So we have three witnesses- the Spirit, the water, and the blood- and these three agree.
Observation
Everyone who believes Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. If we love God, we will obey His commands and love His children.
Jesus was revealed as God’s Son at His baptism and on the cross. The Spirit also confirms this, meaning there are three witnesses to Jesus’ Sonship- the Spirit, the water, and the blood.
God has testified about His Son, so anyone who refuses to believe that Jesus is the Son of God is calling God a liar.
Application
The three witnesses- the Spirit, the water, and the blood- all testify that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
The Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts that Jesus is Lord, and that we can be set free from the bondage of our sin. We need that testimony because satan has blinded us and we would never work it out by ourselves.
The water is the water of Jesus’ baptism. This was the first revelation that He is the Son of God. The heavens opened and the voice from heaven declared, “This is my beloved Son.”
The blood is Jesus’ blood shed on the cross. Jesus, the truly divine one, laid down His life for our sake. The Roman centurion said at the time of Jesus’ death, “Surely this man was the Son of God.”
Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Son of God not only calls the Father and the Holy Spirit liars, but they also ignore the testimony of the water and the blood.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, today I declare, “You are truly the Son of God.” Amen.
All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.
Observation
Since God loves us, we ought to love one another, for this brings full expression to God’s love for us.
God has given His Spirit as proof that He lives in us. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is the Son of God has God living in them.
As we live in God, our love becomes more perfect. Perfect love casts out all fear because fear has to do with fear of being punished. If we fear then it shows we have not experienced God’s love.
God has given us this command- if we love God then we must also love our christian brothers and sisters.
Application
If we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, then God is living in us and we are living in God.
Confessing that Jesus is the Son of God is not just about words- it is about expressing heart- felt conviction that stems from relationship.
Paul says something similar in Romans: “if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
If we believe this with our heart, then it is a sign to us and to others that God is living in us. When we come to Jesus and confess that He is our Lord, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, comes and resides in us.
As John describes repeatedly in this letter, the result of this is that we love God and love other christians. Love is the fruit of relationship with God, and it is the sign of it.
Prayer
Thank you Lord for loving me. Please grow your love in my heart so that I can love other people with your love. Amen.
Here is my commentary on Ephesians 3:14-15. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au
Ephesians 3:14-15
“For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.”
Paul now returns to his prayer. In verse 12 he said : “ In him (that is, Christ) and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” This is the reason that he can kneel before the Father to pray. This prayer starts in verse 16.
God is our Father. He has revealed Himself as a Trinity- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The term Father is not just a theological term. Father is a relational term.
Jesus knew God as Father, as “Abba” a term of intimacy. For Jesus the name Father was not a theoretical term but an expression of deep love.
We call God Father for many reasons.
Firstly, it is an expression of love. God is love, and He loves the whole of his creation including human beings who have rebelled against His authority. God continues to love us despite our actions towards Him.
Secondly, God our Father seeks to draw us up to spiritual and relational maturity. In biblical times, a father was expected to shape his children to be like himself. God desires that we become like Him in our character and our desires.
Thirdly, God our Father disciplines us when we go astray. In Hebrews 12:7 we are told, “Endure hardship as a discipline; God is treating you as sons.” The Father disciplines His sons and daughters to perfect their character.
Fourthly God delights to pour out blessings on us. This is not contrary to the previous point, but balances it. Our Father does not dole the bare minimum to keep us alive. No, He provides what we need and more. He pours out all kinds of blessings because it pleases Him to make us happy .
In many cultures, the family takes the name of the father not of the mother. Paul is saying here that God gives His name to His family.
A name often says something about a person’s lineage. The name Smith in the past was associated with blacksmiths. Certain names might be associated with the aristocracy or with lesser classes.
To be named for our heavenly Father means that we are part of His family, related to him through the blood of Christ.
To be saved is to be a part of a family that has members right around the world and in heaven as well. This is a family that literally will never die out.
We are named with the name of Christ- Christian. We share the family name and should grow into the family likeness.
To be in the family of God means that we are members of a royal family. We are heirs of God’s Kingdom, princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses in God’s realm.
Key points in this verse
Paul kneels in prayer to the Father, confident of his access to the throne
God is our Father. This is a relational term
God loves us with unfailing love
God wants to mature us and He uses both discipline and blessing
Here is my commentary on Ephesians 3:13. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au
Ephesians 3:13
“I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.”
Paul’s imprisonment is part of God’s plan to make known the mystery, the wisdom of God, the plan of salvation. God is in control of all things, and so even Paul’s imprisonment is in God’s plan.
