*1 John 2:29 / *1 Jn. 2:29 -
This does not require once-saved-always-saved, for even Christians who have done righteousness can ultimately lose their salvation if they wrongly employ their free will to return to unrepentant sin (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 12:45-46).
(See Hebrews 10:26 and Matthew 7:21 above)
--
*1 John 3:1 / *1 Jn. 3:1 -
(Re: Does being sons of God means once-saved-always-saved?)
No, see Galatians 4:6 above.
--
*1 John 3:2-3 / *1 Jn. 3:2 -
(See him)
This refers to when Jesus Christ will be literally seen at His future, Second Coming.
(See Acts 1:11 above)
~
(Re: OSAS?)
In the full context of the New Testament, 1 John 3:2-3 applies only to those sons of God (that is, Christians: John 1:12) who believe in Jesus Christ and His Gospel to the end (Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Colossians 1:23), repent from their sins and confess them to God (1 John 1:9), do good works unto the end (Romans 2:6-8, Matthew 7:21, James 2:24) and do not wrongly employ their free will to commit apostasy (Hebrews 6:4-8) or unrepentant sin (Hebrews 10:26-29) or unrepentant laziness (Matthew 25:26,30).
~
(Re: Means that Jesus is no longer in the flesh?)
Jesus Christ is still in the flesh, for neither 1 John 3:2 nor Revelation 1:14–18 nor any other Bible verse contradicts the fact that...
(See Luke 24:39 above)
All that 1 John 3:2 and Revelation 1:14–18 show is that whereas the physically resurrected Jesus Christ remains in immortal human flesh (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 2:17, Hebrews 7:24-26), His appearance has become more glorified since immediately after His physical resurrection (Luke 24:39, John 20:25-29; compare the Second-Coming verses of Zechariah 13:6 and Zechariah 12:10-14). 1 John 3:2 means that at Jesus' future, Second Coming, Christians will be physically resurrected (if dead) or changed (if alive) into immortal, human fleshly bodies like Jesus has (1 Corinthians 15:21-23,51-53, Philippians 3:21, Luke 24:39, Romans 8:23-25).
--
*1 John 3:4 / *1 Jn. 3:4 -
This does not mean that Christians are sinning if they are not obeying the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law. For...
(See the "Law" section of Ephesians 2:15 above)
--
*1 John 3:6,9 / *1 Jn. 3:6 / *1 Jn. 3:9 -
(Re: "seed" in 1 John 3:9, see that verse below)
1 John 3:6,9, like 1 John 5:18 and 3 John 1:11b, means that the initial salvation of Christians will be accompanied by them repenting from their sins and not continuing in them, at least for a while. What these verses do not mean is that Christians lose their free will and become robots, unable to ever choose, sometime subsequent to their initial salvation and repentance, to commit a sin without ever repenting from it. For other verses show that it is possible for Christians to do this, to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 12:45-46).
(See Hebrews 10:26 above, and the "Assurance" section of Philippians 2:13 above)
--
*1 John 3:7 / *1 Jn. 3:7 -
(Re: Are you preaching a *works-righteousness religion?)
What is being preached is the sound doctrine of the Bible, the Word of God, which, sadly, many Christians have become unable to endure (cf. 2 Timothy 4:2-4): that Biblical Christianity is a works-righteousness religion. For to continue to be seen as righteous by God, Christians must continue to do righteous deeds (1 John 3:7, James 2:24,26, James 1:27). And they must continue to repent from any sin that they commit (James 1:27b; 2 Peter 2:20-22, Hebrews 10:26-29).
(See Ephesians 2:8 and Hebrews 10:26 above)
--
*1 John 3:8b / *1 Jn. 3:8b -
(Re: Means that Satan is bound?)
No, see Colossians 2:15 above.
--
*1 John 3:9 / *1 Jn. 3:9 -
Here the seed of God within born-again Christians is the Spirit of Jesus Christ the Son of God in 1 John 3:8b (cf. 1 John 4:15, John 20:31) who comes to dwell within Christians (Galatians 4:6) through the seed of faith (Ephesians 3:17, Luke 17:6) which comes by hearing (Romans 10:17) the seed of the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23, Luke 8:11, Colossians 3:16).
While such divine seed is imperishable in itself (1 Peter 1:23), Christians themselves can still perish (e.g. Luke 12:45-46).
(See Psalms 139:7 above)
--
*1 John 3:10 / *1 Jn. 3:10 -
See Matthew 7:21 above.
--
*1 John 3:15b / *1 Jn. 3:15b -
(Re: *Suicide)
Suicide is self-murder. Christians do not commit murder, for "ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:15b).
Also, Job 2:9 could have been Job's wife telling him to curse God and commit suicide, but Job knew that he was to do neither, even though his suffering was so great and even though he himself at a subsequent time considered hanging himself (Job 7:15). Instead, he waited patiently until his suffering ended, and God rewarded him greatly after that with a long and prosperous life (Job 42:12-17).
(See the first entry under Job above)
--
*1 John 3:18 / *1 Jn. 3:18 -
While love is inspired and enabled (1 John 4:19), it does not take away free will. So it can be commanded to be performed via actual deeds (1 John 3:18).
