1. As indicated at 3 John 3, 4, what makes us happy?

This text mentions to us that the Apostle John was happy when he heard that Christians to whom he had helped them know the truth continued to serve the Lord, just as we feel happy when our children are physical or spiritual dedicate their lives to the Lord and continue to serve.

See how the words of 3 John 4 are fulfilled where it says, \”Nothing gives me more joy than hearing that my children continue to walk in the truth.\” Whether this is accomplished in physical or spiritual children, we too feel happy when they dedicate their lives to the Lord and continue to serve Him.—Read 3 John 3, 4.

2. What was the purpose of the letters that John wrote?

2 The aim of the letters was to encourage loyal Christians to maintain faith in Jesus and to continue to walk in the truth.

The holy spirit of the Lord prompted him to write these three letters with the aim of encouraging loyal Christians to maintain faith in Jesus and to continue to walk in truth.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The insightful book mentions about John\’s three letters that John probably wrote them when he was old because he used expressions such as \”little children\” or \”little children.\” Also, although the name of the Apostle John is not mentioned in any of these three letters, it can be trusted that he wrote them because there are many similarities between the gospel that bears his name and these.

These three letters highlight tips such as maintaining Christian unity, loving God by keeping His commandments, avoiding darkness by walking in the light, showing love for brothers and sisters, and continually walking in truth. Despite his advanced age, the Apostle John was a great source of encouragement and strength for the congregations of Asia Minor and for all Christians who read his letters, it will certainly be of great benefit to study them (it-2 pp. 144).

3. What questions will we answer?

3 We will answer three questions; What does it mean to walk in truth, what obstacles do we face? and how to help each other stay on the truth?

The Apostle John gave on these issues is very valuable because he faced a time when there was a dangerous influence on the part of the false teachers mentioned in 1 John 2:18, 19.

NOTE OF THE BOX: \”THE ANTICHRIST IS DISCOVERED\”

As mentioned in the box, the Apostle John had plenty of reasons to be concerned as he was the last of the apostles to be mentioned alive and would face the challenge of helping congregations to defeat false teachers who tried to deceive God\’s congregation.

It may be that because of Greek philosophy and its popularity in those days many men ensured that God had granted them a mystical power. Because of these deceptions John called them antichrists, or people who teach things against Christ.

In the article \”The antichrist is discovered\”, which was referenced in the box; \”John\’s letters in context\” is explained to us about the term antichrist. We can emphasize that this term is only found in two of the Apostle John\’s three letters, and this article tells us that this term refers not only to one person but to a collective or group of people that includes religious leaders who teach falsehoods, apostates, people who mixed human philosophy with Christianity, among others.* (1 John 2:18, 19, 26) 

4. According to 1 John 2:3-6 and 2 John 4, 6, what is involved in walking in the truth?

4 These two texts emphasize that to walk in the truth, we must first know this set of teaching found in the Bible, and second we must obey the commandments of the Lord, in this matter Jesus is the perfect example so we must follow in his footsteps.

First we must know the truth, which is in the Word of God, the Bible, and besides, we must obey the commandments of the Lord. And an important way to achieve this is by following in The Footsteps of Jesus as faithfully as possible since he set the perfect example in this matter.

Verses from 1 John 2:3 and 2 John 6 should be highlighted. These two texts use 3 times the terms \”keep walking\” or \”continue obeying\”. Both expressions wish to convey the fact that walking in truth is not a unique and lasting process, that once you start to walk in the truth so you will continue forever, rather it is an ongoing process that requires our special attention day by day to never stop doing so.—John 8:29 (Read 1 John 2:3-6; 2 John 4, 6; 1 Pet. 2:21).

5. Of what must we be convinced?

5 We must be convinced of the truth about Jehovah and Jesus that is why we must study the bible that teaches us that Jehovah is the God of truth and everything he tells us in his word is true and that Jesus is the promised Messiah and that he is the King of the Kingdom of God, when we come to learn and have exact knowledge about this we will be completely convinced that we have the truth and no one can deceive us.

We must be convinced of three things that include Jehovah, Jesus Christ, and the Bible. In the case of Jehovah we must fully trust that he is the God of truth and that, therefore, everything that the Bible tells us in his Word is true. And in the case of Jesus Christ we must fully and sincerely recognize him as the promised Messiah.

Surely most of us here present, if not we all believe in these three things that have just been mentioned, that Jehovah is the True God, that what the Bible says is true and that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. However, what we must meditate on is the level of our conviction regarding these three things, since in the world in which we live there are many impostors and liars who daily try to deceive us or weaken that conviction.

