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Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of the Way UK podcast.

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I'm your host Zoe and I'm joined by my co-host.

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I'm here as well.

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Solomon's here as well.

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I'm also here.

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Guys, today we are doing a Bible study, as you can tell because we have our Bibles out, and we have them open to the book of 1 John.

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So if you've got your Bibles, please flick open to the book of 1 John, not the Gospel of John, but the letter...

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Not the Gospel of John, not 2nd John, not 3rd John.

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No, not 3rd John, but... 1st John.

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1st John.

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1st letter of John.

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That would be really helpful.

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There it is.

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And whilst you are flicking to find that, guys, you already know the drill.

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You know that our mission here at The Way is to reach every single young person online with the good news of Jesus.

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A few things that helps us do that is if you're listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, please could you leave us a five-star rating and review because it really helps the algorithm for some reason just pushes it out, which is great.

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And then if you're watching slash listening on YouTube, please could you subscribe, like, comment, turn on push notifications, all of that stuff, because it just, it helps us do that mission.

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One more thing, guys, if you think this will be helpful to your friends, then please do share this Bible study with them and you guys could do it all together.

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That would be epic.

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Roll the credits.

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All right, let's get into it.

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Solomon, would you like to do me the honours of reading the whole chapter?

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The whole chapter, I absolutely can.

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Thank you so much.

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Friends, we're on page 1,541.

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Go ahead and flip over there.

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1,225.

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Yeah, either one of them work.

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Okay, here we go.

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Chapter one.

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We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the word of life.

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This life was revealed and we have seen it and testify to it and declare to you the eternal life that was seen with the Father and was revealed to us.

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What we have seen and heard, we also declare to you so that you also may have fellowship with us.

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And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

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We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

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This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

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If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true.

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But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin.

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If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

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If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

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Wow.

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Beautifully read, Solomon.

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Thank you.

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It always stresses me out, the reading.

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Yeah.

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Well, you smashed it.

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You did it really well.

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What version are you reading?

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NRSV.

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What does that stand for?

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New Revised Standard Version.

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Ooh, love it.

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What are you reading?

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The NIV.

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New International Version.

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Nice.

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I believe.

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Nice.

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Love it.

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Okay.

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Let's kick it off with some context, I reckon.

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Yeah.

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Who, what, when, where.

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How.

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How, why.

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Okay.

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That's a good question.

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Kick us off.

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So who is the author?

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Who knows?

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Who is it?

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Well, that's a great question.

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Traditionally, people would say it was John the Apostle, the same guy that's traditionally thought to have written the Gospel of John.

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Beloved.

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I mean, it's still disputed when it comes to things this old.

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There's always going to be disputations.

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What we can say is if we look at the...

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the penmanship, the style, the voice, but also the theology and the worldview, we can say that at the very least, if it's not the same guy, it's at the very least coming from the same, what were they called, Johanan tradition, right?

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So it's the same group of ideas that are all together representing the same sort of thing.

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But yeah, so...

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While it is still disputed, typically we just call him the elder, right?

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Or we just call him John.

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John.

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The author.

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John.

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Yeah, most likely.

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And where was John writing from slash to?

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Well, I think ancient Ephesus, which is modern day Western Turkey now.

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And he was writing a letter to, I think he had a few house churches in those areas and was overseeing those communities.

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And I think...

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Some stuff had gone on, which we'll get into as we read the chapter verse by verse in a minute.

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But that's why he was writing it to them.

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He was just setting some things straight.

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And scholars think it was written likely around 90 AD.

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Cool.

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So first century vibes, which is pretty cool.

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Sorry for the interruption, we have news.

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Zoe, would you like to share?

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Yes, I would.

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Friends, this September we're heading to Malawi.

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We've heard incredible stories of faith and resilience, and we have the opportunity to go and meet the people behind those stories.

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Yes, and we'll be doing that with World Vision, a Christian-led humanitarian charity who work alongside local communities to bring support to children and families, and to basically help tackle poverty.

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They do amazing work, and we're so excited to be partnering with them.

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Over the course of the trip we'll be meeting people, shaking hands, hearing stories and seeing the work that's already happening on the ground.

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And we would like to invite you to be a part of it.

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One of the initiatives World Vision runs is called Chosen Sponsorship.

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Now, Chosen basically flips the typical idea of child sponsorship on its head.

