Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him....For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

1 John 5:1-4

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him....For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 1 John 5:1,4

I continue my preparation for leading Sunday school at my church on 20OCT, where our class will be looking at 1 John 5:1-4.  Today, for my preparation, I lean on the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for 1-3 John.  The commentary outlines five divisions for 1 John 5:1-4:

1. We Believe That Jesus Is the Messiah (5:1).
   
2. We Have Been Born of God (5:1,4).
   
3. We Love the Father and His Family (5:1-2).
4. We Obey His Commands (5:2-3). 
5. We Have Overcome the World (5:4).

The commentary includes all of these divisions in chapter entitled The Birthmarks of the Children of God.  My focus today is first two divisions and the commentary for this text as well as the introduction to the commentary's chapter.

Excerpts from the introduction to the commentary's chapter:

• "In the letter of 1 John, the last living apostle has repeatedly drawn attention to three overarching birthmarks of the children of God. They are right belief (the doctrinal mark), right love (the moral mark), and right behavior (the ethical or social mark)."
• "Now in 1 John 5:1-5 he is going to draw out necessary implications of these three birthmarks and highlight six specific identifying evidences that a person is a child of God."
• "John wants true believers to be assured that they are children of God, and he is fully aware of the fact that there are spiritual deceivers in their midst who could raise questions and cast doubts (2:26). John wants believers to have a rock-solid assurance that they have been born again, that they belong to Jesus, and that they can enjoy right now the gift of eternal life (5:13)."
  

Excerpts from the first two divisions from the commentary:

We Believe That Jesus Is the Messiah (5:1):

• "We must believe “that Jesus is the Messiah.” We must believe—trust in the truth—that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Christ, the hoped-for and promised deliverer. Such a confession is a birthmark that we have been born of God and that we are children of God." 
• Furthering the implications, the commentary shares that we must believe that Jesus is the Prophet, the Priest, and the King of the Church and as such He is the Anointed to reveal (as Prophet) the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  I must accept Him as the Priest who offered the sacrifice - Himself - so that I could be saved. I must also accept Him as King and His law and seek to not only submit to Him but also seek to "hate what He hates, and love what He loves? Do I live to praise Him? Do I, as a loyal subject, desire to see His kingdom come and His will done on earth as it is in Heaven?"
  

We Have Been Born of God (5:1,4):

• "In these verses John makes three observations about the new birth and the evidences related to this birthmark. First, those who have been born of God give witness concerning their new birth by confessing that Jesus is the Messiah (v.1). Second, those who have been born of God give witness concerning their new birth by loving Father God and His children (v.1). Third, those who have been born of God give witness concerning their new birth by continually overcoming the world (v.4)."
• "In this new birth God does not just give you a new name; He gives you a new nature. He gives you the very nature of God Himself as you enter into His family."
• "[Jesus] came to dramatically, personally, radically, and eternally transform us and make us new people. It is by the new birth that He accomplishes this glorious work. Therefore, you must be born again." 

Believe in Jesus and experience the blessings of being born again in His image!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and love for - exercising incredible patience with me as You mold me into more of Your image.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of the love, grace and patience You pour out for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

1 John 5

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13

I continue my study of 1,2,3 John using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for these books.  Today, my focus is a commentary-assisted review of 1 John 5:13-21, focusing specifically on the main idea for the entirety of the text, the commentary's introduction/overview for this text, and the first division.

Per the commentary for this text:

Title: Five Truths God Wants Every Child of God to Know 

Main idea: "Christians can rest in the truths that we belong to the God who answers prayer, that we have spiritual victory, and that Christ is the true and only source of eternal life."

