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I John 3 & 4 You’re going to need your Bibles for this. A great Bible study, on your own or in an intimate fellowship of believers.
Agape love – verb: to treasure; noun: devout commitment to the well-being of another, due to an estimation of that other’s worth or value. The investing of oneself in another for that other’s gain.
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Chapter 3: The epistle of John is written to sons of God, born of His Spirit.
Vs. 1,2 … Love of the spirit … It’s our nature, not (necessarily) our behavior
Love is God’s motivation, not strict disciplinarianism, not sectarianism, not denominationalism, not liturgy, not bondage, not anger, not desire to punish..
Love, love love.
Vs. 4 … And we (the new man) are no longer under the law, therefore what comes next can make sense. Since sin is the transgression of the law (for those under it), and in Christ we are no longer under the law, then in Christ we cannot sin. Make mistakes, yes; but sin, no! We can only sin being out of Christ.
Vs. 6 … Sin is here (partially) defined as behavior done in the absence of Christ; done as a result of not seeing or knowing him
Vs. 8 … At that moment in time of committing (causing to happen) sin, that is always of the devil.
One of the great purposes for the coming of Jesus Christ is here stated…..one so often overlooked. If, in your Christian life, you are not coming into battle with the devil now and then (both within yourself and in others), then you’re going in the wrong direction. You have not “arrived” on the spiritual journey.
Vs. 9 … That which is born of God (the new man, Christ within, the Holy Spirit of God) cannot sin.
Vs. 10,11 .. Children of God love love love because they are loved loved loved by God.
Vs. 12 … Interesting, that if we try to do, by our own fleshly-minded efforts, works to please God which proceed from our sinful flesh they will end in misery and death.
God calls those works evil. The only works that are righteous are His works (the works of God done in and through Christ, which flow from the fountain of His love).
Vs. 14 … Love is a result of the life of God in us…..because God is love.
Vs. 18 … Not in word and tongue only….
Vss 19-23 … Biiiiig key in how to pray, in how to get answers to prayer. Read carefully!
Vs. 23 … Old Testament, 2 great commandments….Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. (This was written to Jews, so neighbors were Jews, at least in ancestry).
New Testament, 2 great commandments …..Believe on (trust) the Lord Jesus and love the brethren. Now the love of God is in Christ Jesus our Lord, so believing on the Lord Jesus = receiving God’s love. Loving others (between here and the end of I John you see what gets kickstarted into motion when you love others) is the Godly adventure of a lifetime. So these are God’s (and Steve’s) 2 great duties of sons of God………….
1) ALLOW GOD TO LOVE YOU.
2) SEEK GODLY ADVENTURE.
If you think the above 2 are easy, go ahead and conscientiously try it for the next day or two. Heck, for the next hour or two!
Vs 24 … Fulfilling the above 2 great duties of sons of God is how we dwell in God, and a result of us dwelling in God is that His Holy Spirit (which is now our holy spirit) comes into manifestation in our lives…..Read I Cor 12:7-10 for the 9 manifestions of the Spirit. That is Godly adventure….
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Chapter 4:
Vss 1,2 … The Spirit of God is all about Jesus Christ. Whoever is going around telling you that you ought to be living your life better is not about the spirit of Christ.
Vs. 3 … The spirit of antichrist is really the spirit of UNChrist (like the UNcola). John says that spirit of antichrist was already among them (I Jn 2:18,19), so he is talking about a spirit that affected people in the fellowship (church). And many churches (both denominational and nondenominational, both those that meet in church buildings and those that meet in homes) are affected today by the spirit of UNChrist. These are those that, rather than preaching and teaching Jesus Christ, teach how we should live lives more pleasing to God by our own works and efforts, how to better our lives, how to get along better with our fellow man. They even prophecy, speak in tongues, see signs miracles and wonder…………ALL WITHOUT MAKING KNOWN JESUS CHRIST !!!!!
The Antichrist, when he comes, will represent the same thing to the world.
Vs. 4 … We don’t have to worry at all about this power of antichrist. At all!
Vs. 5 … Further indications of that unholy spirit. It will influence Christians to attack homosexuality, abortion; it will debate what is good and what is right; but it will never, ever, just never bring up the goodness and love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.. It will talk about how to better ourselves in the world, how to get ahead, how to influence others, how to be better liked in our communities, how to be more spiritual, how to be better fathers, better wives, better children…….all without proclaiming Jesus Christ.
Vs. 6 … Jesus said in John, “Marvel not if the world hate you.” And “The time will come when they will kill you thinking they are doing God a favor. They will do this because they don’t know my Father.” ……The only way to know the Father (the One True God) is by knowing the son, Jesus Christ.
Vs. 9 … When we believe unto (trust) Jesus Christ, we bask in God’s love toward ourselves and toward others.
Vs. 10 … “Propitiation” = complete expiation. (A full release from any debt, duty or obligation)
Vs. 12 … Here the phrase perfect love is defined. ie: love that is extended toward another.
Love: 3 Greek words for love.
Eros – sexual, physical love or feelings
Phileo – brotherly love, or feelings. Filial love. Comraderie-type love. I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine.
Agape – devotional commitment to the well-being of another, due to an estimation of that other’s worth or value. An investment in the life of another.
Generally, eros will be toward other people (though there is some sick stuff out there). Phileo includes emotional love toward others. It’s the love we have in our families (hopefully). Agape is generally toward others, but can be toward things (I John 2:15, “Love“ is agape).
Vs. 12 … “Dwell” means God can move or go anywhere at any time in any area of our life. He’s not just visiting and is not constrained to specific areas only.
Vs. 13 … Again, the energy of God’s love in us toward the brethren is the holy spirit within us being manifested (I tend to not consider the holy spirit a person, but the life of God in man. (this is a study all by itself).
Vs. 15 … Here’s how we walk in Christ, how Christ comes to dwell in us.
Vs. 17 … Perfected love makes us bold (not brash). Bold means fearless. Perfected love makes us Christlike.
Vs. 18 … This speaks of love that sits stagnantly within us, and is not manifested toward others. He that fears (rather than loves) is not perfected thusly. He that loves another, that perfected love protects the lover from fear. Love rewards the lover.
Vs. 19 … Why and how we are able to love …… His love for us.
Vs. 20 … And we all know liars of this sort. “Hey, you #$%%#$, you’re supposed to be loving!!!$$%$^@$%. ” “I’m only doing this because I love you.” Liars in whom the truth is not dwelling (at that moment anyway).
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Other studies that may be of interest:
Holy Spirit Sanctification
On Becoming Perfect
The Glorified Christ
What or Who is antichrist?
