John 3:8 8 the one who practices sin Literally, the text is “he who does sin is from the devil.”, and again, the implication is of continuous action, or those who continue in sin, practice it, and for whom it’s a habitual part of their life.  Every believer has at least some struggle with the […]

6b no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him. We’re talking about habitual sin.  Claiming that we have arrived at a sinless state, and look just like Christ is self-deception.  1 John 1:8, NASB: If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in […]

1st John 3:5-6 5 You know that He appeared –In contrast to the lawless people who continue to sin, John reminds us of our example Jesus.  Sin is lawlessness, and those who continue in sin, instead of being In Christ, are lawless.  It was God the Father’s plan, and Jesus was obedient to it.  in […]

1st John 3:4 Christ, the Fulfillment of the Law To understand our position, with relation to the law, as Christians, it helps to look at Jesus our example.    He said, beginning in in Matthew 5:17 17 “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, […]

4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. First John 3:4 says, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” The word translated “lawlessness” comes from the Greek word anomia, which means “an utter disregard for God and His laws.” From this Greek word we also get the […]

1 John 3:2-3 Beloved–John begins here, with “Beloved”, conveying how dear these churches are to him. Now —John is emphasizing that our status as Children of God is not something that we have to look forward to in hope—we are Children of God right now!  We are the Children of God John emphasizes that we […]

A resolution is “a firm decision to do or not to do something. It is an act of will. But the big question is:  Who’s Will?  The New Year(s). The New Year is, indeed special in the Bible.  In Exodus 12: 1 God spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt; he said, […]

8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night. David had fed his sheep in those same fields around Bethlehem, and today, 3,000 years later, there are still shepherds feeding flocks in those fields.  Shepherds typically kept watch over their fields by night from April […]

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows Matthew describes the origin or source of Jesus, his Genesis, just as John does in John 1:1-4 from the perspective of the Power of God in performing this unique miracle by the Holy Spirit. when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, The focus in […]

2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea The wise men, or Magi didn’t arrive until after Jesus’ birth.  Just when is a matter of conjecture.  But there are clues (see Leviticus 12:1-4).  It took a full forty days before her purification would have been completed.  Luke 2:39, 39 And when His parents had completed […]