Closing Words

Now that you've studied 1 John, read it again in a couple of different versions. Does it make more sense? Do you understand things that you didn't understand at the beginning? How has this short book impacted your walk with Christ?

If you have time, write each of these words on a piece of paper. If you're the artistic sort, write them in random places on a large sheet of blank paper. If you're the engineering sort, write them across the top of a piece of paper and draw columns for writing under each one.

FELLOWSHIP/ABIDE SIN KNOW LOVE BORN OF GOD LIGHT TRUTH

• Under or around each word, write what you remember from your study of 1 John.
• As you work with a word, think of the 5 Ws and an H questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? For instance, if the word you're working on is "light," your questions might be: Who is light? What can I do to walk in the light? When am I in the light? Where can I find light? Why is it important for me to stay in the light? How can I walk in the light?
• Think about how each of the words relates to the others. How does sin affect fellowship and abiding? What do I need to know about sin? How does one who is born of God deal with sin? and so on . . .

Perhaps, as you read through 1 John or worked with these concepts, you thought of other questions. That's good, and that's as it should be. Use the study tools that you know to try and figure out answers for those questions. Not every question can be answered, but it doesn't hurt to wrestle with your questions. Often the answers are there; you just need to pray for the Holy Spirit's teaching and spend time looking in God's Word. Enjoy!

Remember What You Know

Read 1 John 5:18-21.
What does verse 18 tell us that we know?

Kenneth Wuest, a teacher emeritus of New Testament Greek at Moody Bible Institute, translates this verse like so: We know absolutely that everyone who has been born of God and as a result is a regenerated individual does not keep on habitually sinning. But He who was born of God maintains a watchful guardianship over him, and the Pernicious One does not lay hold of him. (This is a word-by-word direct translation from the Greek.)

So, what is the first part of verse 5:18 saying?

Is sinning part of a believer's lifestyle?

How would you describe the inherent, true, inward nature of a believer?

What helps the one who is born of God not to sin?

How does that first part of 5:18 compare with what John wrote in 2:29, 3:9, and 5:4?


What is contrasted in verse 19?

What did John previously tell us about the world? See 2:15-17


Who does John say abides forever?

And what did we previously learn is God’s will?

According to 5:20, who do we know has come?

Who has John witnessed is that Son of God?

What does John say the Son of God has given us?

Why did the Son of God give us understanding?

Whom does John say we are in?

Who is that?

How is it possible for us to be in God?

Who does John say is the true God and eternal life?

Notice how John is affirming the deity of Christ, something that the antichrists deny.
"Know” is used twice in 5:20. The first “know” corresponds to the Greek word eido (G1492), and the second “know” corresponds to the Greek word ginosko (G1097). Here’s how this verse reads in my expanded translation by Wuest: We know with an absolute knowledge that the Son of God has come and is here, and that He has given us a permanent understanding in order that we may be knowing in an experiential way the One who is genuine. And we are in the Genuine One, in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the genuine God and life eternal.

How does John end this letter?

In the Greco-Roman world of John’s day, idolatry permeated every level of the pagan life. Therefore, if they were to abide in God, they needed to keep away from the worldly life that involved idols. Idols would be anything that would draw them away from abiding in God.

What is it that John asked them to remember in this passage?

How is knowing these things going to keep them away from the love of the world and keep them abiding in God?

What did you hear in this passage that will help you abide in true God and eternal life?

Asking with Confidence

Read 1 John 5:13-17.
In verse 13, what does John want his readers to know?

How does verse 13, having eternal life, relate to verse 14? How does having eternal life affect us?

Read 1 John 3:21-22. Because we have confidence before God, what happens?

What additional information does 1 John 5:14-15 give us about asking with confidence?

And if we’re asking according to His will, what do we know will happen?

What makes it possible for us to ask according to His will?

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:3a. What is the will of God?

What does it mean to be sanctified or holy? Who are we to be like?

Remember that 1 John 3:2 said that we shall be like Him when He appears. What did 1 John 2:6 tell us?

So how does our becoming holy, sanctified or Christ-like relate to 1 John 5:14-15? What kinds of requests will God grant?

Verses 16 and 17 are ones that theologians like to discuss, wanting to know exactly what sin it is that leads to death. However, that’s not John’s big point in this verse. Who is it that John says we should be praying for in verse 16?

So, if our Christian brother or sister sins and doesn’t physically die as a result of that sin, we can pray for him or her because the brother or sister who sinned is still here on earth and has time to change the way he or she is living. And how would we pray, according to verse 14?

And what would God’s will be for our brother or sister?

So, what might be an example of that kind of prayer?

One of John’s major themes in this letter is that we should love one another. How would praying for a brother or sister who is sinning be an example of loving them?