For this reason, Paul says the Ephesians should not be discouraged.
We can imagine that some christians might be asking why God would allow Paul to suffer like this. Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles, so why would God have him locked away?
We know now, with the benefit of hindsight, that Paul wrote several of his letters during his imprisonment. We could argue the New Testament would be somewhat smaller without Paul’s suffering.
We also know from Acts 28:30-31 that for two years of house arrest Paul welcomed many visitors and boldly proclaimed the gospel to them.
Despite his suffering, Paul was not sidelined. He was not prevented from continuing the ministry that God had prepared for him.
So Paul tells us not to be discouraged when things don’t go the way we expected.
God will prevail, and nothing can stop the gospel. What is important is that we seek to be faithful in whatever task the Lord sets before us.
We need to be mature also in our understanding of suffering. Many people do become disheartened because of their own suffering or that of others. They fail to understand that God always turns every situation to our own spiritual growth .
Our culture tells us that we deserve to be happy, that we should expect a fulfilled life, and that nothing bad should ever happen to us. While this is an appealing myth, it is complete rubbish. People get sick and die. There are acts of violence and abuse everyday. Disasters befall whole communities and nations .
Suffering is not an interruption to the good life. It is part of the process of growing to spiritual maturity .
Children don’t like it when their parents say “No” to their requests. They cannot understand why the parent puts them through painful medical or dental procedures. It hurts when they are smacked for running onto a road .
The suffering and pain that we go through in life serve to shape and strengthen our spirits. We are forced to hold on to the fact that God loves us and that this painful experience is, in some way that we cannot comprehend, for our own ultimate good.
We must not lose heart then, when we, or the people we love, go through painful times.
Paul describes his sufferings as being “for you” and “for your glory.”
Paul is aware that God uses suffering for God’s purposes, and that all things work together for the good of those who are called according to his purposes (Romans 8:28). This suffering that he is going through will make him stronger in his own faith and trust in the Lord.
Paul’s sufferings, therefore, are for the Gentiles because he will be a better apostle for the Gentiles through his suffering. This then is for them and for their glory.
As a pastor, I know that the relatively light sufferings that I have experienced have taken me deeper into the Lord. They have also given me greater empathy for those who go through severe or extended periods of suffering. In that sense, my own suffering is for them as well as for me.
Key points in this verse
We must not be discouraged by suffering- our own or others whom we love.
Suffering should draw us closer to the Lord and deepen our faith in him
God will prevail, even if we cannot see it
Suffering is not an interruption to the good life, but a part of God’s plan to bring us to maturity
Our suffering can help other people and bring glory to God
Dear children, let us not merely say we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
Observation
The message we heard from the beginning is we should love one another. Love for our christian brothers and sisters shows we have God’s life. Anyone who hates another person is a murderer at heart and does not have God’s life in him.
Jesus showed us real love by giving up His life for us. So we should give up our lives for others. If we have enough money to live well, we should share with a brother or sister in need.
We must believe in the name of Jesus, and love one another as He has commanded us.
Application
One of the unexpected features of the internet age has been the rise of tribalism on social media. It seems that the more we are connected, the more we feel the need to identify with a particular group.
Some groups are happy to welcome and endorse people as long as they toe the party line. When someone expresses an opinion contrary to the correct position, the mob descends with virtual pitch forks and harries them until they recant.
Christians are not to be like this. We are to love one another with genuine love. We must not love one another in words alone, or merely in theory. Love must be practical.
So we must continue to love people when it is not convenient or when they say things or do things a little outside our comfort zone.
John gives the example of someone who has enough money to be comfortable. They must have genuine compassion on those who are struggling financially.
Our love for one another must be like God’s love to us. It must be unconditional, unfailing, giving, costly.
We are the people who embrace the unlovely and the different ones. We are the people who hang in there with people through their struggles and challenges. We are the people who love because God first loved us,
Prayer
Father, your love for us is ever lasting. Help me to love the people around me and to be as consistent in that as you are. Amen.
Here is my commentary on Ephesians 3:12. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au
Ephesians 3:12
“In [Christ] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”
In Christ we can approach God with freedom.
It is our relationship with Christ that opens up access to the Father. Our sin created a chasm that separates us from God. The cross, the sacrifice of Christ, crosses that divide .
We who were once”far off” from from God are now in His presence – not because of our own goodness or our own deeds, but because we are in Christ.
To be in Christ means that I have become one with Him. I have asked Him into my heart and in so doing I have come into His heart, so to speak.
To be in Christ is to be united with Him, knowing that our sins are forgiven and we are now children of the Living God.
