He knew very well that the world of his day was not committed to the path of God and was willing to mix the word of God with the teachings of paganism.  We face the exact same problem in our world and there is an alarming trend among brethren in the church to accept  this drive for tolerance and syncretism; this despite the necessary  sacrifice of truth and righteousness to achieve tolerance. No wonder Jesus remarked whether he would find the faith on the earth when he returned. 

John deals with several indispensable aspects of the Christian experience.  He excluded the possibility of people denying their sin. At the same time he spoke of God's readiness to forgive sin.  He denied the validity of any gospel that made people ‘better’ without them being willing to change. 

First, he emphasized the theme of fellowship with the Father and with Christ. Fellowship is sharing in the life of Jesus Christ and expresses itself in truth, righteousness and love in our Christian walk. Those who did not show righteousness in their lives, who were disobedient in their walk and who did not love, were not genuine Christians. 

The fact of the deity of Jesus is indispensable to the body of truth held by believers and that he came in the ‘flesh’.  Professors to the contrary mark themselves out as liars, since they did not walk in truth, righteousness and love. 

John goes on to make practical application with a test for true Christianity. According to him, if one claimed to know and love God and yet mistreated their brethren, not loving them with the love of God, then such persons were liars.  Authentic Christianity will always manifest itself in truth, righteousness, and love. Let us be mindful that this love of God is a very particular kind of love. 

John emphasizes the phrase “we know”, which exhorts Christians to be dogmatic about the fundamental realities of the faith.  Christians do not need to be ashamed of the faith and should be forthrightly declaring it. 

There is positive assurance in true Christianity.  This is totally different from the slew of teachings and varied philosophies common to John’s day. This theme of John is also very different from the popular ideas of our age, for we are told nowadays that nothing is certain. John however tells us clearly that there are certain essential facts of the faith, which we know for sure. 

Christianity is different from other faiths, because it rests upon facts which are manifestly declared in the ‘movements’ of God in history.  Men should be called on to look at these acts of God, for they cannot be explained away.  The Christian faith is most logical, truthful, historical, factual and eminently reasonable. 

It is unbelief regarding the claims of Christianity that is unreasonable.  To rationally dismiss Christianity, men have to struggle and suppress what they know deep inside in order to convince themselves that these facts revealed by God are not true. John tells us point-blank in this lesson about the three witnesses to the truth.  When one examines the testimony of these witnesses we have absolute assurance of the rightness of Christianity and John exhorts us to be absolutely confident.  

We will now see how the Apostle wraps up these themes and concludes his epistle with sense of assurance, confidence and victory, as the authentic Christian lives a life of truth, righteousness and love, meeting the three tests of authentic Christianity.

THE TEXT

Verse 1.   The Apostle begins by putting truth and love together. The first statement attests to the faith that we possess as a Christian.  In this verse there are many truths about Jesus that must be accepted, so that one can truly call oneself an authentic Christian. 

The first part of the statement relates to the fact that one must associate the historic Jesus of Nazareth, with the title and office of the Christ.   

John mentions the name of Jesus. The Jesus that he is talking about is the son of Mary and Joseph and so he is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of the carpenter.  Since Jesus was a common name at the time, John had to make sure that all knew the one he was talking about.  This very same Jesus has been given the title of ‘the Christ’ which is to say the Messiah, the Anointed One.   This means that Jesus is King, Priest and Prophet and will fulfill all that was said about him in the Scriptures up to that time and beyond.  So we note that Jesus rebuked the disappointed disciples on the road to Emmaus, for they had known the Scriptures and the Scriptures testified extensively about him, what he would do and the events of his life. 

The office and duty of the Christ is important, as it lays the foundation for how he would act and execute the office; bringing the Word of God to God’s children and also teaching, healing and in general being obedient to God the Father.  The fact was that he must be sacrificed to show the Father's love.   

The phrase ‘born of God’ refers to those who have been adopted into the family of God through the ‘blood’ of Christ.  Jesus Christ is the only begotten (only, unique, does not denote birth in the human sense of the word) of the Father, and is the divine Lord from Heaven who has existed eternally with the Father and with the Spirit, but who because of his love took on the form of a servant.  Because of his offering of his life, we can now be called sons and daughters of God.  This term goes beyond ethnicity, wealth, gender or any other boundary or classification that some might use to separate themselves from other people.   

It is very interesting to note that some people are born of God.  These all believe that Jesus is the Christ. This excludes a lot of kind, talented, successful, beautiful, handsome, rich, poor, great and nice people in the world, who look on the gospel as fiction, reject it and do not believe that Jesus is the Christ. 

