April 11, 2024 • 26 mins
Summary
After a year-long hiatus, Emily and Megan return to the Better Than Ever podcast. They discuss their absence and Megan's transition to full-time ministry. They then dive into a study of 1 John 2:28-3:6, exploring the themes of being children of God, the importance of obedience, and the assurance of Christ's return. They emphasize the need for believers to live in accordance with God's will, to love one another, and to test the spirits. The episode concludes with a call to action, urging listeners to apply the teachings of scripture in their daily lives and to step up in their faith.
Takeaways
- Believers are called to live as children of God and to behave accordingly.
- Obedience to God's commands brings confidence and assurance in His presence.
- Loving one another and testing the spirits are essential aspects of the Christian life.
- Believers should actively apply the teachings of scripture and step up in their faith.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Megan (00:01):
Remind me
Emily (00:01):
how we started because it's been a year. It's been a
year. Do you know it's been ayear? Geez. I'm sure you know.
You probably know that.
Megan (00:08):
No. I did not know that.
Emily (00:09):
It's been a year. I listened to our last episode,
and it was before Savannah'sbirthday, which was February.
Oops.
Megan (00:17):
Well, we're back. We're back. We're back and better than
ever.
Emily (00:22):
After a whole year.
Megan (00:28):
We wanted, you know, absence makes the heart grow
fonder. We were just trying tomake our fan base, fond us.
Emily (00:41):
Y'all have missed us so much because we made you wait.
That or everyone left. We wehave to start all over. But here
here we are. Here we are.
We made it. We made it backafter a year. I had a baby.
Megan is now solo bold movement.Officially
Megan (01:00):
full time bold movement. Can you believe that?
Emily (01:02):
Full time, which means no episode will be lost after this
because you've got all the timein the world
Megan (01:07):
now. Dite. This is my job. Mhmm. And in case you don't
remember us, I'm Megan Mullins.
Emily (01:13):
And I'm Emily Richardson.
Megan (01:15):
And we are co hosts of the Talk Bible to Me podcast
where we go verse by versethrough scripture, and we are
going to finish first John nowthat we are back. So excited. So
we might be a little rusty, butwe are going to try to keep this
to a good 20 minutes, so youguys can listen to it on your
(01:36):
way to work. And if you havelonger than a 20 minute,
commute, don't worry. We've gotmore podcasts from the past that
you can listen to.
Here's what we do. We are usingthe bold method BOLD. It's an
acronym and B is begin withprayer and scripture. So Emily
why don't you open us up inprayer and we'll get started.
Emily (01:55):
Alright.
Megan (01:56):
Okay. Jesus, we thank you
Emily (01:57):
so much that you have given us tools to be able to
have a podcast that we can usefor your glory. And we just ask
that everything that we talkabout, everything we teach and
share over the next 20 minutesis words that your spirit leads
us to share and nothing more andthat we would follow after you
in everything that we do. Wepray that you would give us
wisdom and that all of ourfriends listening would have
(02:20):
ears to hear and that we wouldjust have a great time.
Megan (02:22):
In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Alright, so we begin with
prayer and when you're studyingscripture, it's a really wise
idea to actually scripture, toread it in multiple
translations. And so, I like toread from 3 translations. 1,
(02:48):
word for word, one thought forthought, and one paraphrased.
And so I have those. Emily, whattranslation do you have?
Emily (02:56):
I've got the ESV.
Megan (02:57):
Perfect. Because I have the ESV as our word for word. So
do you wanna read, today we'recovering first John 228 through
36, and you wanna read that fromthe ESV?
Emily (03:08):
I can do that. Alright. 1st John 228 through 36. And now
little children abide in him sothat when he appears, we may
have confidence and not shrinkfrom him and shame in his
coming. If you know that he isrighteous, you may be sure that
everyone who practice rightpractices righteousness has been
born of him.
See what kind of love the fatherhas given to us, that we should
(03:29):
be called children of God, andso we are. The reason why the
world does not know us is thatit did not know him. Beloved, we
are God's children now, and whatwe will be has not yet appeared.
And we know that when heappears, we shall be like him,
because we shall see him as heis. And everyone who thus hopes
in him purifies himself as he ispure everyone who makes a
(03:50):
practice of sinning alsopractices lawlessness sin is
lawlessness You know that heappeared in order to take away
sins, and in him, there is nosin.
No one who abides in him keepson sinning. No one who keeps on
sinning has either seen him orknown him.
Megan (04:06):
Oh, I cannot wait to dissect this bad boy. Mhmm.
Before we do that, let me readit from the New Living
Translation. And now, dearchildren, remain in fellowship
with Christ so that when hereturns, you will be full of
courage and not shrink back fromhim in shame. Since we know that
Christ is righteous, we alsoknow that all who do what is
right are God's children.
(04:27):
See how very much our fatheryeah. See how very much our
father loves us, for he calls ushis children. And that is what
we are. But the people whobelong to this world don't
recognize that we are God'schildren because they don't know
him. Dear friends, we arealready God's children, but he
has not yet shown us what wewill be like when Christ
appears.
But we do know that we will belike him, for we will see him as
(04:50):
he really is. All who have theeager expectation will keep
themselves pure just as he ispure. Everyone who sin is
breaking God's law, for all sinis contrary to the law of God.
And you know that Jesus came totake away our sins, and there is
no sin in him. Anyone whocontinues to live in him will
not sin, but anyone who keeps onsinning does not know him or
(05:11):
understand who he is.
I did it in the message too. Doyou have that? I
Emily (05:19):
can pull it up unless you have it if you have it on you go
ahead.
Megan (05:22):
Okay. For a paraphrase version, I have the message for
this one and it says, and nowchildren, stay with Christ. Look
deeply in Christ. Then we'll beready for him when he appears,
ready to receive him with openarms with no cause for red faced
guilt or lame excuses when hearrives. Once you're convinced
that he is right and righteous,you'll recognize that all who
(05:44):
practice righteousness are God'strue children.
