Love – Page 5 – Michelle Lesley

Originally published March 21, 2011

I stumbled across this movie at my local library a few days ago, and, boy am I glad I did.

Jeff and Heather were the “lucky ones”. Best friends from childhood, high school sweethearts, and married by 22, they were inseperable soul mates.

After the birth of her first and only child, Heather Baker (Danielle Bisutti) fell into a deep depression. Hopelessly lost, she did the unthinkable– she abandoned her husband and her infant son –and vanished. Jeff Baker (Anthony Tyler Quinn) was forced to raise their son Ethan as a single father.

Ten years after his wife’s disapperance, Jeff is finally ready to move on and is on the verge of marrying his new girlfriend. His world, however, is dramatically rocked when Heather shockingly reappears in the most unusual place.
(From the “No Greater Love” web site.)

If you liked the movie Fireproof, you’ll almost certainly like No Greater Love. The acting is much better, and so is the production quality. Of course, that’s to be expected when a movie is made by a professional studio hiring professional actors rather than by a church using mostly church members as actors. (That’s certainly not a dig at Sherwood Baptist Church. They did a fantastic and admirable job with both Fireproof and Facing the Giants –both of which you should see, if you haven’t already –it’s just that professional studios and production companies have the resources and budget to put together a more polished product.)

The storyline of No Greater Love is unique and endearing, but believable. The only thing I found to be a bit of a stretch was, well, how do I say this without giving too much away? Let’s just put it like this: It can take a long time and a lot of difficult, painful emotional work for the most Godly among Christians to forgive someone who has wounded them unfathomably. Generally speaking, one would expect that, for a similarly wounded unsaved person, forgiveness would probably come much more slowly and with even greater difficulty. But I suppose there are exceptions to the rule.

Theologically, this movie is right on target. Director, Brad Silverman, says in his commentary on the movie that his goal was to be as theologically correct as possible, and I think he nailed it. To be honest, one of the reasons I picked up this movie was to see if there were any false doctrine or theology in it, so I was on the lookout for Biblical error. None to be found as far as I could tell.

Does No Greater Love overtly share the Gospel, spelling it out step by step? No. That’s your job and mine, not the job of a movie. I think, primarily, this is an entertaining movie which reinforces Biblical truth that Christian viewers (should) already know. But it would also be a great movie to share with unsaved friends as a conversation starter for sharing the Gospel in detail.

For more information on No Greater Love, visit the web site and “like” the Facebook page.

No Greater Love is available for purchase at:
Lionsgate Studios
ChristianBook.com
Amazon.com

1 John Bible Study

Am I Really Saved?: A First John Check Up ~ Lesson 4: Truth and Righteousness

August 12, 2015March 12, 2026 Michelle Lesley

Am I Really Saved? A First John Check Up
Lesson 4: Truth and Righteousness
Please Read: 1 John 2:18-29

Previous Lessons: 1, 2, 3

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

2 Corinthians 13:5

1 John 2:18-20

Am I Really Saved? Checkpoint 6: Do I want to be faithful to a doctrinally sound church?

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

Let’s start off by looking at a few words in verses 18 and 19: “children,” “antichrist,” “antichristS,” and “they”.

It’s always helpful to keep in mind who the audience of a passage of Scripture is. “Children,” as I mentioned last week, reminds us that John is addressing the church, his “children” in the faith (which, by extension, includes Christians today). Apparently, the church had already been taught that Christ would be coming back and that the antichrist would be making his appearance before the Lord’s return. This antichrist is the one-world leader who will fight against and attempt to overthrow Jesus at the end of time.

But just as John has children in the faith, the antichrist (Satan) also has children, and these are the “many antichristS” to whom John refers. These were people, who at one time had been meeting with the church and seemed to be Christians, but who had left the church and become (or joined with) false teachers (see lesson 1 for more info.). This is who “they” in verse 19 is referring to.

John is making clear to the church that those who leave the fellowship of biblical Christianity to follow false teachers and teachings do so because they were never truly saved (“not of us”) in the first place. This is one way we can tell (“that it might become plain”) who is a believer and who is not. Those who are saved desire to stay in fellowship and assembly with a doctrinally sound body of true believers.

