1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:09,140 Speaker 1: Life Audio. The Bible Study Podcast, Episode 996. Today, the 2 00:00:09,180 --> 00:00:12,390 Speaker 1: Bible Study Podcast starts a new study with the book 3 00:00:12,570 --> 00:00:23,730 Speaker 1: of 1 John. Welcome to the Bible Study Podcast. I'm 4 00:00:23,750 --> 00:00:26,860 Speaker 1: your host, Chris Christensen. I mentioned that we might take 5 00:00:26,900 --> 00:00:29,580 Speaker 1: a break from the Old Testament, from the Torah and 6 00:00:29,940 --> 00:00:31,180 Speaker 1: And we're going to do so. We're going to do 7 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,339 Speaker 1: a little palate cleanser and study 1 John. But first, 8 00:00:34,740 --> 00:00:39,840 Speaker 1: a word from this sponsor. 1 John is a short book. 9 00:00:40,340 --> 00:00:45,230 Speaker 1: This is a series of three different chapters here written 10 00:00:45,330 --> 00:00:49,290 Speaker 1: by the Apostle John, written by John, the son of Zebedee, 11 00:00:49,330 --> 00:00:52,989 Speaker 1: the brother of James, one of Jesus' favorite disciples, one 12 00:00:53,010 --> 00:00:55,990 Speaker 1: of his key disciples, and the longest living of the disciples, 13 00:00:56,570 --> 00:00:59,190 Speaker 1: who ends up writing the Gospel, the book of Revelation, 14 00:00:59,980 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: and three different epistles, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. We're 15 00:01:04,380 --> 00:01:05,940 Speaker 1: going to study 1st John, and then we're going to 16 00:01:06,020 --> 00:01:09,330 Speaker 1: jump back into the Torah for the book of Leviticus. 17 00:01:10,950 --> 00:01:14,290 Speaker 1: 1st John, chapter 1, the incarnation of the word of life. 18 00:01:15,110 --> 00:01:17,509 Speaker 1: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, 19 00:01:17,930 --> 00:01:20,090 Speaker 1: which we have seen with our eyes, which we have 20 00:01:20,150 --> 00:01:24,700 Speaker 1: looked at, and our hands have touched, this we proclaim 21 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,860 Speaker 1: concerning the word of life. The life appeared, we have 22 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: seen it and testify to it, And we proclaim to 23 00:01:30,980 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: you the eternal life, which was with the Father and 24 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,330 Speaker 1: has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we 25 00:01:37,370 --> 00:01:40,590 Speaker 1: have seen and heard, so you also may have fellowship 26 00:01:40,650 --> 00:01:43,690 Speaker 1: with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and 27 00:01:43,730 --> 00:01:46,670 Speaker 1: with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make 28 00:01:46,860 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: our joy complete. So John is writing this later in life. 29 00:01:52,860 --> 00:01:58,710 Speaker 1: We generally put this authorship of this book around 85 30 00:01:58,710 --> 00:02:03,070 Speaker 1: to 100 AD. And that means it's after the fall 31 00:02:03,370 --> 00:02:06,990 Speaker 1: of the temple, it's after the war between Israel, between 32 00:02:07,010 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: the Jewish people and Rome, the Masada, all of that 33 00:02:10,980 --> 00:02:15,019 Speaker 1: has happened. It also then is likely that John is 34 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,839 Speaker 1: writing this when he is the only living, the only 35 00:02:18,900 --> 00:02:23,370 Speaker 1: surviving one of the apostles. And so of all of 36 00:02:23,450 --> 00:02:26,549 Speaker 1: the apostles, of all of the 12, Judas, of course, 37 00:02:26,630 --> 00:02:30,700 Speaker 1: dies in early before the resurrection of Jesus. And then 38 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: James is the next one to die in the book 39 00:02:33,260 --> 00:02:36,590 Speaker 1: of Acts. And except for John, all of the other 40 00:02:37,220 --> 00:02:42,230 Speaker 1: apostles are martyred. And so John is at this point 41 00:02:42,630 --> 00:02:48,470 Speaker 1: one of the only remaining eyewitnesses. And it's important for him, 42 00:02:48,930 --> 00:02:52,810 Speaker 1: obviously he's written the gospel already, his story, but there 43 00:02:52,850 --> 00:02:55,329 Speaker 1: are still some issues that he wants to deal with. 44 00:02:55,730 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: And so he writes this book And he emphasizes that 45 00:02:59,820 --> 00:03:04,339 Speaker 1: he saw these things, he touched these things, he is 46 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:09,470 Speaker 1: an eyewitness, he is not talking about things that he 47 00:03:09,530 --> 00:03:13,209 Speaker 1: wasn't there for. Now, that is obviously not true of me. 48 00:03:13,410 --> 00:03:17,530 Speaker 1: I'm talking about things that I was born more than 49 00:03:17,530 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: 1900 years later. And so John has this special, and 50 00:03:21,780 --> 00:03:26,980 Speaker 1: as the last of the apostles alive, this special authority 51 00:03:27,500 --> 00:03:29,300 Speaker 1: And we ought to listen to him for that reason. 