Transcript

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 4-5 GWT

Podcast Introduction

It’s Epistles Sunday, and we’ll complete the book of 1 John by reading chapters 4 and 5.  I’m calling this episode “Sin, Redemption, and the Blood of Jesus.“

Summary

In 1 John 4-5, there’s a notable passage (verses 16-18) that warrants careful consideration. The author, John, discusses the distinction between a sin that leads to death and one that doesn’t. To put it simply, when we see a fellow believer sinning, we should pray for them, that they would see their sin, and that they would repent. Even devout Christians may occasionally stumble and sin, but because they know Jesus, His sacrifice covers their sins. The Holy Spirit prompts them to confess and seek forgiveness, and this type of sin doesn’t lead to spiritual death because God is faithful to forgive when we repent.

On the other hand, someone who rejects God and has no relationship with Jesus is already spiritually condemned. Their sin leads to death, and John advises against praying for God to forgive them because it would contradict God’s justice. The Bible teaches that forgiveness of sin requires the shedding of blood, and believers are covered by Jesus’s blood, but those who reject Christ are not. Instead of praying for forgiveness, we can pray that their hearts may soften and that they come into a relationship with God through Jesus, leading to forgiveness for all their sins.

In essence, John’s message is about understanding the nature of sin in the context of prayer and the need for a relationship with Christ for true forgiveness.

Listen to the episode for more!

Support

This a value for value podcast. There are no advertisers because advertising equals censorship. If you enjoy the Lifespring Family Audio Bible, decide how much value it brings to you. Only you can make that determination. Then put a number on the value and donate here: SUPPORT.

The Team

Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Denise: Transcript Correction
Michael Haner: Podcasting 2.0 Chapters
Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Scott Snider: Show Art
Jason Paschall: Show Art
Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Brittaney: Newsletter Publisher

Transcript

Download .txt file.

Transcript not yet corrected.

Steve Webb 0:00
What is this sin that leads to death?

Steve Webb 0:04
This is the Lifespring! One Year Bible coming to you from Riverside, California and podcasting since 2004. My name is Steve Webb. I’m your OG Godcaster. It’s epistle Sunday. and we’ll complete the book of First John by reading chapters four and five. The website is Lifespringmedia.com. and contact information will be at the end of the show today. Before we read, let’s pray. Our heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you once again, for this time you’ve given us to read your word together, teach us through Your Holy Spirit. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. All right, are you ready? Let’s begin.

Steve Webb 0:41
First John, chapter four. Dear friends don’t believe all people who say that they have the spirit. Instead, test them to see whether the spirit they have is from God, because there are many false prophets in the world. This is how you can recognize God’s Spirit. Every person who declares that Jesus Christ has come as a human has the spirit that is from God. But every person who doesn’t declare that Jesus Christ has come as a human has a spirit that isn’t from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that you’ve heard is coming. That spirit is already in the world. and, dear children, you belong to God. So you have won the victory over these people. Because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. These people belong to the world. That’s why they speak the thoughts of the world, and the world listens to them. We belong to God, the person who knows God listens to us. Whoever doesn’t belong to God doesn’t listen to us. That’s how we can tell the spirit of truth from this spirit of lies. Dear friends, we must love each other because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, because God is love. God has shown us His love by sending His only Son into the world so that we could have life through him. This is love. Not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the payment for our sins. Dear friends, if this is the way God loved us, we must also love each other. No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God lives in us and his love is perfected in us. We know that we live in him and he lives in us because he has given us His Spirit. We have seen and testify to the fact that the Father sent His Son as the savior of the world. God lives in those who declare that Jesus is the Son of God, and they live in God. We have known and believed that God loves us. God is love. Those who live in God’s love live in God, and God lives in them. God’s love is reached its goal in us. So we look ahead with confidence to the Day of Judgment. While we are in this world, we’re exactly like him with regard to love. No fear exists, where his love is rather perfect love gets rid of fear, because fear involves punishment. and the person who lives in fear doesn’t have perfect love. We love because God loved us first. Whoever says I love God, but hates another believer is a liar. People who don’t love other believers whom they’ve seen, can’t love God whom they have not seen. Christ has given us this commandment. The person who loves God must also love other believers.

Steve Webb 3:29
First John chapter five. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born from God. Everyone who loves the Father also loves His children. We know that we love God’s children when we love God by obeying His commandments. To love God means that we obey His commandments. obeying His commandments isn’t difficult, because everyone who has been born from God has won the victory over the world. Our faith is what wins the victory over the world. Who wins the victory over the world? Isn’t it the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God, this son of God is Jesus Christ, who came by water in blood. He didn’t come with water only, but with water and with blood. The Spirit is the one who verifies this, because the Spirit is the truth. There are three witnesses, the spirit, the water and the blood. These three witnesses agree that we accept human testimony. God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony that he has given about his son. Those who believe in the Son of God, have the testimony of God in them. Those who don’t believe God have made God a liar. They haven’t believed the testimony that God has given about his son. This is the testimony. God has given us eternal life. and this life is found in his son. The person who has the Son has this life and the person who doesn’t have the Son of God doesn’t have this life. I’ve written this to those who believe in the Son of God so that they will know that they have eternal life. We are confident that God listens to us. If we ask for anything that has his approval, we know that he listens to our requests. So we know that we already have what we asked him for. If you see another believer committing a sin that doesn’t lead to death, you should pray that God would give that person life. This is true for those who commit sins that don’t lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I’m not telling you to pray about that every kind of wrongdoing is sin. Yet there are sins that don’t lead to death. We know that those who have been born from God, don’t go on sinning, rather, the Son of God protects them, and the evil one can’t harm them. We know that we are from God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we know the real God, we are in the one who is real, His Son, Jesus Christ, this Jesus Christ is the real God and eternal life. Dear children, guard yourselves from false gods.

Steve Webb 6:09
Again, just like chapters one through three, there are so many great things that I could talk about in these last two chapters of first, John, but let’s take a look at chapter five, verses six through 18. I think that we need to take a closer look at that. Let me read it to you again. If you see another believer committing a sin that doesn’t lead to death, you should pray that God would give that person life. This is true for those who commit sins that don’t lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I’m not telling you to pray about that every kind of wrongdoing is sin, yet there are sins that don’t lead to death. We know that those who have been born from God, don’t go on sinning. Rather, the Son of God protects them in the Evil One can’t harm them. So the question is, what is this sin that leads to death and the sin that does not lead to death? Well, I’ll tell you, I read several commentaries. and as is often the case with these difficult passages, there is some disagreement among scholars. But let me give you my understanding of the passage in a somewhat simplified way, which works since I’m a simple guy, to give these verses context, which is always important when we’re studying the Bible. In this passage, John is talking about prayer. He’s talking about how God hears the prayers of the believer, and how if we ask according to his will, he will grant our prayers. But then John includes this statement that I just read. So my understanding of what John was saying is this. If we see a Christian Brothers Sisters sitting, we should pray for them, that God would forgive them. A person who’s living for Christ who loves the Lord will sometimes sin we all do, right. But since we do love God, the blood of Jesus covers that sin, and the Holy Spirit will speak to our heart, and we will confess that sin to God and ask for forgiveness. This is a sin that does not lead to death, because as we read in the last episode, God is faithful and just to forgive us when we confess, however, a person who rejects God who has no relationship with Jesus is already condemned to death is sin is a sin unto death already, in my opinion, John is in this passage telling us that we should not pray that God would forgive them, because for God to do so would be asking him to circumvent His justice. Scripture says that, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin, believers are covered by that blood. But those who reject Christ are not so they can’t be forgiven. and we should not ask God to do so. We can, however, pray that they would soften their hearts and come into a relationship with God through Jesus so that all of their sins will be forgiven. Does that make sense? If you have a thought for me, or if you have a question for me, let me hear from you send a Boostagram or call the Lifespring family hotline or go to the comments page or write an email. I’ll tell you how to do all those things at the end of the show. Tomorrow will be the law Monday and our reading will be Deuteronomy 23 through 25.

Steve Webb 9:25
This 20,000 sat Boostagram came in from anonymous who’s using the pod verse app. They said, sorry to hear this podcast is ending. I just found it a few weeks ago and I have really enjoyed it. Well, thank you for that anonymous. I’m glad you found the show, no matter when it was. I’m happy that your Lifespring family member and by the way, I consider you a Lifespring family member, whether you just found the show or if you’ve been around since the beginning. and I will say at this point. I do plan to keep all the episodes up at Lifespringmedia.com Once this show wraps. I’ve got no plans to take down the website or delete any of the episodes. and I kind of hope that once I’m gone, somebody will continue to pay the web hosting fees for the website and the media hosting fees, as long as people are listening to the shows. So for the foreseeable future, you’ll always be able to listen to all the Lifespring shows on your podcast app or at Lifespringmedia.com. and then the Lovely Lady LeeAnn called in the Lifespring family hotline to leave a message for you. In the voicemail you’re about to hear, she brings up a couple of points that I’ll be talking about, after she’s done talking.

LeeAnn Webb 10:35
Good morning, my love and our Lifespring family. It’s been such a joy interacting with you throughout the years, and I’m so grateful that you’ve been so supportive of my sweet husband ministry, I pray that you will keep in touch with us. We would love to hear from you. and let us know if you have any ideas of who you’d like for him to talk to you about or if there’s a specific Bible passage that you’re interested in knowing more about. Please keep in touch and ask questions. We’d love to stay in touch. Take care, God bless, and we love you.

Steve Webb 11:05
Well, thank you for that sweetheart. Yes, beloved, what she said, I have received several emails from the Lifespring family that have really touched my heart since I made the announcement about the show. I appreciate the kind words you’ve sent. and I’m not going to read them here on the show. But please know that I do treasure them. Now Leann asked you to stay in touch and to send in any ideas for subjects you might want to know more about or anything you want me to talk about. When I made the announcement that this season will be a wrap for the Lifespring! One Year Bible I said that I will continue to serve the Lord until my last breath, I said that I’d be willing to do another podcast at some time in the future, just not a seven day a week show. So if you have any thoughts for what you would like to hear from me, send an email to me at st***@*************ia.com. and another suggestion, be sure to subscribe to the Lifespring all shows feed. If you’re currently subscribed to the Lifespring!, One Year Bible podcast feed, you’ll need to look for the Lifespring all shows feed in your podcast app and subscribe there. and then if and when I do start another podcast, it will show up in your podcast app. So to be clear, when this show ends, that does not mean that I’ll be packing up the studio. When I call you Beloved, I mean it. I love you. and I love being able to talk to you and share my heart with you. and even if you don’t have an idea for a show, write to me anyway. If you’ve got a question, if you need prayer, if you want to share a praise, you’re always welcome in my inbox.

Jingle 12:35
Lifespringmedia.com/support

Steve Webb 12:41
prayer requests in praise reports. Well, we need to continue to pray for Kathy, her cancer treatments are going well, as I’ve said, but she’s still having quite a bit of pain from the damage done to her bones from the cancer and probably the radiation and chemotherapy. A neurologist at City of Hope has suggested that they might do an epidural to help with the pain. I don’t know if that’s going to be a semi permanent thing or not. I’m still waiting for Dell to clarify that for me. and then I have another surgery coming up as well on September 13. Nothing too terribly serious, nothing to worry about. It will be a laparoscopic surgery done on an outpatient basis. So I should be in and out on the same day with about a week before I can get back to regular life shouldn’t even have an effect on the show. But I will do a couple of episodes in advance just in case. I just like to have your prayers because there are always risks with any surgery. So let’s pray. Our loving Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for the forgiveness that we have through Jesus. and we ask that you give us opportunities to share the good news with the people you bring into our paths. Give us the boldness to speak in a heart of love as we share. and now Lord, we pray for Kathy, we pray that you would ease her pain. We thank you for the healing. You’ve given her for the cancer thus far. and we ask that that would continue. and as the doctors are making decisions for her ongoing treatment, we pray that you would direct their thoughts in their decisions. and Father, I pray that my surgery would be free from any complications and that you would guide the surgeons hands. I ask Lord that you would bless the Lifespring family Lord, I thank you for each one listening right now. and I ask that you walk with us today. May we feel your presence with us wherever we are. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Our next time of prayer on the show will be this coming Wednesday. So if you have anything you’d like to share with the family and in terms of praises or prayer requests, be sure to let me know. and as always, I invite your comments and your questions.

Steve Webb 14:49
There are several ways to get in touch with me. Do what the Lovely Lady LeeAnn did today and call the Lifespring family Hotline at plus 1-951-732-8511 Or if you’ve got to request or appraise, go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com. and if you have a comment or a question, go to comment dot Lifespringmedia.com. As I just told you a minute ago, my email address is st***@*************ia.com and Boostagram are always welcome

Steve Webb 15:22
thanks to Sister Denise Michael Haner Scott Snider, Jason Paschall and sister Brittaney for their generous donations of time and talent. Jason did today’s show art. Thank you, beloved, for inviting me to join you today. I’ll be back right here tomorrow. and until then, may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb. Bye.

Announcer 15:42
The Lifespring media family of programs are made possible by the generous support of listeners like you. Thank you

Transcribed by https://otter.ai