Bible Study on 1John 5, verses 10 to 13, And this is the record

 

1John 5:10 ¶  He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11  And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

As the Father testifies of the Son and the Son of the Father the person who does not believe in and on Christ is calling the eternal God of the universe a liar. God has given us eternal life and this life is found only through Christ. If you have the Son you have life and if you do not have the Son you do not have life.

John  3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John says he has written these things so that we can confidently believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and have confidence that we will live with Him forever and ever through eternity. Praise God!!!

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 62, He only is my salvation

 

Psalm 62:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David.» Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. 2  He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. 3  How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. 4  They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah. 5  My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. 6  He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 7  In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

 

In this passage of Psalm 62 David confirms that his deliverance comes only from God and that it is only in God’s power to save him from the liars, the cutthroats who plot against him. They are false friends and disloyal although they pretend to be faithful.

 

Here as in most places where salvation is used, it is a reference to temporal deliverance as the context makes clear although we may use it for our eternal salvation.

 

David has expressed his confidence many times.

 

Psalm 25:5  Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

 

Psalm 27:14  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

 

Psalm 33:20  Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.

 

Psalm 40:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.» I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

 

God is our strength and refuge, our consolation times of trouble and pain. It is only in Christ, who is God in the flesh, that we can have confidence in our future. He is the Rock on which the church is built, the cornerstone of the foundation.

 

1Corinthians 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

 

Ephesians 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

 

1Peter 2:6  Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

 

Psalm 62:8 ¶  Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. 9  Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. 10  Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them. 11  God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. 12  Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.

 

Here David tells the congregation, the Israelites and by extension us, to trust in God always and not to trust in dominating others, in riches, or in men regardless of their social status or power. We have been told who runs the world’s governments.

 

Daniel 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

 

We know who is behind the world system that rejects Christ’s rule.

 

2Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

 

Luke 4:5  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

 

In continuing with the thought of this Psalm David puts his trust in God and in God alone, as should we. Verse 12 shows two things; one that the religion of the Israelites was based on works in a way that ours is not. It can also be taken to mean that we will reap what we sow, which we know is often the case if not always. Or as the cartoon, Popeye the Sailorman, muttered, “ya gets what ya pays for.”

 

David understands that God is absolute in power over all reality and it is foolish to trust in anything or anyone else.

Bible Study on 1John 5, verses 6 to 9, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost

 

1John 5:6 ¶  This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8  And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 9  If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

The heresy of Gnosticism was apparently a problem during the time of the early church as John combats it. This Gnosticism, the perfectability of man, the secret knowledge of an elite, the idea that matter was part of a fraud perpetuated by the God of the Old Testament who was evil, that God could not come in the flesh because of that, a sort of the movie Matrix played out in history where Jesus came to enlighten us and deliver us from the evil God, a type of Satan, and denying that there could be a God in the flesh who could have died on the Cross, and finally that every person was responsible for their own salvation. Now that Gnosticism has come down to us in the form of Communism/Socialism/Marxism where early philosophers talked about returning to the innocence of the Garden of Eden without God as in the Crosby, Stills, and Nash song made famous at the Woodstock music festival of the 1960s. By the way, Woodstock, NY was where the Communist Party was instituted in the early 20^th century.

Anyway, back to John’s letter, there are two interpretations of the water and the blood. One is that Jesus came to earth in the water birth, born of water, and that He ended His life by shedding His blood for us. This has justification in John’s gospel.

John 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Another, more popular interpretation, is that Christ began His ministry in Baptism and ended in shedding His blood for us, as meanings for the water and the blood.

Verse 7 is one of the most hotly disputed verses in Bible history and yet, that is odd, because it is alluded to or quoted by early church fathers in every century of the early church. In spite of that, some “bible scholars” insist it was added in the 7^th century. It is in Jerome’s Latin Vulgate from the early 5^th century and many insist that it reflects the Old Latin Bible of the second century in controversial arguments that are too long to explain here. I recommend reading In Defense of the Authenticity of 1 John 5:7  by C. H. Pappas and A History of the Debate over 1 John 5:7-8 by Michael Maynard, the latter of which I’ve read from cover to cover. If the verse is not in your Bible then you should get a different Bible.

This verse is the hinge on which the theology of God, the Godhead, swings. As I’ve noted before regarding the Targums, or the Jewish understanding of the Bible in the first century and before, in the Godhead was the living Word of God, the angel of the LORD, who appeared to men and interacted with them. It is how Adam and Eve could have walked and talked in the Garden of Eden with God. It is who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. It is, among many other incidences which you will see if you watch or read my commentaries, the preincarnate Christ.

There are three in heaven who are one. They are one God with three parts; God the Father, invisible, the Son of God, the Word by which all things exist and who interacted physically with mankind, the Holy Ghost, His very mind in action as God’s Spirit, the operative side of the Holy Ghost working within the universe and indwelling each believer. I’ve gone over this many times so I won’t belabor the point here.

See my comments on 1John 1:1-4.

John 10:30  I and my Father are one.

The Spirit of God, His very mind acting in and upon creation, the living Word of God entering into human flesh as in the water birth, the only time God was born as a human being, and the blood, His blood by which we are all saved, agree and point to the God of heaven and earth. The physical world and the physical universe all point to the invisible God and His living Word by which all things were created.

Christ’s birth, death, burial, and resurrection and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in His believers all manifest this foundational truth of Christian belief.

Christ bears witness to the eternal God as the eternal God bears witness to the Son of God, God walking in human flesh on the earth by whom we are saved and God’s Biblical ministry of reconciling mankind to Himself is finally complete.

