Episode Details

Welcome to the Hope Bible School verse-by-verse Bible study of 1 John. This is Jeff M Newman. Get a new lesson every other week on Mondays at 12:00 PM Pacific.

In Lesson 46 we are going to study the last part of 1 John 2:17.

Let’s read this part of the verse.

1 John 2:17...but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

Now, let’s take a look at the definition of the words.

but (1161. de) means on the other hand or in contrast to.

whoever does (3588. ho, hé, to) (4160. poieó) means the person who makes, keeps, fulfills, or performs habitually. This is in the present tense.

the will of God (2307. theléma) means God’s wishes, desires, commands, or purposes.

lives (3306. menó) means to remain, abide, dwell, or not depart.

forever (165. aión) means for eternity, for an unbroken time, or stretching to infinity.

Right before this part of the verse, John was speaking about all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He explained that the world and its lusts are passing away; they are temporary.

In contrast, if a person is in the habit of keeping, fulfilling, or performing God's wishes, desires, commands, or purposes, they will abide in, remain in, and not depart from a relationship with God for eternity.

It is important to understand that salvation isn’t based on works. In other words there are no amount of good deeds that you can do in order to earn a right relationship with God.

When someone first believes in Jesus and accepts Him as Lord and Savior, they will be saved from eternal death and live forever with God. (John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9).

Through their faith, they are born into God’s family.

Salvation is a gift from God and not earned by works (Romans 5:1-2). That means there is nothing that they need to do to earn salvation other than putting their faith in Christ. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace. (Romans 3:24)

Once a person puts their faith in Jesus, God will dwell within them (Ephesians 3:17, Galatians 2:20). God will give them the strength and enable them to obey His commands. (Romans 8:11-14, Galatians 5:16-17, Philippians 2:12-13, 2 Peter 1:3-4, Romans 8:3-4, Galatians 5:22-25, Ephesians 3:16-17)

The person who does the will of God and lives forever is the person who has put their faith in Christ, surrendered to Him, and is enabled by the Holy Spirit to o