John concludes his letter saying believers can have confidence about three things: 1) that you have eternal life, 2) that your sin cannot jeopardize that life and 3) that this gospel message is true.
10 1 John 4:20-5:12 These 3 Testify: Water, Blood & Spirit
John tells us genuine believers will confess that Jesus is the Christ — the Jesus who was confirmed by three witnesses: “water”, “blood” and “the Spirit.”
09 1 John 4:7-19 Perfect Love
In 1 John 4:7-19, John explains why self-sacrificing love is a mark of a believer: this other-focused love is part of God’s holy character and God is in the process of giving us His character.
08 1 John 4:1-6 Marks of False Teachers
The Apostle John says we can identify false prophets two ways: by the content of what they say (4:2) and by the origin of what they say (4:6).
07 1 John 3:13-24 Love and Hate
How can John say that love is a mark of believers and hate is a mark of non-believers when we know believers who struggle with hate and non-believers who genuinely love others?
06 1 John 2:29-3:12 Practicing Righteousness
No true believer is committed to sin as a lifestyle because God plants in believers a longing for holiness and righteousness which opposes any tendency to rebel. Believers no longer remain committed to a lifestyle of sin.
05 1 John 2:18-28: Who is the liar?
1 John 2:18-28 tackles the question: how do you know what’s essential and what is non-essential?
04 1 John 2:12-17: Loving the World
John sets the world and the gospel in opposition to each other. You can’t serve them both. You have to choose and his first exhortation is don’t choose the world.
03 1 John 2:1-11: Abide in Christ
How should we handle theological disagreements among believers? What issues are so critically important that we should draw a line? And, on what issues should we agree to disagree? John gives us a place to draw the line.
02 1 John 1:5-10: God is Light
John begins his summary of the true gospel by saying God is the source of and all life, salvation and holiness. Therefore those who are trust Him will have lives marked by a concern for goodness and a pursuit of righteousness.
1 John: Discerning the True Gospel
John wrote his first letter to clarify the differences between the genuine gospel as revealed by Jesus to the apostles and the heretical versions of the gospel spreading in the early church. He gives 2 guiding principles for recognizing genuine believers and false teachers.
Drawing the Doctrinal Line
Which of our many doctrinal differences should Christians worry about? After all, one person’s heresy is another person’s minor difference of opinion.
Love & Hate
How can the apostle John say love is a mark of believers and hate is a mark of non-believers? Even a cursory examination reveals that believers hate and non-believers love.
Do believers sin?
When I was a new Christian, I told another believer that I was struggling with controlling my temper. She told me that I was not a genuine Christian because if I was, I wouldn’t sin. If she is right, not only was I not a Christian then — I still am not a Christian now. When you discover two very different interpretations of the Bible, how do you decide who’s right?
5 Questions to Identify a Cult
How do you recognize a group which claims to represent genuine, apostolic Christianity but in reality does not? Here are 5 questions that separate “the sheep” from “the wolves.”