Have you left sound biblical doctrine behind to follow after false teachers (for example: Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, TD Jakes, Beth Moore, Paula White, Benny Hinn, etc.)? Do you argue with biblically knowledgeable Christian friends who show you from Scripture that you’re following a false teacher?
Have you stopped going to (a doctrinally sound) church because…

…you’re not sure you believe in God, the truth of Scripture, or that Jesus is the only way of salvation any more?

…what your professors are teaching, what your friends believe, or the tenets of a group you’ve joined seem to make more sense than the Bible?

…you’re just not interested in church any more and have better things to do?

…you’re tired of feeling guilty for participating in your favorite sin?

Do you love fellowshipping, worshiping, and studying God’s word with other believers? Do you faithfully attend (a doctrinally sound) church because your heart craves it? Would you rather hear sound teaching in which God’s word steps on your toes than false teaching that tickles your ears?

1 John 2:21-28

Again, John uses two polarizing words (as he did with “light” and “darkness” in chapter 1) several times in this passage to draw a sharp distinction between those who are saved and those who are not. What are the two words John uses? (v. 21, 22, 27)

Am I Really Saved? Checkpoint 7: Do I believe in the Jesus of Scripture?

I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.

Here, John continues to explain to the church what constitutes an antichrist and why antichrists are not believers. Notice what he says in verse 21, “no lie is of the truth.” It seems like such an obvious statement, but have you ever said, when told that a teacher you’re following teaches things that are unbiblical, “Oh I just chew up the meat and spit out the bones”? John is saying that if the teacher you were following were biblical, there wouldn’t be any bones to spit out. Doctrinally sound preachers, teachers, and authors might make a mistake and repent of it from time to time, but they don’t persist in teaching lies. No lie is of a true teacher.

Another thing to take note of in this passage, again, is that John is talking to believers. When he uses words like “Jesus,” “Christ,” “Father,” and “Son,” they, and we, understand that he means Jesus, Christ, Father, and Son as defined in Scripture alone. Even as early as John’s day there were false teachers who led people to believe in a Jesus who was a mere man, others who taught he was only God at certain times, and others who completely twisted the biblical definition of who God and Jesus are.

It’s the same today. Mormons are one good example. They say the believe in Jesus, but they aren’t using the biblical definition of who Jesus is. They’re using the Mormon definition of Jesus, the spirit brother of Lucifer, born of a sexual relationship between God and Mary. John is saying that if you deny the Jesus of the Bible, you are not a Christian.

Mormons may be a clear cut example of people who deny the biblical Christ, but are you sure you believe in the Jesus of Scripture? Have you ever said anything like:

The God I believe in would never send people to hell.

Jesus was just a good moral teacher.

God is love. He forgives everybody.

Jesus just wants people to be happy. He would be fine with me divorcing my husband/being a homosexual/living with my boyfriend/not attending church/etc.

What is “what you heard from the beginning” in v. 24, and what does it mean for “what you heard from the beginning” to “abide” in you? How does this phrase/concept help John pivot from talking about what an unbeliver is to what a believer is?
What is the “if/then” statement John makes in verse 24? What does God promise in verse 25 to the “then” people?
John uses the word “abide” several times in verses 26-28. Examine his meaning in each use of the word. What does verse 28 say the ultimate result of abiding in Christ will be?

1 John 2:29

Am I Really Saved? Checkpoint 8: Do I practice righteousness?

If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

Last week we were careful not to get the cart before the horse in that it is not good or righteous behavior that turns someone into a Christian. It’s the opposite. Genuine, visible righteousness springs from a heart that has truly been born again.

John also makes sure we know he’s talking about habitually being righteous like Christ was righteous. Remember, the Pharisees acted righteous, and Jesus saw right through them and gave them a piece of His mind.

Describe what it means that Jesus is “righteous”. What are some Scriptures that show how Jesus’ righteousness manifested itself during His earthly ministry?
Is Christlike righteousness a habit that springs from your heart because you love Jesus? What are some ways you see the righteousness of Christ working itself out in your daily life?
Do you ever find yourself having to “put on” outward righteous behavior in front of others to keep up the appearance that you’re a Christian?

This week we’ve looked at three more “Am I Really Saved?” checkpoints:

Do I want to be faithful to a doctrinally sound church?

Do I believe in the Jesus of Scripture?

Do I practice righteousness?

A saved person will be able to honestly answer “yes” to all of these questions. While none of us are perfect at it, we trend towards a desire for righteousness of both heart and behavior. We love the Jesus of Scripture and the churches, pastors, and teachers who dare to teach Him in all of His glorious truth and splendor.

