Thoughts From the Bible

  1 John 2: 18-19- The Antichrist. As Christians, we have heard about the coming of the Antichrist all of our lives. John wrote about this two thousand years ago. Is this whole concept of the Antichrist real or not? If we read all John has written, we get a clear picture of the actual person who will be the Antichrist. We also need to avoid being naive and realize there are a growing number of people who are antichrists or against Christ. See what John writes in verse 18, “ Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know the last hour has come.” Fewer people are attending church and see no need for God or even a spiritual entity of any kind. More people are growing more and more comfortable about coming out publicly to criticize those who do believe in God. These “antichrists” are growing in our modern world, and we need to be confident in our Biblical worldview and...

Read  1 John 2: 15-17- John is trying to help us remember what our focus should be. John is fostering a lifestyle that is focused on God and the principles of God. The world in John’s time was a very basic existence but even then, he was preaching to believers they should not focus on the things of this world. In 2024, the world has so much to entice us. There is so much affluence, but this shows the everlasting power of the words of the Bible. John is teaching us the difference between our world and God’s world. In verse 17, “And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. ”

Read  I Jonn 1: 8- 10 - This is one of the most quoted passages in the Bible. This short passage drives home the point that none of us is without fault. Many think they are “good people” and that is all they need to be. Whether public or private, we all have some issues we need to surrender to a loving God. In 1 John 1: 8-10 we read, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts.” Too many people believe acknowledging sin is admitting they are a horrible person. To the contrary, it helps us to acknowledge a loving God and His care for us. It also should help us to see how to improve as a person and a better example for a God-loving person.

Read I John 1: 5-7- Where do we live our lives day-in and day-out? Some people are uncomfortable with this approach to Christianity. There are some Christians who talk about developing a Christian worldview. We need a Christian daily view. See what is written in verse 7, “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.” We have the challenge of working to walk in the light of the gospel of Jesus but look at the promise He has given us. He takes away our sins and is there for us in our daily lives. People like to segment different areas of their lives, but we are seeing here that our lives should be daily integrated in what Jesus has taught and who He is .  

Read  I John 1: 1-4 - John cuts to the chase in the opening statement of this Epistle. In reading this, we see John was writing this letter from a joyful perspective and from a perspective of wanting people to know about the goodness of Jesus Christ. Verse 1, “We proclaim to you the One who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands. He is the Word of Life. John was working to show everyone Jesus is real, and He is the only way for eternal peace. After making his proclamation, John reaches out to his readers in verse 4 with this, “We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.” There was no longer any sadness of Jesus’ death because of His glorious resurrection. It would do us good to have the same joy John was speaking of and make sure we do not lose opportunities to share this same joy of Jesus’ resurrection and gift of life to us all .