Nov 2, 2009
sin, chapter 2
In 2.1 he says he is writing so that we might not sin. Yet, he insists that we have sinned (1.8 and 1.10) and may very well continue to sin (2.1b). I think he desperately wants us to stay out of the filth that Jesus has cleaned out of us. "You are clean, why are you going back into the muck?" Logically, this makes great sense. But who isn't tempted by the stuff in 2.15-17?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In sociology we are learning about what makes people deviate from the norms and how hard it is to break away from what is respected in the culture. One of the ways people can deviate is to create a status for themselves in a subculture. The subculture forms to give people who are like-minded a common belief system that solidifies everyone's values.
ReplyDeleteI guess what I'm trying to say is by sharing life together we can help eachother gain a new set of values. This will help the "lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh , the pride of life" become less attractive.
Virginia, reading your comment reminded me of verse 1 in chapter 3, which says, "The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him."
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like John is saying that the believers are already part of a "subculture" that the world just doesn't get. And they don't get us because they didn't get Jesus.
And because the norm of his (and our) culture is so corrupt, he repeatedly gives them tests so they can know who's from God and who isn't (or who's a part of this new subculture, and who isn't). A few of the things he mentions as tests for believers are: having a pattern of righteousness, not sin (3:9), confessing the Son as God (2:23), believing that Jesus came in the flesh (4:2).
Your comment about sharing life together also reminded me of 5:16, about praying for our brothers and sisters we see sinning. We can't do that unless we actually get to know each other.