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Instead of you choosing a child to sponsor, Chosen returns agency back to the kids and a child chooses you.

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Yes, and so we'll be going to Malawi and be seeing Chosen in action.

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And if you want to get involved, follow the link below and sign up.

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All right, should we start with verse one?

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Yeah.

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Go on, do you want to take us there?

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Yeah, okay.

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That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the word of life.

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I mean, that's probably my favorite part of this entire chapter.

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I think it's just so beautifully written.

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And it's intentional, right?

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So I think Jon right there is colliding, is like bringing the eternal and the material, the physical into like...

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into collision with one another, right?

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They're bringing them together.

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And he takes you all the way back to the beginning, right?

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From the beginning.

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And that kind of sounds like Gospel of John, right?

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Yeah, it does.

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But then, of course, if it sounds like the opening of the Gospel of John, what else does it sound like?

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Genesis.

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The start of Genesis.

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Exactly.

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And that's really cool.

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But then he grounds it, right?

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It's not just eternal.

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He grounds it in the physical by then going immediately into sort of like this sensory language of what we see, feel, touch here.

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And...

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That's really cool.

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And to me, what that says is that to John, whatever Christianity is, it cannot be separated from the person of Jesus Christ, right?

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It's this person that he saw, heard, touched.

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And relationship with.

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Right, yeah.

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And it threads it all the way back to the beginning.

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I think that's really cool from John.

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Good job, John.

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That's epic.

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And I think as well, it really like highlights Jesus's divinity and that he was God as well as man.

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Like saying that which was from the beginning, like Jesus was always there, you know, which I think is pretty epic.

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And I think as well, how it finishes with the word of life.

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I just love that it's like the word of God but also in the gospel of John it's like um Jesus was the word became flesh and the word made his dwelling among us it's like Jesus is this just embodiment of God he's the visible image of the invisible God and so it's like just bringing it back to Jesus I love that and also like daily bread vibes I'm getting get reminded of that with the word of your life and we need him every day we need his word every day

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Yeah.

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Heck yeah.

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Any other points?

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I think that was good.

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You covered it.

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Great.

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Do you want to move to verse two?

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Yeah.

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The life appeared, we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

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So in the ESV translation, instead of appeared, it says made manifest, which I thought was so cool.

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And it just reminded me of the term manifest glory, which is basically like the tangible and visible presence of God here on earth, basically.

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And it was just, it just reminded me that like Jesus was and is the most literal form of manifest glory.

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Like he was...

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I mean, I think I already said it, the visible image of the invisible God.

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But I love that John is like really kind of putting this, emphasizing this point to the church because he's being like, don't forget who your savior is and don't forget what he's.

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done for you and like that he is divine and worthy of praise and worthy of worship and worthy of recognition as being equal to god because he was god um so i thought that was really cool and also just like and the emphasis on which was with the father as well he's like

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he's really emphasizing this point that Jesus is divine and that Jesus is powerful and God and worthy of praise because I think that yeah I think there were people in the that had left the church that were saying otherwise and so he's like sprinkling some truth back into the communities which I love

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Okay, let's move on to verse 3.

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Verse 3.

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We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.

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And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

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I actually love that.

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I like that.

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This seems like it's the first sort of time.

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It's very clear what John's aim is with the letter, right?

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It's fellowship.

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And it's the communal nature of salvation, I think, right?

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Yeah, that was what stuck out to me initially was, okay, so this is what it's about.

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It's not only clarifying who Christ is, but also fellowship among the community.

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Yeah, no, definitely.

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And I looked up what the Greek word for fellowship is, which is koinonia.

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Wow.

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Koinonia.

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Wow, you said that with much confidence.

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Well, I'm probably wrong, but you know, just fake it till you make it, I guess.

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You didn't even stutter.

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I didn't even stutter.

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But one of the like definitive words for koinonia was intimacy.

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And I think that is so beautiful.

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It's like,

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That is that we're invited into that with God.

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And then as a result with one another, with one another, and we get to show fellowship with, share in fellowship with each other, which if we just read the next verse, I'll just read the next verse.

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Yes.

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We write this to make our joy complete.

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And it's like,

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this fellowship will bring joy and it's a joy to take part and participate and be in the body of the church of Christ.

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Like what a gift to be part of God's family.

