Devotions for Saturday, August 20, 2011
Today is our last day in the Authentic Faith series, and I think it ends on a really cool note!
1 John 5:1-4
1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Pastor Ben’s Commentary:
So, how do you know that you are saved? How do you know that your faith is authentic? Have you ever wondered that? John is the author of the book that we are reading from today. In his gospel he wrote, “These are written that you may know that Jesus is the Christ…and that by believing you may have life through His name.” John thought it was very important that you know about Jesus, believe in Him, and have life through Him.
When we look at today’s verses we see 4 different evidences of whether we are saved:
1. Faith- “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” This word “believeth” has the idea of a continuing acceptance and trust in Christ.
2. Love- ” and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God,” This speaks of loving God the Father (“him that begat”), love God the Son (Jesus Christ- “him also that is begotten of him”), and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (“children of God”).
3. Obedience- “and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
4. Victory- “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” World here is not talking about they physical world, nor is it talking about all the people in the world (whom God loves). It is talking about the world system- influenced by the enemies of God to turn people from God and to themselves. It is defined in another part of scripture as the system that uses the “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes” that are “not of the father, but of the world.” Someone that is in the faith is having victory over sin, and temptation in their life. They aren’t being defeated by it every time. It’s not that they are perfect, but that they aren’t always losing. 🙂
Application Questions:
1. Do these 4 evidences get you saved, or do they display your salvation? Explain-
2. Why is it important to understand who Jesus is?
3. What does it mean to love God? What does that look like?
4. What does it mean to love “God’s children”? Who is that talking about? Why do you think that is important?
5. What do you think it means when the Bible says, “His commandments are not grevious?”
6. What do you think “victory” over the world looks like?
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
I know I’m saved because in somepoint in my life I asked god to wash my sins away and told him that I know I have sinned and that he should save a spot up there for me in heaven so that I could live with Jim and be with the lord jesus and his father god for all ethernaty…
P.S. and I’m getting baptized on the the 28th and I’m just super duper excited!!!! 😀 I can’t wait I’m filled with joy right now!!!! :DDDD
I am getting Baptized that day too. And natalie and her dad. We are all getting Baptized on the same day and we are all so excited!!! 🙂
Omg ya!! 🙂
Lol! that was funny! 🙂
You should answer the 6 questions! 🙂 It would be cool to see your oppinon!
I know I am saved cause I remember we I asked God to be in my life, and to wash my sins away. I also know that when I die there will be a place up there in heaven for me! 🙂
You should answer the 6 questions too! I’d like to see what you think! 🙂
ok
1. These 4 evidences don’t make you saved, but they do display your salvation! Faith, love, obidience, and victory in Jesus help us realize that God loves every one of us, and we should love the children of Him (other people). They are evidently showing us that because we are saved, these 4 things are what happen because of that!
2. It is so important to understand who Jesus is because without Him, we wouldn’t be saved of our sins. There wouldn’t be 4 evidences to show us we’re saved, because we wouldnt be! Jesus came to the this earth, and died on the cross for your sin and mine. & for us to not know that is crazy!!! He loves us so much, and we should love Him even more!
3. Loving God means that we should have all our faith, trust, and reliance on Him. We should do things to His honor and glory, not for ourselves. It’s more than doing good works. We have to be genuine in our relationship with God, and getting into His word everyday and praying to God about everything He lays on our hearts. Loving God is having a relationship with the one who created us! 🙂
4. When it says to love God’s children, it means to love other people. We are all God’s children! This is sometimes the hardest thing to do, because sometimes people can be unloveable. But it’s what God wants us to do as Christians!
5. I think when the bible says “His commandements are not grevious” that John is trying to say that God’s commandments do not cause grief. They are given to us because God loves us so much. They aren’t ment to be “mean.” They are rules and guidelines that we should live by!
6. Victory over the world means that we, as Christians, can have victory over all the pressures of world trying to persuade Jesus and God aren’t real, or people who are not of the father, but of the world (As P.Ben said). We are here for a purpose, and I know that in my heart telling people about God is so important. Our society is so messed up to where religion, or relationships with God, dont matter at all. It’s just a game called church, and if you go on Sunday morning you are a good person. It’s so much more than that! I’m so scared sometimes to tell people about God, and i have no idea why. This is one thing I have to overcome! Because God is number 1, and we should do all things for Him, not us. I think that’s what victory over the world means 🙂
Right on Linds! I love what you said about how we’re here for a purpose! That is so true. We are here by design… the design of God! We’re His trademark! 😉 He wants us to use our faith and relationship with Him to impact others! So right!
Isn’t it crazy how just 4 verses can contain so much? That’s the beauty of God’s word! 🙂
1. These 4 evidences will not get you saved for sure, but they indeed display your salvation because it shows that you have put your faith in Jesus and accepted Him as your savior, shows that you love God enough to not only love Him, but to love other believers and people as well, shows that you are obedient to what God asks as you keep His commandments, and that having victory in Jesus! I think if we as followers of Jesus were to display these 4 evidences of our salvation, we could change the perceptions of the word “Christian”! More people would want to get what we have, Jesus!
2. I think there are many reasons why it’s important to understand who Jesus is. It’s kinda funny if you think about a total stranger handing you the greates gift in the world isn’t it? Like if a stranger handed me a gift, i’d be very confused and I would feel very weird taking it. Isn’t that kinda like not knowing Jesus? I mean He gave us the greatest gift ever! The gift of salvation! Nothing will ever be able to top what He’s done for us, and if we didn’t know Him or have any understanding who He was, it’s like accepting the greatest gift ever from a stranger! We need to know who Jesus is, and not just know what He did for us, but really know Him! Cause believe me, when I get to heaven, I don’t want to have an encounter with a stranger! I wanna know Him and have so many talks with Him in heaven like He’s my best friend cause He’s what I lived my life for!
3. L-O-V-E, those 4 letters together make a powerful thing! I think loving God should be a love like no other! I see teenage couples at my school all the time who think they really love each other. I mean they might, but do they really understand what love is unless they have a love for God first? I know I made a huge mistake loving something more then God before. I truly didn’t understand what love was. The bible says that we should love God so much that everything else looks like hatred. God should be the love of our lives! It’s crazy to think that the love of my family should look like hatred to my love for God, but that’s how much we should love God. God has done SO much for us! He sacraficed His son for our sinful selves and has done so many unaccountable things! Loving God means that we need to love Him more then anything,be obedient and we need to love our brothers and sisters in Christ even though sometimes it seems impossible! That’s what it means to love God!
4. We need to love God’s children! If someone has accepted Jesus as their personal savior, they are our brother or sister in Christ! God says that we need to love our neighbor as thyself. This is so hard for me to do sometimes! When I think about who God wants me to love sometimes I say to God, “I have to love them? I don’t know if I can God… They are so different. God they make fun of me and they just don’t like me..” But I am so selfish when i say this. “For God so loved the world” Well gee, if God can love the WORLD, I think I can manage to love the people He put into my life! I think this is so important, because if we show others we love them for who they are, we can really show them what Christ was all about!
5. When the bible says that His commandments are not grevious, because God didn’t intend for them to be grevious. He didn’t put them into our lives because He was being a meanie, but because of the complete opposite. He loves us so much that He gave us these 10 commands to live by because that’s what is best for us! We need to be obedient to God’s commmands! All 10 of them!
6. I think having victory over the world means to have victory over the sin that is put into our lives and the temptations the world throws at us. If we are strong enough and have faith that Jesus will give us the greatest life ever to us if we stay on the right path, God’s path, we have victory in Jesus because we’ve gotten victory over the world! Diss sin and temptation, and seek God and His word!
Wow I’m really long winded! Hope just because it’s long you’ll still read it! I got lots to say 🙂
Right on all the way down the line for both Mel and Lindsey.
Great job to Kendra and Mafalda as well!
thankyou!!! 🙂
1. I think they show that you are saved because they are characteristics of Jesus. 2. Without Jesus we wouldn’t be saved, because He is the one that died for us so that we can have a home in heaven. 3. There are a lot if ways that we can show God we love Him but I think one way that we talked about would be serving Himqnd others. 4. I think loving Gods children looks like bearing one anothers burdens and serving them. 5. I think if you live by the commandments Godhas set your life will be so much better an more enjoyable. 6. You’re going to be tempted, and I think victory over the world is Having faith in God that He will help you through whatever the circumstances are.
Ryan- I really dig your answer to number 4. Loving means serving others. That’s alot different than our cultures view of love being me-centered. Good stuff.