What does it mean that God is light?
“God is light,” says 1 John 1:5. Light is a common metaphor in the Bible. Proverbs 4:18 symbolizes righteousness as the “morning sun.” Philippians 2:15 likens God’s children who are “blameless and pure” to shining stars in the sky. Jesus used light as a picture of good works: “Let your light shine before others, that…
What is the lust of the flesh?
Sinful lust is an overpowering desire for that which God has forbidden. First John 2:15–16 mentions three types of lust that lead us into greater sin: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust…
What is the spirit of the antichrist?
The phrase spirit of the antichrist is found in 1 John 4:2–3: “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the…
What does it mean that sin is lawlessness?
First John 3:4 says, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” The word translated “lawlessness” comes from the Greek word anomia, which means “an utter disregard for God and His laws.” From this Greek word we also get the word antinomianism, which is the belief that there are no moral laws…