Taking a Look at 1 John

“This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”- 1 John 3:19-24 New Living Translation

            Many believers are afraid they don’t love others the way scripture calls them to. They feel guilty because they think they aren’t doing enough. Their conscience bothers them. John has these people in mind when he wrote this letter. How do we escape our minds’ gnawing accusations? You can be sure it’s not by ignoring them or rationalizing our behavior. It would be by setting our heart on God’s love. Whenever we feel guilty, we need to remind ourselves that God knows the motives of our heart, as well as our actions. His voice of assurance is stronger than the accusing voice of our conscience. If we are in Christ, he will not condemn us.¹

            A person’s name in the Bible stands for his or her character. It will stand for whom he or she truly is. We are called to believe not only in the words of Jesus, but in his very person as well. To believe “in the name” simply means to model your life after Christ’s, thus becoming more like him in thoughts, words and deeds. If we go about living our lives like Christ we will “love one another”.

            If your conscience is clear, you can come to God without fear, confident that your request(s) will be heard. … You will receive if you obey and do what pleases him because you will be asking in line with God’s will. Of course this doesn’t mean you can have anything you want, like instant riches. If you are truly seeking God’s will there are some requests you simply will not make. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing! rlkeller

Resources: The Life Application Study Bible                   

¹Romans 8:1 – “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, … .”

    Hebrews 9:14,15 – “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”