Leon, Spain and Canary Islands
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day. Preferably after I am gone. Since it was raining so much again today I decided not to go buy my train ticket, I don't want to get sick right before I go home! I guess I will go next Saturday instead. Once again another really boring day. I cleaned a bit and started typing up all of my devotions that I have been doing on Sundays. I also continued and read 1 John today. John mainly talks about Gnostism and why it is wrong. Gnostism preaches that the spirit is entirely good and matter is entirely evil. Therefore, God is purely good and the body is purely evil. Salvation is the escape from the body but it is achieved though knowledge rather than faith. Since Jesus had an earthly body this is explained by one of two theories. 1 He only seemed to have a body but in reality didn't or 2 Christ's spirit joined Jesus' body at baptism and left it shortly before death. Also, since the body is purely evil it should be treated harshly. Lastly, Gnostism preached that since matter is evil then breaking God's law is not matter and therefore not evil. This is probably the worst of the Gnostic teachings. So John wrote this letter in order to show the lies of Gnostism. He says "that which we have looked at and out hands have touched" talking about Jesus which is directly contrary to the Gnostic teaching that Jesus didn't really have a body but just seemed to. He says that he is writing to testify to what he has seen and heard that you will believe and jouin in fellowship which would give him joy. He says that God is light and in him there is no darkness so if we claim to be holy but do the deeds of darkness then we are liars. The Gnostics claimed that since breaking God's law is not evil it is not sin but John says that we cannot claim to be without sin. If we confess our sins Jesus will forgive us but if we claim not t have sinned we make Him out to be a liar which is against his very nature. In chapter 2 he says that his purpose of writing this letter was so they would not sin as the Gnostc teaching was permitting, but if you do sin all you have to do is ask forgiveness and Jesus will go to the Father in our defense, and for the whole world. He argues that if you know Jesus then you will follow in his commands and if you don't then you are a liar. This is how you can know if someone is a true Christian, by their deeds. You should not hate others (even the Gnostics who have distorted the truth) because if you do you are just as bad as they are. If you love them you will walk in the light. You cannot love the world's desires as the Gnostics preach, because the love of the world and the love of the Father cannot abide together. The world will pass away but God will live forever. John calls teachers of Gnostism and other false teachers antichrists and warns us to be wary of them. They came from our ranks but have turned to other teachings. The fact that their teachings differ so drastically shows that they are false teachers and antichrists. You already know the truth, it does not need to be revealed to you, but John is writing to caution against the lies. Those that deny Jesus is the Christ (as in Gnostic teaching) are liars. They deny the Son and therefore deny the Father as well.
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