In this episode, we delve into the profound insights found in the book of 1 John. We explore how this treasured text, attributed to John the Apostle, encourages Christians to return to true doctrine, obedient living, and fervent devotion. Drawing from over 35 years of personal Bible reading journals, we reflect on key themes such as forgiveness, the role of love, and the enduring invitation to walk in the light of God’s presence. Listen as we dissect the rich content of 1 John and understand its relevance in our lives today.
00:03:46 Reflections from Personal Bible Reading Journals
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
SPEAKER 02 :
Today we begin the book of 1 John, which is only 10 verses. But before we begin, let’s look at a little background on the books that John wrote. We’ll look at 1, 2, and 3 John, which are all attributable to John the Apostle. He also wrote the Gospel of John and the book of Revelation. 1 John was written by John before 100 AD. The five chapters of 1 John are rich in content. It is one of my favorite books in the New Testament because it calls Christians back to true doctrine, obedient living, and fervent devotion. John wanders from subject to subject covering things like forgiveness of sin, the Antichrist, testing the spirits, assurance of salvation, and love. Oh, there’s much about love in 1 John, written by the disciple whom Jesus loved. 1 Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter in scripture, but I believe 1 John chapter 4 is the second love chapter in the Bible. I’ve read 1 John over 15 times in 45 years, and I will be sharing some thoughts from my Bible reading journals at various ages and stages of my life. So let’s begin as I read 1 John chapter 1. Let’s read it. That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, that you too may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. What a great chapter of Scripture, 1 John chapter 1. To guide us through 1 John, we will be looking at three of my personal Bible reading journals. One from 1999, the second from 2003, and the third from 2012. We’ll begin with that journal back in 1999 when I was 44 years old when I read this chapter, and I wrote in my journal that John knew Jesus. He spoke from first-hand experience. He said one of my all-time favorite verses, and one of the verses I first memorized, which was verse 9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And then I wrote, The greatest gift in the world is forgiveness. Thank you, Jesus. I accept your precious gift. In 2003, I enhanced what I had written in 1999 in a journal entry about the very first verse about John knowing Jesus. That verse says, You have to stop and think about that. We’re not just reading somebody who’s writing about Jesus. We’re reading from someone who touched him, hugged him, walked with him, talked with him. And again, the disciple that Jesus himself said he loved. This is a firsthand account of someone who knew Jesus up close and personal. A few years later in 2012, after reading 1 John chapter 1, I continued that same theme when I wrote, John writes, he shares his first-hand account according to verse 3, so that you too may have fellowship with us. So John is writing this so that we can understand Jesus from his perspective. And then I wrote about those great verses of forgiveness, verses 7 through 10. Forgiveness of sin comes through the blood of Jesus. How? Confession. We are sinners and need forgiveness. Those are my journal entries after reading 1 John chapter 1. But let’s look at this passage of Fresh Today. John opens his book by saying, “…that which was from the beginning.” which reminds me of his gospel, his first verse of the Gospel of John when he wrote, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So here again, he’s reminding us that Jesus has always existed. Skipping down to verse 4, he says, And we write these things so that our joy may be complete. I don’t know how your day is going to go, but maybe this passage will remind you of having some joy because you heard this passage out of Scripture today. And then John goes on to remind us that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness. So are we walking in the light or are we walking in the darkness? If we have fellowship with him, we walk in the light. So do you have fellowship with Jesus? Are you walking in light or are you walking in darkness? And now we come to the meat of this chapter, the great verses on forgiveness. I believe this is the greatest gift in the world. And John explains it so well right here in verses 7 through 10. He says, And verse 8 reminds us that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So do you consider yourself a sinner? I know I do. I have a sin nature. And as much as I try to avoid it and to disclaim it, it’s here reminding me every day that I’m still a sinner. So in this verse, he reminds me, he reminds us, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But then there’s a great promise in verse 9, that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So forgiveness is a gift. A great invitation is here. It says, if we