Here are ten days of a daily devotional dialogue between myself and my disciple, Micah, discussing verses from 1 John 3:21 – 1 John 4:6. I have known Micah since he was in middle school when I started as his youth group leader. I moved up with his class each year, so I was his youth leader from 8th-12th grade. Since then I have stayed in touch with his class (“my guys”) and now, three years later, he is still my disciple, now a twenty year old “son in the faith”. Each day Micah and I text a verse to each other and write a short reflection working our way through John’s letters. Some days Micah texts me first, other days I text him first, so the order (below) changes. I have tried to keep the devotions as close as I can to the original texts we sent, but have in many places had to add punctuation to make them easier to read. I hope our journey of faith together encourages you!
Micah (red italics):
- 1 John 3:21 Dear friends if our hearts do not condemn us we have confidence before God…
This confused me at first, because I know I certainly feel guilty when I do things I know I shouldn’t be doing, think thoughts about past sins, or even remember some of the stuff I’ve watched that I knew was wrong. But then I think I got an understanding, in that it’s not talking about past actions, but when we are doing something in the present. Our hearts may condemn us if we ignore the homeless person on the way to work, but they may not if we help them. God speaks through our hearts and we know what is right and what is wrong.
Dave (black):
- 1 John 3:21 Dear friends if our hearts do not condemn us we have confidence before God…
I see John’s “heart that condemns us” as parallel to Paul’s discussion of the importance of having a “clear conscience” (there are many examples but see Acts 24:16, Romans 2:15, 2Cor 1:12). The point being that not letting go of our unholiness can get in the way of God moving through us. The reality is that we are always unholy compared to God! But Jesus has proclaimed us to be holy and fit for his Spirit. We need to believe that truth and reject the condemnation of our hearts, instead believing what God says about us.
- 1 John 3:22 …and receive from him anything we ask because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
A lot of people view this as being able to have God give them everything they could ever want, whether it be money, fame, stuff, etc., but in reality it’s still part of the verses before it. It depends on the conditions of our hearts and our relationship with God, because then we will have the understanding of what is needed and what isn’t, and God will provide for us.
Also these past couple days I’ve still had trouble sleeping at night, but I’ve been able to take some naps during the day, such as yesterday, thankfully when I wasn’t feeling amazing.
I have been having trouble sleeping too. Tonight I am going to try something different. Rather than staying up late until I feel tired, I am going to lay in bed and pray for everything and everyone I can think of. If Satan is keeping me awake, I expect I will fall asleep quickly. If not, I will be doing good!
Wonderful idea, I use a playlist of worship music as well to help me when I have issues with too much on my mind.
- 1 John 3:22 …and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
This sounds like a works based, law based, theology until you read the next verse. “If we do X then God does Y” is fundamentally a Jewish, not Christian, world view. “Jesus did X, and we trust him, therefore God does Y” is the new Way of Grace. I am glad all that is required of me is to believe in Jesus and foster an attitude of love emulating him. This will indeed shape what I ask of God, though.
I agree it’s not works based, I was thinking it was more based on the condition of our hearts: if we ask God for something like cocaine that most likely won’t happen, cause if that’s what our focus is our hearts are not in the right place.
I am glad that our requests get filtered through God’s wisdom first! Even if my heart is in the right place, I only want my requests that further his plan and His will to be answered.
I would fully agree, sir, cause we can ask for things that seem like they would fit in with God’s plan that may very well not actually fit.
Sometimes I think our prayers are not answered affirmatively simply because we lack all the data to understand what is best to pray for.
I agree with you there, sir, my reference for my earlier statement is the statement “Anything we ask,” which makes me think that he is talking about what our hearts deem desirable.
You are right to be careful not to minimize this promise. God is a gracious Father and may be willing to even grant requests that are not wise. I am trying to learn to surrender what I ask for to allow his Spirit to direct and shape my prayers more. Less to pray for my conception of the outcome than for his involvement in the process.
I think that your surrender is also wise in the sense that, His will will always work out better than ours. Also I love using two identically spelled words in the same sentence, and having it be grammatically correct.
- 1 John 3:23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
This goes back to the past verse, when he says “keep his commands,” this is included and similar to what Jesus says is the greatest command, which is to Love God with everything in you, that’s a paraphrase, and the second, to love your neighbor as yourself. The point I’m trying to make is that while God’s love is unconditional, it is ultimately our hearts, and if we decide to follow him, that decides where we go in death.
