My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. |
How we sin.
We DO wrong.
And God doesn't like that. He can't have that unholiness in his presence.
And Jesus makes it possible for us TO be in his presence.
John doesn't want us to sin.
He knows what sin does to us. It separates us from God.
BUT he reassures us that if we sin (when we sin) we have an advocate. That advocate name is Jesus. Jesus has propitiated... in other words he has appeased God. That's what he did.
Not just for me. Not just for you. But for the ENTIRE world.
Can you imagine it?
All that sin.
Jesus appeased it.
But this we know Christ you know?
His death on the cross tells us what we need to know about him.
The depth of his love for us.
The depth of his love for his Father.
Jesus made it right between us.
And so we want to keep his commands.
We want to do "what's right by him".
Who couldn't? in the face of such love, why wouldn't we want to do whatever we could to meet that love?
See these words?
but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
I read those words and I just want to weep.
I don't have God's love in perfected.
I struggle to obey God. I struggle to love him as deeply as I aught.
All I can do is call upon him for forgiveness for all I've done and turn to him in repentance and a desire to no longer walk in ways I should not.
I need to have that same love for others that Christ had for me.
And I fail in it so often.
Let us pray to God shall we?
Pray that his Spirit will enable us to live up to what he has called us to be.
People willing, ready and able to follow his will, his commands for our lives.
This is what we MUST NEEDS DO.
This is what I must needs do.