Do you have a brother or sister in Christ for whom you could be praying in this way?

God's Witness

Read 1 John 5:6-15.
What word is repeated several times in this section?

Look up “witness” in Strong’s, online at www.tgm.org/bible.htm or in the exhaustive concordance. (If you've forgotten how to do a word study, review the instructions given with "Word Study of Know" posted in February.)

• What numbers do you find for 1 John?
• Look up those numbers to see what you learn.
• I noticed that the Greek word for "witness" seemed a lot like "martyr." A “martyr” is one who bears witness by his death. According to Websters, one definition of a "martyr" is a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion.

What do we learn about witnesses from the last part of Deuteronomy 19:15?

What does verse 6 say about Jesus Christ?

Let’s say that verse didn’t make sense right off. What’s a good thing to do? You could look at cross-references, but in this case my Bible has the cross-reference about the soldier piercing Jesus' side and water and blood coming out. Although this cross-reference has to do with water and blood, it doesn’t seem to deal with how they’re used in this context, and that’s what we always need to be keeping in mind—the context. So, if the cross-references don’t seem to help, look for other places in the same book where these things might be mentioned. For example, does John mention "blood" and/or "water" elsewhere in this book? How could you find out? Use an exhaustive concordance like Strong’s and look up "water" and "blood" to see if 1 John lists any other references, or skim through 1 John. In either case, you’d find that John mentions blood in verse 1:7. What does John say about “blood” in verse 1:7?

Two things in that statement refute what the false teachers are saying. The said that Jesus, a human, couldn’t take away sin. Only a special knowledge can save us from sin. They also claimed that Jesus was strictly a human, born in the regular human way with a human mom and dad. He wasn't God.

If John hadn’t mentioned “blood” in another part of this gospel, where else could we look to see what he might mean? We could look in other books that John wrote to see what he has to say about “blood” and “water” in relation to showing who Jesus was.

In the gospel of John, John tells about the feeding of the 5,000 and how Jesus and His disciples left after that and went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, but a crowd followed them by land and met them on the other side, desiring to see Him do something similar. Jesus then tells them that He’s the bread from heaven, and they don’t understand. Then He says something that confuses them even more. Read John 6:53-56. What did Jesus tell them about His blood?

His disciples would have heard Him say these things, and they didn’t understand either. But at the end of His ministry at the Last Supper, Jesus mentioned his body and blood again. Two days before that He told them something else. Let’s find out what He told them two days before. Read Matthew 26:1-2.
Now let’s read what He told them at the Last Supper. Read Matthew 26:26-28. What does He say that His blood is poured out for?

According to the Jewish faith, who is the only one who can forgive sins? See Isaiah 43:25 and Mark 2:7.

So, when Jesus says that His blood will be poured out for the forgiveness of sins, what is He telling them about Himself? Who is He?

Many of the false teachers that John mentioned in 1 John taught that the spirit came upon Jesus at his baptism, but that it left before His crucifixion. They said that Jesus could not be both man and God. God, who is good, would not occupy an evil body of flesh. They separated the human, flesh-and-blood Jesus from the spirit Christ.

John doesn’t mention “water” in 1 John, but he does mention water and Jesus and Jesus being God in the gospel of John. Read John 1:29-34.

Who is speaking?

Remember that this John the Baptist is a different John than John the Apostle.
In verse 31, why does John say that he baptized Jesus?

And in verse 32, what does John the Baptist say happened during the baptism?

In verse 33, John the Baptist mentions the one who sent him to baptize Jesus in water. Who is that?

What did God tell John the Baptist about Jesus?

We can read about Jesus’ baptism in the other gospel books. Let’s read Matthew 3:16-17.
What did the voice from heaven say?

So, what did Jesus’ baptism accomplish? How was it a witness?

So, what is John saying in verse 6 about the water and the blood in relation to Jesus Christ?

In verse 7, what does John add to the list of witnesses that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one of God, the Messiah?

According to verses 8 and 9, how has God witnessed that Jesus is the Christ?

What does verse 10 tell us about the one who believes in the Son of God?

Who did verse 5:7 tell us is a witness?

What did the first part of verse 2:27 tell us?

If your version uses "the anointing," what is that anointing?

And what does verse 2:27 tell us that the Spirit does?

What does this verse tell us about these things that the Spirit teaches?

What contrasts with those who believe in the Son of God?

What are they saying about God?

What haven’t they believed?

What did Deuteronomy tell us about how many witnesses are needed in order to confirm a matter between men? So, should this be a sufficient number of witnesses?

What does verse 11 say that the witness is?

According to verse 11, what has God given those who believe in the Son of God?

How do we acquire that eternal life?