--
*1 John 3:23 / *1 Jn. 3:23 -
Christians must not only believe in Jesus Christ (1 John 3:23a) but also love others (1 John 3:23b) and God by doing good works (1 John 3:18) by obeying Jesus' New Covenant/New Testament commandments (John 14:15,21-24), such as those He gave in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:19 to 7:29) and in the epistles of the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 14:37, cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:2).
--
*1 John 4:3 / *1 Jn. 4:3 -
While the antichrist spirit had already come by the time of the apostle John in the first century AD (1 John 4:3), the man commonly called "the Antichrist" had not yet come, and still has not yet come.
(See paragraph 6 of 1 John 2:18 above)
~
(Re: The original Greek says that Christ "has come" in the flesh: perfect tense)
And Jesus Christ is still in the flesh (Luke 24:39). So 2 John 1:7's original Greek can employ the present tense in saying that Christ "is come in the flesh".
(See Luke 24:39 above)
~
(Re: Does futurism deny that Christ is come in the flesh, by saying that He did not fulfill the things of the flesh at His first coming?)
No, for Jesus Christ did fulfill crucially important things in the flesh at His first coming (Isaiah 53; Psalms 16:10, cf. Acts 2:31, Luke 24:39), by which things (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) His spiritual Kingdom (Romans 14:17) could be established on the earth first. But it was always determined that He would not establish the physical aspect of His Kingdom on the earth until His (still future) Second Coming, when He will still be in the flesh (Acts 1:11-12, Zechariah 14:3-21, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6).
~
(Re: *Gnosticism)
(See the "Gnosticism" sections of Luke 24:39 and Matthew 4:4 above)
Gnosticism is an ancient religious movement which says that everything material is inherently evil while only that which is purely spirit can be good. Gnosticism teaches that all humans used to be purely spirit and dwelling in bliss from all eternity in a purely-spiritual heaven called the "Pleroma", until by some mishap humanity fell into the material universe and became trapped within fleshly bodies. Gnosticism reviles YHWH, the God of Biblical Christians and the Creator of the material universe and of all fleshly bodies, as an evil, subordinate deity, a "Demiurge" who is keeping humans imprisoned and suffering within fleshly bodies and in the material universe.
Gnosticism became one of the main enemies of the early Church and it will become the greatest enemy of the Church during the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24. For the future Antichrist will be a Gnostic. He will teach the Gnostic/antichrist lie that Christ is not in the flesh (1 John 4:3), and the Antichrist, like the Gnostics, will utterly revile YHWH (Revelation 13:6, Daniel 11:36). The Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") will instead bring the world into the conscious and open worship of Lucifer (Satan, the dragon) and himself (Revelation 13:4, Revelation 13:8, Revelation 12:9).
(See Revelation 13:4 below)
~
(Re: *Buddhism / *Hinduism)
Gnosticism has some core teachings in common with Buddhism and Hinduism:
1. The material realm is unreal and evil. (Both Buddhism and Gnosticism got this mistaken idea, originally called "Maya", from Hinduism.)
2. People must strive to escape the material realm completely and enter a state which is wholly non-physical (Parinirvana in Buddhism, the Pleroma in Gnosticism). Buddhism and Gnosticism got this mistaken idea, originally called "Brahman", from Hinduism.
3. The way for people to get free from their imprisonment within the material realm is through their minds attaining a certain level of enlightenment (Nirvana in Buddhism, Gnosis in Gnosticism). Buddhism and Gnosticism got this mistaken idea, originally called "Moksha", from Hinduism.
4. The way for their minds to attain this certain level of enlightenment is through following the way of the Serpent (one legend of Buddhism says that the Buddha was given the true Buddhism by the King of the Serpents; and in Gnosticism, Gnosis comes from the Christ/the Serpent). Both Buddhism and Gnosticism got this mistaken idea of the enlightening serpent, originally called "Kundalini", from Hinduism. (Regarding the serpent in Genesis 3, Gnostics see him as the good guy while they see YHWH as the bad guy.)
The Bible contradicts each of the four points above:
1. The material realm is real and was created by YHWH God as something very good (Genesis 1:31). God Himself is in the flesh (John 1:1,14, Luke 24:39) and He remains wholly without sin (Hebrews 4:15). So there is nothing evil about matter in itself.
2. People must strive to attain to a resurrection (Philippians 3:11) into an immortal human body of flesh and bones like the immortal human body of flesh and bones which Jesus Christ obtained at His resurrection on the third day after His death (Luke 24:39,46; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4,21-23,51-53, Philippians 3:21, Romans 8:23-25), and in which He will remain forever as Christians' fully-human mediator/high priest (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 2:16-17, Hebrews 7:24-26). His tomb is empty (Matthew 28:6) and at His Second Coming He will show the scars of the Crucifixion on His body (Zechariah 13:6, Zechariah 12:10-14).
3. Resurrected people who have been truly enlightened/illuminated (Ephesians 1:18, Hebrews 10:32) by Jesus Christ (John 14:6-7, John 8:32, John 3:36) will remain in the material realm (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 2:26-29), ultimately living with God on a New Earth (Revelation 21:1-4), as in a new surface for the earth.