This article will be very useful as it will reinforce the fact that the only way to avoid being deceived is by studying the Word of God since only then will we come to know Jehovah and Jesus completely. (2 John 7-11; 1 John 2:22; John 17:3)

6. What is one obstacle that young Christians face?

6 The obstacle that young people must face is not to be fooled by human ideas, for example the paragraph mentions a young woman who had to face this trap, she says that when she was in school studying about evolution and others Human philosophies made her doubt the truth, but she did not limit herself to accepting what they told her in class, rather she studied what Jehovah says in the bible and the book life also helps. How was it presented here? By evolution or by creation? And in a matter of weeks her doubts had disappeared, she convinced herself that the bible has the truth and that living according to it would give her happiness and peace.

Because our young people are to some extent the most exposed to human ideas, because they spend a lot of time in school with teachers and peers, they face the danger that topics like evolution or human philosophies will seem interesting and make them fall into the trap of beginning to doubt the truth.

And although the paragraph mentions that young people are the most vulnerable, the reality is that we all are. We live in the information age and news that is viral in a school can also be in our homes since it enters through our mobile devices. So we must all be very careful with what we are letting into our home and be selective and blunt as to which sites or pages we will allow to influence our mind and the mind of our family.

7. What pressure must we resist, and why?

7 All Christians must fight against the temptation to lead a double life, we must bear in mind that if we are leading a double life, first we deceive ourselves, because we are not practicing the truth and secondly Jehovah knows he sees everything as Hebrews says 4:13 all things are naked and fully exposed to the eyes of the one to whom we are accountable.

Against the temptation to lead a double life. Whether we are young or old, this temptation is a bond for all of us since our own imperfection leads us to the bad. However, we must strive to do so as it would be very foolish for us to try to deceive Jehovah because of what Hebrews 4:13 mentions \”all things are naked and totally exposed to his eyes.\”—Heb. 4:13; (1 John 1:6)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

According to the October 2018 watchtower on its pages 9 and 10 paragraph 15 leading a double life is when someone pretends to be a good Christian in front of the congregation and their family, but behaves in a way that is not typical of Christians when they are with young people of the world or when using social networks. This attitude has a lot to do with their little or no conviction of the 3 things we talked about in paragraph 5, rather than being convinced of these, they are actually more interested in the apparent brilliance of satan\’s system and want to live it to the fullest.

8. What must we reject?

8 We must reject the world\’s attitude towards sin, Christians must see that this is a serious danger that can influence us, because in general people say they believe in God, but they do not accept what he says about sin, especially in Sex issues, they call it personal preference or alternative lifestyle, so we must be firm and reject that way of thinking and acting in the world.

We must reject the world\’s attitude toward sin. This attitude is like the one mentioned in 1 John 1: 8, people tell themselves that they have no sin but in reality they deceive themselves, and that attitude or way of thinking only makes them be lax about it. time to accept what Jehovah says about sin.

In the box that we analyze regarding the context of the letters of the apostle John, we analyze that people who teach things against Christ are called antichrists. Due to this we can conclude that today we are living in a world full of antichrists, since the acceptance of what the world calls alternative lifestyles, lifestyles that the Bible actually condemns, is becoming more and more popular. So we should not let these antichrists weaken our conviction of what the Bible says about sin. (1 John 1:8) 

9. How do young ones benefit by sticking to their Bible-based convictions?

9 Young people must remember that if they live according to their biblical convictions, they are protecting their dignity, their health, their emotional well-being and their friendship with Jehovah, all of this is more valuable than what Satan offers with his crooked world, so young people how many The more temptations they resist, the easier it will be for them to do what is right, and when they do they show that they are defeating the devil.

Although the pressures can be strong or even a little humiliating, by living according to our conviction of biblical truths we protect our dignity, our physical health, our emotional well-being, our value as persons and especially our friendship with Jehovah. To achieve this we must always keep in mind that the opinion that matters most to us is that of our God Jehovah.

The expression found in the paragraph where it is said that the more temptations we resist, the easier it will be for us to do the right thing made me think of a muscle. The more we exercise this, the more we use it, the stronger and more skilled it becomes, but if we neglect it, but if we do not exercise it, this muscle can even atrophy or be damaged. In the same way, we should endeavor to use our conviction of biblical truths enough to overcome the trials we face.

ILLUSTRATION

In this illustration we can clearly see what our young people may face in schools. We can see how our sister sees a poster on a wall in her school which refers to support for people with homosexual inclinations. Perhaps observing this and observing the support of so many people for these people makes you think that there is wrong with it. However, she does not allow doubts to take root in her mind or in her heart and she puts to work and listens to Jehovah\’s reasons found in her Word the Bible. After testing and verifying for herself what Jehovah says regarding homosexual behavior, our little sister firmly defends her convictions before a group of colleagues who pressure her to also support this movement. We can all follow this example by strengthening our faith in what Jehovah says about what is right and what is wrong, so that we can stand up for what we believe.—1 John 2:14.