- 1 John 3:23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
In Greek the word in both places is “commandment”. Jesus has given two commandments which amount to 1) trust him 2) love his beloved. The name Jesus means “God is my salvation”. But believing in someone’s name in Hebrew culture speaks of trusting their character. Jesus’ love is the source of ours.
I agree with you that his love is the source of ours; without his example how would we have a decent comparison to know what actual love is? Love of the world, love of money, etc. use the same English word love, but it’s a different kind of love. The love Jesus desires us to have is almost the complete opposite of that. Love for Him, then love for others being the top two commandments.
Amen to that.
- 1 John 3:24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: we know it by the Spirit that he gave us.
In Greek it says “by the Spirit whom he gave us”. The Spirit is not an “it”, but a person. Christ in us! “Lives” is the Greek word meino the word “abide”. The indwelling Spirit means we are literally never alone.
- 1 John 3:24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: we know it by the Spirit he gave us.
When he’s taking about commands and obeying them, he’s talking about lifestyle, like living our lives in a way that honors God throughout it, such as how we treat people and respond to situations. The way we know how to do so, like you pointed out before, is by following and knowing His Spirit in us.
- 1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Don’t believe everything that claims to be from God; there are some easy ways to tell such as it goes directly against the Bible, but there are other subtle ways that seem close but not exact. But the ultimate test, as mentioned in the Bible, is if they reject the truth of Jesus’s resurrection.
- 1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
The Bereans were commended for checking the scripture daily to assess the veracity of Paul’s claims about Jesus (Acts 17:11). Here John is advocating a similar diligent attitude.
- 1 John 4:2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,…
Every spirit from God is going to align with God and the Bible. If it’s insinuating things you know are directly contradictory, then it isn’t from God.
- 1 John 4:2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,…
Often “flesh” (sarx in Greek) has a negative connotation. This is a notable counter example. Clearly sarx can simply mean having a human body. Interesting to realize that false doctrines claiming that Jesus wasn’t really human were rampant in the early church. Satan really doesn’t want people to understand that they have a redeemer who they can identify with and emulate.
- 1 John 4:3 …but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
I’ve heard a lot of people say they think Jesus may have just been a prophet, a teacher, or a scholar, but the truth is that Jesus is God, as he is part of the trinity, and that anything or anyone that denies that (truth) cannot be from God.
- 1 John 4:3 …but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus (has come in the flesh) is not from God. This is the spirit of antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
In Greek it repeats the key idea in this verse, which I have added in the parenthesis, that a spirit from God will confess that Jesus came “in the flesh”. The spirit of antichrist denies Jesus is real. We know that he is real in every respect, both his divinity and humanity.
- 1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
The fact that we have the Holy Spirit is not something to be taken lightly. I think as Christians it’s very easy to take it for granted, but the Spirit guides us and shows us how to interact in situations where it would be common, and even socially acceptable, to have a different reaction, one that does not glorify God; in this sense the Spirit shows us how to act differently than those in the world, so we may Glorify God.
Yes, amen to that!!
- 1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
The antecedent for the “them” who we “overcome” is challenging because of the plural reference. The choices are 1) the spirits of antichrist or 2) false prophets. My feeling is that John is giving us insight that “the spirit of antichrist in the world” (singular) is actually made manifest by numerous evil spirits (demons). I am very thankful that the Holy Spirit dwelling in us outclasses “them”, even collectively.
- 1 John 4:5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world and the world listens to them.
It’s very easy to get people to listen to you if you affirm them at every opportunity, but as Christians were meant to hold ourselves to a different standard than the world. We’re supposed to minister to others, but people may decline to hear us because it means they’ll have to change, and they’ve decided they like the world better and would rather listen to people and messages that affirm their way of thinking.
- 1 John 4:5 They are from the world and speak from the viewpoint of the world and therefore the world listens to them.
When we come to Christ we have a worldly viewpoint that can take a long time to completely leave behind us. The Holy Spirit gradually reveals truth.
I fully agree, sir, we need to change our mindset.
- 1 John 4:6 We are from God and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
We are not, as humans, perfect. So this can’t be talking about logically being perfect (in their listening to us), but rather they listen to us when we speak from God and from the Bible.
- 1 John 4:6 We are from God and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
The contrast in these words “truth and falsehood” is broader in Greek. “Truth” includes reality, substance, sincerity and integrity, while “falsehood” includes delusion, error, sin, wandering, deception, and hypocrisy. John is saying that those who do not know God do not listen because deep down, in their spirit, they are sinful, shallow, aimless and deceived. Truly they are victims to be pitied, prayed for and rescued.
Atheist to Elder 