52 00:03:30,580 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: And he says, why he's writing it is to make 53 00:03:32,900 --> 00:03:36,620 Speaker 1: our joy complete. Now, we don't know what's going to 54 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:39,940 Speaker 1: make his joy complete just yet, but I'm hoping we 55 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:44,060 Speaker 1: get a clue as we go through this book. So 56 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: he's talking about proclaiming what he has seen and heard 57 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:50,839 Speaker 1: so that we also might have fellowship, so that you 58 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,260 Speaker 1: may also have fellowship with us. So he's writing to 59 00:03:53,300 --> 00:03:57,540 Speaker 1: people so that they can come to belief in the Father, 60 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,690 Speaker 1: and with his Son, Jesus Christ. So he continues, light 61 00:04:01,930 --> 00:04:05,500 Speaker 1: and darkness, sin and forgiveness. This is the message we 62 00:04:05,530 --> 00:04:08,270 Speaker 1: have heard from him and declare to you, God is light, 63 00:04:08,770 --> 00:04:11,270 Speaker 1: in him there is no darkness at all. If we 64 00:04:11,310 --> 00:04:13,890 Speaker 1: claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in 65 00:04:13,950 --> 00:04:17,390 Speaker 1: the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 66 00:04:17,890 --> 00:04:19,770 Speaker 1: But if we walk in the light as he is 67 00:04:19,830 --> 00:04:22,310 Speaker 1: in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and 68 00:04:22,330 --> 00:04:28,190 Speaker 1: the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. Now, 69 00:04:28,550 --> 00:04:31,590 Speaker 1: these words are familiar to me because I grew up 70 00:04:31,690 --> 00:04:35,479 Speaker 1: in a liturgical tradition, meaning that when we go to 71 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,260 Speaker 1: church and we go through the service, there are some 72 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:43,300 Speaker 1: parts of the service that are prescripted, if you will. 73 00:04:43,420 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: And so some church traditions are this way and some 74 00:04:46,260 --> 00:04:49,279 Speaker 1: are not. The church that I have, some of the 75 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: words that we use for communion and some of the 76 00:04:52,020 --> 00:04:54,909 Speaker 1: words that we use for confession are here from the 77 00:04:54,950 --> 00:04:58,620 Speaker 1: book of 1 John. and especially this next section here, 78 00:04:59,060 --> 00:05:01,779 Speaker 1: if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves 79 00:05:02,190 --> 00:05:04,830 Speaker 1: and the truth is not in us. If we confess 80 00:05:04,970 --> 00:05:07,930 Speaker 1: our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive 81 00:05:08,010 --> 00:05:12,370 Speaker 1: us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If 82 00:05:12,390 --> 00:05:14,980 Speaker 1: we claim we have not sinned, we make him out 83 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: to be a liar and his word is not in us. 84 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,719 Speaker 1: So these are familiar words to me. And There's something 85 00:05:22,779 --> 00:05:26,839 Speaker 1: that we remind each other of in my church on Sundays, 86 00:05:27,540 --> 00:05:33,540 Speaker 1: because John is telling us that this, we were cleansed 87 00:05:33,620 --> 00:05:38,500 Speaker 1: by Jesus on the cross, while it's true, it doesn't 88 00:05:38,610 --> 00:05:42,870 Speaker 1: mean we never screw up after that. We still are 89 00:05:43,529 --> 00:05:47,790 Speaker 1: both saint and sinner, as Luther said. We are still sinners. 90 00:05:47,990 --> 00:05:51,950 Speaker 1: We will still fall short of God's expectation. And John 91 00:05:52,029 --> 00:05:56,210 Speaker 1: says there's a solution to that, which is don't pretend 92 00:05:56,450 --> 00:06:00,779 Speaker 1: to be something else. If you say you are without sin, 93 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: we deceive ourselves. Or we're trying to deceive somebody else. 94 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: But we're not. We're not perfect. We don't always measure up. 95 00:06:09,540 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: And it may not be in outward signs. It might 96 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: just be in my thoughts. It might just be what 97 00:06:14,700 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: I say in my inner room when you're not listening, 98 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,620 Speaker 1: when the microphones are off and my wife's off at work. 99 00:06:21,170 --> 00:06:23,330 Speaker 1: It might be what I say to my neighbor or 100 00:06:23,370 --> 00:06:25,330 Speaker 1: what I say at work or what I'm thinking or 101 00:06:25,390 --> 00:06:29,330 Speaker 1: how I act, but we're not perfect. And John says, 102 00:06:29,550 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: that's okay. That's human. So what we do with that 103 00:06:34,710 --> 00:06:39,380 Speaker 1: is we confess. We say, I want to be better. 