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And of course there'll be like ups and downs, not to say that it's always going to be full of joy, but I'm reminded of that verse.

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It says the joy of the Lord is our strength.

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And joy doesn't need to look like this really high energy, like hyper excitement.

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It can actually look like a steadiness and like a faith in the power of God and the faithfulness of God and a contentment and a joy in knowing that.

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Does that make sense?

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I don't know if that makes sense.

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It also makes you, I mean, when it comes to this point, this is when you start to wonder what exactly was going on in this community.

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for John to write such a letter about fellowship, what was the problem?

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We spoke about that a little bit off camera, right?

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That it was some form of early Gnosticism, which is sort of this like idea where it's the spiritual and the material that are separated and the spiritual, the physical is like a lesser sort of created existence, right?

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So that's masticism.

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Well, I mean...

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Umbrella term.

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Umbrella term, I guess.

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Yeah.

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Created by some lesser divine being.

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And maybe some of this was seeping into the churches.

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What we were kind of talking about.

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Yeah.

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Maybe.

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We were reading a few papers about it, weren't we?

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Mm-hmm.

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But...

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Yeah, I like John's response.

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He's so clear, right?

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Yeah, and calling people higher to share in fellowship that brings joy and to recognize and remember that we get to have relationship and fellowship with God.

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Yeah, when we're in communion with Christ, we are also brought into communion with other believers.

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Yeah.

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Right?

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Yeah.

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That's so cool.

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Because we're hopefully bearing the fruits of the Spirit a little bit more.

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The communal nature of salvation.

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Wow.

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Big words, that, innit?

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Big words.

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Makes you sound smart, that one, doesn't it?

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00:12:53.169 --> 00:12:53.629
It does.

234
00:12:53.649 --> 00:12:54.389
You sound very smart.

235
00:12:55.129 --> 00:12:56.769
Okay, do you want to read verse five?

236
00:12:57.049 --> 00:12:57.750
I would love to.

237
00:12:59.450 --> 00:13:05.931
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

238
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Hallelujah.

239
00:13:08.191 --> 00:13:08.551
Amen.

240
00:13:08.972 --> 00:13:10.072
It's just true, isn't it?

241
00:13:10.632 --> 00:13:11.472
God is light.

242
00:13:12.692 --> 00:13:14.533
In him there is no darkness at all.

243
00:13:15.553 --> 00:13:17.113
It's like John is really...

244
00:13:19.312 --> 00:13:31.335
I feel like I've said emphasizing so much, but I do feel like this is the establishing chapter before he goes on to say lots of other very wise things in the rest of this book.

245
00:13:31.575 --> 00:13:34.895
But it feels kind of like a prologue in a way.

246
00:13:35.095 --> 00:13:37.316
He's being like, this is what we believe.

247
00:13:37.376 --> 00:13:38.296
This is who God is.

248
00:13:38.656 --> 00:13:39.556
This is his character.

249
00:13:39.616 --> 00:13:40.516
He hasn't changed.

250
00:13:41.377 --> 00:13:46.298
Don't forget that he is holy, that he is worthy, that he is pure and that he is light.

251
00:13:46.758 --> 00:13:47.758
And it reminds me of...

252
00:13:48.698 --> 00:13:56.060
Also another verse in the gospel of John, John chapter one, verse five, and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

253
00:13:56.520 --> 00:14:09.964
I love that verse so much because it's it just speaks so, so much of the true power of God and the Holy Spirit and that like the the war against or the battle against the enemy is actually won already.

254
00:14:11.185 --> 00:14:23.975
There is something, I mean, I'm just quickly, I want to come back to this, but I also just wanted to add on verse six here where it says, if we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not know what is true and do not do what is true.

255
00:14:24.596 --> 00:14:27.738
And those two verses together, there's something of a fear of the Lord there.

256
00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:31.401
So like, I think so often we forget who we're talking to.

257
00:14:31.642 --> 00:14:33.043
Yeah.

258
00:14:33.063 --> 00:14:37.907
With God, you know, it's great that we feel so comfortable around God, but also he is wholly other, right?

259
00:14:37.927 --> 00:14:38.547
He is so...

