1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Now we see we can know God by doing His will and not loving the things of this world. These verse plainly and simply tell us that if we love the things of this world the Father is not in us. It tells us that the lust of the flesh an of the eyes and our pride is of the world and not a part of the Father. We should not love this world because it will pass away along with the lust that goes with it. It ends up telling us though that if we will do the will of the Father we will abide with Him forever. We need to walk with God everyday to be able to resist the things of this of this world.
1 John 2:14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
This verse refers to the father and the young man and lets us know we can be closer to God by letting the word of God abide within us. Again it tells us that the father has know Him form the beginning and because of his obedience in following God he has overcame the wicked one. Then he tells the young one because he is strong and abiding in the word of God he has overcome Satan. This shows us that if we abide in God and stand strong and bold in our faith we can overcome Satan. We need to rely on the strength of our God to stand against Satan because the closer we get to God it seems Satan throws more at us. We also see in this, the growth of the Christian and the knowledge acquired to help live in the Light.
1 John 2: 13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
This verse is telling we know God as we grow in our faith and our ability to resist Satan. We start out as children and we have a basic awareness of God and we need to grow. Next as we grow older in our christian walk we are not mature yet but have a good sound doctrine. This makes us stronger against Satan and brings us closer to God. Finally we get to a point where we know enough about God that we can know for a surety that He will do what He promises. It is our job at this point to be the leaders of our church family as wells as our natural family. We never stop learning but at some point we have to start living and teaching the word and wisdom God has given us.
1 John 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
This is another way we know God is that our sins are forgiven us . John is saying this is one of the reasons he is writing this letter. Our sins can be forgiven when we put our faith and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. Once we do this it draws us closer to God and He can now watch over us and guide us. When we were in sin God could not look on us because he cannot look on sin. This is the first step in getting to know God so please if you are in need of His saving grace attend a good Bible teaching church an d see how you can become a part of God’s family. If you are already saved come where you can learn to grow even closer to God.
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. 8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. 9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
Next we see we can get to know God more by loving our
brethren. These verses star off by telling us about a new commandment but says it is an old commandment. It does not say what the commandment is bur we can know that it is the one Christ gave about loving our neighbor.The true light of Christ shines in this new commandment and the darkness can not be a part of it. It tells us if we say we are in the light but hate our our brother is in darkness now and until he can shed the dislike of his brother. This person that hates his brother not only is in darkness but also walks in darkness and does not know where this leading him because he blinded by the darkness. Again this is about loving our brethren and when we do we are in the light and we do not stumble because God shows us the way. This attribute is a good one because you can read in the word of God where it says several times that “love covers a multitude of sins.” We need to do our best to love everyone even our enemies.
1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
This scripture tells us the the second way to know Christ. It is simply said and that is to walk as Christ walked. IF we say we abide in Christ then we should be able to walk as Christ did. If we can follow in His footprints in our walk every day we will be less likely to fail in pleasing God. If we walk as Christ walked it means we are putting our sinful ways away and trying our best to the will of the Father. Walking as Christ walked means that we will try to do our to please the father because Jesus did exactly what the Father ask Him to do. This walk will bring us closer to God every day if we will strive to be Christ.
1 John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
These three scriptures begins showing us how we can know God. Starting here and through the rest of the chapter we will see thirteen ways to know God. These verses tell us it is by keeping His commandments. They tell us that we will know God if we keep His commandments and that by keeping His word the love of God is perfected in us which is evidence that we are in Him. It also tells us if we say we know Him and do not keep His commandments then we are a liar and the truth is not in us. We hear a lot of people say the Old Testament is not important anymore because Jesus took all that away. But Jesus said He came to fulfill the law and even added to the commandments. If we could obey the ten commandments today we would live in a better world and we would love our neighbor as Jesus said we should.
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
These verse get right to he point of the message John is wanting to get to the people. First we see he calls us little children, and he is talking to all Christians here, and if you think about we are because we are the children of God. He say we are not to sin, but in this world that is a challenge that is sometimes hard to resist, but if we do we have an advocate with the Father and His name is Jesus Christ. This does not mean though that we can continue to commit the same sin over and over again. As Jesus told the woman accused of adultery that He did not condemn her and to go and sin no more. when we confess our sins to it does not give us a license to go and continue sinning . Jesus is the propitiation for not only our sins but the sins of the whole world. It is His will that all be saved and none be lost . Let us try to do our best to walk in the path God would have to everyday day so we do not slip and fall.
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Here verses 8 and 10 tell us that if we say we have no sin that the truth is not in us and that we are liars and deceiving ourselves. Also it says that we make God a liar and there fore His word is not in us.The word tells us that all have sinned and fall short come short of the glory of God. Verse 9 tells us how we can get cleansed from our sin. If we will confess sins to God he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He does ask that we learn from past mistakes and not make them in the future. When He forgives our sins there gone as far as the east is from the west never to be seen by God again . they are now covered by the blood of Jesus Christ and that is all God can see. We need to in a mode of repentance all the time because of how Satan attacks us.
1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
These two verse John just tells it like it is. First i believe he is talking about those who act like they have a relationship with Jesus but live their life everyday walking in sin. To walk in darkness means you are a far away from the light. To walk in darkness means you are walking with the devil. No person can walk in darkness and claim to be righteous, that is living a lie and that is sin. Then John gives us the answer on how not be living that lie. He states it simply by letting us know if we will walk in the light of Jesus Christ and associate ourselves with other believers we will be living the life He wants us to live. This is because the of blood Christ that was shed cleanses us from all our sin. We have to make this choice daily and know through faith that He is faithful and just to forgive us.
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." I John 5:7