4. The Serpent, Satan/Lucifer, is the deceiver of the whole world (Revelation 12:9).
~
(Re: Gnosticism is different than *New Age)
New Age is a modern spiritual movement which says that everything is One and that we are all God. We just need to realize it. This mistaken idea comes from "Advaita (Non-duality)" Vedanta Hinduism by way of Theosophy (the founder of which used the term "New Age" in her book "The Secret Doctrine" in 1888). Unlike Gnostics, New Age adherents do not think that the material realm is evil per se. They do not want to escape this physical life or stop "reincarnating" but want to create their own amazing destinies within this physical universe (whether during their lives on this planet or after being reincarnated on some other planets) or in some other, spiritual universes, by employing their own, innate powers as God. They believe that all that they have to do is to think the right things, and because (as they say) "Thought Creates", whatever they think will materialize, eventually. They think that they can override physical reality as God, create their own reality around themselves, and make it whatever they want.
Also, for New Age adherents, ultimately nothing is evil: There is no such thing as sin, for everything is God. Even people who seem evil are just working through some lessons. They will eventually become tired of toying with that which is merely delaying them from manifesting themselves as the wonderful God that they are. New Age adherents believe that everyone and everything in the universe is working together, whether they consciously realize it or not, to move everything forward, to ultimately bring the entire universe (and even the entire universe of universes) into a wonderful, perfect destiny for everyone and everything. This sounds good, but it is a Satanic pipe dream, so that people will feel no need to fear the eternal suffering of hell (Luke 12:5, Matthew 25:41,46, Revelation 20:10,15, Revelation 14:10-11, Mark 9:45-46), feel no need to repent from their sins (Luke 13:3) and believe in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the only begotten (only-born) Son of God (John 14:6, John 3:16,36, Acts 4:12), and His suffering and dying on the Cross for our sins and His rising physically from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Matthew 26:28, Romans 3:25-26).
--
*1 John 4:4 / *1 Jn. 4:4 -
(Re: Overcoming)
See Revelation 3:5 below.
--
*1 John 4:8,16 / *1 Jn. 4:8 / *1 Jn. 4:16 -
God being love (1 John 4:8,16) does not mean that He loves everyone (Malachi 1:3, Romans 9:13), just as God being a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29) does not mean that He is consuming everyone in fire (Revelation 14:10-11). Also, God chastens all those He loves during their lifetime (Revelation 3:19, Hebrews 12:6), but not everyone receives chastening from God during their lifetime (Hebrews 12:7-8). Therefore, God does not love everyone.
~
(Re: Does God being love mean that there will not be any eternal suffering but everyone will be resurrected?) / (*Damnation)
While even non-Christians will be resurrected (Revelation 20:12-15; 1 Corinthians 15:22), this will be to their damnation (John 5:29b) in the eternal suffering of the lake of fire and brimstone, with Satan and his fallen angels (Matthew 25:41,46, Revelation 20:10,15, Revelation 14:10-11, Mark 9:45-46).
(See also John 6:39 and Mark 9:45 above)
--
*1 John 4:12a / *1 Jn. 4:12a -
This and John 1:18a mean that no one has ever seen God the Father Himself (John 5:37, John 6:46). But people saw a picture of God the Father when they saw Jesus Christ at His first coming, for Jesus said: "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). Jesus is the "image" of the invisible God the Father (Colossians 1:15).
(See also John 1:1,14 above)
--
*1 John 4:14 / *1 Jn. 4:14 -
This does not mean everyone in the world, for not everyone will be saved (Matthew 25:41,46), just as saying that a person has come to save Broadway would not require that he has come to save every show on Broadway.
--
*1 John 4:17 / *1 Jn. 4:17 -
This refers to the day of judgment for the Church.
(See paragraph 2 of Matthew 12:36 above)
--
*1 John 4:18 / *1 Jn. 4:18 -
(Re: The *love of God and the *fear of God)
It is only if Christians perfectly love God that they will not misbehave (1 John 5:3, John 14:21-24) and so they will not have any fear of any impending punishment from God for any misbehavior (1 John 4:18). But if they become so wicked that they lose their fear of God (Psalms 36:1, Psalms 10:13) and so continue to misbehave without repentance, then they do need to fear impending punishment from God in the form of temporal chastening (Hebrews 12:6). And if they refuse to repent even after receiving temporal chastening (Revelation 3:19, Revelation 2:21), then they need to fear God's ability to cast them into hell (Luke 12:5) for their unrepentant misbehavior (Hebrews 10:26-29, Luke 12:45-46).
(See also 2 Timothy 1:7 above, and section 2 of Romans 11:20 above)
~
(Re: If there is perfect love as a motivation for obedience, then is there no need for fear as a motivation?)
If we have "perfect" love for God, then we will have perfect obedience to God (1 John 5:3), which casts out any fear of any impending punishment from God (1 John 4:18).
But we must still have the conditional fear that if we do not continue in God's goodness, then He will cut us off (Romans 11:22).
Otherwise, we have wrongly become "highminded" (Romans 11:20-22).
This would also include those who think that they have "perfect" love for God, when in fact they do not (e.g. Luke 22:33-34).
(For example, see Mark 13:9 above)
--
*1 John 4:19 / *1 Jn. 4:19 -
This means that at Christians' initial salvation, God gives them the ability to love Him. Similarly, at their initial salvation, God gives them the ability to believe in Jesus Christ and His Gospel (Ephesians 2:8, John 6:65; 1 Corinthians 3:5b, Romans 12:3b, Hebrews 12:2) and to repent from sin (2 Timothy 2:25, Acts 11:18). But Christians' initial salvation does not take away their free will. So sometime subsequent to their initial salvation, they can wrongly employ their free will to stop obeying God, which means to stop loving Him (John 14:24, Matthew 24:12).
