two possible destinies

Posted on March 11, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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two possible destinies

1 John 5:4b-12 (JDV)

1 John 5:4b This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.
1 John 5:5 Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 5:6 Jesus Christ — he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Breath is the one who testifies, because the Breath is the truth.
1 John 5:7 Because there are three that testify:
1 John 5:8 the Breath, the water, and the blood — and these three agree.
1 John 5:9 If we accept human testimony, God’s testimony is greater, because it is God’s testimony that he has given about his Son.
1 John 5:10 The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about his Son.
1 John 5:11 And this is the testimony: God has given us permanent life, and this life is in his Son.
1 John 5:12 The person who has the Son has life. The person who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

two possible destinies

The apostle John had a way of taking ultimate reality and boiling it down to simple statements that captured its essence. For example, he divided the whole of the human race into two categories – two destinies. He said “The person who has the Son has life. The person who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” By that he meant that the objective of life today is to gain a permanent life in the future, and only those who are in Christ will accomplish that objective. Jesus implied the same thing when he said “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have a permanent life.” He spoke of only two eternal destinies: to perish forever, or to live forever. Those destinies will each begin with a resurrection. Believers will experience a “resurrection of life” but unbelievers will experience a “resurrection of judgment.” That judgment will culminate in the second death.

There are two possible destinies. Both are permanent, but only one involves life.

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caring is from God

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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caring is from God

1 John 4:7-5:4a (JDV)

1 John 4:7 Dear ones, let us care about one another, because caring is from God, and everyone who cares has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:8 The one who does not care does not know God, because God is care.
1 John 4:9 God’s care was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
1 John 4:10 Caring consists in this: not that we cared about God, but that he cared about us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our failures.
1 John 4:11 Dear ones, if God cared about us in this way, we also must care about one another.
1 John 4:12 No one has ever seen God. If we care about one another, God stays in us and his care is made complete in us.
1 John 4:13 This is how we know that we are staying in him and he in us: He has given us of his Breath.
1 John 4:14 And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world’s Savior.
1 John 4:15 Whoever declares that Jesus is the Son of God – God stays in him and he in God.
1 John 4:16 And we have come to know and to believe the care that God has for us. God is care, and the one who stays caring stays in God, and God stays in him.
1 John 4:17 In this, care is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in care; instead, perfect care drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So, the one who fears does not care completely.
1 John 4:19 We care because he first cared about us.
1 John 4:20 If anyone says, “I care about God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not care about his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot care about God whom he has not seen.
1 John 4:21 And we have this command from him: The one who cares about God must also care about his brother and sister.
1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who cares about the Father also cares about the one born of him.
1 John 5:2 This is how we know that we care about God’s children: when we care about God and obey his commands.
1 John 5:3 Because this is what care for God entails: keeping his commands. And his commands are not a burden,
1 John 5:4a because everyone who has been born from God conquers the world.

caring is from God

Caring for others is contagious. We catch the caring bug from God, who cared for us
before we even knew him. Our caring for others is the symptom that we have been in contact with God. Absence of that symptom is a sure sign that a person has not been infected.

Caring fans out in every direction, but it can first be seen in our relationship with Jesus — the Son whom the Father cares for. Then, naturally we will want to share his care with others who are close to him. Look for signs of infection as this group fellowships together.

Caring also naturally produces people who obey God’s commands. We obey those people we respect and care about. We especially obey those who care about us.

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be careful little ears

Posted on March 9, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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be careful little ears

1 John 4:1-6 (JDV)

1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every breath, but test the breaths to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:2 This is how you know the Breath of God: Every breath that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
1 John 4:3 but every breath that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the breath of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.
1 John 4:4 You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1 John 4:5 They are from the world. Therefore, what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them.
1 John 4:6 We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Breath of truth and the breath of deception.

be careful little ears

Jesus predicted that false prophets would predominate in this age. John said that they had already arrived and set up shop during his time. He encourages skepticism, and commands his readers to test the breaths (what came out of the prophets’ mouths) to see if what they are saying is from God (1). True prophets confess that Christ came from heaven and existed in the flesh (2:14-15). They agree with the teachings of the apostles (6).

LORD, help us to be discerning about whom we listen to — careful about whom we read, and what we watch.

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Cain or Christ?

