We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Before we dive in:
Welcome to Week 8 of the Summer Reading Plan!
As the last two weeks have been filled with traveling, kids camp, vacations, event planning, and more...we took a week off of our Summer Bible Reading Plan blog post, but we’re back in full force and doubling up this week because we don’t want you to miss the strong message from these passages!
Section 1:
We begin our week finishing up our sections in 1 John with chapter 5 verses 13-21. John is using this set of verses to draw his letter to a conclusion, while encouraging his readers, building confidence, but providing a somber warning as well.
John begins his first letter by telling us his objective for writing: that you may also have fellowship with us, and, as such, with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ whom we are in fellowship with, so that our joy might be complete (ch.1 v. 3-4). But he ends his letter with an even clearer purpose: so that you may know that you are a child of God and have eternal life (ch. 5 v. 13 & 19).
The author exhorts his brothers and sisters in Christ with confidence for their prayer life.
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
But while this might sound like the cha-ching of a lifetime, being showered with all this empowerment that God grants whatever we ask….when we sit on it for a second, we soon realize that this isn’t what John is saying at all. Just as Jesus did over and over again in his ministry, John is pointing to the state of the heart and right back at the seat of self-denial. The answered prayer is qualified by alignment with God. The reason we pray is not to get God to do what we want, but rather to submit our will to His!
In 1 John 3:22, we see that prayers are answered because we “keep God’s commandments” and do things that are pleasing to Him. When we do God’s will, we can be confident that He will answer our prayers.
Suddenly, we see a quick shift from praying with confidence according to God’s will to the strong topic of holiness. It almost feels abrupt, but this last passage is seemingly John’s chance to squeeze it all in during what is a clear and important conclusion. A closer examination reveals that it isn’t quite as disjointed as we think:
If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
Doing God’s will in the context of v. 14 may be more narrowly defined as praying for the person who sins but does not commit the “sin resulting in death” (5:16a) while not praying for the person who does commit the “sin resulting in death” (5:16b). What does that mean?
Using the logic that John has consistently laid out in this letter regarding confession, repentance, and forgiveness (1:9), I believe it’s safe to say that “the sin that doesn’t result in death” is any sin for which one has confessed and truly repented of and, through the grace given by God, has been forgiven. The sin resulting in death is sin which has not been confessed and repented of, therefore, resulting in eternal death. We need to see these two verses as part of the larger picture that John is painting in this letter. On the one hand, there’s a strong emphasis in 1 John that those who are truly born of God don’t go on sinning. In fact, he says it again in the next verse (18).
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
But John isn’t referring to perfectionism here. He himself correctly points out that, "if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us!"
He is talking about marks of life change and we can see this all throughout the New Testament letters, which helps to clarify this portion of Scripture even further. We no longer look and talk and act like the world. We’re different now. Set apart. Holy. It is the new, born-again, sinless nature of Christ, which we received at salvation that cannot sin. The old, fallen, sinful nature, which must be 'nailed to the cross' (Rom. 6:6), helps us to understand the truth that, "no one, who is born of God, sins," and we can further rejoice that, "the Son of God protects us from the evil one who has no power to harm us."
The next chunk of verses (19-21) discusses who we are (God’s children) and who everyone else is if they’re not God’s children (under the power of the evil one), and then who God is (true) and that Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal life. John closes with a warning that is directly related to his earlier statements about the identity of God, as he implores them to keep themselves from idols (now that they can be sure of who God is and how they are to worship Him). The letter ends here.
Section 2:
Okay...now take a deep breath. That one section in 1 John was pretty meaty. Now, however, we dive into James.
James is one of the most wonderful reads in the Bible, and an easy favorite of mine. James, the half-brother of Jesus and the leader of the church in Jerusalem, takes the last years of his life (before he is martyred) to compile this work for the messianic Jews he will leave behind.
By comparison, Paul usually writes to clear up an issue or to train someone up, but there is typically a concise purpose to his letters. With James, however, there’s no clear purpose for his writing aside from seemingly dropping loads of wisdom on those who may hear his words. Having been raised with Jesus, we see the use of Jesus’ words and even his tone all throughout the book of James. It’s also clear that he has an affinity for the writings of Proverbs, particularly chapters 1-9, as we see them woven consistently throughout his letter.
James often moves from topic to topic quickly, but, boy, he drops some fantastic one liners to remember at the end of each one.
Let’s begin as we work our way through James 1 through 2:26.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Count. It. All. Joy. These words rock me every single time I read them. They are a constant reminder to reset. To adjust my perspective. To remember the WHY. I have these words throughout my home, on tumblers, and as my Facebook profile picture.
Friends, we will endure trials of all kinds. ALL KINDS. From the small to the big, from the irritations to the life altering- trials will come. What are we to do? James, who endured the brutal beating and murder of his big brother and who learned of his fellow apostles’ martyrdom. James, who was no stranger to oppression from a political and military power, through the inspiration of God, speaks boldly in answer to this question in verse 2. Count it all joy.
Trials are painful. James isn’t pretending that they’re not. But even though joy is contrary to our normal reaction, he urges us to work on changing our attitude toward troubles and focusing on the Kingdom of God. Actions speak louder than words, and trust me, James will get to the importance of actions soon, but attitude speaks louder than action.
Trials have the potential of producing good in us, and, for this reason, they are an opportunity to express joy. Knowing there is a bigger picture, we can consider trials as something to rejoice in.
From this topic of perspective through trials, we see James toss truth after truth out to his readers. From challenging his readers to stand against temptation to exhorting them to check their attitudes: being slow to speak, quick to listen, and slow to anger (v. 19). But something that lies important to the writer is that Christians would not only believe, but that their faith would produce works... that they MUST produce works.
But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.
And he continues this into Chapter 2.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? …So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Faith is necessary. It is a must. But is faith truly faith if it doesn’t produce works? This is the point, and James drives it home not once but several times in verses 14-26. It can’t just stop at belief...because if you really believed it, you’d ACT like it, right? If you really believed the gospel, you would spend time in the Word, hiding it in your heart. You would spend time in prayer. You would be generous with your treasures and talents. You would love your neighbor and your enemy alike. You’d stop the gossip. You would deny yourself. Right?
Chapter 3 heats up. The foundation has been laid: we must be doers of the Word. Check out our next blog post right now to continue our study in James!