November 28 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

1 John 1:

¹That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
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;)
³That 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.
⁴And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
⁵This 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.
⁶If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
⁷But 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.
⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Devotional

This is a very familiar verse, but a verse the meaning of which the human understanding cannot fathom. God's love is so infinitely great and incomprehensible. God, the holy God, loved the world of sinners. He loved them so intensely that He gave his only begotten Son. He gave him as a propitiation for our sins. And the great purpose of giving his Son was the salvation of all that believe. Who are to be saved? Our text does not say: Every one that is pious and good, that has attained to an emi­nent degree of holiness, that has done much for the kingdom of God, but, he that believeth, no matter who he is or what he is. Faith is pleasing to God. But what is faith? Not a work wrought by our own might. Not something that makes us worthy of salvation. Faith is wrought in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It is the means by which we lay hold of salvation. When sin has gone over our head, when death reigns in all our members, when all hope of salvation seems to be gone, and we must confess, "I am the chief of sinners," then we belong to the world which God has loved. And if in this condition we look to the crucified Saviour and believe on him, we shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

Prayer

O our Father, we thank Thee for Thine infinite love in Christ Jesus. We cannot understand how Thou couldst love us, who are Thine enemies by nature. We cannot understand how Thou couldst deliver up Thine only begotten Son for us unworthy and sinful creatures, deliver him up to shame and pain and cruel death, so that we might have life and joy and peace. O God, help us to adore Thee, to abide in Thy love, and to glorify Thy name. Amen.

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