Excerpts from the introduction: John's letter of 1 John focuses on how he seeks believers - his "little children" as he lovingly refers to them - to be reassured of key fundamental truths of our faith, including:

• we can know God (2:3,13,14, 4:7)
  
• we can know we are in God (2:5)
  
• we can know that it is the last hour (2:18)
• we can know the truth (2:21, 3:19)
• we can know that Jesus is righteous (2:29)
• we can know that we will be like Jesus (3:2)
• we can know that Jesus came to take away sins (3:5)
• we can know that Jesus is sinless (3:5)
• we can know we have passed out of death into life (3:14)
• we can know no murderer has eternal life (3:15)
• we can know love (3:16, 4:16)
• we can know God abides in us (3:24, 4:13)
• we can know the Spirit of God (4:2)
• we can know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception (4:6)
• we can know that we love God's children (5:2)
• we can know we have eternal life (5:13)
• we can know God answers prayer (5:15)
• we can know we will not practice sin (5:18)
• we can know we belong to God (5:19)
• we can know that the Son of God has come (5:20)
• we can know that the Son of God has given us understanding (5:20)
• we can know Him who is true (5:20)

In his concluding words from this letter, John zeros in on what "in particular, that God wants every child of His to know?"

Divisions:

1. We Can Know That We Have Eternal Life (5:13): Believers understand that while our faith gives us confidence and belief in eternal life, we all may have our doubts, particularly in certain trying circumstances.  John seeks for us to have an additional dose of assurance in this. "Feelings come and go, and feelings can be deceiving. My confidence is in the Son of God; no one else is worth believing." We are referred to John 10:28-29.
   
2. We Can Know That God Answers Prayer (5:14-17): 
3. We Can Know Victory over Sin (5:18): 
4. We Can Know That We Belong to God (5:19):
5. We Can Know What Is True (5:20-21):

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for snatching me from the fire, saving me for life now and for eternity.  Your amazing grace is the greatest gift of all time - thank You Jesus!  I am of course not deserving of such grace or gift as my sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

[W]e know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

1 John 5

[W]e know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 1 John 5:11

I continue my study of 1,2,3 John using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for these books.  Today, my focus is a "mostly" unassisted review of 1 John 5:13-21.  A core theme of John in the text today is how must protect ourselves from the world and the influences of the evil one Satan. John starts the text by sharing that he wants believers to know and have assurance that they have eternal life and this assurance should give us confidence to approach God in pray as He intercedes on our behalf. He hears our prayers.  John then focuses on one specific prayer - for another believer that sins who is able to truly repent from and receive forgiveness.  John does share that there is sin that leads to death and John Piper describes this as sin where a believer is unable to truly repent and receive forgiveness because God has given up on them or turned them over to his or her sin (see discussion here on this question). John then shares how God protects those born of Him where they abide in Him and He in them. V20 appears to be key in our power as Jesus has come and "given us understanding" and this leads us to Jesus, pushes us into Him vs falling prey to the world.  John ends with a blunt warning to keep ourselves from idols. 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the One True God and You are life - now to the full and forever in Heaven.  You protect me from sin and give me power over both sin and death - You also hear all of my prayers and respond - thank You Jesus for all of these blessings and of course for my salvation.  What a great God You are.  I am not deserving of such rich blessings nor my salvation.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome my sin and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

I continue my study of Hebrews, moving to Hebrews 10:19-25 and I am assisted in my understanding by the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary Series for Hebrews.  The commentary outlines two divisions for this text:

I. Confidence in Christ (10:19-22): Here a key point raised by the commentary is how "Christian[s] hold on not by [their] own tenacity, but by God’s faithfulness. We will persevere until the end because God does not abandon his children." We are referred to John 6:37 and 10:28 as evidence of this claim.

II. Holding On to the Confession (10:23-25): The commentary shares how the text describes that Christian perseverance can only occur through the body - we must avoid isolation as each part of the body needs all of the other parts of the body. V25 includes an admonishment to not neglect this togetherness. We need each other in the church.

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are good - and I have assurance of my salvation - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You are saving a place for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.  

[H]e is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.