What marvelous love the fatherhas extended to us. Just look at
it. We're called children ofGod. That's who we really are.
But that's also why the worlddoesn't recognize us or take us
seriously because it has no ideawho he is or what he's up to.
But friends, that's exactly whowe are, children of God, and
(06:06):
that's only the beginning. Whoknows how we'll end up? What we
know is that when Christ isopenly revealed, we'll see him,
and in seeing him become likehim. All of us who look forward
to his coming stay ready withthe glistening purity of Jesus,
life as a model for our own. Allwho indulge in a sinful life are
dangerously lawless, for sin isa major distribution of God's
(06:29):
order.
Surely, you know that Christshowed up in order to get rid of
sin. There is no sin in him, andsin is not part of his program.
They've got him all backward.They've got him all backward. I
love the message.
(06:50):
Obviously, we do not condone itfor study, but I think it's
great for just reading. Mhmm. Ilove it.
Emily (06:57):
Yep.
Megan (06:58):
Okay. So typically with the b, begin with prayer and
scripture, we have you annotatescripture if the passages are
short enough, or the book isshort enough, reading the
passage in context of the wholebook, but because we're studying
this altogether, we're justgoing to read those passages in
those versions, and we read themout loud, which is another part
of our, how how we study theBible. The next step is, oh, on
(07:23):
your own, wrestle with the text.And I just have a couple
questions for you, Emily, tohelp us wrestle with this text.
Are you ready?
Emily (07:30):
I'm ready.
Megan (07:31):
Can you summarize this passage in one sentence?
Emily (07:35):
Yes. Because I prepared for
Megan (07:38):
Okay.
Emily (07:41):
For everyone else, it might take a little a little
minute to summarize it, but, thesummary I came up with was
because we have been reborn aschildren of God, we should
behave as such.
Megan (07:55):
Okay. I think that was really good. Thanks. Yeah. Mine
was when you choose God, you'llchoose not to sin.
Emily (08:06):
That's good. It's a lot more simple than mine.
Megan (08:08):
Well Yeah. It doesn't always mean it's better though.
Right?
Emily (08:12):
I didn't say better. Just more simple.
Megan (08:14):
Oh, I said better. Probably. I never said it was
better, Megan. Ever. I have anew question for you.
Uh-oh. And I just I'm gonnaspring up on you.
Emily (08:26):
Go for it.
Megan (08:27):
Okay. What is God revealing about himself in this
passage?
Emily (08:30):
Oh, that's a good question. Alright. Let's see. I
mean, the first thing that comesto mind is his fatherhood, his
father characteristic that he isnot only a father to those who
follow him, but a good one.Because, you know, sometimes we
(08:53):
can think of father as a missingpiece or a lot of times in our
earthly experience, we have notthe best experience of a father,
but he's giving us a gooddefinition of what father looks
like.
Love and teaches obedience.Yeah. What about you?
Megan (09:14):
I think what it reveals and what I'm taking from it is
that God takes sin seriously.
Emily (09:21):
Mhmm. Mhmm.
Megan (09:22):
I think too often, it's like, oh, we'll sin and he'll
forgive us. Oh, we'll sin andhe'll forgive us. But Paul even
says, like, should you send moreso that grace abounds more
freely? Absolutely not. Mhmm.
And I think there's too often wejust don't take sin as seriously
as we should. And so Yeah. Ithink that's what it tells us is
he takes it seriously, so weshould too.
Emily (09:42):
That's good. That's good.
Megan (09:47):
What should I be taking away from this passage?
Emily (09:54):
So the question I had was the connection to the meta
narrative. Are you are youthinking the same thing or Yeah.
Megan (09:59):
II was just trying to make it simpler terms in light
of all of scripture. What shouldI take away from this passage?
That's probably a better way ofasking it.
Emily (10:11):
I think it shows that when you abide in God or you
live according to the way hewants you to live and you seek
him and you, find your purposein him, it gives glimpses to how
creation was originally meant tobe, that we will have that pure
(10:31):
relationship with him wherefollowing him is a joy and
loving others is a joy. And thenit looks ahead to, I think, what
it will be at his return as wellbecause it it brings all of that
back together, that perfectrelationship and that, you know,
that he's a good father and thatwe're his children, and sin will
(10:53):
be no more when he comes back,which will be great. But in the
meantime, we live the way hetells us to live, and that helps
helps us not sin as much as wemaybe want to.
Megan (11:05):
Absolutely. I think it's I like to summarize all of
scripture similar to the waythat I summarize the gospel.
Right? Creation, fall Mhmm.Redemption, restoration.
And I think it's part of thatrestoration process, like you
said, where he restores us backto what we are originally
(11:25):
designed to be and originallydesigned to look like and
reflect him. Last question wherewe wrestle with our own. Are you
ready? Mhmm. Now that we knowwhat this is saying, what is
this passage not saying?
Emily (11:41):
This passage is not saying that sending it all means
you're not a child of God.Because I think we can read that
and turn it into either selfrighteousness of, oh, I'm never
gonna send again because I'm achild of God or into self hatred
of, oh, if I sin, sin, then I'mterrible. I'm not doing what I'm
supposed to. Maybe I'm not achild of God. No.
We're still gonna sin.
Megan (12:02):
Mhmm.
Emily (12:02):
But it just means that our hearts are changing to want
to sin less, to become more likeJesus. And when we do sin, we
have repentance, and we turntowards him because we actually
truly feel bad about what we'vedone, and we want to change.
Megan (12:19):
That was really good. I totally went a completely not
completely different direction,but that's why we have 2 of us
hosting this. Right?
Emily (12:28):
Yeah.
Megan (12:29):
In verse 29, it says, if you know that he is righteous,
you may be sure that everyonewho practices righteousness has
been born of him. What it is notsaying is that, just because you
do good deeds or just becauseyou're doing good things that
you are saved. Mhmm. Moralitydoesn't save you, and being a
good person doesn't save you.It's Jesus alone that saves you.
Emily (12:52):
Yep.
Megan (12:52):
And, what John is talking about here is, when you practice
righteousness, which is rightstanding with God, not just
being a good person, and I don'twant people to confuse that.
Emily (13:04):
Yeah. I feel like that's becoming more and more prevalent
too, that people think thattheir good works are earning
them something.
Megan (13:12):
Yeah. I have a tendency to fall into that. I'm not even
gonna lie to you. I think, a lotof times I, it's like, oh, I
gotta make God proud of me or Ihave to make him love me more.
Like, I don't want to disappointhim.
And at the end of the day, like,there's nothing I can do that
will ever make him love me lessthan he does or more. And that's
(13:35):
really hard to fathom, becauseeverything on earth is so
conditional.
Emily (13:41):
Mhmm. Yeah. Which is it's interesting the way both of our
minds went after that, becauseI'm the opposite where I tend to
focus on my sin and think like,oh, gosh. I've done so many
wrong things instead of thinkingof like, oh, I've done this much
and this much for God. Instead,I think, oh, I haven't done or I
haven't done this much.
And so then I sit in thedepression of Yeah. Oh, gosh.
(14:02):
I'm not good enough for him, butthat just shows that you can you
can take these and focus on 2totally different things from
one verse.
Megan (14:11):
Yeah. It really is for everyone. There's a song by
sovereign grace and it says,it's called cling to Christ And,
the opening lyrics are like,Lord, I come and boast of things
I've done. And then essentially,it's like but basically, the
(14:34):
only thing that gets me to youis clinging to Christ. And I
remember listening to that song.
I was like driving to, an eventand I was just like sobbing. Oh
my God. Like I laid my trophiesdown and, like, you don't even
care about my trophies. You justlove me for me. And I was like,
oh, you can tell I'm a goaloriented person.
That sucks.
Emily (14:57):
So between you and me, something is right in the
middle. We just need to, like,lean on each other.
Megan (15:02):
I know.
Emily (15:02):
I'm like, no. No.
Megan (15:03):
We're guard her, and you'll be like, just rest in his
Yep. Oh, okay. The next letteris l, which is learn something,
and this is where you can useextra biblical resources and
tools. Emily, I'm gonna let youtake this one.
Emily (15:20):
Okay. Let's see. Okay. Verse 28 where it says, and now
little children abide in him, sothat when he appears, we may
have confidence and not shrinkback from him and shame at his
coming. My expositors biblecommentary had a really great
little note on this.
It said confidence is one ofJohn's favorite words to
(15:42):
describe the freedom andboldness that belong to the
Christian before God in prayerand at Christ's coming. So the 2
situations that he uses the wordconfidence is when we go before
God in prayer and mention ofChrist's return, which is just
to me so beautiful because ofwhen you think of the old
testament and how no one couldgo before God with confidence
(16:03):
except for the one priest. Andthinking of Jesus's return, so
many of us get scared. Oh, I'mnot ready for him to come back
yet because I have so manythings I wanna get done before
then. But instead, we'resupposed to have this confidence
in both areas that we canapproach God with confidence.
And I always love that pictureof, you know, going before a
(16:23):
king. If you went into Englandand you went before the king of
England, you couldn't just walkin with confidence. You'd get
arrested, put in jail, whatever.But with our God, we get to
actually just walk up and talkto him and be with him. And he
is not only king, but he's,again, his father.
So that confidence to just gobefore him with whatever our
needs are and then also knowingthat when he returns, if you're
(16:46):
in Christ, there is no fear inthat moment. It's, I mean, I
cannot wait. And but it took mea long time to feel confident
about his return because Ithought it was gonna be a scary
thing, but it's it's beautiful.It's wonderful if you are in
Christ. So, there was that, butI just thought it was great.
Yeah.
Megan (17:03):
I wanna tell you this one thing. Yeah my grandmother my
Gigi was in hospice and I wasreading 1st John to her and the
last thing I said to her was andnow little children abide in him
so that we and in thetranslation I was reading, it
said, so that we can go boldlybefore him and not shrink back
(17:25):
in shame and I said Gigi isn'tthat wonderful. We can boldly
just go before God and she tookher last breath.
Emily (17:31):
Oh my goodness.
Megan (17:32):
It was the coolest way to go. Like, she was a godly woman.
I know where she is. We weredevastated because she was
matriarch, but like, what a wayto go or
Emily (17:42):
it's talking to you. Just hearing that that's beautiful.
Megan (17:45):
Oh my god. It was so cool. So this passage has a very
special place in my heart.
Emily (17:50):
Oh, I love that. Yeah. I love that. That's if we could
all go that way and have thatconfidence, it'd be it'd be a
whole different thing.
Megan (17:59):
Okay. Keep going. I'm sorry I interrupted you. I just
had to No.
Emily (18:02):
That's a good interruption. That was a worthy
introduct interruption. That'sgreat. Let's see. And then the
dominant theme, I also got thisfrom my exposures commentary.
I just had to read through mynotes. I handwrote everything.
So my chicken scratch, I have toread it every now and then, but,
the dominant theme is to provideassurance that even as the
(18:23):
believers continue in Jesus. Soin other words, as we live on
this earth, and we have to kindof live through the evil things
in the darkness of this world,we have to be bold and continue
in Jesus. They can know thatthey're children of God.
The tests for knowing if you'rea child of God are 1, doing
what's right to loving oneanother and 3 testing the
(18:46):
spirits. And, and then obediencewill guarantee confidence before
Jesus at his coming
Megan (18:59):
So this is not saying that this is what saves us. This
is what gives
Emily (19:00):
us assurance that we So this is not saying that this is
what saves us. This is whatgives us assurance that we are
living in God's will, I guess,is the best way to put it. Are
we being obedient? And if we'rebeing obedient, and we know
we're being obedient, first ofall, as a believer, obedience is
gonna be a joy. It's not gonnabe something that we dread or
hate.
(19:20):
It's it's a joy because we knowwhat he's done for us, and we'll
get to that a little more insome of the other sections of
first John because that we dotalk about we love because he
first loved us, but, this ideathat obedience will guarantee
that confidence before Jesus. Ifwe know that we've been living
the way he wants us to live,then we're not gonna be afraid
of his judgment when he comesback. If we are obedient to his
(19:44):
word, to love him and loveothers, then when we pray, we
know we're not, praying forthings that are probably out of
his will. So so, yeah, that'sthat's the main the main pieces
I got out of this and studied onfor a while.
Megan (19:59):
Yeah. As you grow in your faith, your heart's going to
align more with his. Yep. Lovethat. I just wanna add one thing
real quick.
I think this is one of thosethings that we don't talk about
enough, and we're just gonnaboldly put it out there in,
verses 4, 5, and 6. Everyone whomakes a practice of sinning also
(20:21):
practices lawlessness. Sin islawlessness. I just want to put
this out there. Scripture tellsus that if you love Jesus, you
will keep his commands.
Right?
Emily (20:35):
Mhmm.
Megan (20:35):
And the last thing he told us to do is to go out and
make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of
father, son, and holy spirit,and teaching them all the things
that I have commanded you. Andhow often are we not sharing our
faith? In Hebrews, he tells usdo not forsake the church. How
often are we skipping servicesand just watching it online? Or,
(21:00):
I'm so sick of people saying,and I'm not putting up with it
anymore.
Sorry, guys. I'm so sick ofpeople saying you don't have to
be a Christian, or you don'thave to go to church to be a
Christian.
Emily (21:10):
Yeah.
Megan (21:10):
Yeah. And I'm just like, you do to be an obedient
Christian. Mhmm. And first Johntells us if you're not being
obedient, like what are youdoing? Like, if you have the
Holy Spirit, you're going to beconvicted and you're gonna step
it up.
Now, I'm not sitting heretelling you who are listening to
this that you're going to hellbecause you don't have a church
but what I am saying is ifyou're truly a follower of
(21:31):
Christ, he tells you not toforsake the church and here's
your here's your sign. This isyour call to accountability like
I'm I'm calling you because Ilove you and I want you to do
what Christ has called us to do.You need to find a church. You
need to have a group of peoplewho have your back. You need to
be in the word every day.
You need to be sharing yourfaith. These are not options,
(21:52):
and your personality does notexcuse you from it. It's not
share your faith unless you'reshy. Share your faith if you're
in a good mood. It is to die isChrist or to live as Christ to
die as gain.
And we really need to step up asChristians. I feel like we've
become very lackadaisic and, I'mjust, I love you too much to let
(22:16):
you live in ignorance.
Emily (22:18):
Yes. And even just, and I can't think of the exact
reference as we were we werejust talking about before the
podcast that we wanna learn howto memorize where things are in
scripture. But the verse thattalks about, when you go before
kings and authorities and, youknow, during persecution to
share the gospel, it actuallysays, don't think about ahead of
(22:39):
time what you're going to say,be prepared for it. But the Holy
Spirit will give you words. Andso we spend all this time not
sharing the gospel because we'reafraid gospel because we're
afraid.
And yet the Bible tells us thathe will give us words to say
what fear is there if we knowthat the words of God are going
to be aiding us as we're tryingto share the gospel with our
(23:03):
friends. Who knows what smalllittle thing you say is gonna
stick with them forever and be aseed planted? So, and we've even
talked about at our church, Isay we've talked about our
church very lightly because I'ma pastor's wife, so, we talk
about lots of things. But we'vetalked about the idea of not
having video, like, onlineservices because I think it kind
(23:27):
of it does kinda help peoplestay home when we want them to
be coming in church. Yeah.
At the same time, it's like, youknow, if your kids are sick and
you can't go to church that day,it is nice to be able to still
be connected. So it's like a proand con of it. But, overall, I
do feel like in our country,it's just kept people lazy
(23:48):
because they're like, oh, I canjust watch it online and how
nice it I see it on Instagramall the time. Oh, so nice to
just stay home and watch onlinetoday for no reason other than
just wanted to stay in myjammies.
Megan (23:57):
Yeah. We're missing out. Yeah. It's God created us to be
relational beings. We need oneanother.
We need accountability. We needsupport. We need love. We need
prayer. We need, people torejoice with us when we're
rejoicing and mourn with us whenwe're mourning.
And when we're not a part of alocal body, we are not being
obedient
Emily (24:17):
to the way he created us and
Megan (24:19):
what he's called us to do. Yep. So get into church.
Alright. Let's wrap this up.
It's great to know scripture.It's great to study it. But
unless we put it into action,we're just gonna be arrogant
jerks running around. So, d, dosomething with it. How can we
take this passage of scriptureand apply it today?
Emily (24:43):
So I put, along with what I was studying those three
questions that were from mycommentary, or the three tests
of knowing if you're doingwhat's right as or know if
you're continuing on with Jesus,your children of God, doing
what's right, loving oneanother, and testing the
spirits. And I thought, youknow, I could be asking myself
that, you know, daily or weekly,Am I doing what's right? Am I
(25:04):
loving those around me? Are weloving one another? And am I
testing the spirits?
Am I making sure I'm not justbelieving everything I hear, but
testing everything I hear toscripture to make sure it's
lining up correctly? So those 3those are the 3 things I think I
could take away from that.
Megan (25:22):
And I'm I'm just gonna piggyback on yours. Am I doing
right? The only way we know isif we check it against
scripture. So I think you haveto be in the word and you have
to know what God has, commandedof you to know if you're doing
it right or not. So my challengeis to get into scripture and to,
(25:45):
stop living in habitual sin.
Emily (25:47):
If you
Megan (25:47):
have a habitual sin, this is another call to
accountability. Confess it andrepent. It's time. You got this.
The world needs you, obedient toGod.
We gotta this lost and dyingworld needs you. So it's time to
step up, ladies.
Emily (26:07):
Go with the challenge, Meg. I love it.
Megan (26:09):
That's right. Call to action, baby. I hope you guys
return next week. Next week,we're gonna be covering 1st John
chapter 3:7 through 18. I reallyhope you guys join us, and I
hope you know that we love youand we want the best for you.
Until next time.
Emily (26:26):
Go out and be bold.
Remind me
Emily (00:01):
how we started because it's been a year. It's been a
year. Do you know it's been ayear? Geez. I'm sure you know.
You probably know that.
Megan (00:08):
No. I did not know that.
Emily (00:09):
It's been a year. I listened to our last episode,
and it was before Savannah'sbirthday, which was February.
Oops.
Megan (00:17):
Well, we're back. We're back. We're back and better than
ever.
Emily (00:22):
After a whole year.
Megan (00:28):
We wanted, you know, absence makes the heart grow
fonder. We were just trying tomake our fan base, fond us.
Emily (00:41):
Y'all have missed us so much because we made you wait.
That or everyone left. We wehave to start all over. But here
here we are. Here we are.
We made it. We made it backafter a year. I had a baby.
Megan is now solo bold movement.Officially
Megan (01:00):
full time bold movement. Can you believe that?
Emily (01:02):
Full time, which means no episode will be lost after this
because you've got all the timein the world
Megan (01:07):
now. Dite. This is my job. Mhmm. And in case you don't
remember us, I'm Megan Mullins.
Emily (01:13):
And I'm Emily Richardson.
Megan (01:15):
And we are co hosts of the Talk Bible to Me podcast
where we go verse by versethrough scripture, and we are
going to finish first John nowthat we are back. So excited. So
we might be a little rusty, butwe are going to try to keep this
to a good 20 minutes, so youguys can listen to it on your
(01:36):
way to work. And if you havelonger than a 20 minute,
commute, don't worry. We've gotmore podcasts from the past that
you can listen to.
Here's what we do. We are usingthe bold method BOLD. It's an
acronym and B is begin withprayer and scripture. So Emily
why don't you open us up inprayer and we'll get started.
Emily (01:55):
Alright.
Megan (01:56):
Okay. Jesus, we thank you
Emily (01:57):
so much that you have given us tools to be able to
have a podcast that we can usefor your glory. And we just ask
that everything that we talkabout, everything we teach and
share over the next 20 minutesis words that your spirit leads
us to share and nothing more andthat we would follow after you
in everything that we do. Wepray that you would give us
wisdom and that all of ourfriends listening would have
(02:20):
ears to hear and that we wouldjust have a great time.
Megan (02:22):
In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Alright, so we begin with
prayer and when you're studyingscripture, it's a really wise
idea to actually scripture, toread it in multiple
translations. And so, I like toread from 3 translations. 1,
(02:48):
word for word, one thought forthought, and one paraphrased.
And so I have those. Emily, whattranslation do you have?
Emily (02:56):
I've got the ESV.
Megan (02:57):
Perfect. Because I have the ESV as our word for word. So
do you wanna read, today we'recovering first John 228 through
36, and you wanna read that fromthe ESV?
Emily (03:08):
I can do that. Alright. 1st John 228 through 36. And now
little children abide in him sothat when he appears, we may
have confidence and not shrinkfrom him and shame in his
coming. If you know that he isrighteous, you may be sure that
everyone who practice rightpractices righteousness has been
born of him.
See what kind of love the fatherhas given to us, that we should
(03:29):
be called children of God, andso we are. The reason why the
world does not know us is thatit did not know him. Beloved, we
are God's children now, and whatwe will be has not yet appeared.
And we know that when heappears, we shall be like him,
because we shall see him as heis. And everyone who thus hopes
in him purifies himself as he ispure everyone who makes a
(03:50):
practice of sinning alsopractices lawlessness sin is
lawlessness You know that heappeared in order to take away
sins, and in him, there is nosin.
No one who abides in him keepson sinning. No one who keeps on
sinning has either seen him orknown him.
Megan (04:06):
Oh, I cannot wait to dissect this bad boy. Mhmm.
Before we do that, let me readit from the New Living
Translation. And now, dearchildren, remain in fellowship
with Christ so that when hereturns, you will be full of
courage and not shrink back fromhim in shame. Since we know that
Christ is righteous, we alsoknow that all who do what is
right are God's children.
(04:27):
See how very much our fatheryeah. See how very much our
father loves us, for he calls ushis children. And that is what
we are. But the people whobelong to this world don't
recognize that we are God'schildren because they don't know
him. Dear friends, we arealready God's children, but he
has not yet shown us what wewill be like when Christ
appears.
But we do know that we will belike him, for we will see him as
(04:50):
he really is. All who have theeager expectation will keep
themselves pure just as he ispure. Everyone who sin is
breaking God's law, for all sinis contrary to the law of God.
And you know that Jesus came totake away our sins, and there is
no sin in him. Anyone whocontinues to live in him will
not sin, but anyone who keeps onsinning does not know him or
(05:11):
understand who he is.
I did it in the message too. Doyou have that? I
Emily (05:19):
can pull it up unless you have it if you have it on you go
ahead.
Megan (05:22):
Okay. For a paraphrase version, I have the message for
this one and it says, and nowchildren, stay with Christ. Look
deeply in Christ. Then we'll beready for him when he appears,
ready to receive him with openarms with no cause for red faced
guilt or lame excuses when hearrives. Once you're convinced
that he is right and righteous,you'll recognize that all who
(05:44):
practice righteousness are God'strue children.
What marvelous love the fatherhas extended to us. Just look at
it. We're called children ofGod. That's who we really are.
But that's also why the worlddoesn't recognize us or take us
seriously because it has no ideawho he is or what he's up to.
But friends, that's exactly whowe are, children of God, and
(06:06):
that's only the beginning. Whoknows how we'll end up? What we
know is that when Christ isopenly revealed, we'll see him,
and in seeing him become likehim. All of us who look forward
to his coming stay ready withthe glistening purity of Jesus,
life as a model for our own. Allwho indulge in a sinful life are
dangerously lawless, for sin isa major distribution of God's
(06:29):
order.
Surely, you know that Christshowed up in order to get rid of
sin. There is no sin in him, andsin is not part of his program.
They've got him all backward.They've got him all backward. I
love the message.
(06:50):
Obviously, we do not condone itfor study, but I think it's
great for just reading. Mhmm. Ilove it.
Emily (06:57):
Yep.
Megan (06:58):
Okay. So typically with the b, begin with prayer and
scripture, we have you annotatescripture if the passages are
short enough, or the book isshort enough, reading the
passage in context of the wholebook, but because we're studying
this altogether, we're justgoing to read those passages in
those versions, and we read themout loud, which is another part
of our, how how we study theBible. The next step is, oh, on
(07:23):
your own, wrestle with the text.And I just have a couple
questions for you, Emily, tohelp us wrestle with this text.
Are you ready?
Emily (07:30):
I'm ready.
Megan (07:31):
Can you summarize this passage in one sentence?
Emily (07:35):
Yes. Because I prepared for
Megan (07:38):
Okay.
Emily (07:41):
For everyone else, it might take a little a little
minute to summarize it, but, thesummary I came up with was
because we have been reborn aschildren of God, we should
behave as such.
Megan (07:55):
Okay. I think that was really good. Thanks. Yeah. Mine
was when you choose God, you'llchoose not to sin.
Emily (08:06):
That's good. It's a lot more simple than mine.
Megan (08:08):
Well Yeah. It doesn't always mean it's better though.
Right?
Emily (08:12):
I didn't say better. Just more simple.
Megan (08:14):
Oh, I said better. Probably. I never said it was
better, Megan. Ever. I have anew question for you.
Uh-oh. And I just I'm gonnaspring up on you.
Emily (08:26):
Go for it.
Megan (08:27):
Okay. What is God revealing about himself in this
passage?
Emily (08:30):
Oh, that's a good question. Alright. Let's see. I
mean, the first thing that comesto mind is his fatherhood, his
father characteristic that he isnot only a father to those who
follow him, but a good one.Because, you know, sometimes we
(08:53):
can think of father as a missingpiece or a lot of times in our
earthly experience, we have notthe best experience of a father,
but he's giving us a gooddefinition of what father looks
like.
Love and teaches obedience.Yeah. What about you?
Megan (09:14):
I think what it reveals and what I'm taking from it is
that God takes sin seriously.
Emily (09:21):
Mhmm. Mhmm.
Megan (09:22):
I think too often, it's like, oh, we'll sin and he'll
forgive us. Oh, we'll sin andhe'll forgive us. But Paul even
says, like, should you send moreso that grace abounds more
freely? Absolutely not. Mhmm.
And I think there's too often wejust don't take sin as seriously
as we should. And so Yeah. Ithink that's what it tells us is
he takes it seriously, so weshould too.
Emily (09:42):
That's good. That's good.
Megan (09:47):
What should I be taking away from this passage?
Emily (09:54):
So the question I had was the connection to the meta
narrative. Are you are youthinking the same thing or Yeah.
Megan (09:59):
II was just trying to make it simpler terms in light
of all of scripture. What shouldI take away from this passage?
That's probably a better way ofasking it.
Emily (10:11):
I think it shows that when you abide in God or you
live according to the way hewants you to live and you seek
him and you, find your purposein him, it gives glimpses to how
creation was originally meant tobe, that we will have that pure
(10:31):
relationship with him wherefollowing him is a joy and
loving others is a joy. And thenit looks ahead to, I think, what
it will be at his return as wellbecause it it brings all of that
back together, that perfectrelationship and that, you know,
that he's a good father and thatwe're his children, and sin will
(10:53):
be no more when he comes back,which will be great. But in the
meantime, we live the way hetells us to live, and that helps
helps us not sin as much as wemaybe want to.
Megan (11:05):
Absolutely. I think it's I like to summarize all of
scripture similar to the waythat I summarize the gospel.
Right? Creation, fall Mhmm.Redemption, restoration.
And I think it's part of thatrestoration process, like you
said, where he restores us backto what we are originally
(11:25):
designed to be and originallydesigned to look like and
reflect him. Last question wherewe wrestle with our own. Are you
ready? Mhmm. Now that we knowwhat this is saying, what is
this passage not saying?
Emily (11:41):
This passage is not saying that sending it all means
you're not a child of God.Because I think we can read that
and turn it into either selfrighteousness of, oh, I'm never
gonna send again because I'm achild of God or into self hatred
of, oh, if I sin, sin, then I'mterrible. I'm not doing what I'm
supposed to. Maybe I'm not achild of God. No.
We're still gonna sin.
Megan (12:02):
Mhmm.
Emily (12:02):
But it just means that our hearts are changing to want
to sin less, to become more likeJesus. And when we do sin, we
have repentance, and we turntowards him because we actually
truly feel bad about what we'vedone, and we want to change.
Megan (12:19):
That was really good. I totally went a completely not
completely different direction,but that's why we have 2 of us
hosting this. Right?
Emily (12:28):
Yeah.
Megan (12:29):
In verse 29, it says, if you know that he is righteous,
you may be sure that everyonewho practices righteousness has
been born of him. What it is notsaying is that, just because you
do good deeds or just becauseyou're doing good things that
you are saved. Mhmm. Moralitydoesn't save you, and being a
good person doesn't save you.It's Jesus alone that saves you.
Emily (12:52):
Yep.
Megan (12:52):
And, what John is talking about here is, when you practice
righteousness, which is rightstanding with God, not just
being a good person, and I don'twant people to confuse that.
Emily (13:04):
Yeah. I feel like that's becoming more and more prevalent
too, that people think thattheir good works are earning
them something.
Megan (13:12):
Yeah. I have a tendency to fall into that. I'm not even
gonna lie to you. I think, a lotof times I, it's like, oh, I
gotta make God proud of me or Ihave to make him love me more.
Like, I don't want to disappointhim.
And at the end of the day, like,there's nothing I can do that
will ever make him love me lessthan he does or more. And that's
(13:35):
really hard to fathom, becauseeverything on earth is so
conditional.
Emily (13:41):
Mhmm. Yeah. Which is it's interesting the way both of our
minds went after that, becauseI'm the opposite where I tend to
focus on my sin and think like,oh, gosh. I've done so many
wrong things instead of thinkingof like, oh, I've done this much
and this much for God. Instead,I think, oh, I haven't done or I
haven't done this much.
And so then I sit in thedepression of Yeah. Oh, gosh.
(14:02):
I'm not good enough for him, butthat just shows that you can you
can take these and focus on 2totally different things from
one verse.
Megan (14:11):
Yeah. It really is for everyone. There's a song by
sovereign grace and it says,it's called cling to Christ And,
the opening lyrics are like,Lord, I come and boast of things
I've done. And then essentially,it's like but basically, the
(14:34):
only thing that gets me to youis clinging to Christ. And I
remember listening to that song.
I was like driving to, an eventand I was just like sobbing. Oh
my God. Like I laid my trophiesdown and, like, you don't even
care about my trophies. You justlove me for me. And I was like,
oh, you can tell I'm a goaloriented person.
That sucks.
Emily (14:57):
So between you and me, something is right in the
middle. We just need to, like,lean on each other.
Megan (15:02):
I know.
Emily (15:02):
I'm like, no. No.
Megan (15:03):
We're guard her, and you'll be like, just rest in his
Yep. Oh, okay. The next letteris l, which is learn something,
and this is where you can useextra biblical resources and
tools. Emily, I'm gonna let youtake this one.
Emily (15:20):
Okay. Let's see. Okay. Verse 28 where it says, and now
little children abide in him, sothat when he appears, we may
have confidence and not shrinkback from him and shame at his
coming. My expositors biblecommentary had a really great
little note on this.
It said confidence is one ofJohn's favorite words to
(15:42):
describe the freedom andboldness that belong to the
Christian before God in prayerand at Christ's coming. So the 2
situations that he uses the wordconfidence is when we go before
God in prayer and mention ofChrist's return, which is just
to me so beautiful because ofwhen you think of the old
testament and how no one couldgo before God with confidence
(16:03):
except for the one priest. Andthinking of Jesus's return, so
many of us get scared. Oh, I'mnot ready for him to come back
yet because I have so manythings I wanna get done before
then. But instead, we'resupposed to have this confidence
in both areas that we canapproach God with confidence.
And I always love that pictureof, you know, going before a
(16:23):
king. If you went into Englandand you went before the king of
England, you couldn't just walkin with confidence. You'd get
arrested, put in jail, whatever.But with our God, we get to
actually just walk up and talkto him and be with him. And he
is not only king, but he's,again, his father.
So that confidence to just gobefore him with whatever our
needs are and then also knowingthat when he returns, if you're
(16:46):
in Christ, there is no fear inthat moment. It's, I mean, I
cannot wait. And but it took mea long time to feel confident
about his return because Ithought it was gonna be a scary
thing, but it's it's beautiful.It's wonderful if you are in
Christ. So, there was that, butI just thought it was great.
Yeah.
Megan (17:03):
I wanna tell you this one thing. Yeah my grandmother my
Gigi was in hospice and I wasreading 1st John to her and the
last thing I said to her was andnow little children abide in him
so that we and in thetranslation I was reading, it
said, so that we can go boldlybefore him and not shrink back
(17:25):
in shame and I said Gigi isn'tthat wonderful. We can boldly
just go before God and she tookher last breath.
Emily (17:31):
Oh my goodness.
Megan (17:32):
It was the coolest way to go. Like, she was a godly woman.
I know where she is. We weredevastated because she was
matriarch, but like, what a wayto go or
Emily (17:42):
it's talking to you. Just hearing that that's beautiful.
Megan (17:45):
Oh my god. It was so cool. So this passage has a very
special place in my heart.
Emily (17:50):
Oh, I love that. Yeah. I love that. That's if we could
all go that way and have thatconfidence, it'd be it'd be a
whole different thing.
Megan (17:59):
Okay. Keep going. I'm sorry I interrupted you. I just
had to No.
Emily (18:02):
That's a good interruption. That was a worthy
introduct interruption. That'sgreat. Let's see. And then the
dominant theme, I also got thisfrom my exposures commentary.
I just had to read through mynotes. I handwrote everything.
So my chicken scratch, I have toread it every now and then, but,
the dominant theme is to provideassurance that even as the
(18:23):
believers continue in Jesus. Soin other words, as we live on
this earth, and we have to kindof live through the evil things
in the darkness of this world,we have to be bold and continue
in Jesus. They can know thatthey're children of God.
The tests for knowing if you'rea child of God are 1, doing
what's right to loving oneanother and 3 testing the
(18:46):
spirits. And, and then obediencewill guarantee confidence before
Jesus at his coming
Megan (18:59):
So this is not saying that this is what saves us. This
is what gives
Emily (19:00):
us assurance that we So this is not saying that this is
what saves us. This is whatgives us assurance that we are
living in God's will, I guess,is the best way to put it. Are
we being obedient? And if we'rebeing obedient, and we know
we're being obedient, first ofall, as a believer, obedience is
gonna be a joy. It's not gonnabe something that we dread or
hate.
(19:20):
It's it's a joy because we knowwhat he's done for us, and we'll
get to that a little more insome of the other sections of
first John because that we dotalk about we love because he
first loved us, but, this ideathat obedience will guarantee
that confidence before Jesus. Ifwe know that we've been living
the way he wants us to live,then we're not gonna be afraid
of his judgment when he comesback. If we are obedient to his
(19:44):
word, to love him and loveothers, then when we pray, we
know we're not, praying forthings that are probably out of
his will. So so, yeah, that'sthat's the main the main pieces
I got out of this and studied onfor a while.
