1 João 5
David Guzik · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 João 5:2
Guzik - Just as much as our love for the people of God reflects our love for God (as expressed in 1 John 3:10, 17), so our love and obedience to God is a demonstration of love to the body of Christ. It is sometimes said that the best thing a father can do for his children is to love his wife and their mother. Even so, the first way for a child of God to love his brothers and sisters in Christ is to love God and to obey Him. And, if you love the parent, you will love the child. It all works together. (Enduring Word Commentary) When a saint disobeys God’s commandments, he is acting in an unloving way toward his fellow-saint.
1 João 5:2
Guzik - When our love and obedience for God grows cold, we do not only harm ourselves - we harm our brothers and sisters also. The damage is done, at the very least, because we are a “drag” on the spiritual progress of God’s people. If we will not love and obey God for our own sake, then we should at least do it out of love for others. (Enduring Word Commentary) J M
1 João 5:3
Guzik explains why God's commandments are no longer difficult to bear...His commandments are not burdensome when we see how wise and good the commandments of God are. They are gifts from Him to show us the best and most fulfilling life possible. God’s commands are like the “manufacture’s handbook” for life; He tells us what to do because He knows how we work best. God’s commands are not given to bind or to pain us, or because God is like an irritated old man.. His commandments are not burdensome because when we are born again, we are given new hearts—hearts which by instinct wish to please God. As part of the New Covenant, the law of God has been written on the heart of every believer (Jeremiah 31:33+). His commandments are not burdensome when we compare them to the religious rules men make up. John is not trying to say obedience is an easy thing. If that were so, then it would be easy for us to not sin, and John has already acknowledged that we all do sin (1 John 1:8+). John is thinking of the contrast Jesus made between the religious requirements of the religious leaders of His day, and the simplicity of loving God and following Him. Jesus said all the rules and regulations of the Scribes and Pharisees were as heavy burdens (Matthew 23:4). In contrast, Jesus said of Himself, My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:30+). Instead of the burdensome requirement to keep hundreds of little rules and regulations, Jesus simply says to us, “Love Me and love my people, and you will walk in obedience.” (ED: AND OF COURSE HE MAKES THIS IMMINENTLY POSSIBLE BY GIVING US HIS SPIRIT WHICH MAKES SUCH SUPERNATURAL LOVE A VERY REAL POSSIBILITY. WHILE THE SPIRIT WILL NOT FORCE US, HE WILL ENABLE US TO EXERCISE OUR VOLITIONAL CHOICE TO OBEY GOD AND TO LOVE GOD AND OTHERS. WE ARE MOTIVATED TO OBEY NOW OUT OF LOVE NOT LEGALISM!) His commandments are not burdensome when we really love God. When we love God, we will want to obey Him and please Him. When you love someone, it seems little trouble to go to a lot of difficulty to help or please that person. You enjoy doing it, though if you had to do it for an enemy, you would be complaining all the time. Just as the seven years of Jacob’s service for Laban seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her (Genesis 29:18), so obeying God’s commands does not seem a burden when we really love Him. An old proverb says, “Love feels no loads.” (Enduring Word Commentary) C H Spurgeon on the godly man in Ps 1:2+ - His delight is in the Law of the Lord" - He is not under the law as a curse and condemnation, but he is in it, and he delights to be in it as his rule of life; he delights, moreover, to meditate in it, to read it by day, and think upon it by night. (Ed: How do you know he delights in it?) He takes a text and carries it with him all day long; and in the night-watches, when sleep forsakes his eyelids, he muses upon the Word of God. In the day of his prosperity he sings psalms out of the Word of God, and in the night of his affliction he comforts himself with promises out of the same book. “The law of the Lord” is the daily bread of the true believer. And yet, in David’s day, how small was the volume of inspiration, for they had scarcely anything save the first five books of Moses! How much more, then, should we prize the whole written Word which it is our privilege to have in all our houses! But, alas, what ill-treatment is given to this angel (messenger) from heaven! We are not all Berean searchers of the Scriptures (Acts 17:11+). How few among us can lay claim to the benediction (blessing) of the text! (cp Rev 1:3+) Perhaps some of you can claim a sort of negative purity, because you do not walk in the way of the ungodly; but let me ask you—Is your delight in the law of God? Do you study God’s Word? Do you make it the man of your right hand—your best companion and hourly guide? What you desire to do with your whole heart is not burdensome to do. -- John Piper John
1 João 5:10
Guzik asks What if one says, “Well, I want to believe, but I can’t.” Spurgeon answers: “Hearken, O unbeliever, you have said, ‘I cannot believe,’ but it would be more honest if you had said, ‘I will not believe.’ The mischief lies there. Your unbelief is your fault, not your misfortune. It is a disease, but it is also a crime: it is a terrible source of misery to you, but it is justly so, for it is an atrocious offense against the God of truth.” What if one says, “Well, I’m trying to believe, and I’ll keep on trying.” Spurgeon speaks to this heart: “Did I not hear someone say, ‘Ah, sir, I have been trying to believe for years.’ Terrible words! They make the case still worse. Imagine that after I had made a statement, a man should declare that he did not believe me, in fact, he could not believe me though he would like to do so. I should feel aggrieved certainly; but it would make matters worse if he added, ‘In fact I have been for years trying to believe you, and I cannot do it.’ What does he mean by that? What can he mean but that I am so incorrigibly false, and such a confirmed liar, that though he would like to give me some credit, he really cannot do it? With all the effort he can make in my favour, he finds it quite beyond his power to believe me? Now, a man who says, ‘I have been trying to believe in God,’ in reality says just that with regard to the Most High … The talk about trying to believe is a mere pretence. But whether pretence or no, let me remind you that there is no text in the Bible which says, ‘Try and believe,’ but it says ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Acts 16:31) He is the Son of God, he has proved it by his miracles, He died to save sinners, therefore trust Him; He deserves implicit trust and childlike confidence. Will you refuse Him these? Then you have maligned His character and given Him the lie.” Such rejection of God’s testimony over time can lead to a place where a person is permanently hardened against God, to the place where they may be one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, as Jesus warned in Mark 3:28–29+. What hope can there be for the one who persists in hearing what God says, and calling Him a liar? THOUGHT - So by their unbelief, these individuals are saying that what God has said about His Son in the Scriptures is not true. And so they in effect make Him a liar! Have you ever thought of people's unbelief from this perspective? H A