2025 Bible Study Group

[GodfatherPartTwo]

James 2

14 What use is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself.

Here, James makes a contrast between a vain, spoken faith and a faith that produces good works.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith; and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Since there are many who like to take the ending of James 2 and pit it against Paul in Romans 4 and Ephesians 2, these earlier verses are vital for context. Whereas Paul is not concerned about justification or vindication before men in his chapters, but Justification before God, here James is talking about justification before men: "I will show you my faith by my works."

19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

Apparently, there are some who are so blasphemous that they equate faith in Christ to the "faith of demons" in order to thrust forward works, all in a bad misreading of these verses. When we agree with Paul that faith alone is sufficient to save you, we are not saying, "merely assent to the fact that God exists and is one." Which, as James says, the demons also believe and it avails them nothing. What we are saying is that, "Jesus Christ's death atones for sinners, and thus it atones for me" which the demons could never believe since Christ did not die for them, as they are not members of His New Covenant. Like Hebrews says, He certainly does not give help to angels but He helps the seed of Abraham.

20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected. 23And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS COUNTED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God. 24You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Here, James gives commentary on Genesis 15 and 22. He commentates on the same passage that Paul does in Romans 4. If you read Genesis, which we did, then you recall that Abraham was declared righteous, Justified, as soon as He believed in God's Word concerning His Son: "count the stars if you can, so shall Your Seed be." That is, Abraham was accounted as righteous as soon as he believed in the Gospel promise, even in it's seed form. Then in Genesis 22, many years later, Abraham did not hesitate to offer Isaac upon the altar when God commanded him. How was it that Abraham accomplished this? Through faith in Christ. When did Abraham place his faith in Christ? Genesis 15. So when was he Justified? In God's eyes, Genesis 15. How do we as men, who cannot see the true nature of a tree without seeing it's fruits, know that Abraham was justified? By looking at his work in Genesis 22.

When you realize that James nowhere appeals to God's need to see works, but appeals to men to see them, then you know that this chapter has been badly misinterpreted and abused to overthrow Paul's doctrine of Sola Fide.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

To add onto James 2, Calvin makes an astute point: that many faithless men perform what many would consider to be good works.

I knew some Catholic men who supposed that Jordan Peterson, though not a believer, would be saved because he has pointed men to the Bible. I told them that unless Jordan Peterson places his faith in Christ, he will not be saved. Good works are not a cover for a faithless heart, and since Peterson is not necessarily encouraging men to put their faith in Christ either, I do not understand how his works could be deemed as good by any true believer. As Romans 14 says, whatever that is not done in faith is sin. God's Word must go deeper.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

James 3

1 Do not, many of you, become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment. 2For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the entire body as well.

Here, James gives a warning that comes with a teaching ministry: you will be judged to a higher standard. All Christians are called to evangelize and spread the Gospel, in this sense, they take on a partial role of a teacher, but I believe that James is chiefly referring to the Espicopacy, that the Elders of the Church will be judged by a higher standard. Those who by crook or by hook finagle themselves into a leadership position in the Church would do well to remember this.

5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. Behold how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our existence, and is set on fire by hell.

As Jesus said, it is not what goes into a man but what comes out of him that defiles him. Out of our evil hearts comes all kinds of slander, lies, blasphemy, unbelief, vanity, sin. Let the Lord make our hearts new and bridle our tongues so that we may proclaim His Word with a clear conscience.

14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15This wisdom is not coming down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil practice. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, without doubting, without hypocrisy. 18And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace aby those who make peace.

I am continually amazed by how many grifter and false teachers have made a name for themselves as stewards of the Word when they are so clearly wolves in sheep's clothing. All the signs are there. Being slanderous to promote controversy, controversy to stir up interest, interest to pursue recognition, recognition to feed pride. There needs to be more discernment, and discernment comes by going to God's unfailing standard.

 

[Tippy]

James 3:
Controlling the tongue

The tongue is "restless, evil, full of deadly poison."

"Wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind."

Some sage advice here. I still sometimes use language that has been normalized to me from movies and TV such as "damn" or "oh God," and I do so flippantly without always considering the sacrilegious aspect of this.

"Jealousy" I sometimes think I'm not too troubled by. However, sometimes I have a kind of extreme humility that is almost its own arrogance, which contrasts a little with this idea of "doing good works with humility that comes from wisdom." There is sometimes this secret selfish ambition that comes with humility that I am often on watch for and trying to keep in check.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

James 4
Favorite chapter in James

1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?

Whenever I hear people present the Church as a monolith with absolute unity, I know they are ignorant and have been misled. Why? One, the history of the Church is rife with contentions. Two, that goes all the way back to the Apostles as clearly seen in the Scriptures, which is why the Apostles went to great lengths to promote unity. Nothing on earth will match the perfections of heaven as long as sin is still in the world.

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Love this flip of the classic "Ask and ye shall receive." You ask and do not receive because your hearts are still seeking to satisfy the passions. You must ask in faith, with a clear conscience, doubting nothing.

4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God.

In New Testament terminology, fornicators, whores, sexually immoral, adulterous people, while retaining their literal meanings, are also used in a spiritual sense to refer to idolatry. This is also true in the Old Testament. By turning to idols instead of God, you have become whores. Since God will not share His Glory with any other, He will be our enemy if we turn to all the idols of the world. One of the more prominent idols of the day is the sexually degenerate, LGBT ideology. If you want to be friends with that, God will be your enemy. I would rather be a friend of God and an enemy to all the world than be a friend to all the world and an enemy of God.

5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?

James is not directly citing any Bible passage in particular. Rather, he is drawing out the truth that the Scriptures as a whole teach: that God both wants to see us in the Spirit, and that He uses the Spirit to change our will and work for His purpose.

6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” 7Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Let the Spirit do His work. Like the bully he is, the devil is a coward and will flee if you resist him. But you can only resist him if you have the Spirit. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Be miserable and mourn and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

The story of the Tragedy is of self-important people who have all their works crumble despite their best efforts, they go from laughing to crying. The story of the Comedy is of ill-deserved dummies who receive a happy ending despite not earning it, their tears turn to laughter. If you want to experience God's comedy, then you must pass through the tragedy. You must give up your self-exaltation and place yourself in a state of humiliation. From your place of humiliation, God will raise you up and be the one to exalt you.

12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you who judge your neighbor?

When James says do not judge your neighbor, he is not saying to not warn people to turn away from their dead works. He is saying to not place yourself in God's position and declare someone's judgement. God will do that, has done it, will continue to do it.

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17Therefore, to one who knows to do the aright thing and does not do it, to him it is sin.

People arrogantly presume that they will live forever, that they can do anything, that all opportunities are in their hands. All such boasting is evil. Only if the Lord wills does anyone do anything. You could die in your sleep tonight, so why will you not thank the Lord for your life first thing in the morning? You complain about your work, God gave it to you and He can take it away in an instant, why not thank Him instead?

 

[Gazza]

I used to have a REAL problem with jealousy. I’m still fiercely jealous over my wife of 30 years should any moron try to make an advance towards her (however this hasn’t happened for a while and I’m learning to curb my temper). I feel this way and I also used to with ex girlfriends because I loved them and wanted to guard them. Now to think the God of the universe, God almighty, is jealous for me!! Wow, that blows my mind.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

James 5

3 Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up such treasure in the last days! 4Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields—that which has been withheld by you—cries out against you; and the outcries of those who did the harvesting have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

It seems that in this world, to become rich you have to be willing to take advantage of someone else. Many rich people even boast about this, calling it a killer instinct. This is why Jesus said that is exceedingly difficult for a rich man to enter heaven. If you are successful, then remember you have a duty to those beneath you.

10 As an example, brothers, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11Behold, we count those blessed who persevere. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

On the flip side, you who have been victimized and long for retribution and justice, you are called to wait on the Lord with long-suffering and patience. You saw in Job that God will come through for His saints, but it will be according to His time and His timing is perfect.

12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

Matthew 5:33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’ 34But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. 36Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of the evil one.

Let your yeses be yeses and your noes be noes. Stop being wishy washy. Give a straight answer. Be an honest man. Commit to your word. When people know you to be an honest man then you will not have to swear on anything at all, your word will be good enough.

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

16 is taken out of context by some to refer to the sacrament of confession. But James is not referring to those of the priestcraft. He is not limiting the power of confession to the Elders of your church. There is mutual confession and mutual intercessory prayer in his address to the congregation as a whole.

In his epistle James gives much practical advice, it is Wisdom literature. Live according to the Word that you've read and studied and may the Holy Spirit write it on the tablets of our hearts.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Brothers. I would still like to do 1 John and Jonah. I am open to other suggestions too.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

1 John 1

1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us

What I love about John's works is that they are consistent with each other. They cover many of the same themes and it's easy to tell that they are written by the same author. Every Apostle has a polemic to their arguments, some more pronounced than others. Paul was opposed to the Judaizers and legalists. James was opposed to the licentious, essentially what would come to be known as the Antinomians. John is opposed to the pre-gnostics, even the Docetists, who did not believe that Christ had a real human body but that it was essentially a spiritual illusion. This is why John emphasizes Christ's physical manifestation, such as saying that the Disciples touched Him with their hands.

3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

You might recall Jesus' High Priestly Prayer in John 17. Jesus prays that the disciples would be one, even as Jesus and the Father are one. There is Love that binds the Trinity together. You could almost visualize it as a current flowing through. That Love has redeemed the Church and grafted it in so that the same current passes through it as well. Here in verse 3, John is inviting you to be part of that community, the fellowship. Let God's Love bring you in and flow through you as well.

4 And these things we are writing, so that our joy may be made complete.

The Apostles could not be everywhere, so how did they exercise their authority in the Church? By their writings, the Scriptures.

5 And this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

This is significant, especially against anyone who would deny the divinity of Christ. In John's Gospel, Jesus is called the Light of the world. Here, God is Light. It is beyond any doubt that the Apostles considered Jesus to be God incarnate.

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not do the truth; 7but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Here, John warns against hypocrisy in the Church. You cannot say you have fellowship with God but continue to follow the devil. These are mutually exclusive.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

No one is without sin. All men should confess that they are sinners. Those who do confess their sins, God forgives them, and not forgiveness only, but God also cleanses them, He takes the sin out of them.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

How do we make God a liar by denying our sinfulness? Because He has already testified that we all are sinners, many times over. He says that we are all sinners in Psalms. Read the 10 Commandments, if you are honest, you will admit that you've broken them all. If not outwardly then certainly inwardly. I know where the Word of God is and is not. It is not in those who maintain their own righteousness, but it is in those who confess that they have broken God's Law.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

1 John 2

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

Do not sin, but when you do, remember that Christ is interceding for you. John does not give us up to sacraments or good works to make ourselves righteous again. He never takes the focus off of Christ. Bundled in this concept of Christ's intercession is His atoning work on the cross. He intercedes on the basis of what He accomplished in your place on the cross. Your sins are already forgiven if you are in Him. So you needn't be given over to fear when you sin, but it is good that you should feel conviction and the desire to change for the better when you sin, since that is the Holy Spirit at work in you.

