Thru the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee
1 John 3:10-17
The Bible Bus - 66 Books in Five Years - TTB.org
Our speaker provides some background on the epistle of 1 John. John the apostle, who lived with Jesus, and knows the subject well, expounds here upon the two natures of people, which live side by side, wrestling inside the believer. To make the difference obvious, the contrast is made between the first man born on earth and the second. Note that the murderer was born first. It's natural. There's nothing unnatural about murder.
In the gospel of John, Jesus made it clear that there are two natures; flesh and spirit. Building upon the idea already expressed by the Greeks, John writes, in Greek, words that will influence the West and the world for the next two millenia.
We don't like this idea today as the age of Hellenization comes to an end. But the dichotomy is a powerful one and I think we misunderstand it.
The church I know doesn't do enough wrestling. We know there are two natures, but we don't want to talk about it. We find the good in the world and use the word spiritual to mean any belief. But what is John saying when he contrasts the flesh and the spirit? He's not saying the body is bad and thoughts are good. The spirit isn't something everyone has, it's God within and either God is within someone or not.
The problem is that the people God is in, just act like everybody else; knowing full well that we're not. This is uncomfortable, unprofitable and wrong. It's also confusing. If you mix two things together, what do you have? Jars of clay, with what inside?
"You can do a lot with the flesh. You can train it. You can discipline it. You can send it to school. You can educate it." Like a pig, we can dress it up and take it out of the pigpen, but it's still a pig.
But the spirit nature is something else. And by spirit nature, he means the good stuff and not just anything that's invisible. (1 Corinthians 2:9) Eye has not seen and ear has not heard these things. Those organs are made of flesh, and they can't see the good; not really, but God reveals the truth by spirit. Your regular old eyes can't see it. The Spirit is our teacher. You are of your father, and that could be the devil, or God. Spirit doesn't mean thought. It means the right spirit; the right thought or God. Here Mr. McGee make one of his beliefs clear that people don't like. I don't like it. I like the idea of universal brotherhood, but it's not in the Bible. A universal hope is. A universal opportunity is there. But not everybody accepts it. Sure, we're all capable of being God's children
Children take after their father.
Jealousy includes suspicion. You can love and be jealous. It implies that there is concern for the other person. and
Envy - which characterizes Cain; the first murderer. "Discontent or uneasiness at the sight of another's excellence or good fortune, accompanied wiht some degree of hatred and a desire to possess equal advantages."
Envy and jealousy hurt the Church more than anything else. Of course the world won't accept the teachings of Christ. But the Church hasn't either! Jesus said "John 15:18 You know the world hated Jesus, so of course the World hates the truth. The world loves its own. If we're too loved, we're not different enough. Matt 5:21 Whoever is angry without a cause Danger of hatred - murderer.
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