Eric

John Wasn't Talking to You John's writings are some of the most loved in the Bible, and John 3:16 and 1 John are favorites for good reason. But John, like Peter and James, wrote from within a different commission, and that changes how his instructions apply to us. -Who John served •Paul says "James, Cephas, and John" gave him the right hand of fellowship so that "we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision" (Gal. 2:9). •John's Gospel says its purpose is that "ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God" (John 20:31), and that "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22). •1 John opens with what the apostles "have seen with our eyes" and "handled" of Christ, and invites readers into "fellowship with us" (1 John 1:1-3). That is the fellowship of the earthly-ministry apostles. •Revelation is written to the seven churches (Rev. 1:4) about "things which must shortly come to pass" (1:1), with 144,000 "of all the tribes of the children of Israel" (7:4). •Paul calls himself "the apostle of the Gentiles" (Rom. 11:13), and the Gospel of the uncircumcision was committed to him (Gal. 2:7). -What John teaches that Paul doesn't •Tests that prove you know Him. "Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar" (1 John 2:3-4). •Walking in the light as the condition for fellowship. "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie" (1 John 1:6). •Love as the evidence of life. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death" (1 John 3:14). •Not committing sin. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin" (1 John 3:9). •Abiding or being cut off. "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered... and they are burned" (John 15:6). •Boldness at judgment. "Abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming" (1 John 2:28; see 4:17). •Overcoming. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (Rev. 2:11), and "I will not blot out his name out of the book of life" (Rev. 3:5). •Keeping the commandments. "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12). -What Paul says to us •Forgiven. "Having forgiven you all trespasses" (Col. 2:13). "Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Eph. 4:32). •Not under law. "Ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Rom. 6:14). "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Rom. 10:4). •Assurance rests on Christ's work. "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him" (2 Tim. 1:12). "After that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise" (Eph. 1:13). •Loved while sinners. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). •No condemnation. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). Nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God" (Rom. 8:38-39). •No wrath. "God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation" (1 Thess. 5:9). •A different hope. "Looking for that blessed hope" (Titus 2:13), and the mystery that "we shall all be changed" (1 Cor. 15:51-52). •Fruit, not conditions. Love is "the fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. 5:22). -Here's where it gets polarizing. Many people use 1 John to find assurance, and its tests work in reverse for many of them. If you know you're saved only when you keep His commandments and love the brethren perfectly, assurance will rise and fall with your behavior. Cont..