1 JOHN
Chapter 2, Verse 6-11
[2-20-11]
Review:
1 John 2:5) [GNB] But if we obey his word, we are the ones whose love for God has really been made perfect. This is how we can be sure that we are in union with God:
(BBE) But in every man who keeps his word, the love of God is made complete. By this we may be certain that we are in him:
(GW) But whoever obeys what Christ says is the kind of person in whom God’s love is perfected. That’s how we know we are in Christ.
(MSG) But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God.
QUESTION: What truth was John conveying to us in last week’s lesson?
ANSWER: If we have 1) faith in God, which presupposes loving Him, and 2) love for one another, then we are mature Christians.
NOTE: If we get these two things right, the rest will fall in place. When we struggle with sin we are struggling with one of these two commandments; or perhaps, we are struggling with both.
PLEASE NOTE: 1) If we don’t trust what God says, then we CAN’T live victorious Christian lives.
2) If we don’t love others, then we WON’T live victorious Christian lives.
Matthew 22:36-40) [GNB] “Teacher,” he asked, “which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37) [GNB] Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38) [GNB] This is the greatest and the most important commandment.
39) [GNB] The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’
40) [GNB] The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
On To This Week’s Lesson:
1 John 2:6) [GNB] if we say that we remain in union with God, we should live just as Jesus Christ did.
Note the Difference:
3) [KJV] And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
5) [KJV] But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
6) [KJV] He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
Concerning these three verses,
“Bengel notes the gradation in the three phrases ‘to know Him, to be in Him, to abide in Him; knowledge, fellowship, constancy’” [Vincent].
(BBE) He who says that he is living in him, will do as he did.
(CEV) If we say we are his, we must follow the example of Christ.
1 John 2:7-11) [GNB] My dear friends, this command I am writing you is not new; it is the old command, the one you have had from the very beginning. The old command is the message you have already heard.
8) [GNB] However, the command I now write you is new, because its truth is seen in Christ and also in you. For the darkness is passing away, and the real light is already shining.
9) [GNB] If we say that we are in the light, yet hate others, we are in the darkness to this very hour.
10) [GNB] If we love others, we live in the light, and so there is nothing in us that will cause someone else to sin.
11) [GNB] But if we hate others, we are in the darkness; we walk in it and do not know where we are going, because the darkness has made us blind.
What Command?
7) It’s the command that Christians had heard from “the beginning.”
8) It’s the command whose truth was seen in Christ first, and now in believers.
9) It’s the command that forbids hating others.
10) It’s the command to love others.
QUESTION: What specific command is John referring to?
ANSWER: It’s the “new commandment” that Jesus gave the disciples in John 13:34-35.
John 13:34-35) [GNB] And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
35) [GNB] If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.
QUESTION: What is John reminding us Christians about?
ANSWER: This is an actual command that Christians are to obey. This is what verse six is telling us to do; we are to love others the way Jesus loved us.
QUESTION: What else does this verse point out?
ANSWER: HATRED IS NOT AN OPTION FOR BELIEVERS!
QUESTION: How does the N.T. command to love differ from the O.T. command to love?
ANSWER: 1) The O.T. command tells me to love you the way I love myself.
The N.T. command tells me to love you the way Christ loves me.
2) There was no perfect example of loving someone the way you love yourself in the O.T.
Jesus is the perfect example of walking in love.
NOTE: The example Jesus set for us is what gives us understanding of what genuine love/agape is.
1 John 3:16) [GNB] This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us. We too, then, ought to give our lives for others!
John 15:13) [GNB] The greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them.
QUESTION: Is loving the way we are loved a command, or a suggestion?
ANSWER: IT’S A COMMAND! We need to understand that walking in love is walking in the Light! Walking in hatred is walking in darkness!
1 John 2:11) [GNB] But if we hate others, we are in the darkness; we walk in it and do not know where we are going, because the darkness has made us blind.
QUESTION: Can we be obnoxious? Can we be irritating? Can we disappoint? Can we cause pain? Does God/Jesus love us when we do these things?
ANSWER: THAT’S THE LOVE WE’RE CALLED TO IMITATE! THAT’S THE LOVE THAT WILL CAUSE THE UNCHURCHED TO KNOW THAT WE’RE THE REAL DEAL; WE ARE DISCIPLES/FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST!