THE EPISTLE OF FIRST JOHN

...That you also may have fellowship with us and...

with the Father and with His Son, JEsus Christ.

1 John 1.3

This "epistle" (no, not the wife of an apostle) is a letter of instruction and revelation of the way the Holy Spirit reveals the Lord Jesus to our hearts. 

It is only 0.33% of the entire Bible.  Its four pages make up less than 1/2 of 1%.  But its message from the life experience of the Apostle John is a summary of the life our Lord is imparting to us at this very moment.

John says the battle for our souls takes place in five areas:

Purity v. Sin

Light vs. Darkness

Truth vs. Lie

Life vs. Death

Love vs. Hate

First is Purity vs. Sin.  Sin is our "default" state, our natural condition, which limits and distorts every thought, word, experience, idea....everything about us and around us.  Sin is like the distorted mirrors of the circus side show, except the distortion is in us as well as around us.

Purifying our soul corrects the distortions of unbelief, pride, selfishness, anger,fear, and much more that create deadly thoughts and motives within us.  Purifying our soul also and lets us see clearly and truly the evils and lies that make us the "ways of the world" of Satan that was at the heart of the great temptations Jesus faced at the beginning of His ministry.  There being no sin within Him, He more effectively resisted the lies of the Enemy.  In His resurrection power and glory, He now works to cleanse and correct all this within us, in preparation for our place in the coming ages of His kingdom.

Second, John presents Light vs. Darkenss as the battle field of Purity and Sin.  The Holy Spirit brings Light to expose Darkness.  This Light reveals the beauty, love, joy,, and peace that come from Purity.  As the Light drives our Darkness and Purity replaces Sin, the battle within us is resoved and Peace fills our soul instead of warfare.  With Peace there is Joy and Thanksgiving.  Love will soon be released.

Third, Light comes to us in the form of Truth vs. Lie.  Here is the great source of freedom from the blindness of Darkness that is maintained by Lies.  Here is the area of change tthat sets us free from Sin.  

Fourth, by Truth "the Law of the Spirit of Life sets us free from the law of sin and Death.  This law of Life renews our minds and we are brought into the experiences of the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.  The Lies of the Devil, who has been a Liar from the beginning, are destroyed as the Truth makes us free. 

Fifth, by maintaining the disciplines of discipleship, Purity, Light, Truth, and Life replace Sin, Darkness, Lies, and Death.  We are set free from all the forces that create Hate and its evils.  The Holy Spirit fills our heart to overflowing with with the Love of God. 

Then we love one another with the love wherewith God loves us.  We fulfill the command of Christ to love one another. 

We fulfill the Great Commandment as we love God with gratitude, praise, worship, and honor with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  

We fulfill the Great Commission to make disciples of every nation, tribe, people and language as we are sent forth with this Love of Christ as the Father sent Him to and for us. 

We passionaltely teach these new disciples to obey these commands of Christ and live in Fellowship with Him, the Fatehr, and one another.