(See also Jude 1:21 below)
--
*1 John 5:1 / *1 Jn. 5:1 -
(Re: OSAS?)
See section 2 of Ephesians 2:8 above.
--
*1 John 5:2-3 / *1 Jn. 5:2 -
(Re: Mosaic law?)
See the "Law" section of Ephesians 2:15 above.
--
*1 John 5:3 / *1 Jn. 5:3 -
If we love God, we will obey Him (1 John 5:3, John 14:21-24). And if we obey Him, He will continue to love us (John 15:10).
It is not difficult for Christians to obey everything that God requires of them (1 John 5:3b, Matthew 11:28-30, John 14:15,21, Matthew 5:48, Revelation 3:2; 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Colossians 1:28, Philippians 3:15; 1 Corinthians 2:6; 2 Corinthians 13:11).
(See also Matthew 5:48 above)
--
*1 John 5:4-5 / *1 Jn. 5:4 -
(Re: Overcoming)
See Revelation 3:5 below.
--
*1 John 5:11-13 / *1 Jn. 5:11 -
(Re: OSAS?)
See John 3:16 above, or section 2 of Ephesians 2:8 above.
--
*1 John 5:16 / *1 Jn. 5:16 -
1 John 5:16a means that if a Christian sees a fellow Christian commit a sin, before that fellow Christian dies it is possible for the first Christian to exhort him to repent from that sin (Hebrews 3:13) and to pray with him that God would forgive him for it (1 John 1:9). But 1 John 5:16b means that it is possible for a Christian to wrongly employ his free will to commit a sin without repentance until he dies, at which point there is no use praying for forgiveness for that sin. For there is no forgiveness for a sin which is not repented from while someone is still alive (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Galatians 5:19-21).
(See Hebrews 10:26 and James 5:19 above)
--
*1 John 5:18 / *1 Jn. 5:18 -
See 1 John 3:6 above.
--
*2 John 1:6 / *2 Jn. 1:6 -
(Re: Mosaic law?)
See the "Law" section of Ephesians 2:15 above.
--
*2 John 1:7-10 / *2 Jn. 1:7 -
Here the original Greek uses the present tense in saying that Christ "is come in the flesh".
2 John 1:7-10 means that Christians cannot welcome into their homes anyone claiming to be a Christian who teaches the lie that Christ is not in the flesh. This shows how crucial this doctrine is to true Christian faith.
Because this doctrine is so crucial, Satan will no doubt try to obliterate it during the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24.
(See Luke 24:39 above, and Revelation 13:4 below)
~
(Re: "the" antichrist in Greek)
See 1 John 2:22 above.
--
*2 John 1:9-10 / *2 Jn. 1:9 -
(*Doctrine) / (Re: Faith as a *rational/*intellectual enterprise / *Mental assent) / (*Feelings)
Christian faith must not be based solely on heart feelings, which can be very deceptive (Jeremiah 17:9, Proverbs 28:26, Proverbs 14:12), but must also be a rational/intellectual enterprise. For saving faith requires mental assent (Philippians 3:15-16, Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Timothy 2:25, Romans 8:6) to Biblical doctrine (2 Timothy 3:16 to 4:4; 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 John 1:9-10; 1 Timothy 6:3, Titus 1:9) and continuing to remember that doctrine (1 Corinthians 15:2; 2 Peter 3:1-2; 2 Corinthians 11:3).
For example, for people to be saved from hell, they must believe (and continue to believe to the end: Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Colossians 1:23; 1 Corinthians 15:2) the Biblical doctrine that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ and the human/divine Son of God (John 20:31, John 3:36, 1 John 2:23), and that He suffered and died on the Cross for our sins and physically resurrected from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Luke 24:39,46-47, Matthew 20:19, Matthew 26:28).
(But see Romans 9:11 above. Also, see the "brain device" section of Ecclesiastes 11:5 above)
~
(Re: Is a true theologian one who is committed to praying, instead of thinking, which avails nothing?)
Together with praying, thinking upon God's Word the Bible does avail for Christians. For we are told to:
[2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Timothy 4:16]
And to get our doctrine right, we must know what the Bible itself says in its entirety. For:
[2 Timothy 3:16-17, Matthew 4:4]
That is...
(See Matthew 4:4 above)
~
(Re: Did Jesus ever tell us to appeal to doctrine?)
Yes, through His apostle Paul (see the references in section 1 of 2 John 1:9 above). See also what 1 Corinthians 14:37 says.
Also, even in the Gospels, Jesus Christ made a positive reference to God's doctrine (John 7:16-17), for that is what Jesus' teachings are: doctrine (Mark 1:22, Luke 4:32). And we are to continue in His and His apostles' doctrine (Acts 2:42, Acts 13:12, Romans 6:17, Romans 16:17; 1 Timothy 4:6,13; 2 Timothy 3:10, Titus 2:1,7,10). Indeed, the entire Bible is profitable for doctrine (2 Timothy 3:16), and whoever transgresses and abides not in the doctrine of Christ has not God, but he who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both God the Father and God the Son (2 John 1:9).
