A ministry of the Word
This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister. This introduces us to the concept that conduct exposes certain spiritual realities, and prepares us for John’s discourse on the supreme spiritual …
Continue reading "The Children of God vs. The Children of the Devil: 1st John 3:10"
Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice sin, because God’s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God. John unapologetically repeats his assertion that the nature of God is the foundation of Christian life and experience. We display the nature of …
https://soundcloud.com/david-istre/acts-5-1-42 Ananias and Sapphira Sermon on Acts 5:1-42 Introduction Acts 4:32 (CSB) — 32 Now the entire group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common. Attention to what authentic Christian community looks like: …
The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil. John now contrasts the one who practices righteousness and is of Christ with the one who does what is sinful and …
Children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. John’s tender affection for his readers causes him to remind them of the peril of their situation and to be on guard against those who want to lead them astray by convincing them that the …
No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. This verse is the natural deduction of the previous proposition regarding Christ’s mission and sinless nature. John has already talked about God’s Word abiding in his readers (1st John 2:14) and their need …
You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins, and there is no sin in him. This sentence is composed of a compound οἴδατε ὅτι (“you know that”) clause asserting two truths about Jesus: the mission and personal nature of Jesus Christ revealed in this verse is the foundation for the …
Introduction Acts 3:26 (CSB) — 26 God raised up his servant and sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways. >>>PRAY<<< In chapter 3 we walked us through the beginning of the second movement of Luke’s account of the Acts of the Apostles: Peter and John …
Continue reading "The Church’s First Opposition in Jerusalem: Acts 4:1-37"
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness. John refutes the gnostic notion that one can be innocent of sin while practicing lawlessness by connecting sin and lawlessness together and showing that they are one and the same. And this doctrine is particularly relevant to the Church today as many pulpits teach …
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness. The beloved apostle brings his epistle to its apex by identifying what differentiates the children of God from the children of the Devil and confronting the gnostic dichotomy between “sin” and “lawlessness” that many believed made it possible to “be righteous” while living in …
