Verse 25 – Rest post-mortal
Remember how I said John is not out with a Bulldozer but has the people out for a walk? Look how smoothly, how quickly he slides to the next point of comfort.
25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. (1 John 2:25–ESV)
“Not only will your soul be at rest in this life as you abide in him,” John says, “but there is more. A promise from God is right there. It is eternal life.”
Here in the midst of the church-storm where they are battered by the departure of friends and loved ones came a letter of comfort from Apostle John. “Need some fresh air?” he asks. “Here it is. Stick with what originally hit home, and you will find yourself on the way home, forever.”
Verse 26 – Deceit coupons
26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. (1 John 2:26–ESV)
This week I was meeting with a financial advisor. Long had he worked with a large financial services organization but found their workings to have soured. Their souring caused him to be departing, and he left that multi-decade relationship. What was that organization worried about? They worry about client loss probably calling something like customer attrition. You can imagine they have reports and Powerpoint presentations with graphs, charts, and the bottom line.
A client-war develops with the big company presuming the local rep would skim the client (the company probably calls them customers) lists. Of course, legal squabbles kick up; we will see where that goes.
The point here is that when groups go separate ways, they don’t want to go alone. It happens with businesses, and it happens with churches. We see it in the 21st Century, and John saw it back in the 1st. That is what John is saying. He was the original and remained the representative of God, but some had designed a new product and are back recruiting.
It is one thing to offer a new brand of coffee, but entirely another to craft a new religion even if it is an offshoot. New brands of faith will be marketed from now till kingdom come (literally, I might add). Still, the word of God stands firm forever; it does not fade away like the grass in winter.
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