I was pondering the canon of Scripture and how we got it today. Part of the study going on at church involves where we got the Bible and the integrity of its message.

So I thought of this bit involving museums.

The artwork in the museum is the product of the artists. People come to see the artwork and are told about that artwork. The staff at the museum learned about and acquired the art. They learned about the artists and what the art was about. They keep the art protected and teach people about it.

The staff in the museum never try to modify the art. You’ll not find a particular curator adding little finishing touches to a Picasso or Monet. Neither will you find a staffer clearing inappropriate bits from Rembrandt or Escher works.

The museum may change the setting around the art, perhaps the frame or the wall color or the lighting. They may host various events to highlight certain displays or set up ambient music to add an atmosphere of focus.

On occasion a visitor to the museum may know more about the paintings than the staff. Once in a while a curator may not know all there is to know about a particular work of art or even have mistaken information about the details or the artist.

One thing that is not questioned, however, in a proper museum is the art itself. A Picasso is definitely a Picasso. The work has been done to ensure it is authentic and accurately identified as just what it is. Nobody gets to add in their own painting and claim it to be a Picasso.

So here’s the question:

Does the museum in fact set in place the veracity of the artwork, its message, its source or existence?

Or does the museum simply contain that which is true and verified as the particular vessel of delivery of said art and communication of information pertaining thereto?

The museum did not produce the art. It does not establish the ruling on the art.

Now take a look at a Bible believing church.

The canon was not developed, added to or taken from by the church. The fathers of the Church had in their grasp the Scriptures the whole time and all that was done about it was committing to those accurate texts. The church is the container that is focused on the Bible. Each believer is a curator of the Canon who is expected to know and be able to explain it. Some may be limited in their knowledge, some may not be experienced or even talented in their handling of the Scriptures.

ohn speaks of witnesses. He is a first hand witness of the Gospel in its fulfillment, and he has the backing of the three most powerful characters in history. In addition, not to be discounted, are his partners in the faith, apostles and disciples too numerous to count.

“This is He who came by water and blood — Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.

If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

Legally speaking, John has a pretty airtight case. He is an eyewitness of the events which unfold over this Easter weekend. He was around when the last supper was served. He was around when Christ was betrayed, dragged to court, ridiculed and tortured and finally hung up on the cross. And John was there for the resurrection. He was one of the closest in friendship with Christ (the disciple Jesus loved). This man, last one standing at the close of Scripture, had a huge weight to his words. His testimony echoes throughout history. Not only that, but his words coincide with those of all the other great apostles in the Bible. John, Paul, Peter, James, all of them are partners in the preservation of the single most important event in human experience.

But John says here that the witness of God is greater. God lent His testimony in several vital moments throughout Christ’s life and death. He witnessed with the Spirit upon Christ’s baptism.

Mark 1:10-11, “And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

This wasn’t an assumption on the part of the writers of the Bible. This was an event which was heard and seen by humans. God stepped into the frame of time and spoke, and the Spirit literally lighted upon the One to whom God spoke. No question remains that Christ was the Son of God.

Throughout Christ’s life, He referred himself and others to His Father. He pointed people to God for the source of His direction. Christ laid responsibility for His mission on God. He deferred His wishes to the Father’s in the garden before He was crucified, He commended His life to the Father when He died on the Cross

Christ, the Holy Spirit and God are the three witnesses to all of Christ’s mission. And they did not stop upon Christ’s resurrection. When Christ appeared to the disciples in Acts, He underscored His testimony. When the Spirit was poured out among the disciples at Pentecost, His testimony was part of that outpouring.

Christ witnessed to Paul in person. John met God in Heaven while he was on Patmos. Much of our New Testament is literally accounts of the actions or words of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.

And we have that witness today. Any of us who claim Christ as our Savior, who have accepted His offer of atonement and who have made Him Lord of our lives, we have the Holy Spirit within us as constant witness. Never ever forget that the Holy Spirit is God. He is fully one third of the Trinity. We too often let that reality fade in our minds. A Christian has the Holy Spirit within them for their entire life. God is witnessing to us from the moment of our salvation until the very end of time and even then He will not stop His testimony, for He has us preserved for all eternity.