260
00:14:40.972 --> 00:15:06.193
bright he's so light it's blazing right yeah it's we need to hold him in such a reverence i mean we've spoken about this before but it's job 38 i'm always reading job 38 it reminds me it reminds me who i'm talking to uh how how powerful how like unfathomably big god is and mighty and this is one of those times where it's like the light this light to me um is unfathomable it's unfathomably light

261
00:15:06.518 --> 00:15:08.959
Yeah, it's so good and so true.

262
00:15:09.499 --> 00:15:12.420
And when I read this as well, I was like, okay, what is darkness?

263
00:15:12.460 --> 00:15:14.661
Like the first thing that came to mind was sin.

264
00:15:15.422 --> 00:15:21.124
And I think that's what he's nodding to in this, like that darkness here is sin.

265
00:15:21.264 --> 00:15:24.265
And I also looked up the Greek word for this as well.

266
00:15:24.285 --> 00:15:25.066
What am I like?

267
00:15:26.787 --> 00:15:30.489
The Greek word for darkness that was used in verse six.

268
00:15:31.550 --> 00:15:33.391
And yeah, I'm not sure about verse five, actually.

269
00:15:33.411 --> 00:15:34.372
It could have been a different one.

270
00:15:34.892 --> 00:15:36.013
It was skotos.

271
00:15:36.434 --> 00:15:37.034
Skotos.

272
00:15:37.374 --> 00:15:37.935
Skotos.

273
00:15:38.355 --> 00:15:49.823
And one of the meanings for that was to have means of ignorance respecting divine things and human duties and the accompanying ungodliness and immorality of darkness.

274
00:15:51.206 --> 00:15:52.487
So sin.

275
00:15:53.687 --> 00:15:55.528
Just to back up my point, I guess.

276
00:15:56.249 --> 00:15:57.490
I got some receipts here.

277
00:15:57.530 --> 00:15:58.170
There it is.

278
00:15:59.391 --> 00:16:01.552
No, I just wanted people to know clearly.

279
00:16:02.532 --> 00:16:03.633
Now everybody knows.

280
00:16:03.913 --> 00:16:04.934
Thank you for sharing.

281
00:16:05.094 --> 00:16:06.474
Hey, if anyone asks, you know.

282
00:16:07.615 --> 00:16:08.116
Okay, shall we?

283
00:16:08.196 --> 00:16:10.319
I know you read verse six, but let's just read it again.

284
00:16:10.339 --> 00:16:11.300
Yeah, let's go back again.

285
00:16:11.521 --> 00:16:12.502
Let's have a look at it, shall we?

286
00:16:12.662 --> 00:16:13.504
Yeah, do you want to read it?

287
00:16:13.884 --> 00:16:14.425
I would love to.

288
00:16:15.827 --> 00:16:21.856
If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true.

289
00:16:23.070 --> 00:16:24.031
What sticks out to you there?

290
00:16:24.051 --> 00:16:24.751
Ay caramba.

291
00:16:25.032 --> 00:16:30.436
So when I read this, I first was reminded of Romans 6, which I made note of here.

292
00:16:30.516 --> 00:16:32.157
It says, what shall we say then?

293
00:16:32.238 --> 00:16:34.339
Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

294
00:16:34.700 --> 00:16:35.420
By no means.

295
00:16:35.580 --> 00:16:36.921
We are those who have died to sin.

296
00:16:37.262 --> 00:16:38.643
How can we live in it any longer?

297
00:16:39.323 --> 00:16:53.411
And I think here John is in, yeah, I think here John is calling the church to walk the walk and not just talk the talk and not, not to sin just because now we have grace through Jesus.

298
00:16:53.431 --> 00:16:53.591
Yeah.

299
00:16:56.209 --> 00:16:59.811
To live in the light and to walk in the light, which I think is great.

300
00:17:00.231 --> 00:17:07.474
And as well, I don't know, if we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.

301
00:17:08.114 --> 00:17:13.476
Him having to write that suggests that potentially there were people that were claiming to have fellowship with Jesus.

302
00:17:14.056 --> 00:17:16.117
Then we're just going around and sinning.

303
00:17:16.557 --> 00:17:17.538
False claims, is it right?

304
00:17:17.558 --> 00:17:28.906
Yeah, so I think it's... And this is one thing I really do like about the faith is that there's a constant invitation to look inward and to be self-aware of who we are, what we're doing.

305
00:17:28.966 --> 00:17:31.048
Are we trying to be like Christ?

306
00:17:31.068 --> 00:17:32.789
Are we still actually walking the walk, like you said?