An unsaved person might be able to put on righteous behaviors, but has no righteousness of heart, because she is still dead in her trespasses and sins. She may believe in a “Jesus” who conforms to her own opinions and worldly standards, but not the true Jesus of Scripture. And she certainly has no desire to attend a doctrinally sound church where her self-made label of “Christian” or “good person” will be challenged by a call to repentance and faith in the true Christ of the Bible.

Additional Resources:

1 John 2– Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Are You Really a Christian? by Todd Friel

True or False? A Study in 1 John– at Naomi’s Table (lessons 10-11)

1 John Bible Study

Am I Really Saved?: A First John Check Up ~ Lesson 3: Love and Hate

August 5, 2015March 12, 2026 Michelle Lesley

Am I Really Saved? A First John Check Up
Lesson 3: Love and Hate
Please Read: 1 John 2:1-17

Previous Lessons: 1, 2

(Helpful Hint: Using the cross-references {footnotes to related verses} provided in your Bible or in the Bible Gateway links I’ve provided will be very helpful as you study.)

1 John 1:8-2:2

The closing verses of chapter 1, as we saw in last week’s lesson, deal with whether or not a person walks in unrepentant sin. Lost people deny that they are sinners and continue, unrepentantly, in their sin. (1:8, 10) Saved people confess their sin and are forgiven through Christ. (1:9)

John continues his line of thought in the opening verses of chapter 2 (Remember, when he wrote this, there were no chapters and verses. It was just a letter like you might write today.). He’s not writing just to point out sin and how lost and saved people deal with sin differently. He’s writing so that people will not sin. (2:1)

But when Christians (“my little children” refers to John’s “children” in the faith), do sin, John reminds us, Christ has already paid the penalty for our sin. Verses 1-2 of chapter 2 encourage us to remember this, repent, and be forgiven.

And that’s not all. Look at those great little words at the end of verse 2: “but also for the sins of the whole world.” That means that if you examined yourself according to 1 John 1 and found that you are indeed a liar who walks in the darkness while claiming to belong to Christ (1:6), or someone who denies that she’s a sinner, or claims she’s not sinning when she does things the Bible clearly labels as sin (1:8, 10), and you’re grieved over that and want to repent, there is hope.

The perfectly sinless son of God, Jesus Christ, stepped between you and God (“advocate,” 2:1) and propitiated God’s wrath against you for your sin so that you could be reconciled to God. He offers this precious gift of salvation to anyone who will turn from her sin and place her faith in Christ. (2:2)

What did you discover last week when you examined yourself according to 1 John 1? Do you walk in the darkness or in the light? Do you agree with the Bible’s definition of sin and confess your sins, or argue against the Bible and continue in sin?
Has there ever been a time in your life when you came before God, confessed and admitted that He is right about your sin and you are wrong, asked His forgiveness, and placed your faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as payment for your sin? If not, I urge you to do so now.
If you are saved, this passage is also an encouragement to remember, when you sin – and you will – that Christ has already paid the penalty for your sin. Remember the hope you have in Christ. Repent and be forgiven.

1 John 2:3-6

Am I Really Saved? Checkpoint 3: Do I keep God’s commands?

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

With this passage, we have to make sure we don’t get the cart before the horse. John is not, I repeat, not saying that you become a Christian by being a good person and obeying all of God’s rules. The Bible is exceedingly clear that salvation does not come from our good works but by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

John is saying that people who have genuinely been born again keep God’s word out of a heart of love for Him. Apple trees just naturally grow apples because they’re apple trees. You could buy a bag of apples at the store and tie them to an oak tree, but that would not make it an apple tree. It would just be an oak tree with fake fruit hanging from it. See?

Examine your heart- do you desire to keep God’s commandments? Why? What is your motive for obedience to God’s word? Are you an apple tree growing apples or an oak tree trying to pass yourself off, with fake fruit, as an apple tree?
Verse 4 is very similar to 1:6. Do you claim to be a Christian while actively disobeying Scripture, justifying your sin, or giving no consideration to keeping God’s commands? What do 1:6 and 2:4 call people who do this? Is this the description of a saved person or an unsaved person?
What does it mean to “walk in the same way in which [Jesus] walked”? Are there any areas of your life that don’t match up with the way Jesus lived?

1 John 2:7-14:

What is the “new commandment” John refers to in verses 7-8?

