Review

• The Gnostics
• Johns reason for writing – the true Jesus is described –told about through them
• The overall message –

1 John 1:3–7 (NIV) — 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete. 5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

1. He wants to have fellowship with us because He loves us

John 3:16–18 (NIV) — 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

2. God wants us to choose to walk with Him in the light – He wants us to love Him too

Matthew 22:35–40 (NIV) — 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

3. What does love look like from Gods perspective

• Repentance
• Biblical love is a choice to value the other above yourself
• The Holy Spirit moves into our hearts to remind us and strengthen us

John 8:31 (NIV) — 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

John 14:23–24 (NIV) — 23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

1 John 2:1–12 (NIV) — 1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands

is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. 7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. 9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. 12 I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

1. We love God because of His ______________________He gave what we did not deserve.
2. We obey Him because we know His laws are ______________, they are _______________________ to us.
3. Obedience leads to love for _________________.

For Small Group Discussion:

Opening Question: What is your favorite material possession?

Main Point: A biblical understanding of Jesus leads to obedience and love.

Read/Tell the Story: 1 John 2:1-17

Questions:

1. Why do you think God cares about our obedience?
2. If we say we know God but don’t keep His commandments, what does that communicate to the world around us?
3. What comfort can you find from today’s passage for when we do sin?
4. What things of the world are we warned about in verses 15-16?
5. What would be a practical example of some of those things in today’s culture?
6. What things of the world do you struggle to show compassion towards?
7. How are you abiding with God in this season?

Supporting Scripture: 1 John 3:16-23, 1 John 4:7-21, Ephesians 4:22-24