Megan (19:59):
Yeah. As you grow in your faith, your heart's going to
align more with his. Yep. Lovethat. I just wanna add one thing
real quick.
I think this is one of thosethings that we don't talk about
enough, and we're just gonnaboldly put it out there in,
verses 4, 5, and 6. Everyone whomakes a practice of sinning also
(20:21):
practices lawlessness. Sin islawlessness. I just want to put
this out there. Scripture tellsus that if you love Jesus, you
will keep his commands.
Right?
Emily (20:35):
Mhmm.
Megan (20:35):
And the last thing he told us to do is to go out and
make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of
father, son, and holy spirit,and teaching them all the things
that I have commanded you. Andhow often are we not sharing our
faith? In Hebrews, he tells usdo not forsake the church. How
often are we skipping servicesand just watching it online? Or,
(21:00):
I'm so sick of people saying,and I'm not putting up with it
anymore.
Sorry, guys. I'm so sick ofpeople saying you don't have to
be a Christian, or you don'thave to go to church to be a
Christian.
Emily (21:10):
Yeah.
Megan (21:10):
Yeah. And I'm just like, you do to be an obedient
Christian. Mhmm. And first Johntells us if you're not being
obedient, like what are youdoing? Like, if you have the
Holy Spirit, you're going to beconvicted and you're gonna step
it up.
Now, I'm not sitting heretelling you who are listening to
this that you're going to hellbecause you don't have a church
but what I am saying is ifyou're truly a follower of
(21:31):
Christ, he tells you not toforsake the church and here's
your here's your sign. This isyour call to accountability like
I'm I'm calling you because Ilove you and I want you to do
what Christ has called us to do.You need to find a church. You
need to have a group of peoplewho have your back. You need to
be in the word every day.
You need to be sharing yourfaith. These are not options,
(21:52):
and your personality does notexcuse you from it. It's not
share your faith unless you'reshy. Share your faith if you're
in a good mood. It is to die isChrist or to live as Christ to
die as gain.
And we really need to step up asChristians. I feel like we've
become very lackadaisic and, I'mjust, I love you too much to let
(22:16):
you live in ignorance.
Emily (22:18):
Yes. And even just, and I can't think of the exact
reference as we were we werejust talking about before the
podcast that we wanna learn howto memorize where things are in
scripture. But the verse thattalks about, when you go before
kings and authorities and, youknow, during persecution to
share the gospel, it actuallysays, don't think about ahead of
(22:39):
time what you're going to say,be prepared for it. But the Holy
Spirit will give you words. Andso we spend all this time not
sharing the gospel because we'reafraid gospel because we're
afraid.
And yet the Bible tells us thathe will give us words to say
what fear is there if we knowthat the words of God are going
to be aiding us as we're tryingto share the gospel with our
(23:03):
friends. Who knows what smalllittle thing you say is gonna
stick with them forever and be aseed planted? So, and we've even
talked about at our church, Isay we've talked about our
church very lightly because I'ma pastor's wife, so, we talk
about lots of things. But we'vetalked about the idea of not
having video, like, onlineservices because I think it kind
(23:27):
of it does kinda help peoplestay home when we want them to
be coming in church. Yeah.
At the same time, it's like, youknow, if your kids are sick and
you can't go to church that day,it is nice to be able to still
be connected. So it's like a proand con of it. But, overall, I
do feel like in our country,it's just kept people lazy
(23:48):
because they're like, oh, I canjust watch it online and how
nice it I see it on Instagramall the time. Oh, so nice to
just stay home and watch onlinetoday for no reason other than
just wanted to stay in myjammies.
Megan (23:57):
Yeah. We're missing out. Yeah. It's God created us to be
relational beings. We need oneanother.
We need accountability. We needsupport. We need love. We need
prayer. We need, people torejoice with us when we're
rejoicing and mourn with us whenwe're mourning.
And when we're not a part of alocal body, we are not being
obedient
Emily (24:17):
to the way he created us and
Megan (24:19):
what he's called us to do. Yep. So get into church.
Alright. Let's wrap this up.
It's great to know scripture.It's great to study it. But
unless we put it into action,we're just gonna be arrogant
jerks running around. So, d, dosomething with it. How can we
take this passage of scriptureand apply it today?
Emily (24:43):
So I put, along with what I was studying those three
questions that were from mycommentary, or the three tests
of knowing if you're doingwhat's right as or know if
you're continuing on with Jesus,your children of God, doing
what's right, loving oneanother, and testing the
spirits. And I thought, youknow, I could be asking myself
that, you know, daily or weekly,Am I doing what's right? Am I
(25:04):
loving those around me? Are weloving one another? And am I
testing the spirits?
Am I making sure I'm not justbelieving everything I hear, but
testing everything I hear toscripture to make sure it's
lining up correctly? So those 3those are the 3 things I think I
could take away from that.
Megan (25:22):
And I'm I'm just gonna piggyback on yours. Am I doing
right? The only way we know isif we check it against
scripture. So I think you haveto be in the word and you have
to know what God has, commandedof you to know if you're doing
it right or not. So my challengeis to get into scripture and to,
(25:45):
stop living in habitual sin.
Emily (25:47):
If you
Megan (25:47):
have a habitual sin, this is another call to
accountability. Confess it andrepent. It's time. You got this.
The world needs you, obedient toGod.
We gotta this lost and dyingworld needs you. So it's time to
step up, ladies.
Emily (26:07):
Go with the challenge, Meg. I love it.
Megan (26:09):
That's right. Call to action, baby. I hope you guys
return next week. Next week,we're gonna be covering 1st John
chapter 3:7 through 18. I reallyhope you guys join us, and I
hope you know that we love youand we want the best for you.
Until next time.
Emily (26:26):
Go out and be bold.
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Dateline NBC
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The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!