Bible Study on Genesis 26, verses 6 to 11, Isaac caught sporting with Rebekah

 

Genesis 26:6 ¶  And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 7  And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon. 8  And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. 9  And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. 10  And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. 11  And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

Here again we have a picture of a righteous heathen king and a picture of one of God’s men acting in a most unbecoming and cowardly manner. Isaac repeats the lack of faith in God’s protection as did his father, Abraham. Clearly, the possibility of being killed and having your wife taken for another man’s pleasure must have been a cultural practice and a grave danger in the ancient world for Isaac, like Abraham, to be too afraid he might be killed for his wife.

Abimelech, though, after a long time, looks out a window and sees Isaac sporting with his wife. This, we assume, is some kind of sexual play that would not be expected between a brother and a sister. Sporting can mean play or a jest or even mocking but common sense tells us that this play would have to be in such a manner as to reveal Isaac and Rebekah’s relationship. See here how sport and sporting are used elsewhere.

It can be to take delight in;

2Peter 2:13  And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

Proverbs 10:23  It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.

Perhaps to mock and make fun of if the following has no more sinister meaning considering the nature of the ancient world’s culture and religion;

Judges 16:25  And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars…27  Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

Or clearly just to mock and make fun of;

Proverbs 26:19  So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?

Isaiah 57:4  Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,

In any event, this righteous Abimelech has caught the deception played on him and announces that anyone who touches Rebekah or Isaac will die. Here is a heathen man who understands righteousness and God’s standard regardless of his culture and we will see that again. This brings to mind Peter’s statement;

Acts 10:34 ¶  Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35  But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

It was not so many hundreds of years ago that all men would have known God’s standards of righteousness through Noah and clearly, as that knowledge became degraded over time, the strains of judgment and righteousness were still present in some form. Some heathen knew in their heart, or at least acknowledged they knew, what God regarded as right and wrong, unlike even many Christians today.

Bible Study on 1John 5, verses 1 to 5, Who is he that overcometh the world

 

1John 5:1 ¶  Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Verse 1 is a very straightforward statement. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and all that entails you are born of God.

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

John 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Underscoring John’s previous statements he says that if you love Christ you must love those begotten by Him, your brothers and sisters in Christ. We know we love God’s children specifically when we love God and keep His commandments. Matthew Henry wrote this in his commentary;

“II. The apostle shows, 1. How we may discern the truth, or the true evangelical nature of our love to the regenerate. The ground of it must be our love to God, whose they are: By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, v. 2. Our love to them appears to be sound and genuine when we love them not merely upon any secular account, as because they are rich, or learned, or kind to us, or of our denomination among religious parties; but because they are God's children, his regenerating grace appears in them, his image and superscription are upon them, and so in them God himself is loved. Thus we see what that love to the brethren is that is so pressed in this epistle; it is love to them as the children of God and the adopted brethren of the Lord Jesus. 2. How we may learn the truth of our love to God—it appears in our holy obedience: When we love God, and keep his commandments,”

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

And we overcome the world by our faith in Christ.

1John 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Notice how verses 4 and 5 apply to statements made in Revelation.

Revelation 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. 11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death…17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it…26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

Revelation 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels…12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Bible Study on Genesis 26, verses 1 to 5, Go not down into Egypt

 

Genesis 26:1 ¶  And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2  And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 3  Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4  And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5  Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Now we are returned to the narrative, the story of Isaac and Rebekah, after the flash forward about Esau and Jacob. Sometimes the Bible not only flashes back to explain why something happened but in this case flashes forward to prepare us for what is going to happen.

Here, Isaac follows in his father’s footsteps and seeks relief in a famine in the land of the Philistine king, Abimelech. Remember, I said Abimelech may be a title like Pharaoh and might not be the name of the king. It is most likely that this is a different king than the one which encountered Abraham earlier. But whether it is or isn’t God had specifically told Isaac not to go into Egypt but to stay in Canaan, the land which his seed would eventually inherit. God repeated His promise to Isaac that He made to Abraham about the grant of land He will provide which will be completely fulfilled upon Christ’s return to rule from Jerusalem. God says this is because Abraham obeyed Him and kept His part of the agreement, and make sure you understand how the Holy Spirit speaking through Moses has provided for our understanding here; charge, commandments, statutes, and laws. These words are synonyms and you should keep this in mind as you read these words throughout the Bible.

In addition, you can see that the word LORD has every letter capitalized. This is the translation of the word Jehovah, 6510 times as LORD, four as God, and four as Jehovah according to Strong’s. God’s name is provided and translated as LORD.

Amos 5:8  Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:

Bible Study on 1John 4, verses 14 to 21, God is love

 

1John 4:14 ¶  And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15  Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

The essence of salvation is belief and faith. We confess that Jesus Christ is and was God in the flesh. He loved the world at the Cross and loves those who believe in Him for eternity and we love our brothers and sisters in Christ because He loved us first.

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 

1John 4:17 ¶  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19  We love him, because he first loved us. 20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Our love is completed, finished, and made entire and full when we stand before God in judgment. We have shared in the divine mind on this earth being filled with the Holy Ghost upon our receiving of Christ as our Saviour and as God in the flesh. We have the mind of Christ who are born again. We need not fear or worry as we are eternally saved. I have been over this many times in other letters such as Hebrews. Because He loved us first we are able to love Him. Loving God is only possible because of His love for us first. But we cannot say we love God if we hate our brothers and sisters in Christ. The person who loves God loves the brethren also. This is a fundamental of the Christian faith.

This is a recurrent theme of John’s letters.

Luke 10:27  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.