307
00:17:33.490 --> 00:17:34.150
I think that's great.

308
00:17:34.390 --> 00:17:35.391
This is another example.

309
00:17:35.411 --> 00:17:42.997
There's thousands of examples throughout scripture where it's just a reminder to keep looking inward and keep like, you know what I mean?

310
00:17:43.337 --> 00:17:44.459
Yeah, that's great.

311
00:17:44.479 --> 00:17:46.061
Okay, let's do verse 7.

312
00:17:47.663 --> 00:17:56.915
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.

313
00:17:57.988 --> 00:17:58.428
What?

314
00:17:59.008 --> 00:18:00.389
This is literally epic.

315
00:18:00.709 --> 00:18:08.111
Like when I read this, I'm just in awe of the beauty and the power of Jesus's sacrifice.

316
00:18:08.752 --> 00:18:10.832
Like that is crazy.

317
00:18:10.892 --> 00:18:26.277
This also reminds me of Hebrews chapter nine, which basically talks all about how Jesus is our high priest, the one that goes before us and made the atoning sacrifice for us so that we can be reconciled to God and have a relationship with God again.

318
00:18:27.978 --> 00:18:34.421
And there's like a part of the chapter which talks about how powerful Jesus's blood is.

319
00:18:34.522 --> 00:18:43.826
That it was literally only the blood of Jesus that could purify us and all of humanity from like the beginning of time to the end of time.

320
00:18:43.926 --> 00:18:44.227
Yeah.

321
00:18:44.687 --> 00:18:48.649
Purify us from our sins so that we can like have relationship with God.

322
00:18:49.214 --> 00:18:53.078
And I think that is so, so amazing.

323
00:18:53.098 --> 00:18:57.884
And like, just so kind of like incomprehensible and, you know,

324
00:18:59.505 --> 00:18:59.825
I don't know.

325
00:18:59.965 --> 00:19:03.307
It just blows my mind every time I think about the power of the blood of Jesus.

326
00:19:03.327 --> 00:19:06.629
Because it's like, it washes every single sin.

327
00:19:07.170 --> 00:19:07.850
Every single one.

328
00:19:08.130 --> 00:19:13.553
There's just an invitation of a really beautiful submission to Jesus in that.

329
00:19:14.214 --> 00:19:19.217
And knowing that there's nothing that we can do to earn his grace.

330
00:19:19.317 --> 00:19:20.958
Because we're covered by God.

331
00:19:21.338 --> 00:19:22.478
But then that doesn't mean that we don't.

332
00:19:22.498 --> 00:19:27.979
What's pretty interesting is building on that point, I agree with the cleansing us from all sin.

333
00:19:28.339 --> 00:19:29.000
That's awesome.

334
00:19:29.020 --> 00:19:29.700
That's grace, right?

335
00:19:29.960 --> 00:19:36.561
At the same time, in that same passage, in that same verse, it uses the word walk, which is active, right?

336
00:19:36.661 --> 00:19:38.621
It's that we are to walk in the light.

337
00:19:38.642 --> 00:19:48.524
We are to, as he himself is in the light, it's an invitation to sort of progress continually, you know, in our walk with God.

338
00:19:48.584 --> 00:19:48.784
It's...

339
00:19:51.331 --> 00:19:52.111
Yeah, I don't know.

340
00:19:52.131 --> 00:20:00.255
I think that, yes, while there is grace for all sin through Christ, at the same time, there is a sort of understanding that we are going to walk.

341
00:20:01.216 --> 00:20:01.816
Does that make sense?

342
00:20:02.296 --> 00:20:03.577
I'm kind of just thinking out loud here.

343
00:20:03.837 --> 00:20:04.877
Yeah, I think so.

344
00:20:05.338 --> 00:20:09.039
It's like an intentionality in walking the way that Christ...

345
00:20:09.059 --> 00:20:13.962
If we are to have fellowship with God, we will be walking in the light, actively moving, not just passive.

346
00:20:14.062 --> 00:20:16.763
Anyway, that's my little thought.

347
00:20:17.420 --> 00:20:20.962
Yeah, an intentionality to walk how Jesus did.

348
00:20:21.242 --> 00:20:21.503
Yeah.

349
00:20:21.763 --> 00:20:23.604
And also recognizing the power of his blood.