-
Next entry / Prior / Table of Contents
Dec 26, 2018
This does not require once-saved-always-saved, for even Christians who have done righteousness can ultimately lose their salvation if they wrongly employ their free will to return to unrepentant sin (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 12:45-46).
(See Hebrews 10:26 and Matthew 7:21 above)
--
*1 John 3:1 / *1 Jn. 3:1 -
(Re: Does being sons of God means once-saved-always-saved?)
No, see Galatians 4:6 above.
--
*1 John 3:2-3 / *1 Jn. 3:2 -
(See him)
This refers to when Jesus Christ will be literally seen at His future, Second Coming.
(See Acts 1:11 above)
~
(Re: OSAS?)
In the full context of the New Testament, 1 John 3:2-3 applies only to those sons of God (that is, Christians: John 1:12) who believe in Jesus Christ and His Gospel to the end (Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Colossians 1:23), repent from their sins and confess them to God (1 John 1:9), do good works unto the end (Romans 2:6-8, Matthew 7:21, James 2:24) and do not wrongly employ their free will to commit apostasy (Hebrews 6:4-8) or unrepentant sin (Hebrews 10:26-29) or unrepentant laziness (Matthew 25:26,30).
~
(Re: Means that Jesus is no longer in the flesh?)
Jesus Christ is still in the flesh, for neither 1 John 3:2 nor Revelation 1:14–18 nor any other Bible verse contradicts the fact that...
(See Luke 24:39 above)
All that 1 John 3:2 and Revelation 1:14–18 show is that whereas the physically resurrected Jesus Christ remains in immortal human flesh (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 2:17, Hebrews 7:24-26), His appearance has become more glorified since immediately after His physical resurrection (Luke 24:39, John 20:25-29; compare the Second-Coming verses of Zechariah 13:6 and Zechariah 12:10-14). 1 John 3:2 means that at Jesus' future, Second Coming, Christians will be physically resurrected (if dead) or changed (if alive) into immortal, human fleshly bodies like Jesus has (1 Corinthians 15:21-23,51-53, Philippians 3:21, Luke 24:39, Romans 8:23-25).
--
*1 John 3:4 / *1 Jn. 3:4 -
This does not mean that Christians are sinning if they are not obeying the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law. For...
(See the "Law" section of Ephesians 2:15 above)
--
*1 John 3:6,9 / *1 Jn. 3:6 / *1 Jn. 3:9 -
(Re: "seed" in 1 John 3:9, see that verse below)
1 John 3:6,9, like 1 John 5:18 and 3 John 1:11b, means that the initial salvation of Christians will be accompanied by them repenting from their sins and not continuing in them, at least for a while. What these verses do not mean is that Christians lose their free will and become robots, unable to ever choose, sometime subsequent to their initial salvation and repentance, to commit a sin without ever repenting from it. For other verses show that it is possible for Christians to do this, to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 12:45-46).
(See Hebrews 10:26 above, and the "Assurance" section of Philippians 2:13 above)
--
*1 John 3:7 / *1 Jn. 3:7 -
(Re: Are you preaching a *works-righteousness religion?)
What is being preached is the sound doctrine of the Bible, the Word of God, which, sadly, many Christians have become unable to endure (cf. 2 Timothy 4:2-4): that Biblical Christianity is a works-righteousness religion. For to continue to be seen as righteous by God, Christians must continue to do righteous deeds (1 John 3:7, James 2:24,26, James 1:27). And they must continue to repent from any sin that they commit (James 1:27b; 2 Peter 2:20-22, Hebrews 10:26-29).
(See Ephesians 2:8 and Hebrews 10:26 above)
--
*1 John 3:8b / *1 Jn. 3:8b -
(Re: Means that Satan is bound?)
No, see Colossians 2:15 above.
--
*1 John 3:9 / *1 Jn. 3:9 -
Here the seed of God within born-again Christians is the Spirit of Jesus Christ the Son of God in 1 John 3:8b (cf. 1 John 4:15, John 20:31) who comes to dwell within Christians (Galatians 4:6) through the seed of faith (Ephesians 3:17, Luke 17:6) which comes by hearing (Romans 10:17) the seed of the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23, Luke 8:11, Colossians 3:16).
While such divine seed is imperishable in itself (1 Peter 1:23), Christians themselves can still perish (e.g. Luke 12:45-46).
(See Psalms 139:7 above)
--
*1 John 3:10 / *1 Jn. 3:10 -
See Matthew 7:21 above.
--
*1 John 3:15b / *1 Jn. 3:15b -
(Re: *Suicide)
Suicide is self-murder. Christians do not commit murder, for "ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:15b).
Also, Job 2:9 could have been Job's wife telling him to curse God and commit suicide, but Job knew that he was to do neither, even though his suffering was so great and even though he himself at a subsequent time considered hanging himself (Job 7:15). Instead, he waited patiently until his suffering ended, and God rewarded him greatly after that with a long and prosperous life (Job 42:12-17).
(See the first entry under Job above)
--
*1 John 3:18 / *1 Jn. 3:18 -
While love is inspired and enabled (1 John 4:19), it does not take away free will. So it can be commanded to be performed via actual deeds (1 John 3:18).