Speaking of the Holy Spirit, He is called the Parakleton by Jesus in John 14, the Advocate, Helper, Comforter. John calls Jesus the Parakleton here, the Advocate. I warn you to not go beyond the Apostolic example by calling anyone else your Advocate as many have done. You saw how patient Job in his distress longed for the Advocate to mediate between him and God. In Christ, you have that Advocate revealed. Blessed are your eyes for they see what the prophets longed to see. Do not blaspheme Christ by turning to another advocate, there is no other. There is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

As I said above, Christ's intercessory work as the Advocate is always coupled with His atoning work on the cross, the propitiation. Many have tried to water down the Atonement by turning it into an expiation rather than the propitiation that John says it is. What's the difference? Propitiation means that Jesus really did satisfy God's Wrath and Justice on the cross and thus forgave sinners. Expiation means that God merely forgave sinners without regard to His Justice. The fact that you need an Advocate in the first place to mediate between you and God cements the case for propitiation. Why is this controversial? Because fallen man hates the concept of a Lawful and Righteous God who is Wrathful against sinners. They have a very low, unbiblical view of God's Justice and their own sin. They would rather that God wink at our sin and call it forgiveness.

When John says "not for ours only, but for those of the whole world," I see very little reason to believe he means "every single individual," which would lead to Universalism and the denial of Hell. Rather, John is wishing to emphasize something else. The fallen world trusted in many trinkets and superstitions to be their atonement. John is wishing to emphasize that only Christ can actually be anyone's propitiation, no other atonement will save them.

As for the extent and effect of the propitiation, John in Revelation 5:9 makes it clear that "God's people have been purchased by Christ's blood (redeemed) out of every tribe, language, people, and nation." Not that everyone in every tribe, language, people, and nation has been redeemed. Christ's propitiatory death on the cross is not universal, it is covenantal.

3 And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.

John reechoes Jesus' words in John 14:15: "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."

5 but whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him

John will revisit this theme in chapter 4: perfect love casts out fear. It is not those who are afraid of God's punishments that do His Word, but it is those who recognize that God loved them all the way to the end.

7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.

Here is John's way of expressing the law of liberty as James calls it, or the New Law as Paul called it. The Apostles are not throwing away the Old Testament and introducing a new set of laws, as if God made a mistake in ratifying the Mosaic Covenant but is amending His mistake with the New Covenant. No, the Law of the Mosaic Covenant is God's Law and it is perfect. The New Commandment fulfills the Old Commandment. The New Commandment is the Law of Love. If you love Jesus, as Jesus has loved you, then you will have fulfilled all the Law which is summed up in these commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength." and "Love your neighbor as yourself."

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

1 John 2

12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.

God has a grander purpose in forgiving your sins: His glory. He hasn't forgiven you because you've done the right thing, were smarter, better, more moral, etc. It's for His name's sake that you have been granted forgiveness.

15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

This can interpreted in two ways, neither of them good. First, if you love the world then you do not love the Father. Second, if you love the world then the Father does not love you. I believe John means the first. The one who loves the world and the things in it does not have room to love the Father. He is too preoccupied with the things of the world in verse 16.

18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour.

Antichrist is coming, but even now there are many antichrists, and have been since the Fall. The one who denies Christ is the antichrist. All false teachers are antichrists.

19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be manifested that they all are not of us.

Protestants are unfairly accused of inventing the visible-invisible church distinction. We are doing nothing more than following men like Augustine who also recognized it in the Scriptures. It's right here in 1 John 2: those who apostatize and leave the visible church have not left the invisible church but were never really members. They did not lose their salvation, it cannot be lost, they were never saved to begin with. Their apostasy is a demonstration of this spiritual reality.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 21I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

Here, John sharply contrasts those who are outside the invisible church, the New Covenant, with those who belong to the New Covenant, you who believe. Do you know why you remain faithful when others become apostate? It's because you have an anointing from the Holy One, you have been born again. As Jesus quoted Jeremiah and Isaiah in John 6: "they [the New Covenant's Elect] shall all be taught by God [born again]." This is what John is alluding to when he says that he writes these things not because you don't know the truth, but because you do know it. You have been taught by God, not men.