When you feel doubt. When you just can’t seem to embrace the reality of Christ, God, the Spirit, the Gospel, the Bible, Heaven and Hell in your daily life. When it just doesn’t seem real enough. When you can’t convince yourself of the veracity, of the absolute concrete Truth of all this.

Amen.

od is love.

He is the definition of love.

He didn’t just define it.

God is love.

God is, defines and demonstrates true love.

John wrote us another song. It goes like this:

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

See here the very absolute definition of love. God doesn’t mold His concept of love around what we perceive as love. He set in stone the definition by demonstration.
God sent His son to live and minister among us. He set foot in this miserable, corrupt world and sought us out. Just as we do today, as humans, the people of Christ’s day refused to acknowledge His authority, His character, His message and even His actions. That is a love which we are called to emulate. We’re to live that kind of love.

The comforting sort of love, which we all expect from people who love us, is just what Christ didn’t get. Yet He loved us.

The affirming sort of love, which we all expect from people who love us, is just what Christ didn’t get. Yet He loved us.

If we are of God, then we must learn God’s definition of love. If we want to know God, the key is to know His definition of Love. It says so right here in our Bible. Our whole life is supposed to be through Him.

And not only that, but look at the key word I love so much in John’s writing: SO. Yep, short and wonderful word that little SO.

Check this out:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

SO loved. God didn’t just love the world. He SO loved the world. He loved us SO much that He gave Christ to us. And had all knowledge of what the result of that visit to earth would be. Propitiation for our sin. Death on the cross. Atonement. Payment.

Are we willing to give our lives for this Gospel? Once again, back to the death thing. Not very likely that a modern Christian in our Western Society is going to get the stake for being Christian and preaching the Word and acting like Christ did. But that’s not the message.

Are we willing to die to our own desires? Are we willing to commit every act in His name? That is reciprocating the real love that God has for us.

Here’s the test for the week:

1. When I got mad at my coworker for being forgetful, was I loving?
2. When I spent an hour grumbling about doing someone else’s job because they were sick, was I loving?
3. When I got on the phone with the credit company and tried to scam out of a late bill, was I loving?
4. When I snapped back at that insult in the office, was I loving?
5. When I ridiculed a bad choice of wording from my boss, was I loving?

Extra Credit: Did I do these things in His Name? Was my week an example of living through Him?

God’s love is not the same as our worldly interpretation of love. This is clear if we read the Gospels through, and watch Christ’s actions and words. Paul is often disparaged by people today because of his ways and words. But Paul is an exemplary show of the love God defined. Paul’s not always much fun to read, because his words are designed to cut (Bible=sword, right?) away the junk and reveal the heart of our sin, our relationship with God, the truth about our ministry and the absolute reality of God’s love.

Don’t love your neighbor by glossing over the hurt and pain in their home. Don’t love your neighbor by ignoring the continuing sin in your own life and the impact it has on your relationship. Don’t love your neighbor by telling him everything’s all right when it’s not all right.

Love your neighbor by making sure he knows what God wants in his life. Love your neighbor by fixing the sin in your own life so you can be that example to him. Love your neighbor by telling him what’s wrong so everything can get all right.

That is the love God defines. Living testaments to the life Christ lived is exactly the way we should look to the world. Start by loving God. Love Him, His Word, His work in your life (fun or painful). Next love your fellow Christians, their sins addressed, their ministries encouraged, their discipline praised and their love reciprocated. Finally love the rest of the people in God’s creation, their need for Him revealed, their need for hurt to be mended and their need to witness Godliness met in full.

There’s your life. It just passed before your eyes. Live through Christ. Do you love Him SO much you’ll do anything for Him? Or do you love Him SO much you’ll do everything for Him?

Wilbur Vernon Plain,

(December 4, 1915 – February 27, 2008)

Wilbur Vernon Plain, 92, of 706 Pelzer Highway in Easley, South Carolina, died Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at Countryside Village Healthcare.

Born in Fairfield County, Connecticut, he was the son of the late William J. and Lillian Rielly Plain. He was retired as a reporter for the Bridge Port Post in Bridgeport, CT. Mr. Plain was a WWII Veteran of the US Navy.

