resurrected at the Second Coming of Christ. Due to the lack of or incomplete knowledge of Spiritual birth, many do not understand their New Spiritual Identity as a Spiritual Son of God the Father and continue trying to live in grace plus works hoping to “make it to heaven.”
Sadly, many do not understand that Spiritual birth is the access to “Eternal Life.” Not just living forever with “God” but related to God as Father.
John 17:3“And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
From John’s letters it becomes VERY CLEAR that he was CLOSE IN FELLOWSHIP with THE FATHER with ADDED and DEEPER RHEMA WORD and SPIRITUAL REVELATION from THE HOLY SPIRIT and THE FATHER. It is also EVIDENT that John SPIRITUALLY KNEW and UNDERSTOOD OUR SPIRITUAL SON IDENTITY through SPIRITUAL BIRTHING along with THE MYSTERY of THE TRUE GOSPEL with its MANIFESTATION!
John CHALLENGES ALL BELIEVERS OR SPIRITUAL SONS to STAND AS SONS OF THE LIGHT. John ENCOURAGES ALL BELIEVERS OR SPIRITUAL SONS OF THE FATHER to LIVE and WALK in THE LIGHT AND FELLOWSHIP OF THE FATHER. John PROVIDES CLEAR SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT for us to WALK in THE LIGHT so we can REMAIN IN TRUTH with no part of DARKNESS in our WALK that would hinder our FULL FELLOWSHIP with THE FATHER!
So, let’s look at some of these things in First John in a little more depth and see what THE FATHER might REVEAL to us about our FELLOWSHIP with HIM . . .
This week we will begin our new teaching in the Epistle of First John. This is a very Spiritually powerful and in dept epistle. It covers the foundation and meaning of being born of God, the identity and learning to live who we are in Christ as Spiritual Sons of the Father.
John did not specify the recipients of this letter, but given his addresses in Revelation 2–3 to seven churches in the immediate vicinity of Ephesus—the city where John ministered late in his life—he likely had those same churches in mind for this letter. However, its similarity with the gospel composed by John means it was probably written near the same time.
We will see that John was confronting some false teachings in the church. Although he was the leader in the church at Ephesus, some believe John wrote to a specific group of believers with whom he had a close relationship. There is another fact that many over look in his ministry of more than 30-40 years while in Ephesus, he had complete access to Paul’s epistle to the Ephesian church. Let’s talk about it…