If you have converted to Christ because of a personality then you have not really converted to Christ, but to the personality. The only one who can actually convert you to Christ is the Holy Spirit. When you heard the Word and saw it as true is when the Holy Spirit moved in you. But if you are "following Christ" to go along and get along then you will still come under judgement. God jealously yearns for the Spirit He has made to dwell in us.

23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

Every other religion than the one true religion tries to reach the Father and bypasses the Son. Imagine showing up to trial when you're guilty as hell and you haven't taken the time to hire a good lawyer. They settle for the low wage public defenders or they defend themselves. They walk right into a buzzsaw. The Judge will not be kind to them. For your case you will need the very best. So get the Good Lawyer, who ironically comes free and cannot be bought. All true worship of Jesus is Father-sanctioned. If you want to please the Father, then worship the Son. If you want the Father to be your greatest enemy, then neglect the Son.

26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27And as for you, the anointing whom you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as He has taught you, abide in Him.

You have no need for anyone to teach you if you are God-taught. There are many preachers who I admire, read, listen to, and thank God for. But I did not come to believe in Christ because of any of them. It was God who taught me. The same is true for you who really believe. We have no wisdom, God has the wisdom. If we are pots, and Scripture says we are, then wisdom is the juice and God is the pourer. We are empty until God should fill us. Notice how John says "the anointing whom you received." The Holy Spirit Himself is your anointing. You believe that Jesus is Lord because the Holy Spirit dwells in you.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

1 John 3

4 Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

Here, I must offer some criticism. I've been reading a book called Two Views of the Cross: Orthodoxy and the West. The author wishes to draw a sharp dichotomy between the way the West (Protestants and Catholics) view the cross and how the Eastern Orthodox view the cross.

Here is what she says:

Here's my objection to the whole concept of merits. (Did I say that it’s not in the Bible?) The view that Christ’s merits are applied to our sins treats sin as if it were a legal matter. Sin is viewed as breaking a law, like going over the speed limit. Jesus pays our debt, just as a friend could give you the money for a speeding ticket. But in the Orthodox view, sin is like a medical matter. Sin is death. To sin is to take poison and begin to die.

Do you see the dichotomy? The author does not want us to view sin as a legal matter, but as a medical matter. What settles this debate is how the Apostles viewed sin. Read verse 4 again. Does John say that sin is poison or does he say that sin is lawlessness? Moreover, sin does not cause us to begin to die, we were already dead in our trespasses and sins until Christ made us alive.

Why is this important? Here is the author's own application:

No one could be freed from sin on your behalf, no more than a friend could endure chemotherapy in your place.

In other words, you are on your own left to gaze at your navel. But Jesus really did suffer in our place on account of our sins. This is why the Bible stresses Penal Substitutionary Atonement as much as it does. Our salvation is not us curing ourselves of our own sins like this author suggests. Our salvation is Jesus dying for us when we were still enemies in an act of covenantal love because we were too weak to save ourselves, taking away our sins once for all, not merely beginning a process.

8 The one who does sin is of the devil, because the devil sins from the beginning. The Son of God was manifested for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus did destroy the works of the devil on the cross. If you are in Him, He destroyed the devil's works in you too. Sin has no claim on you and God has adopted you into His family.

11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

John identifies Cain as a seed of the serpent, a forerunner to antichrist, even as Abel was a type of Christ and a seed of the woman. Prefiguring Christ, Abel was put to death on account of His righteousness by the evil one. The priest himself became a sacrifice.

16 By this we have known love, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Here is God's definition of love: it is self-sacrificial, covenantal. That's how we know what love is. It is the opposite of what the world means by love: whatever makes me feel good. As Christ loved us this way, so we should love the brothers this way, putting others before ourselves.