Am I Really Saved? Checkpoint 4: Do I hate others? (9-11)

9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

This passage talks about living a lifestyle of hate. Do you have an ongoing pattern of hate in your life? Do you hate a certain person? People who behave a certain way? A a certain racial group or class of people?
Compare this passage to 1:5-7. Which two words does John again use to draw a sharp contrast between sin and holiness? What does 2:9 say about people who claim to be Christians, yet whose lives are characterized by hate? What does 2:10 say about the one who loves his brother? Which characterizes the life of the Christian, love or hate?
Which three groups of people does John address in verses 12-14? What are the reasons he gives for writing to them?

1 John 2:15-17:

Am I Really Saved? Checkpoint 5: Do I love worldliness?

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

What does verse 15 mean when it says not to love “the things in the world”? How does verse 16 define this phrase? Can you give some real life examples of “the desires of the flesh”? “The desires of the eyes”? “The pride of life”? Why does verse 16 say these things are “not from the Father”?
What does verse 15 say about people who love the things of the world? If “the love of the Father is not in” a person, is that person a Christian? Instead of loving the world, what characterizes a Christian, according to verse 17? Which is temporary, the world, or the one who does the will of God? Which is eternal? (17)

This week, we are examining our salvation with three questions:

1. Do I keep God’s commands?

2. Do I hate others?

3. Do I love worldliness?

Christians, out of love for God, desire to obey Him, love others, and reject worldliness. Lost people may behave outwardly in a way that looks like obedience to God’s commands, but, because they have not been born again, there is no love for Him leading to true obedience and love for others. The lost person’s true love is the things of this temporal world.

Where do you stand in light of 1 John 2:1-17? Do you love the right things, such as God’s word, others, and the things of God? Do you hate the right things, like sin and worldliness? Prayerfully examine your heart, comparing your motives and actions to these Scriptures. Surrender your life to Christ if you find that you are not truly saved. If you are saved, repent of any sin God reveals to you and ask Him to help you “walk in the same way in which [Jesus] walked.”

Additional Resources:

1 John 2– Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Heaven’s Perspective on the Cross: Satisfaction– by John MacArthur

True or False? A Study in 1 John– at Naomi’s Table (lessons 7-9)

Gospel, Homosexuality, Salvation, Sin, Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday ~ Cancer: A Love Story

May 21, 2015May 20, 2015 Michelle Lesley

Originally published April 7, 2013

Cancer.

The dreadfulness of the word hung heavy in the air between Jana and her friend Denise.

“The doctor says it’s terminal,” Denise choked, “I’m so confused. I don’t know what to do.”

Jana’s heart broke as she envisioned the difficult emotional road ahead for Denise and watched the tears streaming down her face.

“I’d do anything to take that pain away,” thought Jana. “Anything.”

For days after they parted, Jana’s thoughts were consumed with how she could help Denise accept and feel better about her condition. By the weekend, when they met for coffee, Jana was ready.

“Denise,” she began, “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and I think I know why you’re so uncomfortable with having cancer.”

“Oh? Why?” asked Denise.

“Well, first of all, you shouldn’t be fighting against the idea of having cancer. It’s a completely natural biological event. In fact, you were probably born genetically predisposed to cancer. It’s part of who you are. Accept it and embrace it as something that makes you unique and wonderful!”

Denise seemed skeptical, but Jana plunged ahead.

“You’re also worried about what other people will think of you. Maybe they’ll think you’re weak and try to help you with things that you’d rather do for yourself.”

“But maybe I’ll need some help,” Denise suggested quietly.

“Nonsense!” Jana retorted, “Having cancer doesn’t make you different from anybody else. It’s exactly the same as not having cancer. What we need to do is show that to the world. Maybe we should have a rally for cancer equality!”

“Jana, that’s great and all,” Denise whispered somberly, “but I’m going to die. That makes all the stuff you’re talking about seem a lot less important.”

Jana seems like a very loving and kind person, but does the “help” she was offering Denise seem…well…helpful?

What if I told you that during this entire scenario, Jana personally knew a doctor who had a proven cure for Denise’s type of cancer, and was giving it away, yet Jana never told Denise? How loving and kind does Jana seem now?

Now read back through this story and substitute “homosexuality” for “cancer”.