10. How does 1 John 1:9 help us to serve Jehovah with a clean conscience?

10 As we have inherited imperfection, we all sin either with our words or with our works, for us it is a real struggle to do good, that is why as this text says we have to humbly ask Jehovah to forgive us based on our faith in the sacrifice of His son, also if we have committed a serious sin and we repent and seek the help of the elders, Jehovah will forgive us and in this way we can serve him with a clear conscience.

The text of 1 John 3:19, 2 contains words that comfort and comfort those who may have made serious mistakes. He mentions that even if it is \”our own heart that God condemns us is bigger than our heart and can make our heart feel safe.\” There may be those who feel that their past mistakes overwhelm them, but how we see these verses encourage us not to have those feelings rather we must trust that if Jehovah has helped us through the elders our sins have been forgotten and we can serve him God with a clear conscience.

The text of 1 John 3:19, 2 contains words that comfort and comfort those who may have made serious mistakes. He mentions that even if it is \”our own heart that God condemns us is bigger than our heart and can make our heart feel safe.\” There may be those who feel that their past mistakes overwhelm them, but how we see these verses encourage us not to have those feelings rather we must trust that if Jehovah has helped us through the elders our sins have been forgotten and we can serve him God with a clear conscience.

This text helps us because it gives us the confidence that if we confess our sins to Jehovah, because he is faithful and just, he will forgive them and cleanse us from all injustice. So we should not fear if we sin since we serve a forgiving God, although we must bear in mind that if we have seriously sinned we will have to ask for help from those whom Jehovah has appointed, namely the elders of our congregation. (Read 1 John 1:9; Jas. 5:14-16; 1 John 2:1, 2, 12; 3:19, 20).

11. How can we protect our mind from teachings that could harm our faith?

11 True Christians must be able to distinguish between a truth and a lie, if we do not do so we run the risk that Satan through apostates will sow doubts in our minds, and weaken our trust in Jehovah and the love we have for them. Brothers, in the paragraph there is an asterisk that invites us to see the topic, Do we have all the data? In this article we are reminded that biblical principles protect us and help us to use safe data and consult reliable sources to draw conclusions good decisions and make good decisions.

By learning to distinguish between a truth and a lie. These lies abound on the Internet and social networks so we must be careful when using these as apostates use them to try to weaken our trust in Jehovah and the love we have for our brothers.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The article “Do we have all the data?” From The Watchtower of August 2018 explained that currently we are bombarded with a lot of information through the Internet, television and other media, but it is not always reliable information since there is malicious individuals who distribute misleading information and misrepresent the facts. Therefore, we must be careful and evaluate well what we read and hear.

In the article “Do we have all the data?”, Which is cited in the note to this paragraph, he also advised us not to waste time browsing unreliable news sites on the Internet or reading emails or text messages that contain rumors. Above all, it is important that we avoid websites that promote apostates. The sources that help us to have all the data regarding us as Jehovah\’s Witnesses can be found on the j w .org site under the sections “Breaking News”, “Press” and “JW Broadcasting”.* —1 John 4:1, 6; Rev. 12:9.

12. Why should we deepen our appreciation for the truths we have learned?

12 We know that faith is an act of trust that is based on accurate knowledge and experience, therefore we must regularly study the word of God which is the truth, also strengthen our trust in Jesus and in the role that they fulfill the purpose of God and we must trust in the only channel that Jehovah uses to direct his organization the faithful and prudent slave, in this way our faith will be solid and will serve as a shield against Satan.

Because only by doing this can we resist satan\’s attacks. If we strengthen our faith through regular study of the Bible, it will become like a tree with deep roots, and it will not be influenced by anything that satan or his supporters do.

The paragraph mentions that if we strengthen our faith with what we learn from the Bible it will become like a tree with deep roots. I gave myself the task of investigating which is the tree with the deepest roots and I found that in South Africa a tree called Boscia albitrunca was found which had roots 68 meters deep, due to the prolonged droughts these trees in the area need dig deep to find water and nutrients. We live in a dry world, spiritually speaking, that is why we also need to deepen our study of the Bible to constantly nurture our faith in Jehovah.​—2 John 8, 9.

13. What should we expect, and why?

13 The bible identifies satan as the ruler of this world, that is why the world hates us, as he knows that his end is near, he is furious and uses different means to attack us, among them he uses force to stop preaching or destroy our faith In some countries our work has even been banned, but our brothers continue to endure showing fidelity and loyalty to Jehovah.

We know that the world hates us because it is under the control of our enemy satan the devil. And if we add to that that he is furious because he has little time left, we should not be surprised by the large number of subtle means by which he attacks us.

