Hey, Bible readers. I'm Tara Lee, Cabal, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. If you're doing our New Testament plan, we finished book number 24, and if you're doing the whole Bible, we finished book 63. This letter is anonymous, but the author's writing style and content is super similar to what we see in the Gospel of John and the books of Second and Third John. So the general consensus is that they're all written by the same guy, though there is some debate. It doesn't really matter, though, least of all to him. He's less concerned with us knowing who he is and more concerned that we know who Jesus is. That's one of the major themes of this book, the identity of Jesus as both fully God and fully man. 100% and 100%. Not 50-50. You may recall that the Gospel of John had the same lens, Jesus as God. These people, like a lot of churches, have been exposed to false teachers. They're causing division and spreading lies about Jesus. John doesn't waste time with greetings. He just gets straight to the point. Jesus has always existed. He is truly God. Plus, we saw him and touched him.

He was truly human. And this God man told us that God is light, completely devoid of darkness. So to walk with this God means we walk in the light. And that makes it easy to build community with others who are walking in the light. We can even confess our sins in the light, and it actually serves to enrich our unity. Whereas darkness and hiding and lying thwarts healthy community. That's not to say sinning isn't a big deal. It is. But Christ advocates for us to the Father because he has already made atonement for our sins. He's already paid for them. Our relationship with Jesus changes our relationship with sin. He didn't just set us free from the penalty of our sins, he also set us free from the bondage to our sin. He granted us the freedom from sin that enables us to walk in truth. Obedience to God is a benchmark of knowing Christ. Loving others is a benchmark of knowing Christ. John reminds them of their identity. You are God's forgiven children. You know God, and His strength and His word abide in you, empowering you to overcome evil. John calls them to live out what they know.

Loving Jesus pushes out our love for worldly things because those two are at odds. Jesus is the clear winner anyway, because what the world offers is temporary and life with Jesus is eternal. Missionary martyr, Jim Elliot, said it like this, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. John reminds them that there will be false Messiahs. Jesus has already warned his followers about this in Mark 13 and Matthew 24. People, possibly even from within the church, will show up and claim to be Jesus and deny that Jesus is who he says he was. In the midst of all this, there will be division in the church. In 2:19, John says, They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might be complained that they all are not of us. He says that those who walked away from the faith were never really in the faith to begin with. They were in the church, visible, but not the church, invisible. Now, God, who has known their hearts all along, has revealed their hearts to everyone through their walking away.

On the other hand, those who are truly in the faith will persevere in the faith, even amidst these false teachers. He encourages them with this in the following verse. It says, But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. The presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives is evidence they know and follow the truth, so he calls them to abide in the truth. These warnings about falling away and the reminders to abide are almost always followed by encouragement that they are in the faith, so they will abide. In chapter three, John reminds them that Jesus hasn't returned yet, which is one of the lies the false teachers have been spreading. He says, What we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him. There's a new body coming for all of God's kids. And when Jesus shows back up on the scene, we will be transformed. We will be like him, and our bodies will be like his resurrection body in some sense. When he returns to Earth to reign here, we won't be disembodied spirits like the people who are currently in heaven.

When it's all made new again, heaven and Earth, we'll live there in our new bodies. We won't be floating on a cloud somewhere in the spirit realm. We'll talk more about this in Revelation. Because all of this awaits us, God's kids aim to walk in purity now because it's not just about getting a past to live with Him in eternity. It's actually about living with him now, abiding with Him now, walking in righteousness now. That's what God's kids do. Whereas Satan's kids are the ones who condone sin. Knowing God isn't about grabbing what you can get. Love is a major marker of God's kids. It's another way we demonstrate Jesus and His kingdom to the world around us. We share, we sacrifice, we show up when people need us. John knows that some of his readers will likely feel scared by what he's saying. Maybe they can think of a time when they've chosen sin over purity, when they've walked in darkness or condoned sin, when they haven't walked in love. He reassures them in 3:19-20 when he says, By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him.

