1 John 3: A Tale of Two Churches --- 2019/08/02

Rev. Dr. George Lobien, retired pastor from Lakeside Lutheran Church in Venice, Florida, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 John 3.

John wants his dear children in the faith to be absolutely clear: the other so-called Christians are actually “children of the devil”! As he said in the previous chapter, they are “antichrists,” a splinter group that has separated itself from fellowship with the apostles and with God. They have instead have aligned themselves with the Gnostics and others of “the world” as they denied the humanity of Christ.

John says in chapter 3 that there are two key differences between these groups: love and righteousness. Not only has the splinter group embraced sin, but they have even followed Cain and have “murdered [their] brother.” They no longer support and care for the rest of the Christian communion. Pastor Lobien references a Peanuts comic on just this point. We, however, have Christ living in us, the one who knew no sin and who sacrificed Himself in love to forgive us and save our lives.