Posted on March 8, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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Cain or Christ?

1 John 3:11-24 (JDV)

1 John 3:11 Because this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should care about one another,
1 John 3:12 unlike Cain, who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
1 John 3:13 Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we care about our brothers and sisters. The one who does not care stays in death.
1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has permanent life staying in him.
1 John 3:16 This is how we have come to know care: He gave up his throat for us. We should also give up our throats for our brothers and sisters.
1 John 3:17 If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him – how does God’s care stay in him?
1 John 3:18 Little children, let us not care in mere word or speech, but in action and in truth.
1 John 3:19 This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him
1 John 3:20 whenever our hearts condemn us; because God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.
1 John 3:21 Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God
1 John 3:22 and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.
1 John 3:23 Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and care about one another as he commanded us.
1 John 3:24 The one who keeps his commands stays in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he stays in us is from the Breath he has given us.

Cain or Christ?

John uses the Old Testament story of Cain and Abel to teach his readers that they should keep caring for each other. Cain refused to care about his brother. In fact, he murdered him. Abel demonstrated his faith in the short life he had, and he will be raised to permanent life when Jesus returns. But Cain stayed in death, and will not experience the believer’s resurrection. No murderer has permanent life staying in him.

But John does not carry out the illustration into an allegory. He does not call on his readers to be like Abel. Instead, he challenges them (and us) to be like Jesus, who gave up his throat (surrendered his life) in our place. His act of caring is our example. This is how we demonstrate that we are living with the promised inheritance of permanent life. He gave up his throat for us. We should also give up our throats for our brothers and sisters.

John concludes by making the command obvious. No more comparisons. No more illustrations. Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and care about one another as he commanded us.

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proving our testimony

Posted on March 7, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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proving our testimony

1 John 2:28-3:10 (JDV)

1 John 2:28 So now, little children, stay in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
1 John 2:29 If you know that he is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
1 John 3:1 See what great care the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children — and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him.
1 John 3:2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is.
1 John 3:3 And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.
1 John 3:4 Everyone who fails practices lawlessness; and failure is lawlessness.
1 John 3:5 You know that he was revealed so that he might take away failures, and there is no failure in him.
1 John 3:6 Everyone who stays in him does not fail; everyone who fails has not seen him or known him.
1 John 3:7 Children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
1 John 3:8 The one who fails is of the devil, because the devil has failed from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works.
1 John 3:9 Everyone who has been born of God does not fail, because his seed stays in him; he is not able to fail, because he has been born of God.
1 John 3:10 This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not care about his brother or sister.

proving our testimony

John agrees with James that confession of faith is not proof of faith. True children of God are going to stop habitually failing God, and start habitually loving each other. If we say that the blood of Christ has made us righteous before God, then our lives are going to produce righteous practices. Our lives are to be proof of our testimony.

LORD, we want to prove who we are by what we do.

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stay with him

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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stay with him

1 John 2:18-27 (JDV)

1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know that it is the last hour.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; because if they had belonged to us, they would have stayed with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Sacred One, and all of you know the truth.
1 John 2:21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.
1 John 2:22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son.
1 John 2:23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.
1 John 2:24 That you have heard from the beginning should stay with you. If what you have heard from the beginning stays with you, then you will stay in the Son and in the Father.
1 John 2:25 And this is the promise that he himself made to us: permanent life.
1 John 2:26 I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing you received from him stays in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, stay with him.

stay with him

Some time in the first century, there was apparently an exodus from the Church. A number of people who were thought to be Christians left, and started their own groups. Then they sought to convince those who stayed to leave as well. John called these people antichrists. He chose a word that connoted an appropriate sense of fear and repulsion. He wanted to remind the believers how serious it is to defect from the body of Christ. He wanted to encourage those who claimed to be Christians to stay with Him.

LORD, we want to stay with you.

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do what Daddy wants

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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do what Daddy wants

1 John 2:12-17 (JDV)

1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, since your failures have been forgiven on account of his name.
1 John 2:13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the evil one.
1 John 2:14 I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God’s word stays in you, and you have conquered the evil one.
1 John 2:15 Do not care about the world or the things in the world. If anyone cares about the world, the care of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:16 For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions — is not from the Father but is from the world.
1 John 2:17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does what God wants stays permanently.

do what Daddy wants

John is writing to the whole church — not a building but all believers. They are described as groups at different stages of spiritual development, but they all have the same problem. They are all being tempted to be distracted by focus on temporary things — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in their possessions.