We live in a culture that tells Christians that we are to “love” our homosexual friends and loved ones by embracing homosexuality as good and natural. We even hear people who claim to be Christians saying this. But is this how the Bible defines love? Is this how Jesus loved people?

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:10-11

Think back over the encounters Jesus had with people, from the woman at the well, to Zaccheus, to Nicodemus, to the woman caught in adultery, to the rich young ruler, to anybody else Jesus ever interacted with.

Did Jesus ever “love” someone by telling him it was OK to stay in his sin?

No, He didn’t.

Jesus loved sinners by calling them to repentance, forgiveness, and a new life in Christ.

Why? Because it isn’t love to help the slave to embrace his chains. It’s love to set him free.

Christ loved us by going to the cross and becoming the propitiation –satisfying God’s wrath—for our sins. He laid down His life for our freedom.

And, Christian, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. We must lay down our opinions, our politics, our ideas of what we’d like the Bible to say, maybe even our actual lives, in order to help people know freedom in Christ. We have the cure for their spiritual cancer—the gospel—and it is not “love” to knowingly misdiagnose them or keep that cure from them.

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13

But as important as it is to rescue the perishing, there’s an even greater issue at stake here for those of us who claim the name of Christ.

For our sin, our Savior endured wrongful conviction, ridicule, mockery, and bullying.

For our sin, our Savior was slapped, punched, spit on, had His beard yanked out, and thorns and brambles mashed into His skull.

For our sin, our Savior had the skin flayed off His back, buttocks, and legs, whipped nearly to death until He was a bloody mess.

For our sin, our Savior, beaten, bloody, and broken of body, hoisted a heavy, splintery cross onto His shoulders and carried it through town and up the hill to His execution.

One nail.

Two nails.

Three nails.

For your sin. For my sin. For our neighbors’ sin.

How dare you, or I, or anyone spit in the face of our bleeding, dying Savior by saying that the sin that put Him on the cross is OK?

How dare we?

How can any of us claim to love Christ while celebrating the nails, the spear, the crown of thorns?

By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
1 John 2:5b-6

Jesus walked the way of leading people to repentance from sin and to the beauty, the freedom of a glorious new life through faith in Himself. Will we, who say we abide in Him, love Jesus and our homosexual neighbor enough to walk in the same way in which He walked?

Homosexuality, Salvation

God Loves Gays

May 8, 2015May 7, 2015 Michelle Lesley

Last week, as I was mindlessly flipping through Facebook, this picture caught my eye. It was attached to a news article about the Supreme Court’s hearing on same sex “marriage”. I was already at my saturation point with the reporting on the day’s events, but this picture just reached out and grabbed my heart.

“God loves gays,” the young man’s sign says. Rarely, perhaps never, has a statement been so beautifully true and so painfully false all at the same time.

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:7-8

It’s true. God does love gays. He doesn’t love them because He sees what they might someday become after leaving the lifestyle behind. He doesn’t love them because they’re great “fixer upper” projects. He doesn’t love them because He feels sorry for them. He just loves them. Right where they are. Not after they get cleaned up. Now.

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Have you ever really thought about the implications of that statement?

God loves the homosexual man while he is sodomizing his partner.

God loves the gang banger while he is pulling the trigger of his gun.

God loves the prostitute while she is servicing her client.

God loves the child molester while he is violating that precious little one.

God loves the atheist soldier in a godless country while he is torturing Christians.

In the deepest, blackest night of our sin, God loves each and every one of us. Only a profoundly, unfathomably good and kind God could, or would, do such a thing.

But the story doesn’t end there.

You see, as unbelievable as it is that God could love someone so drenched in evil, He takes things a step further. God’s love motivated Him to act.

while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Rescue. Redemption. Salvation. However you want to put it, God personally came down and sacrificed Himself so that even the most wretched sinner would have a way out. No more enslavement to evil. No more being pawns of the devil in his never-ending quest for revenge against the King. No more separation from God, now, or in eternity.

God drove a cross-shaped stake into the ground at Calvary and said, “No more.”

God does love gays. And murderers. And child rapists. And hookers. And even prideful, rebellious, good little Sunday School girls like me. But not like this young man’s sign implies. He thinks God shows love by approving of his homosexuality. But an all-powerful God who would say He loves sinners and yet leave them to rot in their sin without lifting a finger to help them isn’t loving. Isn’t all-powerful. Isn’t God.

God does love you, my young friend. You simply have no idea how much.