The aspect of belief is the mark that is assigned to any Christian, for those born of God are children of God.  If we believe, then it implies that we are under the rule of God.  We are obedient to His word and are doing whatever it is that He is instructing us to do.

  God examines every one about belief in his Son and even though we applaud the talented and successful people for their achievements, we are to tell them that they are not born of God, if they do not believe that Jesus is the Christ.  This has massive negative implications for them. 

We should note that a lot of people ‘born of God’ do not seem to be ‘born of God’. They may not smell right, dress right, love the right kind of music and might be quite difficult to get along with. But note that all who are ‘born of God’ are equal before him.  

We should make certain of our position in Christ and that we are ‘born of God’. The qualification to be ‘born of God’ is that we are to love the members of the family of God wherever they are. 

Also it is important that we don’t only believe.  The Devil and his angels also believe who Jesus is.  But the requirement/mark for a Christian is belief that means commitment to Jesus and fellowship with him.  John is not talking about simply reciting creeds or following rituals, and thinking that those rites mean that we are ‘born of God’. 

If we love God the Father, then we must love Jesus the only begotten Son and then we must logically love those that are also begotten of God, the brethren; those redeemed by the ‘blood’ of Jesus Christ.

Verse 2.   Here John links love to righteousness. The only true way to prove and show our love for God is to demonstrate the love of God to our brethren here on earth.  If we say we love God, then it makes sense that if we see any member in any need of help, we try to assist them in any way that we can.   

Saying that we love them is one thing, but it takes on a whole new meaning when we manifest that love in terms of actions.  As Christians it is made clear to us not to show partiality or favour because someone might be rich, famous or powerful. The criterion is we are to love each other because we are Christians. We all love God and so to demonstrate the love for God, we love each other.  This is the first and foremost expression of our love for God.   

When it says ‘when we love God’, this implies that our actions will show others if we love God.  This is important because it separates us from those who are not the children of God.  They do not care about the things of God, they will move away from Him in terms of their thoughts, actions and with every fibre of their being.   

Their behaviour is in stark contrast to the way how Christians should behave, primarily because our motivations are based on pleasing and doing the will of God, not on any personal desires.   

The last part of the sentence says ‘and keep his commandments’.  One can just go to The Ten Commandments, to see how we should relate to God and man.  All the commandments are properly explained by what Jesus said in Matt 22:37-40 and throughout his manifold teachings.  He demonstrated what keeping the Commandments really mean.   

If we love God we would do what He says.  God would prefer us to obey Him, rather than make up for our sin through sacrifice.

(1 Sam. 15:22).   

Love is keeping the commandments and keeping the commandments is loving, or showing love. So we know what love is, what loving our brother truly is when we keep the commandments of God.  This is John's next theme. When one does not keep the Commandments one is not demonstrating or manifesting love.

Verse 3.   Christians should know how to please God.  It basically comes down to obedience; this is what God wants from us.  If we say that we love God, then we should manifest that love in our activities, our speech and in general and in the lives that we live  

Keeping the commandments of God mean we understand that we worship the only true God.  Secondly, Jesus has mentioned that we should love or neighbours as we would love ourselves.   

Let us look at the connection between loving and keeping the commandments.  This is important, because sometimes showing love might require us to do something unpleasant and upset people.  Love often must be tough if it is to be kind and we should not be disturbed by the reaction of people who become angry or upset when they are pointed to the commandments.  A Christian is required to point to obedience to the commandments of God, for this is love. 

It is often pointed out that when we say things that are called “white lies” we are really doing iniquity and doing great harm in trying to avoid displeasing people.  What we are doing is pleasing ourselves, appearing to be nice, but avoiding telling people the truth.  In doing this we are showing that we do not love them enough to help them to face the truth.  Love always tells the truth. 

Sometimes people in the covenant go even further and encourage people to sin, by showing them how to achieve fulfillment of their lusts.  Scriptures say if we see a righteous man sin and do not warn him of his sin, his blood will be on our head. 

2 Samuel 13 shows the painful and far-reaching effects of encouraging people to break the commandments or participating in breaking the commandments with them.  There we see David’s  son Amnon lusting after his sister Tamar and his shrewd and smart friend Jonadab hatching a plot to get Tamar into Amnon’s bedroom.  Amnon then raped and degraded her.  This led to Tamar’s brother murdering Amnon and David's behavior to this entire incident, eventually led to civil war. 