350
00:20:23.824 --> 00:20:24.064
Yeah.

351
00:20:24.084 --> 00:20:25.805
Okay, verse eight.

352
00:20:26.566 --> 00:20:30.248
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

353
00:20:31.509 --> 00:20:34.571
Well, I feel like this one's pretty self-explanatory.

354
00:20:35.351 --> 00:20:35.611
You know.

355
00:20:35.631 --> 00:20:36.732
It's pretty blunt.

356
00:20:37.187 --> 00:20:38.828
It's pretty straight to the point.

357
00:20:39.648 --> 00:20:40.628
We aren't sinless.

358
00:20:41.368 --> 00:20:43.869
We're human and we sin.

359
00:20:44.589 --> 00:20:46.790
And so let's not pretend to be something that we're not.

360
00:20:46.930 --> 00:20:48.531
And let's humble ourselves before God.

361
00:20:49.171 --> 00:20:52.052
And of course, like we're forgiven.

362
00:20:52.532 --> 00:20:59.454
But as well, like what Romans 6 says, it's not an excuse to carry on intentionally sinning.

363
00:20:59.634 --> 00:21:00.295
If that makes sense.

364
00:21:00.315 --> 00:21:00.435
Yeah.

365
00:21:01.355 --> 00:21:01.695
I don't know.

366
00:21:01.775 --> 00:21:05.478
It's such a huge topic, just grace and forgiveness.

367
00:21:05.498 --> 00:21:10.541
So I don't really want to get into all of that theology because I don't know a lot.

368
00:21:10.921 --> 00:21:20.748
But yeah, it's just I think that what I took away when I read this verse was just recognizing that we are that we have our flesh.

369
00:21:20.908 --> 00:21:22.949
And like I'm thinking about Romans 7 as well.

370
00:21:23.409 --> 00:21:25.711
When Paul writes, I do what I do not want to do.

371
00:21:27.552 --> 00:21:30.514
And hallelujah that God is forgiving.

372
00:21:30.752 --> 00:21:32.112
And that we're in dire need of a saviour.

373
00:21:32.492 --> 00:21:32.772
Yes.

374
00:21:32.792 --> 00:21:33.513
You know what I mean?

375
00:21:33.673 --> 00:21:34.473
Extreme need.

376
00:21:34.493 --> 00:21:39.094
We can trick ourselves as much as we want, but truth is truth regardless of how we feel about it.

377
00:21:39.334 --> 00:21:40.234
Yeah.

378
00:21:41.094 --> 00:21:41.594
Full stop?

379
00:21:42.114 --> 00:21:43.355
I guess, pretty much.

380
00:21:43.455 --> 00:21:43.855
Amazing.

381
00:21:43.875 --> 00:21:46.035
Okay, verse nine.

382
00:21:46.155 --> 00:21:46.855
Would you like to read this?

383
00:21:46.916 --> 00:21:47.576
I would love to.

384
00:21:47.776 --> 00:21:47.996
Yay.

385
00:21:48.296 --> 00:21:55.217
If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

386
00:21:56.097 --> 00:21:56.678
Confess?

387
00:21:57.498 --> 00:21:58.338
What is confession?

388
00:21:59.173 --> 00:22:00.174
I'm so glad you asked.

389
00:22:00.474 --> 00:22:07.340
Ladies and gentlemen, go ahead and check out our former podcast with our friends from the Catholic side of the church.

390
00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:13.385
I think there's like a multitude of different ways to confess.

391
00:22:13.845 --> 00:22:18.569
And it can look different in different traditions in the church or different denominations.

392
00:22:18.989 --> 00:22:23.431
You know, confession could be directly to God, like in your private prayer time.

393
00:22:23.811 --> 00:22:29.034
It could be to say, if you have like an accountability group with friends, you're confessing your sins to them.

394
00:22:29.174 --> 00:22:30.655
It could be to a priest.

395
00:22:30.875 --> 00:22:32.135
Like there's lots of different ways.

396
00:22:32.195 --> 00:22:41.420
But I think what confession is, is like admitting the wrongs that you've done, basically admitting the ways that you've sinned against God.

397
00:22:41.860 --> 00:22:45.702
And then I think the beauty of confession is that it then leads us into repentance.

398
00:22:46.103 --> 00:22:47.003
And what is repentance?

