1 JOHN

Chapter 3, Verses 11-18

[1-8-12]

 

Review:

1 John 2:29; 3:4, 10) [KJV] If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

Concerning “every one that doeth righteousness,”

“that doeth <4160> (5723) righteousness” [KJV] (with Strong’s numbers)

<4160> “Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)” [Strong’s].

 (5723) “Tense – Present; Voice – Active; Mood – Participle”        

1 John 3:4, 10) [KJV] Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

10) [KJV] In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

QUESTION: How do we tell who the children of God are versus the children of the devil?

ANSWER: God’s children will show the conduct of someone who wants to do what’s right according to the instruction of Scripture; the devil’s children will not show the conduct of someone who is concerned with what the Bible teaches about righteousness.

QUESTION: What is this verse doing?

ANSWER: It’s transitioning us from the thought of doing what’s right verses doing what’s wrong to the thought of what promotes in us the desire to do what’s right now that we’re born again.

 

On To This Week’s Lesson:

1 John 3:11-18) [KJV] For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

1 John 2:7-11) [[KJV] Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

8) [[KJV] Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

9) [[KJV] He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

10) [[KJV] He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

11) [[KJV] But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

QUESTION: What message had they heard from the beginning?

ANSWER: We should love one another.

QUESTION: What beginning?

ANSWER: Believers had been taught that love was the new law of the new economy of grace since they had believed. This change in the law began in John 13:34-45.

John 13:34-35) [KJV] A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35) [KJV] By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

12) [KJV] Not as Cain, [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

13) [KJV] Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

QUESTION: Why does John bring up Cain in his discussion of love?

ANSWER: Christian love should be the opposite of what Cain displayed.

QUESTION: Why did Cain hate Abel?

ANSWER: He envied Abel because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but not Cain’s.

QUESTION: What could happen if we truly love one another the way Scripture teaches us to?

ANSWER: The world of the unbelievers could end up hating us.

Philippians 2:1-4) [GNB] Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another.

2) [GNB] I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind.

3) [GNB] Don’t do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves.

4) [GNB] And look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own.

QUESTION: How should Christian love look?

ANSWER: It should display genuine caring about the needs of others, which expresses itself in being happy when good fortune comes to another. Cain was envious; we should rejoice when good things happen to others.

14) [KJV] We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death.

QUESTION: Does someone become a Christian by loving others?

ANSWER: No!

QUESTION: Then what does this verse mean?

ANSWER: When we place our faith in the Lord Jesus and become new creatures in Christ we will find ourselves loving His people.

15) [KJV] Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

QUESTION: In what way is someone a murderer simply because they hate their brother?

ANSWER: Note the following comment:

“A moment’s reflection will show that it is murder in embryo. The motive is there, although the act might not be committed” [BBC].

NOTE: Hatred is murder in the same way that looking at a woman lustfully is adultery. Cain hated Abel and murdered him, but from God’s perspective he was a murderer before he killed his brother. It takes a murderer to murder. In other words, it has to be in your heart before you commit the murder.

16) [KJV] Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.

QUESTION: How do we know what “kind” of love the Scripture is talking about?

ANSWER: Jesus demonstrated it for us. We are to love one another to the extent that we “lay down our lives” for each other. Sometimes that might mean we throw ourselves on a grenade to save others, but mostly it will mean that we “spend” ourselves caring about others.

QUESTION: What does this verse tell us about John?

ANSWER: John, unlike any of the other disciples, stood at the foot of the cross and saw Jesus die for our sins. The issue was settled for him; Jesus loves us! When things didn’t go right for him he never doubted that Jesus loved him because he witnessed Him dying for us.

17) [KJV] But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

18) [KJV] My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

QUESTION: What important message is John teaching us about love?

ANSWER: Talk is cheap! Genuine love demonstrates itself through action!