Knowing this, we must not let the hatred of nations intimidate us. For example, the fact that in some nations our work is forbidden, rather than discouraging us, it must be a cause of joy such and how the disciples of Jesus rejoiced when the rulers of their time persecuted them. In the same way, we must continue to endure and pray for our brothers who suffer this type of hatred from the world and show that no matter what they do, we will remain faithful. (1 John 3:13; 1 John 5:19; Rev. 12:12) 

14. What is one way we can help our brothers and sisters to remain in the truth?

14 One way is by being compassionate with them, for example. Do we respond quickly to the need for material and spiritual help from our brothers, who have lost a loved one? or who suffer from natural disasters? or lack of employment or illnesses and they need our help? We must bear in mind that true love and compassion is demonstrated above all by actions, not just by words.

According to 1 John 3:10, 11 the children of God and those of the devil recognize each other “by practicing justice and by loving their brother”, so one way to help each other to continue with integrity in the truth is to be compassionate towards each other . In this way we will also show that we are servants of our God Jehovah.

And the best way to show love and compassion to our brothers is with actions and not just with words. For example, if we know a brother who has lost a loved one and needs comfort or some kind of help, or if we know that due to a natural disaster the brothers need help to rebuild their Kingdom Halls or their homes, we should offer ourselves willingly. and help them either with our financial resources or with our strength. (1 John 3:10, 11, 16-18) 

15. As stated at 1 John 4:7, 8, what do we need to do?

15 These texts invite us to show love to each other by imitating our loving God Jehovah, and one way to show this love is by forgiving others, this means that when someone hurts us, love will not lead us to forgive them and forget what they did, that is precisely what brother Andy mentioned in this paragraph did, he was offended when a brother made a hurtful comment about the people of his culture, Aldo asked Jehovah for help not to see this brother with bad eyes and then he did something Moreover, he invited him to go out and preach there, he explained how he felt, the brother apologized and by his tone of voice he realized that he was sorry from the heart so they made peace and forgot what happened.

We should show love to one another in imitation of our God Jehovah. And one important way to show love is by forgiving others. For example, if someone hurts us, love will lead us to forgive him and forget what he did (Colossians 3:13).

Brother Aldo\’s example is a great way to handle an offense between siblings. Although Aldo became very offended, he did not make the biggest problem and this offense only remained between him, the brother who offended him, and Jehovah. Aldo also asked Jehovah for help so as not to look down on the brother who offended him. Thanks to his excellent way of bearing this offense they both made peace and forgot what happened (Read 1 John 4:7, 8; Col. 3:13) 

16-17. What should be our determination?

16 We must resolve to walk in the truth and obey Jehovah in everything we do, so we must study the Bible and trust it, strengthen our faith in Jesus, reject human ideas and what apostates say, fight against living a double life and yield to sin and allow it to be guided by Jehovah\’s high moral standards without forgetting that we must forgive our brothers and help them when they need it.

We must be determined to walk in the truth and obey Jehovah in all that we do. We will achieve this by studying his Word and trusting in it, strengthening our faith in Jesus, rejecting human ideas and what apostates say. Fighting the temptation to lead a double life and not giving in to sin. Rather, let us be guided by Jehovah\’s high moral standards. And let us help our brothers to stay strong by forgiving those who offend us and helping those in need.

We must be determined to walk in the truth and obey Jehovah in all that we do. We will achieve this by studying his Word and trusting in it, strengthening our faith in Jesus, rejecting human ideas and what apostates say. Fighting the temptation to lead a double life and not giving in to sin. Rather, let us be guided by Jehovah\’s high moral standards. And let us help our brothers to stay strong by forgiving those who offend us and helping those in need.​—1 John 2:27.

HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER?

• What does it mean to walk in the truth?

• It means that we have to know and accept the set of teachings found in the Bible and we must obey all the commandments that Jehovah teaches us, making Jehovah\’s revealed truth the very center or axis of our entire life.

  It means having a full conviction that Jehovah is the God of truth and that, therefore, everything that the Bible tells us in his Word is true. And in the case of Jesus Christ we must fully and sincerely recognize him as the promised Messiah.

• What obstacles do we face?

• Christians must reject human ideas and what apostates say fight the temptation to lead a double life and give in to sin.

  We are faced with human ideas that can cast doubt on our trust in Jehovah, with the world\’s weak and light attitude towards sin which, if we are not careful, can cause us to become infected with that attitude too and, to apostasy, the which seeks to sow doubts in the minds of God\’s faithful servants.

• How can we help our brothers and sisters remain in the truth?

• We learned two ways, first being compassionate, true love and compassion for our brothers and sisters, we will demonstrate it above all with actions, not only with words, and secondly, by forgiving others, we must make peace and forgive from the heart.

  Being compassionate with our brothers through actions especially when our brothers need us most, whether we have to spend physical or economic resources in their favor. And also show our love to them by resolving misunderstandings that arise between us and forgiving them completely.

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• SONG 49 Making Jehovah’s Heart Glad