confess our sins, so to receive the forgiveness of God, we have to confess our sinfulness before him. But thankfully, he is faithful and just, and he will forgive us and cleanse us from all sin. Now maybe you think you’ve done something that cannot be forgiven. That’s not the case. These verses give us hope that all of our sins can be forgiven. He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we take the step of confessing our sins. And he closes these great verses on forgiveness with verse 10 when he says, If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. So I’m not trying to convince you today that you’re a sinner. I hope that is just revealed to you by our nature. And I certainly don’t want to make Jesus a liar by saying that I have not sinned. So as we close out the first chapter of 1 John, let us ponder these things today. First, that we have just read and can always read in 1 John a first-hand account of someone who knew Jesus personally. Secondly, we have an invitation to walk in the light. So how’s your walk? Are you walking in the light of the Lord, or are you walking in darkness? And third, contemplate the great invitation in verse 9 that allows us to confess our sins and have Jesus forgive us of our sins and of all unrighteousness. Maybe there’s something in particular that you feel guilty about or is haunting you. Maybe that’s what you can think about today and confess that sin before Jesus and allow Him to forgive you. Let’s close in prayer. Thank you for the forgiveness of sin. I’m caught in sin as much as I try not to be. Forgive my sinfulness, Lord. I also want to walk in your light, so shine your light on me. And Lord, we also thank you for John, your friend on earth, who jotted down these things that we can read thousands of years later. Thank you for putting the Holy Spirit in him so that he could write the book of 1 John and we can enjoy it and be taught by it today. Thank you. In your name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening to Ad Bible today. Across our listening audience, more and more of you are supporting Ad Bible by visiting our website at EzraProject.net and purchasing resources like Club 365 subscriptions, Bible reading journals, and one or more of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. We thank you so much and encourage more of you to do the same. These make great Christmas gifts for families and friends. It will encourage them to join you in Bible engagement in 2026. You will find helpful and inspiring tools to enhance your personal time in God’s Word. We have a few weeks left in 2025. Most people decide their Bible reading game plan for the new year in December. Today, I want to review a few tools you may want to consider for your reading plan in 2026 and share it with others. First, Club 365. This is a monthly subscription opening our vault of all AddBible audio recordings and all printed pages of the entire Day by Day Through the Bible devotional series. By joining Club 365 for only $7 a month, you have access to both audio and written information on all 66 books of the Bible. Club 365 is a goldmine, and it is completely flexible to your personal Bible reading plan. So if you are reading Matthew or Isaiah, Psalms or Revelation, you have access to audio or written comments, applications and prayers on any of them at your fingertips. Get Club 365 at EzraProject.net today like many others have. other tools are our bible reading journals we offer two one is a chronological bible reading journal that contains a daily bible reading plan chronologically you don’t have to buy a chronological bible just get our chronological bible reading journal it has over 200 pages so you can journal your way through the entire bible this book is our number one bestseller over the last two decades The other journal is called the Trio Journal because it has three annual Bible reading plans in it. A New Testament schedule, an Old Testament schedule, and if you do them both on the same day, a complete Bible reading plan for the year. We have limited supplies of the Trio Bible reading journal. The cool thing about our journals is they start when you start. Day one of the schedule is the day you start. Yes, it can be January 1, 2026, but you could start now if you want. Again, completely flexible to your Bible reading habits. Order your journals for just $9 at EzraProject.net, and we will ship it free. The other product is one of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. There are only 11, but they cover all 66 books of the Bible, filled with comments about the passages, applications from the passages, and prayers related to the passages. Listeners are understanding Bible passages in a whole new way thanks to digging deeper with a day-by-day supplement to their daily devotions. You can find all 11 books on our website at EzraProject.net. They are available in print or digitally. Get ready for the new year by selecting your plan and ordering today at EzraProject.net. That’s all for today. Join me tomorrow for another chapter of AdBible. I know you’re going to enjoy it and want to share it with others.