Mr. Plain is survived by a nephew, Jeff Plain of Easley.
Inurnment will be at a later date in Arlington National Cemetery.

Condolences may be expressed online in person at Robinson Funeral Home

or a boy, there is nothing more memorable than the kindness of a far-off, mysterious benefactor. That’s essentially the feeling that lingers most when I think of Uncle Wilbur. I can’t remember when the first box was placed in my hands. But I distinctly remember the whole event itself. I opened the small cardboard box (all stamps on, not the modern printed label from the USPS). I wondered frantically what was in there, and why I was the honored recipient. The flaps crackled back to reveal… books.

A man I did not know had sent me books.

Now, let me tell you about books. These blocks of paper, with their covers, dust-jackets, print-flaws, typeset and illustrations, are my delight. I love any kind of book. To see me walk into a Borders or Books-A-Million is to see a kid in a candy store. The weight, perfectly cut pages, glossy smooth paperback spine or stiff hardbound cover and that ripple of the leaves under my finger give me comfort. Here is knowledge, challenge or entertainment in a perfect package. Even more sacred is the smell. All books have a defining smell. Old books are the best, of course, but there is no comparison to the odor of books. Sometimes it feels as though I can tell the worthiness of a book just by checking its aromatic quality.

Uncle Wilbur sent me these boxes of books sporadically for several years. Every few months, a new one would arrive, and there was a flashing memory of the first. I came to live in a kind of perpetual impatience for the next installment to arrive.

There were two authors in the boxes. The first books were the Tom Swift Jr. series. Later on Louis L’Amour joined the stack. I don’t remember much about the books I read when I was young until these came into my hands. I think I had already read some Robert Louis Stevenson and other authors in the “Children’s Classics” series, and the Wizard of Oz. But Uncle Wilbur’s gifts are the first memorable books in my life. And I ate them up.

I would read them over and over. As the collections grew, I would categorize the books into various orders (alphabetically or by release order or by category). And I’d read them systematically, sometimes avoiding all other books but those from Uncle Wilbur.

If I was to state the one thing that stands out most in my life about books, Uncle Wilbur introduced me to them. I love books, the idea of books, and for me they came to life because of this man. I might have become an avid reader anyway. I might have loved books anyway. But Uncle Wilbur’s boxes impacted my life more than most anything else could, and may have been the greatest event in this boy’s childhood.

Just for statistical purposes, 127 books are listed by L’Amour on Wikipedia, and Uncle Wilbur sent me nearly all of them over the years. I have about 50 Tom Swift books, all of which he sent to me.
There could not have been two better themes to hand to a boy.

Tom Swift was an adventure, a gadget-filled romp through foreign countries, dangerous frontiers and even space and bizarre dimensions. I was a creative kid from the start, but my horizons were broadened by Tom Swift as I learned about electronic wizardry, all sorts of natural sciences and sheer ingenuity. Sci-fi that these books were, they brought a huge expansion to my thinking and ingenuity (much to the annoyance of my Mom, I’m sure).

Louis L’Amour was adventure, but introduced things I’d never read before in the poetry, the harshness of the Old West in both its people and its frontier. I fell in love with the wilderness and exploration. L’Amour wrote about the whole world, from Russia to the Solomon Islands, from Spanish California to the shores of England. I read my way from Gaul to Persia by way of Moscow with detours in Hong Kong and Canada. There was no place on earth that L’Amour missed, and I loved every bit of it. I learned about people and things, government and society from this man who had poetry for a soul and an honest, real mind.

Before I forget, there were two other things in those boxes. From time to time, business cards would come in the mail as well. Not as advertisement, but just because they looked neat. Uncle Wilbur started sending very unusual cards made from metal or plastic, or with objects attached to them (I still have one from a geological company with a sliver of iron pyrite glued on). When I expressed my interest, floods of cards started coming in. Uncle Wilbur sent business cards from all over the world (which intensified my impression that he had a very busy life). Most of them are still in my possession, somewhere in my collection of odd things. I can’t remember the count of cards in the collection, but I’d say there are probably at least a thousand, all unique.