It is through faith in Christ that we gain access to the Father .
To have faith means that we believe that His death is sufficient and effective. His death is sufficient because there is nothing else that we can add to it. We are saved through faith not by works. Therefore, we must trust that Christ’s death on the cross is an adequate sacrifice. We cannot keep going back to the temple to add to this sacrifice. We must not believe that any good work that we may do can in any way add to or replace this one sacrifice.
We must also believe that Christ’s death is effective for us. I need to understand that there is no limit to the number of people or the number of sins that can be covered by the blood of Christ. I must know that my sins are forgiven, the specific things that I confess each day.
When we believe in our hearts that Christ’s death means life for us, then we can put our trust in God. This combination of belief and trust is what the Bible calls faith. In the final analysis, our trust is in God’s faithfulness that he will do what he has said. Faith is always in a person not in a doctrine.
Now we can approach God in freedom and confidence.
We can approach God in Freedom because the sins that separated us from Him are gone. The burden of sin the kept us paralysed in fear of God has all been washed away.
The Book of Genesis tells of a “flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:24) Sin effectively barred the way to God’s life, but now that we are forgiven we have freedom to come into the presence of God – the flashing sword has been taken away.
A person might come into a king’s presence in freedom but be consumed by fear or anxiety. We can approach God with both freedom and confidence.
From being aliens in a strange country, we have been adopted into God’s family, through faith in Christ. So we can approach God with confidence because he is our Father and we are sons and daughters.
Because of the sacrifice of Christ, I not only know that my sins are forgiven, I know that God loves me and will never reject me or condemn me.
When Ruth approached her husband’s throne, she did so knowing that he could have her killed on the spot for her temerity. But we approach the throne of God with confidence because his love is eternal and unconditional.
Because I have been adopted by God I can call him “Abba Father”. That means I can speak to him in intimate and familiar terms. He is not impressed by formal language or flowery prayers. He sees my heart and He loves me.
Key points in this verse:
Our relationship with Christ opens up access to the Father
To be in Christ means to be one with Him
To have faith in Christ means to believe his death is sufficient and effective
Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them.
Observation
God’s love for us is amazing. He calls us His children. We don’t yet know what we will be when Christ returns, but we will be like Him.
Sin is breaking God’s law. Jesus came to take away our sin, so if we continue to sin, it shows we are not following the ways of Jesus.
When people keep sinning they show that they belong to the devil. People who have been born into God’s family do not continue to sin. They cannot keep sinning because God’s life is in them.
Application
If you are genuinely born again, you will turn away from sin. That is what it means to be born again.
This does not mean we become instantly perfect. There is a process, a life- time of becoming more like Jesus.
As christians we are not allowed to keep our pet sins- whether it is anger or drugs, coveting or pornography.
A christian who keeps his or her sins is like a husband who keeps a lover or two on the side. This is a contradiction.
Of course, we all struggle with sin. We all have our weaknesses, those temptations that seem to particularly entice us. We need to be like the alcoholic who knows he is only ever one drink away from falling.
While christians should not engage in repeated sin, we all fall. For that there is the remedy of 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”
If you think this is a loophole that lets us get away with stuff, then you are not thinking straight. It is not about what we can and can’t get away with. We are not motivated by a counting of right and wrong. God has lavished His love upon us and it should be our overwhelming desire to walk in friendship with Him.
Prayer
Father, I admit my sinful ways to you. Please change my heart so deeply that I am no longer attracted to the things that break my relationship with you. Amen.
Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.
Observation
The last hour is here, and many antichrists have already appeared. They have left the church, but they never really belonged.
Those who remain faithful don’t just know the truth, they know the difference between the truth and lies. Anyone who denies Christ is a liar, and anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.
If we remain faithful to Christ, the Holy Spirit will teach us what is true. So we must remain in fellowship with Christ.
Application
In my early christian years, I like many at the time, was bombarded with end-times teachings about the scary demonic Antichrist and the Great Tribulation that was coming very soon. Various names were suggested for the identity of the Antichrist, but all failed to attain the title, and most are not even remembered these days.
Here, John tells us that already there were many antichrists who had come. In fact, John is the only one that uses this term. He uses it to describe not an apocalyptic demon- possessed world ruler, but many false teachers who deny that Christ is the Son of God.
This would seem to include atheists, Muslims, Hindus, New Agers, irreligious secularists and sceptics, and many more.
The spirit of antichrist is simply any spirit that opposes Christ.
Even in the first century, they believed that they were in the “last hour.” Peter says in Acts 2 that Pentecost is the day foretold by Joel- “In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.”
