Hello Unsealed Family!

I recently finished teaching through 1 John in a Bible Study at my local church. I was prompted to begin this study back in August 2022, in large part, because of the influence of a former professor at Dallas Seminary. Somewhere back around the 2013-14 time frame, I took a course on 1 John from Dr. Charles Baylis (now with the Lord), and his teaching made a profound and lasting impact on the way that I continue to interpret and teach this God-breathed letter.

Also, based on my observations and hard-knock experiences in ministry, 1 John is one of the top 3, if not the #1, most misunderstood and mishandled books in all of the Bible. 

For example, picture this all-too-common scenario: You are sharing the gospel with someone, emphasizing the truth of Ephesians 2:8-9, and really driving home the point that God's salvation is truly by grace, undeserved and unearned. All of a sudden, as a (human) reward for your sincere effort to reach a lost soul with God's gift of grace, you get roundhouse kicked with 1 John 2:3-4 in reply:

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him (KJV).

Ugh. *Face palm*

Now imagine that you are newly saved, fresh out of the waters of regeneration, and ready to tell everyone how amazing God's grace is...only to be met with a frustrating, nauseating, and faith-wrecking spirit of resistance that uses the Bible itself to counter the truth! What is going on!?!?

Ok. Don't be reactive. Don't take the bait. But take a deeeeeeeep breath. It helps to know that some people aren't going to get it. They're just not going to give in to grace. They're stuck in a legalistic trap, one that the Bible refers to specifically as "the Devil's trap" (2 Tim. 2:26). 

Even if we can't convince some to reexamine their faulty assumptions and stubborn traditions, we can at least fill our own cups to rejoice in God's grace all the more!

So then, for those who are humble, hungry, and ready to grow even more in the GRACE and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:18), I am happy and blessed to present to you a 72-page, verse-by-verse Study Guide on 1 John that shines a light on one of the most difficult books of the Bible to interpret consistently. In line with the apostle's own purpose (1 Jn. 5:13), the aim of this study guide is to help the children of God know 100%, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they are saved, and that 1 John teaches salvation by grace (even without mentioning the Greek word for grace!).

In this guide you will discover how each verse ties in with the author's overall purpose and intent. Feel free to be a Berean and check out the various links to the Strong's concordance to see for yourself "if these things are so" (Acts 17:11). After all, a chief goal of Bible study is to understand the author's intent, not isolating verses out of context but interpreting everything in the context of a single book and the Bible as a whole. This approach to the text is especially vital with a book like 1 John, which has been beaten, battered, and bruised from spiritual warfare over these centuries of the Church Age!

So, without any further commentary (there's already 72-pages worth, lol), I pray that this resource blesses and encourages you in the faith: the faith once-and-for-all handed down and entrusted to the saints (Jd. 1:3).