Good morning,
The right information
I got to thinking about this Monday Minute as I overheard our son Tim talking to his wife this morning about her papers for returning home from Japan tomorrow. Even though she is Japanese by birth, she still needs papers from both governments if she will be allowed to travel either way. That was important to me because I have been reading and thinking about what the Apostle John was writing to us about our relationship with God and one another. John was the last of the New Testament Apostles and was very concerned about what he was seeing happening to the Christians of his day. The problem that he was struggling with was that there were so many false prophets and church leaders telling their followers what they needed to do to be genuine children of God and that there was all kinds of confusion about what God said was needed to be a genuine part of his family. John then gives us the two genuine ways that we can know we are genuine children of God. First he reminds us that, (Jesus) himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments.(1John 2:3) The second way that we can be sure of our relationship with our Savior and God is, This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.(1Jn.3:11)
Then John clarified what he said when he wrote, And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,(v23) which requires that what Jesus says is what he means and is not open for us to decide if that is believable or not. and then he adds, and love one another, just as he commanded us. God’s children do not have the choice of loving and hating one another. Then John gives us a very valuable guideline when he writes, Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.(v.24) As God’s children we have been given the Holy Spirit who lives in us all the time, and he is the one who gives us the feelings and the way we should act like Jesus acted in our relationships with those around us. So that when we believe what Jesus tells us about loving others, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.(4:17) If our love isn’t genuine, If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?(4:20) It is also important to remember that loving others is not the only command that we must obey if we belong to the God who never makes a mistake or gives us guidelines for living on a daily basis. Again John reminds us, Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.(5:3) A careful reading of God’s Word will give us the directions that God has for us that will be welcome guidelines to having God’s approval and knowing the joy and peace that God gives us when we do things God’s way.We also need to remember that, If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.(2:4) You see, it’s just like we find when we go from one country to the next. Just because we want to go somewhere, isn’t enough to have permission to enter. God has told us the standards that he expects from us. We must all face the gate keeper, Jesus, and he alone will tell us if we are welcome or without hope.
1 John 3:10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
Roy Wisner
