Full of Joy [Part 1]
Dearly beloved of God, everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord and believes that God raised him from the dead is saved, born again of the spirit from God.
At the moment of the new birth we became a child of God, born again of incorruptible seed, and we have eternal life. God becomes God our Father, and we become His children. The birth from above cannot be reversed, no more than our natural birth can be undone.
God had the Apostle John write about the Word of life. The twelve apostles received the gift of holy spirit on the Feast of Pentecost, and they manifested the spirit life they received by speaking in tongues, which is the proof that they had received eternal life.
The spirit from God witnesses to our being that we are the children of God, His heirs, and joint heirs with Christ.
I John 1:2-4
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
We cannot see spirit, but we can see the manifestation of the spirit.
The eternal life was manifested, and the twelve had seen it, and bare witness of the eternal life which the Father had given to them. God had John write these things so that their joy might be full.
I John 5:13
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, [and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.]
The words I bracketed in verse 13 are not in the critical Greek texts. The verse properly reads, “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
God had John write unto them so that their joy may be full.
Knowing that you are a child of God, and that you have eternal life, and that you have fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ, and with those in God’s household most certainly is cause for fullness of joy.
I John 1:5
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
God our Father is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. He does not kill people, make them sick to humble them, hold their sins over their head and wait for them to blow it, or enslave them with poverty.
God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. Darkness comes from another source. It does not come from God our Father.
I John 1:6 and 7
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Commas were added by various editors of the Bible. They do not have any divine authority for their use. We were just informed that God is light. He is not in the light, He is Light. The comma here should follow, “as He is.”
The Working Translation reads: “On the other hand, if we walk in the light as He is, then in the light we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from every sin.
We have a relationship with God as His children by the new birth. This is sonship. As God’s children we should desire to walk with Him in the good pleasure of His Will. The walk involves our fellowship with the Father. If we want to have a close relationship with God our Father in our walks, we want to walk in the light. See Ephesians 5:8-14.
John 2:6
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he [Jesus] walked.
When we walk in the good pleasure of the Father’s will as His Son did, our joy will be full. We should think in the same manner as he thought. We should let the Word concerning Christ dwell in us richly. We should walk in love as he walked.
As we walk with God our Father our joy will be full. We will live with peace in our hearts. We will be confident in Him, and have the expectation that He will lead and guide us, and answer our prayer requests as He said He would.
Now are we the sons of God, and we are! The Father desires to have fellowship with us so that our joy may be full. Walk with Him, dearly beloved of God.