1 John 3-4

 

1 John 3:1-10 – Loving as God’s Children

If you are a believer, you are a child of God.  So you are a stranger to the wor
ld.  He loves us, but went further than that to call us His children.  By receiving Him, He gave us the right to become His children.  We can know and have the assurance that we are included in His family.   We grow in the image of Jesus now, but when we see Jesus we will truly be like Him. (1 John 3:1-3) 

If we make a practice of sinning, we practice lawlessness.  Our sin is an offense against God, but the work of Jesus is to take away our sins.  We cannot do it ourselves.  Only Jesus can do that because He had no sin.  No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning.  True fellowship with God cannot result in ongoing sinful living without repentance.  We all sin because we are human, but believers do not live a life style of habitual sin. (1 John 3:4-6)

Just because you are a Christian and have been forgiven your sins doesn’t mean you will never sin again.  We sin daily, because we are human.  But as a follower of Jesus we don’t habitually sin.  Yes, we mess up but Jesus forgives us.  So don’t beat yourself up.  That’s what the devil wants you to do.  He wants you to be unhappy and doubt.  Don’t let him win, but be confident in your salvation.

John said to not let anyone lead you astray.  Those who habitual sin are not the children of God, but are of the devil.  Jesus’ purpose is to destroy the works of the devil.  If you are born of God, you change from being of the devil to being children of God.  Your old pattern of life dies and you are born anew.  This is how you know who the children of God are.  (1 John 3:7-10)

Christians were deceived in John’s day just as they are today.  Make sure you are righteous before God.  How can you be made righteous?  We are made righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. 

Principle:  God loves us so much that He made us part of His family.

1 John 3:11-24 – Love One Another

John focuses on love for one another.  We are not to be like Cain who murdered his brother.  Cain is a good example of failure to love.  He was disobedience from a lack of faith, full of pride, gave into the sin of hatred which led to murder, and then tried to hide it.  John said anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murder has eternal life in Him.  To hate someone is to murder in our hearts.  (1 John 3:11-15)

What is love?  Jesus laid down His life for us, so we know what love is.  We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  We are not to love with only words, but with our actions.  If our hearts condemn us, we can rest in the truth and in His presence, because God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything.  If we obey his command to love others, we know He lives in us.  (1 John 3:16-24)

To love means to want what is best for them.  We stop thinking highly of ourselves and put the interests of others ahead of our own.  Jesus didn’t say we have to like everyone, but He did say we are to love them even if we don’t like them.  

What does it mean to lay down your life for someone?  I don’t think John had in mind physical death.  Jesus didn’t have to lay down His life, but He chose to do it.  To lay down your life means we should see it not as ‘have to’ but as ‘want to’, because Christ did it for us.  It may mean we have to die to ourselves for them.  It means to sacrifice time, talent, possibly treasure, but the real sacrifice of love comes when it costs you something that has real value to you. 

Principle:  Love one another.

1 John 4:1-6 – Test the Spirits

Believers are not to believe every spirit, but tests the spirits to see whether they are from God.  If they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is from God, they are from God.  If they don’t acknowledge Jesus, they are the spirit of the Antichrist. (1 John 4:1-3)

There are a lot of false teachers and religions out there in the world and sometimes they seem to be the real thing.  Some deny that Jesus is really God – like Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons.  They may teach a little truth which makes them seem like the real thing.  They might confess that He has come in the flesh, but deny that He is God as the Bible teaches.  You can tell they are false teachers if they distort God’s Word, seem to desire material gain, their teaching leads to inappropriate behavior, they don’t preach the gospel, they seek Glory for themselves instead of God, they don’t exhibit right character qualities, or they seek to divide the body of Christ.  So read and study the Bible and know what it says.

These false teachers speak from the viewpoint of the world and the world listens to them.  John said he and the disciples are from God and whoever knows God listens to them.  Believers need not fear the Antichrist, because the Spirit of Jesus in them is from God.  “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” – 1 John 4:4.

Principle:  Test the spirits to see if they come from God.

1 John 4:7-21 – God’s Love For Us and Our Love for One Another

Let us love one another for love comes from God.  If you love others, God lives in you and you have been born of God and know God.  If you do not love, you do not know God, because God is love.  John says we ‘ought’ to love one another.  This implies an obligation.  Love demonstrates God’s presence in our lives and serves as evidence to the rest of the world.  (1 John 4:7-12)

We use the word ‘love’ in many different ways – we love pizza or we love the beach or we love our spouse.  But biblical love is different.  It is self-sacrificing.  It shows in seeking the highest good of someone.  It’s a caring commitment and action.  God is the source of genuine love.

Anyone who claims to love God must prove it by loving his brother.  We shouldn’t worry if God truly loves and forgives us.  Believers have no reason to fear that God will not accept us.  His perfect love removes the need of this fear.  God is love.  “There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” – 1 John 4:18

We love because He first loved us.  John says if you hate your brother and say you love God, you are a liar.  If you hate your brother, you don’t love God.  He has given us the command, “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” – 1 John 4:21 

Principle:  We love because He first loved us.

Join me next week for the study of 1 John 5.  Hope to see you here. -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

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