1 John 3:7-18
Hey, everyone. It's Megan and Emily, and you're here with the Talk Bible to Me podcast. So today, we're gonna be talking through first John 37 through 18. So grab your Bible and a pen, and let's get started.
Megan:And then we play our theme song. 1st John. 1st John.
Emily:I have recently listened to a podcast that every single episode they started off, one of the girls is like, and it drove me crazy for, like, the first, like, I don't know, 5. And then finally, I'm like, Don't do that. I'll go and do that for this. But it was funny for them.
Megan:That's our ram's horn. I like the horn.
Emily:Listen. I have a shofar. I have one in this room. This is I could blow the shofar horn. You would.
Emily:Homeschool mom. You gotta have all those things.
Megan:I have frankincense and myrrh in the other room.
Emily:Nice. Yeah. The central lures?
Megan:Yeah. Well, no, no, no. It's, they're like it's like a bible kit, like,
Emily:central and
Megan:we're gonna we're gonna put frankincense and myrrh in our admin kits. Nice. Yeah. So kids can, like, see that it's a real thing.
Emily:There you go. I thought this was just like a like a Young Living essential oils. I wish I
Megan:was more natural, but I love processed food. And
Emily:I know.
Megan:All things bad for you, but I'm getting too old for it. Like, look. This double chan, it's because I eat in the middle of the grocery store instead of the outside.
Emily:I love the middle of the grocery store. I've been trying. I'm trying really hard. I just posted on my Instagram how much I hate cooking, but I feel like the Lord has been teaching me the word nourish for my family. And so trying to learn to nourish them with good food and good things for their minds and good things for their hearts and bodies.
Emily:But it's been really convicting because I realized, like, how often I just want to go to, like, junk Mhmm. Or quick and easy instead of good for you. But we're getting there. It's fine.
Megan:My husband's been cooking for us, so I had kielbasa for lunch. Okay. I love kielbasa.
Emily:I do too.
Megan:Oh, yum.
Emily:Do you like sauerkraut?
Megan:Are you
Emily:a sauerkraut fan?
Megan:I like cabbage. So I'm Okay.
Emily:You probably would.
Megan:Sure. I like it. Right?
Emily:Because I love kielbasa with sauerkraut, and I feel like most people of our generation. Well, unless you're, like, real crunchy, you like sauerkraut. But if you're not like, we didn't grow up eating that kind of a thing, but my grandma did. Did
Megan:she mom?
Emily:No. It's what I'm saying. I'm I call it I think I've seen it. It's called scrunchie where you're kind of crunchy, but not. Like, I own essential oils, but I don't use them very often.
Megan:Gotcha.
Emily:You know? I go
Megan:I eat ginger chews before Tums.
Emily:They're okay.
Megan:I go straight to Tums. So Does that make me crunchy? Yeah. You're scrunchie. I don't think so.
Emily:Do you own Tums?
Megan:Oh, yeah. So then you're scrunchie. Yeah. But I think they have to have more than ginger because they're scrunchie. I would love to be.
Megan:I'd love to homestead and, like, make my own bread and stuff, but, like, I just listen. We gotta we gotta teach the world about Jesus. We don't have time for homemade bread and sourdough starters.
Emily:No. No. Nope. I haven't got on the sourdough train. I can't.
Emily:I don't I make bread, but I don't make sourdough. I do have chickens.
Megan:I make chocolate chip cookies, which is kind of like bread. It is. Make it. So basically From
Emily:scratch, you're good.
Megan:Yeah. It is. Well, I mean, I don't
Emily:like
Megan:from, like, flour and sugar, but I don't go out to, like, the sugar cane fields and, like, get my own pepper,
Emily:you know. You can still consider that from scratch if it's from your own flour and it's not like a premade package of chocolate chip cookies.
Megan:Yeah. Guys, I will link my recipe because it is the bomb. And here's the secret ingredient. I'm gonna tell the whole world that's it won't be a secret anymore. Are you ready for this?
Emily:Yes.
Megan:Crisco, but it's butter flavored. Butter flavored Crisco makes everything that you bake taste so much better.
Emily:You know, I could see that.
Megan:It does.
Emily:My grand my grand no. It's not my grandma. My grandma's sister maybe. My mom gave me a bunch of recipes from one from that generation. It's not my grandma because she is crunchy, like, to the extreme crunchy.
Emily:Oh, really? But the rest of her siblings are not. And, most of the recipes had Crisco in them, but I didn't know there was butter flavored Crisco. Oh, yeah. Probably probably tastes real good.
Emily:Don't tell my grandma. She would oh.
Megan:Oh my gosh. I am a Crisco. I am so Appalachian. Like, I am a hillbilly. No.
