December 27

1 John 1-5
There are so many interesting points made in this letter that it would take a small book to cover them all.  However, there are two that I am led to address.  Both have to do with our eternal security.  At the beginning we read that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  In the original language, the tense for confess is past, whereas the tense for cleanse is a flowing tense.  In other words, when we confessed that we are a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness, He began cleansing us, and continues to do so, much like a flowing river, it never stops.  The other aspect of our eternal security is found near the end of the letter when the author tells us that he has written these things so that we might know that we have eternal life.  Our confidence is not in ourselves, it is in the Lord.  It is in His righteousness that we are able to stand, and can confidently acknowledge that we have eternal life!