And he sent me odd things. I’ve always been obsessed with little pieces of junk, and the books I got in the mail encouraged my acquisitive nature. Inside the books, just a few, once in a while, I would find the most intriguing items, such as 2-dollar bills, funny little coins, memos and cards. Mostly these were probably convenient bookmarks from previous owners (the books came from garage sales, flea markets and shops, I believe, for the most part, not from the local bookstore). So I would read a book, and half-way through a treasure would pop out. Ever since then, if a book passed my way which wasn’t brand-new-off-the-shelf, I would shuffle through it, checking for treasure. I still do that.

Imagine every book that passes through your hand going through an investigation process. Feel the cover and spine, looking over the thickness and colors and then open it and smell it. Read the opening line; riffle through the pages to see if there is a name written by a previous owner or if there’s a little treasure waiting to drop out. Check the date on the copyright and the edition. All the while your fingers are roving over the paper and the cover, taking in the book. Finally, the image of the first person you ever associated with books forms in your mind and you nod silent greeting to him.

That’s what happens to me around books.

So what did I think of this mysterious person whose sole communication with me was through boxes of paper? I believe the inevitable happened. To this day I envision Uncle Wilbur as a personification of the books I’ve read. Whether this is accurate or not, here is what he looks like to me.

Uncle Wilbur was an inventor, with a keen and articulate mind. He knew about electronics and fabrication, and had travelled across the seas. He was well read in poetry and history, and could quote from Plutarch and Khalil Gibran in the same breath. Uncle Wilbur could have been a statesman, a woodsman or a sailor without hesitation. I attributed to him the positive qualities of the people in books, especially those he sent. Even later, after I grew past Tom Swift in my reading (I’ve never left Louis L’Amour), other authors, such as Heinlein, Asimov, Tolkien and Lewis, got parts of their characters infused into my vision of Uncle Wilbur

And I’ll never really know if that is what Uncle Wilbur really was. He’s gone now.

Two things I regret most about this uncommon relationship come to mind.

I’ll never get to thank him for what he did in my life. I wrote him letters of thanks for the gifts, of course, but I didn’t even realize the true impact of those boxes and their contents until much later. Some time ago I decided to dedicate my collection of books as The Wilbur Plain Memorial Library. My books, however many I have and however long I have them, will always be kept with thoughts of him.

I have no idea whether I’ll see him again. You see, Uncle Wilbur’s spiritual state is in question. The family does not know if he knew Christ and was on his way to heaven. To truly lose such a man in my life is a kind of tight pressure in my chest, and I know it won’t be relieved until I’m on my way home, whether he made it or not. There’s no sadness in Heaven, but I wonder if there will be that moment, right ahead of departure, when we’ll know who made it, and I suspect it’ll be a moment of either ecstatic joy or crushing shadows for each of us.

Let me close this story with one moral. Don’t let your loved ones slip from your fingers. Don’t let them go without knowing you’ve shown Christ to them.

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Read more

I’m working on a good collection of definitions, discussion and help for Wiccans and their loved ones to understand the difference between Wicca and Christianity and how to meet the challenge of showing Christ to Wiccans. Comments and critiques are welcome! I might stall on some answers because I’m trying to deal out systematically here, so if you think I missed something important, let me know, but I might have it coming in future sections.

PART I: Gods and God

Wiccan Faith: Wiccans have the option to believe in numerous gods, one god, or none at all. It is a matter of pride that various individuals and groups can join together in harmony and not have to agree on the deity being worshiped. In the Wiccan tradition of which I was a part, all gods were acceptable, and the golf-ball principle was used to explain the philosophy. A golf-ball is the force of deity and each of the divots is one face of the deity.

The problem with this is the same as the ancient pagan gods presented long ago. There is no way to connect personally with a panoply of gods and goddesses. There is no unity that can be trusted to guide and care for the mortal who worships and seeks help. Because of this there is the tendency for Wiccans to be reaffirmed in their self reliant and independent nature. This generation and the last, what I think of as the Why? and Show-me generations find their niche in Wicca. So many people, like I did when leaning toward Wicca, seek definition of self on their own terms. The religion not only supports this, but often teaches it. Wiccans are not defined by a god or gods, they are not even defined by a group. Wicca is individualistic to the core.

