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My commentary said John wrote his gospel to tell people how to receive
this wonderful life. He wrote this letter to tell people how to be sure they have really been born of God.
It listed characteristics that are true of Christians:
They
live a righteous life.
They
don’t practice sin – they do sin, but they don’t make it a habit.
They
love God and other Christians.
They have
no love for the world and the world hates them.
They
overcome the world.
This life is revealed
in Christ and experienced when we
put our trust in Him as our Savior. It
is also shared with others by the lives we live and by the words we speak.
“The life that is real
is characterized by discernment …
The Spirit is our Teacher; it is He
who enables us to detect truth and error and to remain in
Christ. He is our protection against ignorance,
deception, and untruth. “
John speaks continually of obedience, love, and truth … A Spirit-controlled mind knows
and understands truth. A
Spirit-controlled heart feels love. A Spirit-controlled will inclines us to obedience…If a true believe is out of fellowship with God, it is usually for
one of three reasons: He has disobeyed God’s will; he is not getting
along with fellow believers; or he believes a lie and therefore is living a lie … A believer can never had
joyful fellowship with the Lord if sin
stands between them.”
Father, I see that obedience, love, and truth must all work
together in my life if I am to remain in fellowship with You. If any of those three is missing, I’ll have a
problem. Keep me obeying and loving and
knowing the truth. Keep me in fellowship
with You!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
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