Sandra K

Yes, we do "earn" God's favor through obedience. I think that you need to understand how I view God and His love for me for this to make sense to you. "Earn" is really not the right word here but I have seen God's favor bestowed as a result of obedience many times. Blessing follows obedience. Jesus says that if we love Him, we will obey Him....so our obedience is a sign of our love for Him. This will not lead us into legalism because the motive of our obedience is love. Surely God does not owe us anything...but He is merciful and His desire is toward us.

To "lay down my life for my brother" means to give up what I want to do, what my flesh desires, what I have planned, etc. to sacrifice that and go to my brother and do what the Lord wants me to do. Some examples of this kind of love in action are to remember that ministry is not finishing what I do, or doing what I had planned, or doing a good job, but instead to turn from what I am doing and to concentrate on people, who are God's priority. I am in a large congregation and being new there I have to always remember that ministry is about PEOPLE and not doing....so I am available as the Lord leads to do what He wants me to do and be with the people he wants me to be with.

If I am angry and do nothing about it, it will fester and the energy of anger will settle within me to be bitterness. At that point, I have moved far from God. This anger has turned into a murderous attitude...very dangerous. Anger is like a cancer...it keeps growing and taking over our attitude and actions. Then we could release that great energy of anger in the form of murder. What we/I must do is keep check on situations that anger me and turn to the Lord THEN and confess that sinful attitude and ask for forgiveness. I must do this until I am able to ask the Lord to bless that person...that is a great check to see if I have really forgiven (the Lord tells us to bless those who have persecuted us.)

Cain resented Abel because God had approved of Abel's sacrifice and it caused Cain to feel jealous and eventually murderous. Cain knew better. He knew what the correct sacrifice was....blood shed by an animal, which Adam and Eve found out when God had them dispose of their fig leaves and God gave them the animal skins which was the God-approved covering for sin. I'm sure that Adam and Eve told Cain and Abel about the correct offering to God. So Cain chose to come to God for forgiveness on his own terms....by what he had done....his occupation, etc. As Cain hated Abel, so the world hates us because of Jesus. The world, incited by the demonic against Christ, refuses to give God the correct offering and hates those of us who do. They want God on their own terms....by their own works...and they do not want to give over their lives to the Lord. So they hate those of us who do.

John's teaching here on sin and righteousness relates to the teaching of the false teachers who said/taught that you could sin any time you wanted and it was not a sign of not knowing the Lord. They taught that righteous living didn't matter. Sin was trival. Pastor Wilson says that they were following a Jesus of their own invention.

Q4. (1 John 3:6, 9) How does the presence of God's seed in us keep us from habitual lawlessness and sin? How does the Holy Spirit sanctify us and make us like Jesus? The Holy Spirit within me draws me to holiness against the power of my flesh which drives me to sin. The power of the HS is stronger and with my cooperation wins in that struggle (Gal 5). So then, I do not habitually sin. I become more like Jesus.

Lawlessness shows up in an attitude when the person decides that God has no reign over them. It is a disregard for God. This attitude causes a person to do what he wants...and much of that is sinful.

If I expect Him to return then, since I don't know when, I am motivated to be pure like Him. This purification is a work of God's grace along with my cooperation.

We are children of God because we are born of Him....a spiritual birth...as important as our natural birth and what God intends all to obtain after the natural birth. To be born naturally makes us a child of our parents and inhabitants of this world. To be born spiritually makes us a child of God and inhabitants of God's kingdom. Because we are children of God, we have the characteristics of our Father in Heaven and the HS works within us to make us like Jesus. The HS is the One who brings the new birth (spiritual). He is the One who draws us to the Lord and the One who gives us faith to believe and the One who brings about the new birth....so we cannot boast that we did it ourselves ... because it would be impossible to do without the HS. The new birth makes us a "new creature" (I Cor.). It is the beginning of a "child" in the kingdom...we are being changed by the HS to be like Jesus. The HS also gives us the desire to follow and adore Jesus and testifies of Jesus to us (John 16). He gives us the desire to learn about Jesus by drawing us to the Word of God....and a desire to commmunicate with our new Father by communicating in prayer.

Jesus has given gifts to the church (Eph.) and teachers are one of those gifts, given out of His love and for our benefit. While we have the HS within to discern truth, we need the additional spiritual insights of gifted teachers. They are put in the body to aide in equipping the body for growth to maturity. At the same time, every believer should listen to the HS within themselves to bear witness or not to to the truth given by the teacher. I am a teacher and tell those I teach to listen to the HS within to witness to the truth I teach. It is the responsibility of every believer to do this. So, while we have the anointing that abides within us and we listen to and obey the HS within us, we also need teachers (with true teaching gifts!) in the body. Even teachers need teachers!!!

To abide in Jesus is to hold fast and continuously to the truth. One who is abiding is listening to the HS constantly to protect the treasure of truth we hold to...and not be sidetracked by some "new teaching", etc. While these teachings may or may not be false, they do lead us away from the basics of the scripture teachings. Abiding necessitates daily communion with the Lord through scripture and prayer. Someone who is not abiding has lost their joy...and their peace...and is in danger of falling away.

The HS bears witness within me to truth in scripture. He also bears witness within me to error in the teaching of others. He leads through this internal witness. He teaches me via His enlightenment of scripture meaning and application to my life, through conviction, through His witness to scripture. He "drives" us internally to the scriptures and gives a desire to learn of Jesus.

Q2. (1 John 2:20-21) What is the "anointing" that John is talking about? In what way is anointing connected to the Holy Spirit in the Bible? Has every Christian received this anointing? What do you think? The anointing that John is referring to is the power of the HS which all the believers had received. The anointing is connected to the HS in that in the OT God declared that oil be poured onto the high priests head as an anointing from the Lord. That anointing brought power from God to the service of the priest. King David was also anointed with oil. The HS came upon some believers in the OT for special service as the Lord willed. In the NT, Jesus said that the HS would come to the believers and He would give the power for service (Acts 1:8). Yes, in my opinion, every Christian has the HS within, which is the anointing. I do not believe that many Christian walk in the anointing as God wants them to....some grieve the Spirit, etc. and therefore the HS is within but not particularly evident in their service or worship.

Q1. (1 John 2:18) What is this antichrist that John expects to come? What is the difference between the antichrist and antichrists in the church John is writing to? In what ways do we see the spirit of antichrist at work in our day? The antichrist is the very one who will oppose Jesus and the church and according to the book of Rev. exalt himself above God. While all evil will abound in him, there are others before him who have the spirit of antichrist and oppose God and His kingdom. Today I see the spirit of antichrist at work more than any time in my past. Currently there is a ramped up war against Christianity in less than subtle ways. And our president seems to oppose the Lord.

Q4. (1 John 2:15-17) What kinds of sins are covered by the three examples of worldliness that John gives? Why are these sometimes so difficult for us to discern in ourselves? Why is worldliness so harmful to our future? 1 John 2:15-17 covers about all the sins there are! **** of the eyes, of the flesh, and the pride of life lead to all sins. That is the reason we need a Saviour...for His forgiveness. The reason they are so difficult to discern in ourselves is that our heart is decietful...and will convince us that we can dabble in these areas without harm...but the deception is real..and eventually we end up in sin. We must live for the kingdom and not for the world...and the way to do that is to beware of the world. We can live that way and still lead people to the Lord...we don't need to be in the world to evangelize. Pray, and the Lord will send people across your life path for you to witness to about Him and His work on the Cross. You can lead them to the world. I do (of course, it's not me but the HS who does the saving, etc. ). Worldliness is harmful to our future because it will lead to sin.