The hopelessness of relying solely on one’s self for identity and purpose is in itself a motivation for more reliance on the rituals and the study of Wicca. Books are collected and read. Rituals and magic are worked in hopes of becoming more faithful and powerful. All of this is to affect the pursuit of a better spirit, mind and body. And it won’t work. There is no solid foundation for a Wiccan.

Rather than depend on the self for identity and meaning in this world, Christ offers a foolproof identification and an ultimate meaning that transcends individual lives, yet applies to days and moments in individual life. The God of the Christians takes all of the instability of the pantheon of Wiccan gods and wipes the list clean. He is the only one on the list who has not only IS tangible, but has actually TOLD humans what and who He is. Wiccans seek to reach their gods through ritual and magic. The Christian God actually came to His people and reached them through Christ. And He remains with His people through the Holy Spirit and His Bible. There is the promise of trust and concrete belief in Jehovah.

One God:

Deuteronomy 6:4

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

God came to His people:

John 20:26-29:

“And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but be believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

God remains with His people:

Acts 1:8, Acts 2:4 and Acts 2:38-39:

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

“Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

ee James for more on this subject. This is a short and sweet summary of what is supposed to happen in a Christian.

“And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. “

As a Child, with faith and trust in the Lord, my sins are forgiven, the payment made for the penalty and I have stepped into a new life in that faith and forgiveness. To see the realization of my life here on this earth I must remain in Him. I must find sustenance, strength, and identity in Christ the Lord. I must abide in Him.

If I do these things, His return will be a glorious and proud day for me. If I fail to keep my commitment to serve Him, I will be shamed, speechless and joyless in His presence.

So I will be righteous, keeping His commandments to walk in the light, loving Him and my brothers. I will not allow the Truth to be skewed for the preferences of this world. I will know the Truth, that I might know His direction and so I may uphold it against those who would degrade it to mere works and worse. I will be righteous, an example of love and holiness, fleeing the lust of the flesh, of the eyes, and the pride of life, for my pride is in Him, my desire to do His will.

None shall call me liar, that I have perverted the Truth, or have claimed to be without sin. I know too well that I sin, but I know better that I am forgiven and seek forgiveness for each failure. I know that my restoration is a prayer away and that He will defend me from the Accuser. The Truth I have heard since the start is that which I proclaim now and will until Christ’s return.

Amen.

utside influences are subject to the Word. We don’t take even the most reputable instruction at face value.

“Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us — eternal life.

These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you , and you do not need that anyone teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”

Main point:

The Bible is true. If it is true, why change it? Why trust anyone who deviates from the Bible’s teaching? People say paranoia is a bad thing. I say that paranoia over whether someone’s teaching is true or not is healthy. Don’t just blindly trust the teacher.

If I trust blindly in a teacher I’ll eventually end up in a great place for worship and connection with a charismatic leader who knows how to reach out to the masses. I’ll be challenged and satisfied in a corporate pipeline where my inputs and skills are appreciated. If I stop worrying so much about the Biblical specifics, I’ll be comfortable, fed and illuminated. If I trust my teacher implicitly, with no regard to the Bible (because my teacher is far more intelligent and educated than I), I’ll be joined with thousands of others who are artistic, musical, dedicated, faithful and just like me. Through all this I’ll have the pride of knowing I’m doing things for the Lord in a way that the world finally understands. I’ll be able to use all the tools at my disposal to relate to the people, to make them comfortable around my God. I’ll be unstoppable.

And I’ll be an antichrist.

John says I must let what was in the beginning abide in me now. The Lord brought me to Him through the Bible. I’ll often talk of how all of my family’s prayer was a pinnacle of the force in my conversion, or how Ben was influential in my salvation or how much reading “The Case For Christ” was the final stone’s throw that brought me to my knees. Yes, those are true statements. But they didn’t save me. None of them. God, through His Word, saved me. If I hadn’t known what the Bible said about my current and future state and how all that could be changed through repentance, submission and faith, I wouldn’t be His child right now.