The solution to this problem is the care of the Father. It is both subjective and objective. It is God’s care for us, and our care for Him. It is caring enough for God to imitate him by obeying his commands. That is one of the earliest lessons a young child gets: do what Daddy wants.

The desire to focus on those temporary things is just as temporary as they are. We must learn to look past those things which are passing away, and focus on the voice of our Daddy, doing what He wants.

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walking like he walked

Posted on March 4, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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walking like he walked

1 John 2:3-11 (JDV)

1 John 2:3 This is how we know that we know him: since we keep his commands.
1 John 2:4 The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn’t keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1 John 2:5 But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the care of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him:
1 John 2:6 The one who says he is staying in him should be walking like he walked.
1 John 2:7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the word you have heard.
1 John 2:8 Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
1 John 2:9 The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now.
1 John 2:10 The one who cares about his brother or sister stays in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
1 John 2:11 But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he’s going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

walking like he walked

Confidence and assurance of salvation do not come from confessing a certain doctrine or creed. Confidence comes from living like the Savior told us to live. That is why the Lord in his compassion is going to give us some neighbors and brothers and sisters who challenge our commitment. Their words will irk us. Their actions will tempt us to be infuriated. This is a test. The authenticty of our faith is being tested. Don’t walk away from such people. Embrace them with love. The result will be our own confidence in Christ.

LORD, give us the wisdom to love those you bring to us — to walk like you walked.

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hide or heal?

Posted on March 3, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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hide or heal?

1 John 1:5-2:2 (JDV)

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.
1 John 1:6 If we would say, “We participate with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we would be lying and are not practicing the truth.
1 John 1:7 Since we are walking in the light as he himself is in the light, we participate with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all failure.
1 John 1:8 If we would say, “We have no failure,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:9 Since we confess our failures, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our failures and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:10 If we would say, “We have not failed,” we would be making him a liar, and his word would not be in us.
1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not fail. But if anyone does fail, we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ the righteous one.
1 John 2:2 He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our failures, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

hide or heal?

I use “fail” and “failure” rather than the traditional word “sin” — not denying the reality of sin, but stressing its comprehensive nature. To sin is to miss the mark, whether intentionally or by mistake. Our Lord’s death on the cross is our one sacrifice for every possible failure. Everyone who hears the gospel has a choice. The choice is to confess all failures and let the blood of Christ bring restoration and healing. Or, the alternative is to hide the failure behind a respectable darkness. Those who choose to hide their failures may claim to participate with God, but the claim is empty. There can be no healing without treatment, and there will be no treatment if we refuse to acknowledge the disease.

LORD, give us the wisdom to seek your healing restoration, not to hide our failures.

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joy in the gospel

Posted on March 2, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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joy in the gospel

1 John 1:1-4 (JDV)

1 John 1:1 The reality that was from the beginning, that we have heard, that we have seen with our eyes, that we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life —
1 John 1:2 and that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the permanent life that was with the Father and was revealed to us —
1 John 1:3 that we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also participate with us; and we really participate with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

joy in the gospel

John’s joy is the reality of the gospel of grace through Jesus Christ. But it is more than a doctrine he believes. It is a person he has met. He has heard, seen, observed and touched this person. He can never be persuaded to reject Jesus. Do do so would be to deny his own experience. His joy is made more complete by sharing what he knows.

He also knows that Jesus is the possessor and the grantor of permanent life. His very existence is a promise from God of immortality for his followers. When John and the other apostles saw Jesus, they recognized that he had been with the Father, and that he was a revelation from the Father. But what was that revelation? It was that we can also be more than we are. Our weak temporary lives can be changed and we can participate with the Father and the Son. We can also have permanent life. His joy is made more complete by sharing that good news.

So, John writes. He must write because he must get the gospel’s message out. He feels compassion for those who do not yet know the good news. But he is motivated by more than pity. He writes because sharing the gospel makes him happy. It completes his joy. It is the joy of passing on the most essential truths ever revealed to humanity. It is the joy of inviting others to experience the person of Christ.

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