Megan:I'm a hill William because I live in Southern Ohio. So, like, we are technically the foothills of Appalachia, but I was raised in, like, West Virginia. So Yeah. Like, I have Appalachian roots, and I love everything Appalachian. I love everything about it.
Megan:I love the music. I love everything. And so I just feel like Crisco's a staple
Emily:Yeah.
Megan:It's umm. But I really don't know if it is or not. That could just be my family. So but I also think I think so. I don't even I don't even
Emily:When I picture Crisco, I picture like like, woman with an apron Yeah. With the windows open, barefoot in the kitchen, cooking something probably delicious and probably open? Are you barefoot? Are you barefoot?
Megan:I have slippers on so I have these bad boys. I'll show you, they've been worn. Cute. But those are, like, in Appalachia. That's our shoes.
Megan:Like, I wear these out to the grocery store sometimes. I don't think that's Appalachian. I just think that's, like, my my my white trash is coming out. That's fair. Yeah.
Emily:Oh, boy.
Megan:I interviewed an Australian once, Michael Bird. And he was he's a new testament theologian. And, of course, I'm putting this on air. So I'm sorry I'm blasting you, sir. But, he's like this really just great guy.
Megan:He has some great books and we were talking. And I said, oh, yeah. I'm a hillbilly and I love it. And he goes, oh, yeah. We have those here.
Megan:And I said, you do? And he goes, yeah. White trash like Tiger King. And I was like, no. No.
Megan:Two bellies are not white trash. Those are 2 very different things, and I am nothing like Tiger King. Okay? It's a whole another genre there.
Emily:Oh, that's like flashbacks to 2020.
Megan:Oh, man. That's it was a train wreck. Can't take your eyes off of it. But you know what else is, like, not trashy or crunchy, but, like, just amazing? First John.
Megan:So let's
Emily:dive it smooth. Smooth. I was wondering how you were gonna transition that. Here we go.
Megan:Uh-huh. Somebody called the cops because I killed it. So okay. Our the way we do this, we work verse by verse. I'm gonna have to cut a lot of that out because that way Yeah.
Megan:Yeah.
Emily:Our partners. Seven minutes of intro. Oops.
Megan:So the way that we are doing this is a bold acronym, b. We're gonna start with begin with prayer and scripture, because when you study scripture, the best place to begin is by reading it. So, Emily, do you wanna pray us in?
Emily:Sure. Jesus, thank you for another episode. We thank you, just for using this as a vessel for us to share the gospel with women, and I just pray that this would glorify you. I pray that you would, give us wisdom how to share these verses and, that you would remind us that you have all things in your hands and everything's in your control, including the way we work, the way we love, and we pray that you would lead us and guide us in all that we do. In Jesus' name, amen.
Megan:Amen. Alright. So when we begin with prayer, we will always recommend reading scripture out loud and in multiple translations. And so I recommend doing it in the 3 types of translations that are available, which is word for word, thought for thought, and paraphrased. So, Emily, I know you read from the English Standard Version, which is a great word for word.
Megan:Do you want to, break it down for us? I have the NASB, but, yeah. Go for it. Yeah. Sure.
Emily:Alright. So this is first John 37 through 18. Alright. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever righteous.
Emily:Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the son of god appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of god makes a practice of sinning, for god's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he's been born of God. By this, it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
Emily:For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we've passed out of death into life because we love the brothers.
Emily:Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this, we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone who has if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.
Megan:I know there's definitely some familiar, past, verses in there, that you guys have heard a lot. So I can't wait to unpack that with y'all. Next, let's read from the thought for thought. And I'm gonna read from the, new international version, the NIV. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.
Megan:The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. But the one who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who was born of God's will continues to sin because God's seed remains in them. They cannot go on sinning because they have been born of God.
Megan:This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the double are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. For this is the message you heard from the beginning. We should love one another. Do not be like Cain.
Megan:He belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brothers were righteous. Don't be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other.
Megan:Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need, but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
Megan:Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth. It's good.
Emily:Yeah.
Megan:For the paraphrased, I have the good news translation. Have you are you familiar with it?
Emily:I'm actually not familiar with
Megan:it. Yeah. I learned about it, because my friends from Yolanda, they read that when they are teaching, their kiddos. And so, oops. Hey, guys.
Megan:Sorry about that. I was just trying to
Emily:there it goes.
Megan:Do you wanna read that for us?
Emily:Yeah.
Megan:I just
Emily:pulled up on my phone. 7 through 18. Okay. Let no one deceive you, my children. Whoever does what is right is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.
Emily:Whoever continues to sin belongs to the devil, because the devil has sinned from the very beginning. The son of God appeared for this very reason, to destroy what the devil had done. Those who are children of God do not continue to sin, for God's very nature is in them. And because God is their father, they cannot continue to sin. Here is the clear difference between God's children and the devil's children.