--
*1 John 3:23 / *1 Jn. 3:23 -
Christians must not only believe in Jesus Christ (1 John 3:23a) but also love others (1 John 3:23b) and God by doing good works (1 John 3:18) by obeying Jesus' New Covenant/New Testament commandments (John 14:15,21-24), such as those He gave in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:19 to 7:29) and in the epistles of the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 14:37, cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:2).
--
*1 John 4:3 / *1 Jn. 4:3 -
While the antichrist spirit had already come by the time of the apostle John in the first century AD (1 John 4:3), the man commonly called "the Antichrist" had not yet come, and still has not yet come.
(See paragraph 6 of 1 John 2:18 above)
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(Re: The original Greek says that Christ "has come" in the flesh: perfect tense)
And Jesus Christ is still in the flesh (Luke 24:39). So 2 John 1:7's original Greek can employ the present tense in saying that Christ "is come in the flesh".
(See Luke 24:39 above)
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(Re: Does futurism deny that Christ is come in the flesh, by saying that He did not fulfill the things of the flesh at His first coming?)
No, for Jesus Christ did fulfill crucially important things in the flesh at His first coming (Isaiah 53; Psalms 16:10, cf. Acts 2:31, Luke 24:39), by which things (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) His spiritual Kingdom (Romans 14:17) could be established on the earth first. But it was always determined that He would not establish the physical aspect of His Kingdom on the earth until His (still future) Second Coming, when He will still be in the flesh (Acts 1:11-12, Zechariah 14:3-21, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6).
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(Re: *Gnosticism)
(See the "Gnosticism" sections of Luke 24:39 and Matthew 4:4 above)
Gnosticism is an ancient religious movement which says that everything material is inherently evil while only that which is purely spirit can be good. Gnosticism teaches that all humans used to be purely spirit and dwelling in bliss from all eternity in a purely-spiritual heaven called the "Pleroma", until by some mishap humanity fell into the material universe and became trapped within fleshly bodies. Gnosticism reviles YHWH, the God of Biblical Christians and the Creator of the material universe and of all fleshly bodies, as an evil, subordinate deity, a "Demiurge" who is keeping humans imprisoned and suffering within fleshly bodies and in the material universe.
Gnosticism became one of the main enemies of the early Church and it will become the greatest enemy of the Church during the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24. For the future Antichrist will be a Gnostic. He will teach the Gnostic/antichrist lie that Christ is not in the flesh (1 John 4:3), and the Antichrist, like the Gnostics, will utterly revile YHWH (Revelation 13:6, Daniel 11:36). The Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") will instead bring the world into the conscious and open worship of Lucifer (Satan, the dragon) and himself (Revelation 13:4, Revelation 13:8, Revelation 12:9).
(See Revelation 13:4 below)
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(Re: *Buddhism / *Hinduism)
Gnosticism has some core teachings in common with Buddhism and Hinduism:
1. The material realm is unreal and evil. (Both Buddhism and Gnosticism got this mistaken idea, originally called "Maya", from Hinduism.)
2. People must strive to escape the material realm completely and enter a state which is wholly non-physical (Parinirvana in Buddhism, the Pleroma in Gnosticism). Buddhism and Gnosticism got this mistaken idea, originally called "Brahman", from Hinduism.
3. The way for people to get free from their imprisonment within the material realm is through their minds attaining a certain level of enlightenment (Nirvana in Buddhism, Gnosis in Gnosticism). Buddhism and Gnosticism got this mistaken idea, originally called "Moksha", from Hinduism.
4. The way for their minds to attain this certain level of enlightenment is through following the way of the Serpent (one legend of Buddhism says that the Buddha was given the true Buddhism by the King of the Serpents; and in Gnosticism, Gnosis comes from the Christ/the Serpent). Both Buddhism and Gnosticism got this mistaken idea of the enlightening serpent, originally called "Kundalini", from Hinduism. (Regarding the serpent in Genesis 3, Gnostics see him as the good guy while they see YHWH as the bad guy.)
The Bible contradicts each of the four points above:
1. The material realm is real and was created by YHWH God as something very good (Genesis 1:31). God Himself is in the flesh (John 1:1,14, Luke 24:39) and He remains wholly without sin (Hebrews 4:15). So there is nothing evil about matter in itself.
2. People must strive to attain to a resurrection (Philippians 3:11) into an immortal human body of flesh and bones like the immortal human body of flesh and bones which Jesus Christ obtained at His resurrection on the third day after His death (Luke 24:39,46; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4,21-23,51-53, Philippians 3:21, Romans 8:23-25), and in which He will remain forever as Christians' fully-human mediator/high priest (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 2:16-17, Hebrews 7:24-26). His tomb is empty (Matthew 28:6) and at His Second Coming He will show the scars of the Crucifixion on His body (Zechariah 13:6, Zechariah 12:10-14).
3. Resurrected people who have been truly enlightened/illuminated (Ephesians 1:18, Hebrews 10:32) by Jesus Christ (John 14:6-7, John 8:32, John 3:36) will remain in the material realm (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 2:26-29), ultimately living with God on a New Earth (Revelation 21:1-4), as in a new surface for the earth.