The Bible was in the beginning. The Gospel. The whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. What would it do to me to turn from that Truth now?

Eternal life, the very concept, is based on abiding in Christ; abiding in the Truth. If I deviate from that specific abiding, in what is my eternal life based? I throw away the Truth: I throw away Christ: I throw away any foundation for my life. My today and my tomorrow, every day from now through eternity is pointless if I’m not living with Him. This has all the weight of life and death for the unsaved, for their destruction or preservation hinges upon this truth. For a Christian, who has the mission to show Christ to others, how much more weight is upon my shoulders? I have within me, having no foundation, all the tools in the world to turn sinners away from God. I’m not showing people the Lord when I dispose of that which was in the beginning. I’m showing people the world, making it okay to be of the world. Oops.

Other Main Point:

How do I avoid the catastrophe? I realize that there is no source of teaching that supersedes the Holy Bible. Should I go to seminary some day, what will I do there? I will learn how to learn what is in the Bible. When I talk with my brother over the things of God or this world, I am learning how to learn what is in the Bible. I pray that I am doing the same when I am with my family and we are in our studies of the Scripture. If there is one thing I can tell my girls it may well be this: You, dearest, are to read your Bible and know that the words there are for you, and nobody can tell you anything about God, you or how to live that is not in these Scriptures.

Have I completely discredited Bible teachers in this commentary? I sure hope that didn’t come across.

The Holy Spirit is in us for a reason. It is He who leads us through the pages of the Word and through the preaching and singing and everything we do amongst our fellow Christians. We can’t afford not to have the pastor, elders, Sunday School teachers or study leaders. These people are placed by God for us to learn from and follow (the Bible tells us that, too). But none of these are led by the world. They are not led by logic or gut feelings or popular demand. Bible teachers don’t sugar coat the hard stuff, and they sure don’t apply worldly principles to the Word. When they do, crack that Bible open a little wider and start being paranoid. You’re in for some entertainment.

his next part needs a little more background so I can get into the point better.

Gnosticism was a perversion of Christ’s deity. Gnostics wanted to keep Him untouched by evil, so denied Christ’s humanity. They either taught that He was not really physically present (illusion) or that the man, Jesus, was inhabited by the Christ’s spirit during His ministry and departed before He was crucified. Read Macarthur’s Bible Commentary for a pretty quick overview of this mess.

On to the Scripture.

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

First off, let me mark a couple of important trends. Light and Darkness, Lies and Truth. These are not very fuzzy subjects. There’s not any room for us to maneuver in our lives.

The Gnostics would have us believe that our bodies are separate from our spirits, or that only the flesh is evil. This tells us we can do whatever we want in the world, for our spirits are removed from the contact. So if we’re regenerated, we have no need to worry about what we do. Or maybe the point is that we’re perfected immediately, and that there’s no more opportunity to sin either way, this is the darkness part.

The Truth presents a different image. If we deny the existence of sin, either in our action or its presence in our lives (omission and commission: notice the two different statements about having sin and having sinned), then we are both lying and making a liar of our Lord. Only our confessed sin, our knowledge that we not only HAVE sin, but have the POTENTIAL to sin will allow us the most important things in our lives.

What’s the important stuff? Where is the positive in the verses? Look at when “Truth is in us”, when we “walk in the light”, when “we have fellowship with one another”, when we are cleansed, and when His word is in us.

Something I learned a while back about reading Scripture. Turn it on its head and find out what the message means in reverse. Take verse 10:

“If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

So if we say that we HAVE sinned, He is NOT a liar, and His word IS in us.

Sure, that sounds simple. But I know I have certainly missed points in the Word by glossing over a negative or positive and not considering its conclusive opposite.

So here’s a root for witnessing: No Sin, No Truth. One must know and admit to being a sinner before the Lord will cleanse him from all unrighteousness, will admit him into fellowship with Him as well as the fellowship of believers (unsaved or saved, how can we have fellowship with the believers in transparency and beneficial interchange if we are denying or concealing sin?), will put His word into him.

