Key Text: Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10).
The purpose of The First Epistle (letter) of John was “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life… (John 20:31), “that your joy may be full” (1 John 1:4), that the believers might have true fellowship with God on earth and the life eternal (1 John 1:5), and that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life (1 John 5:13). More succinctly, John is saying that in this letter, “We are declaring Jesus Christ – the “Word of Life” (1 John 1:1). If it were not for the atoning death of Christ, fellowship with God would be impossible. The “blood of Christ,” His atoning death, “cleanseth us from all sin”
v 7. John uses apostolic authority in his use of endearment, “my little children” to deal with the threat of sin; “if any man sin,” that is, if any believer who has already acknowledged that he was a sinner, and has already been cleansed from his sin by the atoning sacrifice of Christ; however, if this person be led off into sin, would he be eternally lost or was the person saved at all? John offers assurance and proof in “fellowship” where one is born again “And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin” v 7. In other words, man will sin, but he will not be hopelessly lost, because we have an Advocate, a Comforter, a Helper, the propitiation (1 John 2:6) for our sins, a Righteous Lawyer who pays our atonement (fine) for our sins, and He stands “with the Father” for us. It is important to note that the design of the atonement does not come by knowledge, but rather through the atonement of Christ alone. THE ATONEMENT IS SUFFICIENT and “in this way we do know that we know Him” v 3. Everyone who truly knows Christ, keeps His commandments. “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” v 4.
John moves to the theme of love in a direct exhortation to the believers to love one another because “God is love” (1 John 4:9). The proof of God’s love to us is clearly seen in that He sent His only Son into the world to die on the Cross as our propitiation. “Because he hath given us of his Spirit,” v 11 the love of God makes us obligated to love another. This is the only way we can show that we really have love. CLAIMING TO LOVE GOD IS MEANINGLESS WITHOUT SHOWING LOVE TO EACH OTHER. AMEN!
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