Amnon’s friend encouraged him to indulge his gross passions and sin.  He encouraged this young man to break the commandments of God.

In doing this he showed that he was no friend but was Amnon’s bitter enemy, for his advice and plotting cost Amnon his life and led to the death of many people in Israel. 

Christians are not perfect and even though that is not a reason or excuse, they have the mindset to serve God.  When an error is made, they can and do freely return to God to ask forgiveness, because they have strayed from what God has desired of them.   

When we love someone, we seek to please and do things for their benefit. When we love God, we should want to do things that please Him.  We should not do what is right just to get something in return, but because we are born of God and because He has given us so much already.  

John is honest in pointing out that the commandments of God might at first appear to be difficult, for he understands that we do not like to deal with unpleasant matters and try to shift responsibility of correcting others onto other people. If we really love we will hold the brethren up to face unpleasant truths.  We will then discover that everything we do in this regard lead to delight, riches in relationships, friendship and blessings from God. 

Now ask yourself the question?  If God created the world and is all-powerful and has given us the all-powerful Holy Spirit, how can he give us something to do that is impossible and burdensome?  How can obedience to this God be burdensome?

If we believe that Jesus is Lord, keeping his statutes will never be burdensome.  It is only when our faith in God's goodness and our belief in his power, which he has made available for us, has dropped or weakened, that we will believe that keeping his Commandments are a burden. 

We must remember that Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden is light (Matt. 11:30).  He has given us all the power that we need to overcome. 

So when we love God we are concerned that we and everyone keep His commandments, for this is a concern for righteousness.

Further, Jesus knows us by name.  It wasn’t an impersonal sacrifice that he made.  The new child of God is now able to claim the inheritance that is owed to any son or daughter.  Part of the inheritance is the ability to overcome the ‘world’.  The ‘world’ represents sin, a departure from the things of God.  God wants obedience from His children  The ‘world’ offers fun, but at the price of death, whereas God is offering everlasting life and joy.   

To overcome implies victory after a choice had been made to stand for, stand against or oppose.  The two choices are life and death.  To overcome the world means that the believer will have the strength to see through the glamour that the world displays and see the real substance of life that God is providing.   

The question for every believer is how to show the life of Christ during the incessant pressures that go on minute after minute, day after day, month after month, throughout the seventy or eighty years of life. 

If the world doesn’t entice the repentant individual, it will simply try to wear them down through the hardships that will come about. This is where as a Christian we must persevere, because in that we prove Jesus and show we can only continue by remaining in his strength. The world and its forces will only continue to plague us in an attempt to separate us from the love of God, but again by remaining in God’s strength can we overcome the world.  It is by faith in Christ minute by minute, day by day, month by month, year by year, that the believer will counter the pressures and have victory. 

It is interesting to note that this story of Israel versus the Amalekites recorded in Exodus 17 teaches us this lesson.  Israel fought and the battle see-sawed until Moses went up on the mountain, took his rod which symbolized dependence on the supernatural power of God and held it out toward the heavens in supplication. When Moses’ arm fell the tide of  battle swung in favour of the Amalekites.  When he had enough strength to lift up his arm to Heaven Israel prevailed.  It was only when Aaron and Hur held up the hand of Moses so that the rod was lifted up toward the heavens at all times, minute by minute, that the battle was won decisively. 

Clearly then it wasn't human might that determined the outcome of the battle, but dependence on the power of God shown by way of the rod of Moses outstretched to Heaven. 

So it is with us.  We are in a battle the outcome of which is not determined by our fighting even though we need to fight, pray, study Scripture, stand firm and resist the devil.  We must recognize that it is our dependence on the work of God in us that determines that we will win.  We win because of his might.  We should depend on him minute by minute, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, throughout all our life.  He is the Strong One who has told us that we should be of good cheer for he has overcome the world and because of this we will also overcome the world.     

The victory that is spoken of is the sign that Jesus is with the Christian and that the believer is trusting in God and living the life that Jesus wants them to live.  Jesus sacrificed it all for us so that we might be reconciled to God the Father.  If we love, trust, honour and obey the words of Jesus, then his sacrifice is not in vain.  

Since we know that he has overcome death, then we too share in all that he has done and we also know that we too have the love of the Father, just as how Jesus has the love of the Father.  So when we are tempted, we should look to Jesus as our strength, knowing that if we trust in him to realize his sustaining  power in us, then all things are possible.  That is, regardless of the temptation that is against us or hardship, we know that we can overcome it because we do not rely on our own strength, but that provided to us by God.  For as long as we trust in God, we demonstrate that our faith is sure, that is to say, the actions we take will prove that indeed we have the victory.

