F O O T H O L D
READING
90 DON'T STUMBLE IN THE DARK
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PRAY Help me dear Lord, to
understand the Scriptures and to understand
myself.
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READ 1 John 1:1-2:6.
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THINK The pictures central
to this passage are of light and dark. Make
a list of the ideas that
have come to your mind from these two
words.
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FOCUS Wrong beliefs matter
because they always lead to wrong actions!
1. BE SURE OF JESUS (1:1-4).
Notice the similarities between the
opening of this letter and
the first part of John's Gospel. They
may both have been written
some sixty years after the birth of
the early church - at a time
when some of the early zeal seems to
have been evaporating.
One of John's reasons for
writing was to deal with some dangerous
false teachings. Some
teachers doubted that Jesus could be both
God and human. They believed
all physical things to be evil so
Jesus could not have been
really human. Perhaps he was a phantom
in human shape! This was
totally contrary to the preaching of the
apostles (2), and John was
an eye witness (1). An emphasis on the
miracle of the incarnation (God
in the flesh) is fundamental to
the church's life.
2. BE SURE OF YOURSELF (1:5-10).
Wrong belief leads to wrong
actions or complacency.
Notice John's three examples (6,8,10).
No one is beyond sin but
this does not allow us to excuse it or
pretend it doesn't exist.
Rather we are to avoid sin's
contamination as far as
possible by living in the light of God's
standards (7). And we seek
forgiveness when sin gets the better
of us (9).
3. BE SURE OF GOD'S
FORGIVENESS (2:1-6). The genius of the Gospel
is that it offers
forgiveness to sinners while treating their sin
with the utmost seriousness.
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PRAY Ask God to keep you
from being deceived about his Son, about
yourself and about his
forgiveness.