4. The Serpent, Satan/Lucifer, is the deceiver of the whole world (Revelation 12:9).
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(Re: Gnosticism is different than *New Age)
New Age is a modern spiritual movement which says that everything is One and that we are all God. We just need to realize it. This mistaken idea comes from "Advaita (Non-duality)" Vedanta Hinduism by way of Theosophy (the founder of which used the term "New Age" in her book "The Secret Doctrine" in 1888). Unlike Gnostics, New Age adherents do not think that the material realm is evil per se. They do not want to escape this physical life or stop "reincarnating" but want to create their own amazing destinies within this physical universe (whether during their lives on this planet or after being reincarnated on some other planets) or in some other, spiritual universes, by employing their own, innate powers as God. They believe that all that they have to do is to think the right things, and because (as they say) "Thought Creates", whatever they think will materialize, eventually. They think that they can override physical reality as God, create their own reality around themselves, and make it whatever they want.
Also, for New Age adherents, ultimately nothing is evil: There is no such thing as sin, for everything is God. Even people who seem evil are just working through some lessons. They will eventually become tired of toying with that which is merely delaying them from manifesting themselves as the wonderful God that they are. New Age adherents believe that everyone and everything in the universe is working together, whether they consciously realize it or not, to move everything forward, to ultimately bring the entire universe (and even the entire universe of universes) into a wonderful, perfect destiny for everyone and everything. This sounds good, but it is a Satanic pipe dream, so that people will feel no need to fear the eternal suffering of hell (Luke 12:5, Matthew 25:41,46, Revelation 20:10,15, Revelation 14:10-11, Mark 9:45-46), feel no need to repent from their sins (Luke 13:3) and believe in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the only begotten (only-born) Son of God (John 14:6, John 3:16,36, Acts 4:12), and His suffering and dying on the Cross for our sins and His rising physically from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Matthew 26:28, Romans 3:25-26).
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*1 John 4:4 / *1 Jn. 4:4 -
(Re: Overcoming)
See Revelation 3:5 below.
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*1 John 4:8,16 / *1 Jn. 4:8 / *1 Jn. 4:16 -
God being love (1 John 4:8,16) does not mean that He loves everyone (Malachi 1:3, Romans 9:13), just as God being a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29) does not mean that He is consuming everyone in fire (Revelation 14:10-11). Also, God chastens all those He loves during their lifetime (Revelation 3:19, Hebrews 12:6), but not everyone receives chastening from God during their lifetime (Hebrews 12:7-8). Therefore, God does not love everyone.
~
(Re: Does God being love mean that there will not be any eternal suffering but everyone will be resurrected?) / (*Damnation)
While even non-Christians will be resurrected (Revelation 20:12-15; 1 Corinthians 15:22), this will be to their damnation (John 5:29b) in the eternal suffering of the lake of fire and brimstone, with Satan and his fallen angels (Matthew 25:41,46, Revelation 20:10,15, Revelation 14:10-11, Mark 9:45-46).
(See also John 6:39 and Mark 9:45 above)
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*1 John 4:12a / *1 Jn. 4:12a -
This and John 1:18a mean that no one has ever seen God the Father Himself (John 5:37, John 6:46). But people saw a picture of God the Father when they saw Jesus Christ at His first coming, for Jesus said: "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). Jesus is the "image" of the invisible God the Father (Colossians 1:15).
(See also John 1:1,14 above)
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*1 John 4:14 / *1 Jn. 4:14 -
This does not mean everyone in the world, for not everyone will be saved (Matthew 25:41,46), just as saying that a person has come to save Broadway would not require that he has come to save every show on Broadway.
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*1 John 4:17 / *1 Jn. 4:17 -
This refers to the day of judgment for the Church.
(See paragraph 2 of Matthew 12:36 above)
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*1 John 4:18 / *1 Jn. 4:18 -
(Re: The *love of God and the *fear of God)
It is only if Christians perfectly love God that they will not misbehave (1 John 5:3, John 14:21-24) and so they will not have any fear of any impending punishment from God for any misbehavior (1 John 4:18). But if they become so wicked that they lose their fear of God (Psalms 36:1, Psalms 10:13) and so continue to misbehave without repentance, then they do need to fear impending punishment from God in the form of temporal chastening (Hebrews 12:6). And if they refuse to repent even after receiving temporal chastening (Revelation 3:19, Revelation 2:21), then they need to fear God's ability to cast them into hell (Luke 12:5) for their unrepentant misbehavior (Hebrews 10:26-29, Luke 12:45-46).
(See also 2 Timothy 1:7 above, and section 2 of Romans 11:20 above)
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(Re: If there is perfect love as a motivation for obedience, then is there no need for fear as a motivation?)
If we have "perfect" love for God, then we will have perfect obedience to God (1 John 5:3), which casts out any fear of any impending punishment from God (1 John 4:18).
But we must still have the conditional fear that if we do not continue in God's goodness, then He will cut us off (Romans 11:22).
Otherwise, we have wrongly become "highminded" (Romans 11:20-22).
This would also include those who think that they have "perfect" love for God, when in fact they do not (e.g. Luke 22:33-34).
(For example, see Mark 13:9 above)
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*1 John 4:19 / *1 Jn. 4:19 -
This means that at Christians' initial salvation, God gives them the ability to love Him. Similarly, at their initial salvation, God gives them the ability to believe in Jesus Christ and His Gospel (Ephesians 2:8, John 6:65; 1 Corinthians 3:5b, Romans 12:3b, Hebrews 12:2) and to repent from sin (2 Timothy 2:25, Acts 11:18). But Christians' initial salvation does not take away their free will. So sometime subsequent to their initial salvation, they can wrongly employ their free will to stop obeying God, which means to stop loving Him (John 14:24, Matthew 24:12).
