The Johns: Alpha

We declare to you...what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands...we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us.

If we hide ourselves, we walk in darkness. There is no darkness in God. Those who have fellowship with God and with us walk in the light. Those who walk in the light do not hide themselves, but reveal their faults.

If we say we are without fault, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we say we are without fault, we make God a liar, and His Word is not in us.

If we walk in the light, the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin; he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 1:7-2:2

Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, "I have come to know him," but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, "I abide in him," ought to walk just as he walked.

1 John 2:3-6

This passage says nothing about theology. It says, 'whoever lives it, is it.' Certainly, a non-christian can obey the commands just as easily as any christian. Conduct and theology are two separate things. Therefore a non-christian can "know him" and it is possible for a Christian to not "know him." Any atheist who is chrislike, who "walks as he walked" may claim to "abide in him." Thus, "belief in God" is not a requirement for "knowledge of God" nor is it a requirement for "abiding in Christ." Moreover, "the love of God has reached perfection" in such christlike people; that is, to "obey his word" is to "walk as he walked," not to adhere to some theology and tradition. In fact, not only is it entirely possible to obey they commands without theology, it entirely possible to obey the commands without even knowing what the commands are, or that there is even such a concept as God. Paul calls such people, "a law unto themselves."

Whoever says, "I am in the light," while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light.

1 John 2:9-10

Love and Hate require no theology, yet they determine Salvation and Damnation.

But whoever hates another believer is on the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.

1 John 2:11

Let us remember that "believer" and "Christian" no longer mean the same thing. A Christian adheres to a theology and upholds a tradition. A believer lives a Christlike life. "Righteous" is a synonym for "Christlike." Hatred of the noble and good is blindness. The blind are the persecutors of the righteous.