Verse 5.   ‘He’ that overcomes the world, is the individual that is a true Christians, because it is only true Christians, those who have faith in Jesus, who operate in his power, that are capable of overcoming the world.  The ‘over-coming’ is the work of God in the individual’s life. 

The first part of this verse speaks to the type of person one must be to overcome the world.  What is needed of that person, in terms of criteria.  It says that not just anyone is capable of overcoming or stepping aside from the temptations and evils in the world to do good.  If you are a decent person, that still will not allow you to live the life that is pleasing to God, as if to say that being decent allows you to overcome the world. 

To overcome the world, the individual must believe in Jesus.  The world is what separates us from God.  To move past the world, we must believe and act upon the knowledge that there was a man sent from God and this man was Jesus. This Jesus is the Son of God  and was also man.  These conditions must be held for Jesus to be the sufficient sacrifice for man to be redeemed to God.  These relationships must be held by the believer as part of the faith that they have. The connection between Jesus and the Son of God is important as it relates to his role as the Christ / Messiah. 

Verse 6.   This is he who came by water and blood. 

John now defends his position and shows us why the things that we believe are true.  He shows us evidence for our faith by using certain symbols.  Three witnesses or testimonies will be discussed. 

This reference to Jesus coming by ‘water and blood’ seems like a puzzling phrase.  There are four major interpretations of the “water” and the “blood”. 

First, it is held that it refers to the sacraments of Christian baptism (water) and the Lord's Supper (blood) and the phrase interpreted as Jesus bringing the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper

(“with water and blood”).  Some of the early church fathers such as Ambrose, Augustine, Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria and the reformers Luther and Calvin had this interpretation.  The context however hardly seems to support this view, nor does it seem that the people whose views John criticized did not accept the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. 

Second, it is also held that the phrase refers to the incarnation.  The problem with this view is that there is no evidence that this incarnation of Jesus was denied by opponents of John. 

Third, the most common interpretation is that the phrase referred to baptism (water), and blood, the death of Christ.  Some hold that the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist marked the beginning of his public ministry, while the blood referred to Jesus' death on the cross where water and blood flowed from his side.  The images are of the starting and ending point of Jesus’ ministry and salvation work.  Those who oppose this view believe that if this was the intended meaning, John could have easily separated the two events linguistically, but this was not done. 

Fourth, some believe that the phrase refers to the death of Jesus, for the only other passages in John where both blood and water are mentioned together, refers to Jesus’ death on the cross and the physical ordeal of that gruesome event.  The use of the word “blood” in 1 John 1:7 refers to the sacrificial death of Jesus.  So also is the use of “water” in John 7:38-39, where it is linked with the coming of the Spirit. 

Whatever interpretation is held and the third and fourth seems most plausible, it is clear that a true believer’s confession must not only include that Jesus was baptized, but that “water and blood” are significant in describing in a comprehensive way Jesus' death on the cross. The term is also connected to the outpouring of the Spirit, a package that those of the Antichrist would never accept. 

John moves smoothly into introducing the testimony of the Holy Spirit, who as a true witness, testifies that Jesus did come by “water and blood”, his death on the cross being a sacrifice.  The testimony of the Spirit is true. 

The passage indicates that Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph and also Son of God, came by way of a natural birth. He was born from Mary, but His conception was indeed miraculous, though his actual arrival or birth into flesh and blood was as any other birth.  This is done so that all may realize the similarities that Jesus possess with us and to let us know that when the Bible says he was tempted in all points as we are, it has meaning, because unlike angels, he was flesh and blood.    

The use of both the words ‘water’ and ‘blood’ are important and have always been considered to be of significant importance.  If we consider ourselves, we realize that blood is life for us and water also is a source of life for us. 

Water, is required for washing.  Jesus at the Lord’s Supper told Peter that if he could not wash his feet then he could have no part of him, to indicate that in order to separate ourselves from the filth of the world, we must be cleansed.  The body must be cleaned or sanctified to make it acceptable to God.  In one place we are told that we must experience washing of the word. 

For Jesus, since he himself did not commit any sin, then the water, which most notably is linked to baptism, must represent his association with us and sin through the water baptism.  This is to say that though he was without sin, he identifies himself as being one of us and this is the steps that must be taken in order to set ourselves on the path to being reconciled to God once again. 