(See also Jude 1:21 below)
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*1 John 5:1 / *1 Jn. 5:1 -
(Re: OSAS?)
See section 2 of Ephesians 2:8 above.
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*1 John 5:2-3 / *1 Jn. 5:2 -
(Re: Mosaic law?)
See the "Law" section of Ephesians 2:15 above.
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*1 John 5:3 / *1 Jn. 5:3 -
If we love God, we will obey Him (1 John 5:3, John 14:21-24). And if we obey Him, He will continue to love us (John 15:10).
It is not difficult for Christians to obey everything that God requires of them (1 John 5:3b, Matthew 11:28-30, John 14:15,21, Matthew 5:48, Revelation 3:2; 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Colossians 1:28, Philippians 3:15; 1 Corinthians 2:6; 2 Corinthians 13:11).
(See also Matthew 5:48 above)
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*1 John 5:4-5 / *1 Jn. 5:4 -
(Re: Overcoming)
See Revelation 3:5 below.
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*1 John 5:11-13 / *1 Jn. 5:11 -
(Re: OSAS?)
See John 3:16 above, or section 2 of Ephesians 2:8 above.
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*1 John 5:16 / *1 Jn. 5:16 -
1 John 5:16a means that if a Christian sees a fellow Christian commit a sin, before that fellow Christian dies it is possible for the first Christian to exhort him to repent from that sin (Hebrews 3:13) and to pray with him that God would forgive him for it (1 John 1:9). But 1 John 5:16b means that it is possible for a Christian to wrongly employ his free will to commit a sin without repentance until he dies, at which point there is no use praying for forgiveness for that sin. For there is no forgiveness for a sin which is not repented from while someone is still alive (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Galatians 5:19-21).
(See Hebrews 10:26 and James 5:19 above)
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*1 John 5:18 / *1 Jn. 5:18 -
See 1 John 3:6 above.
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*2 John 1:6 / *2 Jn. 1:6 -
(Re: Mosaic law?)
See the "Law" section of Ephesians 2:15 above.
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*2 John 1:7-10 / *2 Jn. 1:7 -
Here the original Greek uses the present tense in saying that Christ "is come in the flesh".
2 John 1:7-10 means that Christians cannot welcome into their homes anyone claiming to be a Christian who teaches the lie that Christ is not in the flesh. This shows how crucial this doctrine is to true Christian faith.
Because this doctrine is so crucial, Satan will no doubt try to obliterate it during the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24.
(See Luke 24:39 above, and Revelation 13:4 below)
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(Re: "the" antichrist in Greek)
See 1 John 2:22 above.
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*2 John 1:9-10 / *2 Jn. 1:9 -
(*Doctrine) / (Re: Faith as a *rational/*intellectual enterprise / *Mental assent) / (*Feelings)
Christian faith must not be based solely on heart feelings, which can be very deceptive (Jeremiah 17:9, Proverbs 28:26, Proverbs 14:12), but must also be a rational/intellectual enterprise. For saving faith requires mental assent (Philippians 3:15-16, Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Timothy 2:25, Romans 8:6) to Biblical doctrine (2 Timothy 3:16 to 4:4; 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 John 1:9-10; 1 Timothy 6:3, Titus 1:9) and continuing to remember that doctrine (1 Corinthians 15:2; 2 Peter 3:1-2; 2 Corinthians 11:3).
For example, for people to be saved from hell, they must believe (and continue to believe to the end: Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Colossians 1:23; 1 Corinthians 15:2) the Biblical doctrine that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ and the human/divine Son of God (John 20:31, John 3:36, 1 John 2:23), and that He suffered and died on the Cross for our sins and physically resurrected from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Luke 24:39,46-47, Matthew 20:19, Matthew 26:28).
(But see Romans 9:11 above. Also, see the "brain device" section of Ecclesiastes 11:5 above)
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(Re: Is a true theologian one who is committed to praying, instead of thinking, which avails nothing?)
Together with praying, thinking upon God's Word the Bible does avail for Christians. For we are told to:
[2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Timothy 4:16]
And to get our doctrine right, we must know what the Bible itself says in its entirety. For:
[2 Timothy 3:16-17, Matthew 4:4]
That is...
(See Matthew 4:4 above)
~
(Re: Did Jesus ever tell us to appeal to doctrine?)
Yes, through His apostle Paul (see the references in section 1 of 2 John 1:9 above). See also what 1 Corinthians 14:37 says.
Also, even in the Gospels, Jesus Christ made a positive reference to God's doctrine (John 7:16-17), for that is what Jesus' teachings are: doctrine (Mark 1:22, Luke 4:32). And we are to continue in His and His apostles' doctrine (Acts 2:42, Acts 13:12, Romans 6:17, Romans 16:17; 1 Timothy 4:6,13; 2 Timothy 3:10, Titus 2:1,7,10). Indeed, the entire Bible is profitable for doctrine (2 Timothy 3:16), and whoever transgresses and abides not in the doctrine of Christ has not God, but he who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both God the Father and God the Son (2 John 1:9).
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