In Regards to 1 John

Starred quotes are from the introduction to 1 John as found in God's Game Plan, HCSB.

*"John wrote to assure the Christians in and around Ephesus that they were, indeed, true Christians with the assurance of eternal life."
= In Genesis, Satan claims "you will not surely die." Now, he claims we willnot surely live.

*"These false teachers denied that Christ was fully human. They kept his deity, but at the expense of his humanity. To them, salvation came by illumination. Thus, secret 'knowledge' was eagerly sought, often at the expense of apostolic doctrine."
= "...God will give grace to the humble."
= Love is natural when God's grace is realized.
= "...because He first loved us."

*"First John is written in the simplest Greek of all the New Testament...This is not to say, however, that 1John is a superficial book. On the contrary, the apostle John, now an old man, is writing a summary of all he has learned."
= It's just like love. So simple a child understands it, but so complex, sciencenever will.

*"We are to love on another."
= Is John telling us TO love one another, or is he simply showing us that if wedon't love one another, there is something wrong? If the latter, then let usnot force it, fake it, and then subsequently defile it! Let us go to the heartof the problem and fix the relationship with God (accepting grace) and withthe person (extending grace).

Want to vs. Have to = love vs. legalism