We don’t have to worry about a demonic Antichrist seizing power and persecuting christians. That has been going on for 2000 years and will continue to do so until Jesus returns- which could be tomorrow or another 2000 years.
Rather, we need to be faithful to Christ, serving Him in our daily life, and staying steadfast until the end.
Prayer
Thank you Father for your unfailing love. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who protects us from false teachings and false spirits. Please help me to be faithful to you in all things. Amen.
Here is my commentary on Ephesians 3:11. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au
Ephesians 3:11
“This is according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God’s intent was to make known through the church His wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. This was His eternal plan.
People are changeable, and at times, fickle. For many people, a long-term plan means as far as next weekend.
But God is not like us. When God makes a plan it is not provisional or conditional on what happens. When God makes a plan it is perfect from the beginning, and is not subject to change or improvement.
God’s plan commenced in “eternity past,” that before time began. Before the creation of the world, God made plans for a physical universe that was distinct from the heavenly realms. In that plan, God would create a race of people who could choose to reject God’s love. He would give people an option to obey God, to worship God, and to surrender to him. Or not.
This choice had been made available to the angels , but some, led by Satan, rebelled against God. While angels who have stood in the glory of the presence of God and still rejected him, are beyond repentance, human beings who only see God dimly, like a distorted reflection, they could have the ability to be redeemed and rescued.
So while God did not create sin, he did allow for it. He foreknew that Adam and Eve would fall as would every single person since. But he made a plan long before this happened that would provide a way out.
In the book of Revelation, Christ is described as “ the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world” ( Revelation 13:8). Thus it was always God’s intention from before creation that Jesus would pay for our sins.
God’s eternal purpose stretches into the future also. What was proposed before the beginning of time is eternal and unchanging, and so will continue past the end of time. There is no expiry date on salvation. The offer will always be there because God’s purpose is eternal and does not change.
It might be possible for God to change His mind about how people are brought into His Kingdom. It is possible that God could say that only people born again before the year 2020 could be saved. But he will not do that because his plan and purpose are eternal and will last for eternity.
God’s purpose is eternal also in the sense that it will carry us through to eternity. He has said that we will live with him forever. There will be no time limit in heaven. We will not be transient visitors as we are on Earth. We will be there forever.
His eternal purpose, that is to save people from sin and equip them for eternity, was accomplished through Jesus. His death on the cross was the moment in time when the eternal plan was activated.
The mystery, the plan, the purpose was this: God gave himself to rescue a fallen race. The revelation to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms was that sin will not steal away God’s glory. His love and righteousness come together to defeat all sinfulness and wilfulness.
All of this is through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Christ literally means “ anointed one” and refers to the Messiah. Jesus was the one sent by God to rescue His people. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit for this task.
Jesus is the Greek form of the name Yeshua which means “ the Lord is our saviour” or “ the Lord saves.” It is God’s nature to save his beloved people .
Lord is the name for Yahweh, the one true God. Jesus is not just a man. He is divine. He is the Lord.
Key points in this verse:
God’s purpose was commenced before time began
Jesus is the Lamb who was slain at the beginning of time
God’s plan will not change and Salvation will not stop
For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasures, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions.
Observation
John writes to three groups- children, young men and fathers, These are spiritual categories, not chronological ones. God’s children are people who know they are forgiven. The young men are those who know God’s word and have won battles against the evil one. Fathers are those who know Christ in a deep and mature way.
We must not love the world, because that leads us away from God. The wold offers only superficial attractions, and it is passing away.
Application
The world system is opposed to God. It relies on our physical nature to lure us away from the things of God.
This is not to denigrate the physical body. God made us as physical beings. When the physical part of life dominates what we think about and what we do, then we are in danger of turning away from God completely.
The world offers a craving for physical pleasure. We are not to pursue sexual immorality, possessions, unrestrained desire for food, and so on, because these things of themselves are not good for us. The world entices us but God says, “No.”
The craving for what we see can be strong. This covers things like new and better possessions, greed for wealth, that special holiday that will fix everything, a better house in a more prestigious postcode. None of these things will satisfy us, but they are so tempting. The ten commandments forbid coveting, but the world thrives on it.
Pride can be a downfall for many. It is fine to feel good about our achievements, but we can become over-impressed with ourselves. Pride leads us to believe that we are better than other people and ultimately that we are infallible.
The world leads us to worship ourselves and our fleshly appetites. We make idols that displace the one true God.
Prayer
Lord, I confess the many temptations that I feel every day. Please help me to take my eyes off the things of the physical world and worship you alone. Amen.
New Life Narrabri 