Daniel 6

[H]e is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions. Daniel 6:26-27

I continue my pause of my study of Hebrews to study Daniel in conjunction with a disciple/small group study with my church's men's wake up call. This morning my focus is Daniel 6:19-28 as I lean on a commentary for its observations of this text. The commentary highlights two divisions/applications for v16-24:

• Trust that God Is Able to Deliver You (6:16-24): Here, the commentary emphasizes how Daniel, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago from the fiery furnace (Daniel 3), God protects Daniel from harm in the lion's den and scripture highlights how "Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God" (v23b). see also my post yesterday; the commentary also points to Daniel as a "prefiguring of the resurrection of the Lord" as "Daniel was brought out of a den that had been sealed by the official rings of those in power, so was the Lord Jesus Christ raised from a tomb which had been sealed by those officials with their rings of power."  Similarly, the commentary shares how Darius rushes to the lion's den to see if God has delivered Daniel, both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary rush to Jesus's tomb only to find that He has risen.
  
• Recognize God Will Use You to Make His Name Famous among the Nations (6:25-28): After witnessing Daniel's deliverance from the lion's den, Darius responds in praise to God (v25-27) in what the commentary shares is reminiscent of Psalm 2. The commentary also shares how Darius' declaration "accomplishes at least two important purposes: "First, it recognizes the greatness, even the superiority, of Israel’s God over all would-be rivals. And second, it cancels out the irrevocable edict of 6:6-9." The commentary for this chapter wraps by sharing how we should see Jesus in all of scripture, including how Daniel points us to Jesus.  The commentary provides Tim Keller's talk on how Jesus is true and better relative to the Biblical heroes of the Old Testament.
  

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion for me - protecting me from the sting of sin and death - thank You for providing my salvation.  I am not deserving as my sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 6

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:19-20

I continue my study of Hebrews, assisted by the commentary Christ Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Hebrews. This morning, I maintain my focus on Hebrews 6:9-20, as I lean on my commentary, and how it unpacks the third division "The Hope Behind the Curtain," which refers to Hebrews 6:19-20.  Here, the commentary highlights how, in the midst of the ups and downs of life, we all need "an anchor for the soul...The promises of God are firm and secure enough to hold us steady in a storm."  The commentary then highlights (and wraps on this note) how Jesus's death on the cross "accomplish[ed] all that God’s justice required [for our sin]....As our great high priest, Jesus has purchased our salvation and assured us of the promises of God."  This assurance provides a supernatural confidence, hope, and peace that only Jesus offers - believe!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for this assurance, and the supernatural confidence, hope and peace that it provides.  I am not deserving of such assurance.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Romans 5:1-11

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Romans 5:9-10

This afternoon, I continued my study of Romans.  Using my commentary - Exalting Jesus in Romans (eBook) - I continued my study of chapter six The Blessings of Justification By Faith, which covers Romans 5:1-11.  My focus today is Romans 5:9-10 where my commentary uses the heading We Have Assurance of Final Salvation. As with this chapter, I've been looking at the blessings of justification - we have in v9-10 the blessing of salvation.  Of course, it's hard to describe salvation with a single word - we must take the time to unpack and ponder what it means. Paul helps us by ensuring we know that prior to salvation we were "enemies" of God and of course deserving of His wrath - death (Romans 6:23).  Keeping in mind our own sin and its ultimate consequences it becomes more clear how precious and valuable our salvation is. We are saved indeed!

My commentary points out our salvation has a "negative" and a "positive" aspect - negative in that we "have no fear of future wrath" (v9).  We are encouraged to be overwhelmed in gratitude and be full of praise, joy and holy awe.  My commentary then states that "[p]ositively, Paul also says believers are reconciled to God now and forever (v10)....[w]e share [Jesus'] life now; we will share his life through the resurrection later."  We know this for sure because of how Jesus accomplished the most difficult aspect of our salvation through His death on the cross. 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an incredible God who has assured me of salvation both in this life and in the life to come - Heaven!  Thank You Jesus!  The greatest gift of all time - I am of course not deserving of this but deserving of Your wrath.  Thank You for saving me from Your wrath - knowing everything about me.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.