399
00:22:47.043 --> 00:22:54.307
Repentance is turning away from the sin that you've done and walking towards and seeking forgiveness from God.

400
00:22:54.707 --> 00:23:00.110
And then you can be on your way to continue walking your walk with Jesus, I think.

401
00:23:00.931 --> 00:23:02.872
Sometimes that's easier said than done, isn't it?

402
00:23:03.312 --> 00:23:04.133
Oh, absolutely.

403
00:23:04.873 --> 00:23:06.054
I think it just requires courage.

404
00:23:06.554 --> 00:23:06.894
Doesn't it?

405
00:23:06.914 --> 00:23:07.455
To confess.

406
00:23:07.635 --> 00:23:08.115
Definitely.

407
00:23:08.175 --> 00:23:09.036
Get rid of all the shame.

408
00:23:09.236 --> 00:23:09.356
Yeah.

409
00:23:09.376 --> 00:23:10.197
Bring it into the light.

410
00:23:10.257 --> 00:23:10.837
Yeah.

411
00:23:10.997 --> 00:23:13.179
It can be scary and that should be recognized.

412
00:23:13.419 --> 00:23:14.219
Yeah, absolutely.

413
00:23:14.239 --> 00:23:14.980
It's not an easy thing to do.

414
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:17.501
It's not an easy thing to do, but it's an amazing thing to do.

415
00:23:17.641 --> 00:23:18.822
It's an amazing thing to do.

416
00:23:19.263 --> 00:23:21.064
And it tells us what happens if we do confess.

417
00:23:21.084 --> 00:23:21.444
Totally.

418
00:23:22.525 --> 00:23:23.245
We get forgiven.

419
00:23:23.385 --> 00:23:23.665
Yay.

420
00:23:24.066 --> 00:23:24.686
Okay.

421
00:23:25.046 --> 00:23:25.607
Verse 10.

422
00:23:26.007 --> 00:23:26.727
I got this one.

423
00:23:26.928 --> 00:23:27.228
Go on.

424
00:23:27.428 --> 00:23:31.491
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

425
00:23:32.575 --> 00:23:34.517
That to me creates a sense of dread.

426
00:23:35.879 --> 00:23:36.660
Yeah.

427
00:23:36.680 --> 00:23:39.203
I feel I got dread in my heart reading that.

428
00:23:39.423 --> 00:23:39.763
Yeah.

429
00:23:39.783 --> 00:23:40.865
That's the last thing you want to do.

430
00:23:42.026 --> 00:23:43.307
I don't want to call God a liar.

431
00:23:43.427 --> 00:23:43.688
No.

432
00:23:43.888 --> 00:23:44.629
That's crazy.

433
00:23:45.710 --> 00:23:53.499
So I think as well, like when I read that, it's kind of similar to verse eight in terms of like recognizing.

434
00:23:55.745 --> 00:24:10.343
the sinful nature that we have as humans and not blaming God for the wrong that we do or pretending that we can't do any wrong because that's just not true because it literally says in the Bible, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

435
00:24:11.205 --> 00:24:11.445
So...

436
00:24:11.895 --> 00:24:13.376
Let's not try and pretend that we don't.

437
00:24:13.976 --> 00:24:16.578
And hallelujah, you know that verse in Lamentations?

438
00:24:17.318 --> 00:24:19.480
That's like his mercies are made new every morning.

439
00:24:19.620 --> 00:24:19.900
Oh, yeah.

440
00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:21.301
Thanks, God.

441
00:24:21.501 --> 00:24:27.145
Yeah, I'm just reminded of that as we're reading all about confession and sin and light and darkness.

442
00:24:27.745 --> 00:24:32.568
But I guess to wrap it up, this whole chapter...

443
00:24:34.162 --> 00:24:41.587
is kind of like a nod to the divinity of Jesus, that God is light and powerful.

444
00:24:41.607 --> 00:24:45.910
I was going to say the divinity of Jesus, but also the humanity of Jesus.

445
00:24:46.185 --> 00:25:12.024
yeah the how it opened with the scene yeah but i think it's i think that's just such an important part isn't it yes the divinity of jesus also the humanity of jesus given the contextual historical background of it yeah but yeah what were you gonna say i kind of interrupted you there yeah no no that's great i i guess just that god is light we are humans that have a sinful nature to confess our sins even though it's hard

446
00:25:13.064 --> 00:25:13.745
and turn to God.