For whenever our heart condemnes us, God is greater than our heart and He knows everything. He says they can still rest assured that they are God's kids even when they feel convicted about their sins, because after all, God's spirit is the very one who brings conviction to our hearts so that we can turn from our sins and walk with God in righteousness. Conviction that becomes repentance is evidence that He lives in us. As for others, it's hard to know if they're in the truth or not. John gives them a litmus test in chapter four. He says if the Holy Spirit is at work in a person, they will claim that Jesus is fully God and fully man. But if a person doesn't claim that, it's a clear sign that the spirit of error, the Spirit of lies is at work in them. Then John drills down on what love is and does. In verses 15 through 18, he gives us a lot of information, and the connecting words are really important here. He says, Whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and whoever abides in love, abides in God, and God abides in Him. By this is love perfected with us so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment. Because as He is, so also are we in this world. There's no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. That was a lot. So here's what this looks like when we walk through it. Confessing Jesus as God is a sign of our unity with Him. Our unity with Him is evidence that He loves us. He wouldn't unite Himself to someone He doesn't love, so He must love us because He's abiding with us. Him abiding with us is how love is made perfect, and Him abiding with us gives us confidence that we're His. And Him abiding with us starts to show up in how we live our lives. We can live fearlessly in the world because He abides in us in perfect love. What do we have to be afraid of anyway? Because He abides with us now and forever and has taken all our punishment already.

In chapter five, John says we have overcome the world. That sounds great, but what does that even mean? I can climb Mount Everest. I can win the Olympics? No, even better. It means I can resist sin and temptation. It means I'm no longer in bondage. It means I can love like Jesus loves even when treated with contempt like he was. Next, John offers up witnesses that Jesus is who he says He is. And even though Jewish law only calls for two witnesses, John offers three: the Spirit, the water, and the Blood. The Spirit is the first witness. The second witness, the Water, is almost certainly a reference to the baptism of Jesus. You may remember that when he was baptized, God, the Father, spoke from heaven and declared that Jesus is his beloved son, and the Spirit descended on him like a dove. We read about that in Matthew 3. The third witness, the blood, is almost certainly a reference to his death and resurrection. If you overcome the grave, that speaks for itself. He is his son, life. Because he has overcome death, he holds the keys to eternal life. He alone stands as the line of demarcation between life and death.

Verse 12 says it this way, Whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the son of God does not have life. John writes this so plain and clear for one reason, according to the next verse. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. He wants believers to be assured of their faith to know that it's real. All this talk about love and obedience and truth and light and life, it's all to help us gain confidence not just in what we believe, but in who he is and to know that we are his. My Godshot was in 4:10 and 4:19, which both talk about the great pursuing love of God. Verse 10 says, And this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent His son to be the perpetiation for our sins. The Father set all this in motion while we were still in rebellion against Him. Verse 19 says, We love because He first loved us. His love was the catalyst for our love. The only reason I can love him at all is because all of this was his idea.

I never would have sought him out. I'm so glad he loved me and made a way for me to abide with him forever because he's where the joy is. Tomorrow, we continue with the second and third letters of John. We've included the same video summary from yesterday if you want to check it out. I hope we're planning to join us again or for the first time, starting with Genesis 1 on January first. We also have some brand new features available for you. If you missed our episode called Prep for Next Year on December 18th, be sure to check that out. It will get you up to speed on what to expect, what's changing and what's new and exciting. And here's a pro tip. If you post about it on social media and ask if anyone wants to join you in this, there's a good chance you'll find some accountability that'll help you both and make it even more fun. Check out all the details at thebiblerecap. Com/start or click the link in the show notes. From the songs your church has been singing on Sunday mornings to the songs you've heard on your favorite Christian radio stations, find out what songs from the year made it into Hope Nation's Best of 2023 song battle.

Click the link in the show notes to watch worship leader Cody Carnes and Logan from the band Cain compete to see who knows the songs best.