18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 19And by this we will know that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him 20in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

You know all the times your heart condemns you, when you are racked with doubt? God is greater than your heart and knows everything. God's Grace is greater than all our sin.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

1 John 4

1 Beloved, 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.

Test the spirits by the ultimate standard, the Scripture. Those who profess Christ is come in the flesh and is the Son of God are of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who says anything else is of antichrist.

4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

One of my favorite verses because it's true in every circumstance. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. It doesn't matter who's persecuting you, who you're talking to, this is always true. You have nothing or no one to be afraid of if the Spirit of God lives in you.

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

It is not that we loved God first then He loved us back. It's the other way around. We love because He first loved us. When we were still sinners, Christ died for us. When we were still unbelievers, the Holy Spirit made us believers. He saved us even when we weren't seeking to be saved by Him.

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

Fear has to do with punishment, and punishment has to do with guilt, and guilt has to do with sin, and sin has to do with Law. But you are not under Law but under Grace. Grace has to do with love, and love has to do with forgiveness, and forgiveness has to do with righteousness, and righteousness has to do with innocence. If you are still following God out of fear, then you have not been perfected in love yet. You have not yet come to a full sense of the forgiveness that God has for you. You still behave as if one under the Law, but you must be brought under Grace.

As Paul said in Romans 8, you have not received a spirit of slavery (begrudging obligation) which leads to fear again. The Spirit you received makes you see God as a Loving Father, not your condemning Judge. Those who do not come under Grace but remain under the Law will certainly see God as Judge.

19 We love, because He first loved us. 20If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

As Jesus said, he who is forgiven much loves much, but the one who is forgiven little, loves little. If someone hates his brother, he knows nothing of the forgiveness of Christ. The one who loves his brother, loves his brother because he knows Christ has forgiven him everything. The more you know Christ has forgiven you, the more loving you will be. Spurgeon once said, "If the Lord Jesus Christ can put up with you, you ought to be able to put up with anybody."

 

[Tippy]

I need to catch up here, starting with my James reflections:

James 4

Drawing close to god

‘You want only what will give you pleasure’ – very true

‘if you want to be friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God’ -

This is a tough quote for me to take on board because sometimes I think to succeed in the world with my God given talents or skills is somewhat of a W if I can use that to somehow bring others to God.

I’m a big fan of stand up comedy and I remember finding out other comedians as Christians (Norm McDonald, Tim Vine, Milton Jones, Frank Skinner) was somehow comforting. It was inspiring in a way. And I sometimes think if I had any worldly success in terms of fame just being Christian and publicly stating it would help normalize it especially if I was not decadent.

‘Your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you’

‘What right do you have to judge your neighbour?’

It ends on an mic drop moment ‘it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it’


James 5
Warning to the rich

More rich bashing I feel like I’m back in Job again.

Patience and endurance

‘Take courage for the coming of the lord is near’ – this is somewhat tough to swallow knowing that thousands of years have passed and we probably won’t experience this in our lifetimes

and not to be self-indulgent but most likely I keel over and die reandomly of a heart attack and I hope by that time I’ve made right with God and everything but I’m unlikely to have some grand epiphany or visit from a guardian angel in the interium and honestly it horrifies me deeply to just...not know. TO not be certain if I’m good enough or if I’m even more a devil inside that I’m aware of because maybe I use my intellect or even my somewhat passive engagement with Christ and God for my own gains or to alleviate my suffering. If I had some sign, some message...I guess this is why I seriously considered the orthodox and catholic churches because they have so much emphasis on external symbols. All of this stuff going on outside of my head to perhaps bring faith into being with objects or rituals. But if in your heart you have doubt I don’t know...but it explains my attraction to those denominations.


On the power of prayer; ‘if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven’ – does this mean it’s enough for me to just pray and be forgiven for my sins?

 

[Tippy]

1 John 1

Living in the light

'If we are living in the light, as God is in the light, they have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.'

As well as some important part about fellowship with each other and Jesus who they have seen.