The aspect of blood in this statement is important because we know that through the shedding of blood there is life for sinners.  The Bible tries to stress that blood is life.  Water worked to cleanse the outward parts by reminding us of its symbolic representation, while the blood is used to cleanse the inward portions.  God requires the shedding of blood, through it God is glorified, His law honoured and justice is satisfied.  By the blood we are justified, reconciled and presented righteous to God, now that the curse of the law has been satisfied.   

The water of cleansing and the sacrifice in blood together work towards bringing man back to a right relationship with God.  Jesus Christ, son of Mary and Joseph, meets the criteria to satisfy all on earth, and he meets the requirement by God’s standard, that is why the Spirit also is able to bear witness to Jesus.  All those who know the Spirit cannot deny His testimony.   

Only he, Jesus has the power, authority, and ability to offer the perfect sacrifice to redeem us to the Father.  These points are carefully drawn together to show that Christ had a specific mission to do while here on Earth.  His actions testify to who he was but also there is a testimony given about Jesus and who he is by prophecy, the Spirit and God the Father.   

Note that people find it easy to accept the concept of water as an agent of cleansing and might even accept the powerful beauty and symbolism in baptism.  They might even accept the necessity of baptism.  The atoning death of Jesus however, the shedding of his blood on the cross, accepting this essential part of the good news, is considered foolishness and rejected by many.

Verse 7.   In terms of witnesses to Jesus Christ, John now sets three witnesses before us and they all testify to who Jesus is and his ability to bring mankind back to a relationship with God.  The three witnesses come from heaven.  They are the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.   

God the Father, the Word (made flesh), and the Holy Spirit all are God, all act as one, having the same purpose and intent of action.  All act with the same power and authority and have perfect communion with one another. 

Two or three witnesses were used to constitute adequate testimony in the law of God.  Just as how when God was talking to Abraham, He swore by Himself, because He could swear by no other to ensure that what He said would be done.  Likewise, the three witnesses here provide irrefutable testimony to Jesus’ identity, mission and sufficiency to accomplish his task.  

Note that the Holy Spirit is the one who uses the work of the cross, brings it to each individual in a powerful way and convicts of sin, judgment and righteousness.  When there is a belief there is pardon, and the Spirit brings the feeling that one is forgiven, lifts the burden of guilt, makes the penitent sinner understand that their sins are washed away and brings the peace of God.  This is a personal, internal work done by the Spirit.  The Spirit does the inward work in the believer.

Verse 8.   Once it is understood that the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost bear witness to Jesus and that their testimony is irrefutable. John then follows up saying that there is the testimony from the water, they blood and Spirit as to Jesus and his work.  These three other witnesses together are another set of three irrefutable testimonies to Jesus. 

One writer notes that there are many interpretations as to who these three witnesses in earth are.  He states:

“It is probably best to see these as references to Jesus’ power to make alive (Spirit), cleanse the believer from sin (water) and atone (blood).  There is support for this symbolism in the Gospel of John (6:63, 13:10) and in 1 John (1:7, 2:2).  It is also supported from the Old Testament prophecy of Zechariah 12:10-13:1, part of which is quoted in John 19:37.”   

These three witnesses seem to refer to the things that had happened and were happening in the lives of believers because of Jesus’ life and ministry.  There was cleansing, there was atoning in blood, and there was the possession of the Spirit by believers.

Verse 9-10.   For the most part in a court of law, or any other arena of justice, men usually rely on the witness of other men to convict an individual.  This is done even though no one can really be sure of the testimony.  That is why two or three witnesses are used.  But still even in those situations, men may conspire to circumvent justice.  Even with that possibility, it is taken as truth when the two or three are gathered as witnesses.  If that is taken as the truth in that context, then the Bible indicates that the witness of God is greater.   

God can never lie. Christians know this to be true and so the witness of God is the greatest testimony that any individual can have for or against them.  God does not want us to rely on blind faith, that is why He decides to weigh in.  By doing so He opens himself up to anyone that wishes to ‘cross-examine’ Him as to the truth of His statements and to prove Him, especially since God cannot be deceived nor can deceive anyone.   

The rest of the world may try to deny God exists, though evidence to the contrary exists.  Every person will one day have to bow before Him.  So because of who He is, God’s testimony about Jesus is counted as most significant.  God will declare his power and glory over all the earth and so to that end, God’s witness to all Christian and everyone else is that Jesus is the begotten of the Father.   