104 00:06:40,100 --> 00:06:44,020 Speaker 1: This was not the person I want to be. And God, 105 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:48,039 Speaker 1: who is faithful and just, will forgive us, first of all, 106 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,870 Speaker 1: and then purify us. We'll remove that barrier of sin 107 00:06:52,910 --> 00:06:56,150 Speaker 1: that gets in the way of us and God. But 108 00:06:56,190 --> 00:06:59,110 Speaker 1: we can't get there if we don't admit we've got 109 00:06:59,130 --> 00:07:01,950 Speaker 1: a problem. If we claim we have not sinned, we 110 00:07:02,010 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: make him out to be a liar and his word 111 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: is not in us. If there were perfect people, the 112 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: Father wouldn't have needed to send Jesus to the cross. 113 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:17,890 Speaker 1: He just would have worked with those perfect people. But 114 00:07:17,910 --> 00:07:23,110 Speaker 1: we're not. God is light in him, there is no darkness. 115 00:07:23,510 --> 00:07:26,060 Speaker 1: Light will be something that comes up in this book, 116 00:07:26,140 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: I believe, multiple times. And if we claim to have 117 00:07:30,420 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: fellowship with him, yet walk in darkness, we lie and 118 00:07:34,300 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: do not live out the truth. What does it mean 119 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:41,150 Speaker 1: to walk in light? What does it mean to walk 120 00:07:41,350 --> 00:07:45,950 Speaker 1: in darkness? One of the things I think of is, 121 00:07:47,890 --> 00:07:51,950 Speaker 1: do you want the way you live the way you think, 122 00:07:52,630 --> 00:07:57,930 Speaker 1: the way you behave in private to be known. If 123 00:07:57,970 --> 00:08:02,740 Speaker 1: we walk in light, it wouldn't be a problem at all. 124 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: Or I guess the opposite is, if we just have 125 00:08:06,020 --> 00:08:08,300 Speaker 1: no sense of shame, it wouldn't be a problem at all, 126 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,780 Speaker 1: except that's a big problem, because that gets into the 127 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,060 Speaker 1: if we claim to be without sin part at the 128 00:08:14,100 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: bottom part. But if we walk in the light, if 129 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: we live as Jesus would have us live, That is 130 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: walking in the light. And we have fellowship one another 131 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,220 Speaker 1: in the blood of Jesus, his son purifies us from 132 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: all sin. And again, John's talking about here, not just once. Jesus' 133 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:36,510 Speaker 1: sacrifice is once for all, but again, we will screw up. 134 00:08:37,090 --> 00:08:41,030 Speaker 1: I don't know how often, daily, hourly, weekly, but we 135 00:08:41,070 --> 00:08:44,390 Speaker 1: will need to come back again and confess and move on. 136 00:08:45,170 --> 00:08:47,590 Speaker 1: With that, we're going to end this first chapter here 137 00:08:47,890 --> 00:08:50,790 Speaker 1: of 1 John, if you have any questions, send an 138 00:08:50,850 --> 00:08:54,469 Speaker 1: email to chris2x at gmail.com, or better yet, leave a 139 00:08:54,510 --> 00:08:59,900 Speaker 1: comment on this episode at thebiblestudypodcast.com. And as always, thanks 140 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:12,199 Speaker 1: so much for listening. I want to take just a 141 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: second to thank the team at Life Audio for their 142 00:09:14,660 --> 00:09:18,830 Speaker 1: partnership with us on this podcast. If you go to lifeaudio.com, 143 00:09:19,150 --> 00:09:23,020 Speaker 1: you'll find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network. 144 00:09:23,460 --> 00:09:27,579 Speaker 1: They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.