My biggest problem right now is my doubt about Jesus. Not about God. I'm sure there must be an organising force in the Universe. Or at least it seems an extremely strong possibility.

But with Jesus my doubt is sometimes about if somehow this was orchestrated as a sort of amazing trick. I don't like typing this out it's just where my doubt lies. I get that it's unlikely in a way since various cult leaders have not stood the test of time. I just wonder if maybe people wanted it to be true bad enough. I haven't done a deep dive on the actual historical evidence beyond these witness accounts. I'm writing this because my cynicism about Jesus is what I want to work on the most right now except I don't know how to do this beyond just having faith.

Is my faith always going to be doomed by doubt? That's my fear. Or is this doubt or thought of 'but what if it wasn't like that?' always going to be there and just something I need to wrestle with.

 

[Tippy]

John 2:
'Do not love this world...for the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and price in our achievements and possessions.'

Good focus on this ephemeral nature of wanting things of this world. How much of my energy is in this direction? Of attaining more - the highlight reel of human experience rather than the everlasting value of having a God pleasing soul?

"Anyone who denies the father and the son is an antichrist'- Wow that's extreme. Does this make all non-believers anti-christs?

Sometimes I see people who aren't Christian but maybe living out Christian ideals in some ways more than actual Christians.

'remain in fellowship with Christ' - how exactly? By not sinning? I am under the impression I can be in fellowship with God through prayer but I'm not sure if that extends to Christ.

 

[Tippy]

John 3

'when people keep on sinning, it shows they belong to the devil'

'if we don't feel guilty, we can come to God bold with confidence'

What if we feel guilt over past sins? Or wonder if we atoned enough for them? I'm concerned that I'll always feel guilty over certain things. Again I think that's why I wanted to confess or be baptised into the Orthodox church at one time. I wanted that fresh start so to speak. I guess I must trust that God knows my heart. Maybe I don't know my own heart or even trust myself. I'm certain I'm not cleansed now.

Let's hope i'm on the right path and with better deeds and behaviours I can turn to God with more confidence.

 

[Tippy]

John 4 -

'if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God.'

The first person that came to mind when I read this was Jordan Peterson - someone who endlessly references the Bible and Christ like behaviour (in so far as behaviour can be Christ like symbolically) but it's a very gnostic interpretation. He appears to think that the Bible is a text that gives us an allegory for how to live life. So to 'sacrifice' in the name of working our assess off is his version of Christ being real. But he rarely talks about actually believing Christ was real. As a result, I deem him a false prophet.

'if someone says, 'I love God' but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar ' -

Honestly, I see a lot of behaviour of animosity between different denominations where it seems the differences causes people to maybe not outwardly show animosity towards individuals but at least suggest a lack of love for them. It's quite disheartening.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

‘Take courage for the coming of the lord is near’ – this is somewhat tough to swallow knowing that thousands of years have passed and we probably won’t experience this in our lifetimes

I submit to you that the "coming of the Lord" does not always refer to the Second Coming. Some convincingly argue that it can mean God's judgement of Jerusalem in 70AD in certain contexts, which is what I think James means here. In verse 9, he says that "the Judge is standing right at the door." It echoes John the Baptist telling the Pharisees that "the axe is at the root of the tree." Which meant that God would soon enact Vengeance on Jerusalem.

I guess this is why I seriously considered the orthodox and catholic churches because they have so much emphasis on external symbols. All of this stuff going on outside of my head to perhaps bring faith into being with objects or rituals. But if in your heart you have doubt I don’t know...but it explains my attraction to those denominations.

There is someone who's marriage is falling apart since he fell for the whole works-based system that his denomination of choice has to offer. Despite making many arguments about how wonderful it is, he says that after years of being in it he is worse than ever. It's a prime example of why these legalistic, external-focused systems don't work. They can't change the heart. Only God and the Gospel can change your heart and bring you true peace. When someone trusts in rule-keeping to save them, they are still trusting in themselves and it's why they don't experience salvation. Salvation does not come from ourselves, it comes from God. It's foolish for someone to want to make it harder on themselves when Jesus wants to make it easier for them.