Given the absolute integrity of God's testimony, it must be recognized that if one does not believe the testimony of God, then that person has said that God is a lair.  All that He has spoken and done is a lie.  He doesn’t have authority or dominion over anything. Basically He is not God and so, by that acknowledgment His testimony of the Son is null and void.   

This is the position of the world about God and Jesus:  The world has separated themselves from any truth whatsoever in order to function.  Their behavior puts them in the position that God has stated, namely, He has ‘given them over to a reprobate mind’.  That is the only way they can function because they know that only the wrath of God exist towards them now. 

The contrasting individuals are those who call themselves Christians.  They believe in the testimony of the Father and hence believe in the Son (Jesus) and his mission.  If we believe and that is to say, that in our actions, words and minds we accept this testimony, then it allows the Spirit to make us new creatures.  We are then capable of understanding the will of God.   

They will understand that Jesus Christ is life and through him we have life and have it more abundantly.  This is the testimony that God gives about his Son, so that all would be sure of what is at stake.  It is Life!

Verse 11.   First John presents what God has said as a testimony.  All that God has done is for a reason and since he is God his testimony is greater. The record is in part the testimony given to his prophets and recorded in the bible.   

In terms of the fulfillment of the promises God has given to us, He says that if we believe in Jesus we will have eternal life. In His Son Jesus Christ there is life. 

Note that God has given eternal life; endless life of premier quality. This is his gift to man. All we have to do is to believe on the Son, because the Son is life. We can be extremely religious, extremely talented, been attending church all our lives, but if we do not have the Son we do not have life.  This is the testimony of God. 

Since the water, blood and the Spirit were mentioned in the previous verses, we can see that this all leads to the complete adoption of Christians into the family of God, now completely separated from the world and sin.  This is important because once again it does not matter from what walk of life we come, or who we are as persons or what kind of persons we are now or have been in the past, the requirement to be part of the family of God is simply to believe in the word and truth of Jesus.  If this is done, then the murderer, the rich, the poor, the liar, whatever we may have been in the past is that, the past; Christ’s blood is sufficient to wipe it all away. 

Verse 12.   Life can only be found in one place, that place is in Christ.  All other avenues of reality are a deception. To have Jesus is to possess him in the sense that he is present in the life of the believer. John now states this negatively.  If you do not “possess” the Son, if he is not present in your life, you will not have eternal life.  

If we say we love Jesus and if we follow him, then our reward is clearly stated.  If we do not love Jesus, do not obey him then we have proven ourselves liars and therefore life is not in us.  Only through Jesus can we have life. 

CONCLUSION

Do you want to know if you are ‘elect’ of God?  Well, believe in the name of the Son of God and you will have eternal life. So says the Apostle John as he writes to remove doubt from us and place certainty in our hearts. 

He assures us that God has given us something great in the person of this only begotten Son, for if we have received the Son we have received life eternal, abundant, free-flowing, and never ending. 

God warns that if we have received the Son, we will show righteousness, truth, and love in our life.  If we do not show these, we have not received the Son of God even though we appear to be spiritual, very religious, devoted to the church, love to do good works and go around trying to do the things that we think would please God. 

John warns us that there is no middle way.  If we do not have the son, we do not have life.  This is the testimony of God the Father, the testimony of the Word and the testimony of the Holy Spirit.  Everything that Jesus has done testify to these truths.  He has cleansed, shed his blood as a sacrifice for our sins and sent us the Holy Spirit to be the internal testimony as to who we are. 

This Spirit witnesses to us on the inside and tells us that there is none like Jesus.  He tells us that Jesus is our only hope, the only answer to the inevitable destruction of following the world. He tells us that to be born of the Father and to be a child of God is the only way to have life. 

John makes it clear that they are many who water down the message, encourage people to believe anything and everything, that they are those who pretend to believe but who do not really believe, whose Christianity is full of hypocrisy, falsehood and deception. 

We should examine ourselves, and if we sense we are not following truth, righteousness and obedience to the commandments of God which all involve loving God and loving the brethren, we should confess our sins to God. If we do this from a pure heart, God will respond positively, and forgive our sins.   

God wants truth in the inward parts.  He does not want us to be like Jonadab that character in 2 Samuel 13.  

Ensure that we act in love and do love at all times.  We are responsible to have sinners turn to the ways of righteousness and have righteous people to stay on the path of righteousness.  Remember that God is watching and nothing escapes him.  He really wants us to love him, love the brethren and inherit eternal life.