Emily:Those who do not do what is right or do not love others are not God's children. The message you heard from the very beginning is this. We must love one another. We must not be like Cain. He belonged to the evil one and murdered his own brother, Abel.
Emily:Why did Cain murder him? Because the things he himself did were wrong, and the things his brother did were right. So do not be surprised, my friends, if the people of the world hate you. We know that we have left death and come over into life. We know it because we love others.
Emily:Those who do not love are still under the power of death. Those who hate others are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life in them. This is how we know what love is. Christ God? My God?
Emily:My children, our love should not be just words and talk. It must be true love which shows itself in action.
Megan:That did not feel paraphrased to me, but No. Paraphrase. So, okay. The next letter is o, which is on your own, wrestle with the text. So I am going to ask you, Emily.
Megan:Are you ready? Mhmm. Can you summarize this passage in one sentence?
Emily:Yes. So I summarize it because of Jesus's death for us, our actions should change from sin and selfishness to selfless love.
Megan:Oh, you like, you're so thought out. I tried to get it as simple. I might need to do more like
Emily:No. That's good, though. Like, it should be simple. I feel like sometimes I could simplify it even more. But
Megan:Yeah. I have because you're Christians, love God, and love people. See? That's good. That's real good.
Megan:Yeah. But I like yours. It just sounded nice.
Emily:I like yours, so let's just claim each other. I I'll take
Megan:yours and take mine. What is God revealing about himself in this passage?
Emily:I think he's revealing his nature to redeem and destroy the effects of the fall. Mhmm.
Megan:I think it's just a continuation from last week when we talked about it, how, he takes sin seriously and and he also takes us seriously. And so, he he wants us to avoid it. What in light of all of scripture, what should we take away from this passage?
Emily:Probably a similar answer to what I just said. Just the idea of Jesus re he came to fulfill, the effects of the fall and all the sacrifices and everything else. And because of that, we get to love others.
Megan:I concur.
Emily:Cool.
Megan:And now that we know what it is saying, what is this passage not saying?
Emily:Works gain salvation. It's not saying that if you love other people, you'll be saved. Or if you do enough good or enough right things, you will continue to keep right standing with God. It's a love that we do because of what he's done for us, not to earn his love for us.
Megan:It is not saying that you're gonna have an easy life when you become a Christian. The world is gonna hate you, and being a Christian is really hard for people pleasers. But Christianity is not for cowards and it's not easy. So. Yeah.
Megan:Okay. Let's move on to our next letter. L, learn something. This is where we use extra biblical resources to teach us what the passages are saying. Do you wanna kick off or do you want me to?
Emily:You can start this one.
Megan:Okay. Cool. So, the biggest note that I wanted you guys to see is, it's actually a little fun fact for you in verses 11 and 12, and this is just from the NIV. For this is the message you heard from the beginning, we should love one another. Do not be like Cain who belonged to the devil or the evil one and murdered his brother.
Megan:And why did he murder him? Because his actions were evil and his brothers were righteous. Did you know that in Genesis, it does not give an explanation for why Cain killed Abel like it doesn't it doesn't give like a a blatant, like, because we just know like one gift was accepted and one wasn't, but we don't really know
Emily:why his heart behind it.
Megan:Yeah. And so we actually learn that later in Hebrews 114. That's where we learn why God accepted one gift and not the other. And I think it's confirmed reconfirmed here in first John that, it was about the heart. It wasn't necessarily about what they were offering, but it was the heart behind what they were offering.
Emily:Mhmm.
Megan:So it is possible that Cain just gave what he had while Abel gave the best of what he had. But regardless, I just thought that was a little fun fact for you guys. Yeah.
Emily:Yeah. Which just reinforces the idea that it's not about the works themselves as it is. Why are we doing those works? Why are we loving our brothers and sisters We're not loving them. It's the heart behind it.
Megan:And again, confirmation in verse 15 that if you hate a brother or sister, it's murder. Where did we first hear this with Jesus? When he was preaching, he said, you've heard it said. Yep. You know, when, thou shall not murder, but I tell you, even if you hate someone you're you're murdering.
Megan:And so this is just echoing what Christ has already told us.
Emily:Yep. Scripture interprets scripture.
Megan:My favorite thing, man. There's no contradiction, baby.
Emily:Yeah. So, what I had is, that this is not talking about this theoretical consideration of the nature of sinfulness or the possibility of sinlessness because I think we can look at this and think, was it possible to not sin or, you know, what is the nature of sin? He's not really talking about that so much as community. And I got this from my commentary, the expositors bible commentary, and it talks about it's, really more so the difference of how the children of God, the community of the children of God are to be recognized versus the children of the devil, the community of the devil, and how are they supposed to be discerned? So the test of, like, which community you're in, if that makes sense.