On the power of prayer; ‘if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven’ – does this mean it’s enough for me to just pray and be forgiven for my sins?

God's Grace really is that free and really that simple. You don't need to jump through hoops to earn His forgiveness. It is not better deeds that will soothe your conscience but truly knowing and believing that Jesus loves you and has forgiven you of all your sins.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

1 John 5

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

God's commandments are not burdensome and Jesus' burden is light. If following Christ is burdensome to you, then you either have not been perfected in God's love or you are following some works-based system that builds man-made hedges around the Law, making it harder than it needs to be. The Pharisees were such people. The unspoken part is always that they are holier than you because they are able to "tough it out" better than you can. But if you have the Holy Spirit loving God in you, following God's Word comes easy. Not because you are so righteous, you're not, but because the one dwelling in you is righteousness itself, and He "causes you to will and to work according to His good pleasure."

4 For everything that has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the overcoming that has overcome the world—our faith.

Jesus has overcome the world. If your faith is in Him, you may share in His victory. I hear people complain about everything, about their work, about their victimizers, about God, etc. They are under a heavy burden of sin's enslavement and of Lawful obligations they can never live up to. The world has defeated them. But in Christ, all things are given to you freely and for your good. You can defeat the world through faith in Him.

6 This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth.

This passage has puzzled theologians down throughout the ages. What is the water and the blood referring to? Many have been quick to say Christ's baptism and death, and while that is possible I am not convinced of it. If you compare this section, verses 6-9, with John 19:34-37, you will see there is a beat for beat thematic consistency between them.

John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. 36For these things came to pass in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.” 37And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.”

Remember that throughout John's Gospel, Jesus says much about giving living water to anyone who comes to Him. Then at the end of John's Gospel, the water is literally flowing out from Jesus' side on the cross. For John to say that Jesus came by water is to say that Jesus came with eternal life flowing out of Him (He is the very source of eternal life), both the Christians and the pre-Gnostics (who understood the spiritual import) believed this. But for John to emphasize that Jesus came by blood and "not by water only" is to confirm that Christ was indeed human with a real human body, ruling out the pre-Gnostic, Docetic view.

The Docetic view was built on much Greek philosophical baggage, namely the dualistic idea that the material world was absolutely evil and that the spirit world was good. As such, they could not believe that Christ was truly human since it would upend their metaphysical presuppositions. So their Christ was a spirit who seemed to have a body but did not really, and did not really die on the cross (which the Muslims would adopt).

Despite claims to the contrary, John is not leaning on Greek philosophy. Certainly not here and not even in John 1:1 when he calls Jesus the Logos. John's background is the Old Testament Scriptures and He is presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of them. The emphasis on the blood has to do with the ratification of the covenant. If there is no blood, no sacrifice, then there is no covenant, and thus no unity with God. So the logic flows like this: Jesus really bled and died => propitiation was made => the New Covenant is ratified and those in the New Covenant have peace and communion with God. Just as the Old Covenant was ratified and renewed by the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, and the goats and bulls and the other offerings. There is much I can say about this, but it will be better saved for a study of Hebrews.

7 For there are three that bear witness: 8the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

With this in mind, perhaps the 'he' in John 19:35 is not referring to John the Apostle, which is what is commonly believed, but to the Holy Spirit:

John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.

There is a famous textual variant in verse 7 called the Johannine Comma, or the Comma Johanneum. The text will say: 7For there are three that beare record [in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.] 8[And there are three that beare witnesse in earth], the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood, and these three agree in one.

Petty much only non-updated King James Bibles will have it. It's an incredibly late variant in the manuscript history. As tempting as it is, you should not use it as a proof text for the Trinity. Use other portions of Scripture to prove the Trinity.