Now another important part: I noticed the potentially confusing part about cleansing. It’s a very final statement, right? Once cleansed is great, right? I’m done with cleansing?

In context with the whole passage, I don’t think so. In verse 6, we are walking and practicing. And why would John repeat himself in verses 9 and 10? This is because this cleansing is progressive, repetitive. Our salvation may be once-and-for-all, but our SANCTIFICATION is continual from the moment of rebirth. Sin remains, though it’s power of condemnation is broken.

I’m not going to hell anymore, since turning from my sin and committing to Christ, but I sure can live in hell right now (walking in darkness). So just as Romans 12:1-2 says (and many other passages), I must be continually refreshing my spirit in Christ’s forgiveness and light.

Here’s the Romans passage:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

“Fooey. Renewing is a one-time deal! I only need it once.”

Unfortunately, anyone who says that is walking in the darkness. I face sin, temptation, darkness every day! What’s more, I succumb to these forces far more often that I would like to admit. Renewing for me is a DAILY thing (in the Navy we call this an R1D: Required-Once-Daily) maintenance.

When we renew our minds, when we confess our sin, when we are honest before our Lord, then He will faithfully cleanse us from our sin. The passage has a finality that doesn’t really mean Once-And-For-All, but actually Every Time.

And this system works for both the unsaved and the saved. To become a child of God, we must have done just this. To remain in the lighted, word-filled and truth-filled relationship with Christ we must continually recognize our sin, confess it and be cleansed.

kay, here we go. These verses set up a powerful framework for the whole book. Eyewitness accounts of Christ are providing the backbone for proclaiming His Word. John is dealing with Gnosticism here, which had varying versions of denial of Christ’s humanity (and thereby His validity in coming to die for us).

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life –

the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us –

that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”

This is a very final and pointed opening statement. It says “THIS IS FACT. DON’T ARGUE WITH ME.” John is claiming absolute truth here. And not just from Eye-Witness account. Look at the first verse. “That which was from the beginning…” He’s referring to Christ’s eternal existence, not just a short, 30-year tour in the realm of philosophy or religion. So what John saw and felt and heard, along with the other apostles, is intertwined with overall Biblical Truth: That Christ had and always was in existence.

What John has done here is establishing his authority to direct the course of the rest of his epistle. He’s seen, heard and touched what has been prophesied, actually happened, and was REAL.

Is this short passage useful to me? You bet. John is just one of many witnesses, several of whom wrote in the New Testament, who had first-hand experience in our Lord’s life. I should base my studies and my witness on FACT, not just philosophy. Arguing the principles (doctrines) in the Bible are commendable actions, but if I treat them simply as philosophical threads, where does that get me?

The gnostics of this age are masters of reasoning and philosophy. They’re glad I’m on the same bandwidth as they are when we get steamed up for debate. I’m on their ground and they’re comfortable (and I am comfortable too, having long years among them). But what happens when I go about sharing my relationship with our Lord via FACT.

Look at how Paul faces the “Ultimate Philosophers Gauntlet” in Athens, Greece (Acts 17:22).

“Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God…”

Paul treats his encounter with the philosophers with a presentation of FACT. Had he gone in with a philosopher’s approach, he might have had a better reception, and maybe a lot of positive responses to his message, but Paul would have been toying with a dangerous “seeker-friendly” technique. Lots of logical assent to the message does not mean lots of conversion, repentance or salvation.

Eyewitness, irrefutable accounts bring shivers to a philosopher. Gnostics tend not to want facts when dealing with religion. Fuzzy is better. It’s hard to miss that the prevalent winds of our world right now lean toward avoiding fact and stretching truth to encompass the comfortable. Introducing hard facts that both conform to and confirm the Truth puts a monkey wrench in any philosophical discussion of faith. And here is where the reality of our discourse is manifest.

When we are told to shake the dust off at a bad reception to our witness, we can know when to do so. Throw the truth in first, hard and clearly, and the receptiveness of the audience is going to be much easier to determine. I have the bad habit of wanting to sugar-coat the Truth, sneaking it in amongst philosophy and catchy phrases. That’s not how God wants it done, as clearly presented in 1st John and many other passages.