Monday
1 John 2.26 “I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you.”
We don’t use the word ‘heresy’ much these days. But in the earliest Christian communities the truth of who Jesus is as Son of God, the meaning of his death as atonement of sins, the reality of his resurrection and living presence – these were contested. There was always the danger of false teaching. By the anointing of the Spirit the Christian mind and heart have received the Word of God, which takes root and grows and bears fruit. Just as Jesus promised, the Spirit takes the things of Jesus and leads them, and us, teaches all things and leads us into the truth of Jesus.
Tuesday
I John 2.28 “And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.”
To ‘continue in him’ is to stay faithful, to follow and obey Jesus’ teaching, to trust in the grace that is always sufficient, to confess our sins and rely on the ‘blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all unrighteousness.” Christian perseverance is continuing trust in the keeping power of God. One day we will be face to face with Jesus – just as Peter had to face Jesus having denied him. To be confident and unashamed is not self-confidence; but that deep assurance that he who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at that moment when we look on His face, and we know and are fully known.
Wednesday
1 John 2.29 “If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.”
Like produces like. Righteousness produces character and behaviour that is righteous. To follow Jesus is to have the mind of Christ, to hear his words and obey them, to have his Spirit within us as the gift of new life in Christ as children of the Father. We know we are not saved by our own performance. Allow Paul to explain: “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2.10) Doing what is right is in our DNA!
Thursday
1 John 3.1 “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God. And that is what we are.”
Lavished is a word that knows no calculation, only the urge to generosity and self-giving. I still know this verse by heart in the older version: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us.” John will keep coming back to the love of God as the first and last reality of the universe. The love of God in Christ, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, is the truth by which we live, the originating source of all that we have been made to be in Christ. Children of God – that is what we are!
Friday
1 John 3.1b “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
The world of power and money, of competitive greed and claimed freedom from God’s requirements has no time for the way of Jesus. Acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly get in the way of human ambition, personal advantage, living our own life in our own way. If we truly and faithfully follow Jesus, that kind of ‘me first’ world will either laugh or resist. The whole Sermon on the Mount is a description of life under the rule of God – and it contradicts all the structures of social power and unrestricted self-interest. As Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.”
Saturday
1 John 3.2 “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
Now and not yet – we are and we will be: this verse may sound complicated, but John is doing his work as a pastor deepening the foundations of assurance. The reality of life now doesn’t compare with the fulfilment of all reality when we shall see Jesus as he is. All our Christian lives we strive to be like Jesus, we fail and try again, our devotion and longing and persisting is our love reaching for “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Be patient. We are who we are, no more or less, but eventually, and finally “we shall be like him for we shall see Him as he is.”
Sunday
1 John 3.3 “All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Purity of heart is that singleness of motive to please God, above all else, and before all else. The blood of Jesus, God’s son cleanses us from all unrighteousness – but we are cleansed to enable us to live as children of God who is Light and Love. Hope is one of the most powerful motives of the human heart. Without hope life is emptied of the inner energy that keeps us going. The hope of seeing Jesus, and being like him, of a renewed creation and God’s triumph, of God’s name hallowed throughout creation that is the purifying Christian motive – and its energy source is the love of God.
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