447
00:25:14.085 --> 00:25:15.005
Walk the walk.

448
00:25:15.025 --> 00:25:20.908
I heard a quote once that said, I've never heard anyone kept out of the kingdom of God for their confessed badness.

449
00:25:21.469 --> 00:25:24.370
And I can imagine many have been kept out for their supposed goodness.

450
00:25:25.291 --> 00:25:25.911
Wow.

451
00:25:25.931 --> 00:25:27.112
Does that make sense?

452
00:25:27.132 --> 00:25:29.293
Gosh, not quite, but that sounded profound.

453
00:25:29.313 --> 00:25:29.793
It's by Trap.

454
00:25:30.233 --> 00:25:31.534
I forget his first name, but it's by Trap.

455
00:25:31.654 --> 00:25:32.054
Check him out.

456
00:25:32.494 --> 00:25:32.915
Love that.

457
00:25:33.235 --> 00:25:33.435
Yeah.

458
00:25:33.455 --> 00:25:33.775
Okay.

459
00:25:34.335 --> 00:25:35.536
Any final encouragements?

460
00:25:37.237 --> 00:25:37.517
Sigh.

461
00:25:39.647 --> 00:25:41.427
Yeah, we kind of said it.

462
00:25:41.447 --> 00:25:45.828
I think one thing that really sticks out to me in this is don't be afraid to confess.

463
00:25:46.148 --> 00:25:46.508
Yeah.

464
00:25:46.969 --> 00:25:47.569
That would be mine.

465
00:25:47.829 --> 00:25:48.089
Yeah.

466
00:25:48.109 --> 00:25:49.009
That would be my encouragement.

467
00:25:49.349 --> 00:25:51.610
Go out there, confess your sins.

468
00:25:51.630 --> 00:25:52.330
Confess your sins.

469
00:25:52.350 --> 00:25:53.130
Confess your sins.

470
00:25:53.150 --> 00:25:54.950
To people that you trust.

471
00:25:55.450 --> 00:25:55.890
Be bold.

472
00:25:55.910 --> 00:25:57.491
Be leaders, pastors.

473
00:25:58.051 --> 00:25:58.791
Yeah, what about you?

474
00:25:58.831 --> 00:25:59.631
I'm sure you've got something.

475
00:26:00.891 --> 00:26:03.812
Mine is, I mean, it says it in the text, like walk in the light.

476
00:26:04.632 --> 00:26:04.932
Yeah.

477
00:26:05.672 --> 00:26:06.593
Yeah, just walk in the light.

478
00:26:06.613 --> 00:26:07.133
Walk the walk.

479
00:26:07.153 --> 00:26:07.773
If you're going to...

480
00:26:09.567 --> 00:26:10.548
Yeah, walk the walk.

481
00:26:11.028 --> 00:26:11.608
Walk the walk.

482
00:26:12.109 --> 00:26:12.749
Bear the fruits.

483
00:26:13.009 --> 00:26:13.589
Bear the fruits.

484
00:26:13.910 --> 00:26:15.871
Chase after Christ.

485
00:26:16.471 --> 00:26:17.572
Yeah, remember the power.

486
00:26:17.592 --> 00:26:18.392
And his virtues and fruits.

487
00:26:19.373 --> 00:26:20.234
Aw, amen.

488
00:26:20.554 --> 00:26:20.794
Amen.

489
00:26:20.934 --> 00:26:21.254
Okay.

490
00:26:21.614 --> 00:26:24.876
All right, guys, I think that's it for today's Bible study podcast.

491
00:26:24.896 --> 00:26:26.257
Thank you so much for tuning in.

492
00:26:26.297 --> 00:26:29.199
We hope that you learned something in this and that it's blessed you.

493
00:26:29.219 --> 00:26:33.842
Please leave a comment of the walking man or woman emoji in the comments.

494
00:26:33.862 --> 00:26:34.082
Yes.

495
00:26:34.102 --> 00:26:35.083
I feel like that's fitting.

496
00:26:35.263 --> 00:26:35.703
Definitely.

497
00:26:35.723 --> 00:26:36.403
And be blessed.

498
00:26:36.824 --> 00:26:37.784
We'll catch you in the next one.

499
00:26:38.365 --> 00:26:38.765
Bye.