Emily:Mhmm. And true love. What does love actually look like? Because part of the context of this is, you know, John's talking about there were a lot of false teachers at the time, which there are today too. And how do we know if we are part of a community that is the children of God of God?
Emily:Or how do we know if we're part of a community that is false teaching and part of the devil? And it's the test of true love. Are you loving the way God calls you to love, which is a willingness to sacrifice your life for your brother or sister in is it sacrificial love the way Jesus' love was for us, or is it self gratification trying to love so that you get something out of it? So, you know, you could try to debate what this is talking about in regards to sin, which is important to know the difference between sin and if you're, you know, if it's possible to not sin, but that's not what he's that's not where he's going. He's really more so talking about community.
Emily:Which community are you a part of, and where is your focus in that? Are you loving the way God calls you to love?
Megan:Which is unconditionally. Right?
Emily:Right. Yes. Yep.
Megan:One more thing for me, verse 17, if anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need, but has no pity on them, How can the love of God be in that person? One that is because the love of God fights against greed and selfishness because it's everything is in humility considering others more significant than yourself. Philippians 23. But I also think what happens when we become Christians is we don't just view people as numbers or just beings, but rather as creatures that were designed and created in the image and likeness of God with his breath. And so, I think it's not just about, like, you trying to figure out how to love people when that's not something that's natural, but rather you taking on a biblical perspective of what a human is, and also allowing the holy spirit to change your heart and to help meet people where they are.
Megan:And I think that's a process. So if you're one of those who it's like, I hate people. I don't wanna be around them. I there's hope. That doesn't mean that you're not a Christian.
Megan:It just means that you are definitely needing to work on some things. Mhmm. But the Holy Spirit is the one who changes us, and I think that goes with forgives too. It's how do I forgive someone who's hurt me so harshly? Well, that's that is something the Holy Spirit does for us.
Megan:Because as as we pursue God and as we talk to him, which is through prayer and talks back to us through scripture, As we dive more into scripture, our hearts start to align more with his and these things will become more natural for us because we're trying to reflect him more. And so, loving people and giving things away is going to come easier because you're more aligned with what God has called us to do. Yeah. That's good. Good.
Megan:Well, it doesn't make sense for us to keep buffing up in all this wonderful knowledge if we're not gonna put it into practical application. So let's head on over to the last letter which is d. Do something about it. What do you think, application wise, we can take from this passage and put into our everyday lives? I mean,
Emily:I think it's it's pretty clear. Love love one another. Love your brothers and sisters in Christ. For me personally, it goes back to that idea I was talking about earlier with nourish, nourishing my kids. That's a challenge for me to remind myself to love those that have been placed in my life that I'm supposed to, love unconditionally.
Emily:And, it seems silly to compare it with, like, cooking for them. Obviously, I have to feed my children. Right? But there's a difference in quality and how you're loving those around you. And, you know, you can you can love and serve the people in your church and your brothers and sisters, and you can you can love them by bringing the meals and just kinda like checking things off a list, or you can truly be there in the trenches with them asking, what do you need?
Emily:Where are you at right now? How can I love you better? How can I serve you? If it's truly out of a heart of that unconditional agape love that God tells us to have for each other because we love him, because he first loved us, then, you know, for me, it's reminding myself where is the what's the quality of the love that I'm giving those around me?
Megan:Wow. That's really deep. That was good.
Emily:All all of this from me learning to cook for my family.
Megan:Hey. Listen. God uses
Emily:He does.
Megan:Everything.
Emily:Small things. Yep.
Megan:I just wanna throw something out there. In verse I just lost it. I was looking at it and I lost it. Verse 8. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
Megan:And so I want us to remember that sin existed before Adam and Eve ate of the fruit. Before their disobedience to God, sin was in the garden. The snake was there. The serpent was there, and he was trying to convince Eve to go against God. And so we know sin was there.
Megan:And if you really think about it, they ate from the knowledge of good and evil. So, when they ate, their eyes were open to all of that. And so the application I think we can take from this is, evil and sin lurk everywhere. But it is very clear that if you're a Christian, you're going to be obedient to what God has called you to do, and he has told us very clearly what his commands are. And, it also says in verse 10, this is how we know who the children of God are.
Megan:It's the people who obey. It's the children, who do what is right in the eyes of the Lord and who love their brothers and sisters. And so I think it's again very similar to last week. Your application is to be obedient to Jesus and to love people. And not just like, oh, I love you from a distance, but like stepping into their messy kind of love, you know.
Emily:Yep. Sacrificial.
Megan:That's right. Alright, guys. Well, we're so excited you joined us this week, and we hope that you team back in next week where we will be covering 1st John chapter 319 through 46, I believe. Is that correct? I have it real.
Megan:Yeah. Perfect. So until next time. Go out
Emily:and be bold.
