church times aimed their attacks at Christianity. Discussions gener ally revolved around the person of Christ. Some contended that He was merely a man. There were still others who held that He was di vine and not man at all. They con sidered Him some sort of a phan tom or ghost. How glad we should be that the Holy Spirit caused this letter to be written. It sets forth some glorious eternal facts which every child of Cod can possess to give him the assurance of intuitive knowledge which confirms his faith in Jesus Christ and in the written Word. The word "know" in some form or other appears a total of 39 times in these five chapters. Such knowledge as found here does not puff up. It should lead us toward humility, holy awe and wonder. Saving faith in Jesus Christ vies the believer assurance which can never be destroyed. Seven times in chapter five we have the assuring words, "we know." Chris tianity is filled with certainties. Without faith in Christ we cannot possess life. Without knowing that we have that life, we certainly can never enjoy it and live it to the fullest. Saving faith is not barren or simply theoretical. It is the activ ity of faith which is the proof of life and available to every true child of God. How sad to see believers who do not have the assurance of their salvation. One reason may be be cause of ill health. Some people are weak in the faith because they are physically sick, perhaps because of a nervous disorder. Another cause is neglect and failure to maintain Bible reading and pray er. Fellowship with other Chris tians is very minimal. I John 5:13 Page 27
Any attempt to tamper with that which was received from Him at the beginning is a cunning duplic ity, a falsehood, a double dealing. Cod would tell us that in matters pertaining to divine revelation there is nothing new. Do not de part from the Bible, the Word of God. Beware of those who come with amazing new discoveries about God or Christ or the Bible. Cling tenaciously to the Holy Word of Cod. One of the blessed things about studying I John is that it gives the believer some positive assurance that he has been born again (5:13). A repeated word in this epistle is "know." About 70 A.D. a sect arose known as the Gnostics, which boasted a superior knowledge over the Christians. They gained many followers because of their persua sive speech. We even have mod ern-day Gnostics who claim to have the answer on most any sub ject. There are different aspects of knowledge which are divisible in to the mathematical, which speaks of quantity; the physical, which speaks of matter and its proper ties; the biological, which speaks of life; the anthropological, which speaks of man; and the theological which deals with God. In all of these branches or departments there is no man who knows every thing (I Corinthians 8:2). A theo retical knowledge must be distin guished from the true and practical knowledge. There is a danger of becoming puffed up, vain, and con ceited if we think more highly of ourselves than we should (I Corin thians 8:1). Too frequently we are more ignorant than we know or at least than we will admit. The Gnostic society of the early
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