What contrast is in verse 12?

Let’s read what John wrote about this in his gospel. Read John 3:36.

What struck you as you studied this passage? What have you learned that could make a difference in your walk with Christ?

Victory

Read 1 John 5:1-5.
What two things do we learn in these verses about people who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?

How does this information relate to verse 1 John 4:4? Who is greater than the one who is in the world?

In verse 4, what does John say their faith has given them?

What has John previously told them about the world that they now have victory over? See 1 John 2:15-17.

What does verse 3 tell us about God’s commandments?

What are these commandments according to what we’ve read so far in 1 John? See 3:23 and 4:21.

Why aren’t God’s commands burdensome for those who are children of God? What do we have that makes it possible for us to obey these commands?

What do you have that makes it possible for you to obey these commands?

Never forget--God has given us the victory through Jesus, His Son!!

A Closer Look at 1 John 4:19-5:3

Read 1 John 4:19.
What makes our love possible?
What did John tell us previously about this love for us? How do we know that God loved us?

Read verses 19-21.
What two kinds of love do these verses discuss?
According to John, can you have one kind of love without the other?

Read 1 John 5:1-3.
How is 5:1 related to 4:21?
How are the ends of those two verses similar?
Whom are we to love if we love God?
According to 5:1, how can we tell who a brother is?

Read verse 5:2.
Get out your "What We Know/How We Know It" chart.
What does this verse tell us that we know? Add that to your chart.
How do we know it? Add that to your chart.
Notice that love for God's children is inseparable from loving God and obeying his commands.
Read verses 2:3 and 3:23.
How do these two verses relate to what John writes in 5:2 and 5:3?

Read through all your entries on your "What We Know/How We Know It" chart.
Do you know these things?
How can you know them?
If you know these things, what do you have when Christ comes again? (See verses 2:28 and 4:17.)
What are you able to live without? (See verses 4:17-18.)
How does knowing these things affect your life?

A Closer Look at 1 John 4:17-18

Read 1 John 4:17-18.
If you didn't understand parts of this passage, what could you do?
Start by reading this passage in another version of the Bible. If you first read it in a NASB, RSV, NIV, or KJV--try reading it in the NLT, TEV, or The Message.
Does your Bible have cross-references? Are they keyed to different parts of the passage?
Here are the cross-references from my NASB:
For verse 17--"love is perfected with us"--1 John 2:5 and 4:12
"confidence"--1 John 2:28
"as He is, so also are we in this world"--John 17:22; 1 John 2:6, 3:1, 7, 16
For verse 18--"perfect love"--Romans 8:15
"perfected in love"--1 John 4:12

Let's go through these cross-references to see how they enhance our understanding of these two verses.

(4:17) "love is perfected with us"
Read 1 John 2:5.
What has truly been perfected?
In whom has it truly been perfected?
Whose word must he keep?
Read 1 John 4:12.
What is perfected?
In whom is it perfected?
What causes the love of God to be perfected within someone?
Read 1 John 4:17.
What is perfected?
Whose love is perfected? If you're not sure, refer back to the previous verse. Who has and is the love?
How is it perfected? You'll notice that it's "by this." What is "by this"? Read the previous verse.
What needs to be happening in order for God's love to be perfected in someone?
According to these three verses, what needs to be present or happening with someone in order for God's love to be perfected in that person?
How are these three things related? How does John relate them in this letter?

(4:17) "confidence"
Read 1 John 2:28.
What does John tell the believers to do?
What benefit is there in abiding in Him?
When will be a great time to have this confidence?
What will this confidence keep us from doing?
Read 1 John 4:17.
If God's love is perfected in them, what will they have?
When will they have it?
How is that time similar to the time spoken of in 1 John 2:28?
Did John speak about that time in his gospel? Yes, he did. Read John 5:24.
What did Jesus promise in this verse?
For more information on this time and what Jesus said about it, continue reading through verse 29.

(4:17) "as He is, so also are we in this world"
Read John 17:22-23.
Who has been given glory?
Who is one?
What will they have?
What will the world know because of this?
Read 1 John 2:6.
What ought the one who says he abides in Him do?
Read 1 John 3:1.
Upon whom has the Father bestowed so great a love?
What are they called?
What is Jesus' familial relationship with the Father?
How is that similar to our relationship with the Father?
Read 1 John 3:7.
How is He described?
Who is He? (Look back at verse 5.)
Who else is righteous?
Who would that be?
So how are they like Jesus?
Read 1 John 3:16.
Who laid down His life for us?
How are we to be like him?

(18) "perfect love"
Read Romans 8:15.
What two spirits are contrasted in this verse?
Which one leads to fear?
Which one leads to crying out, "Abba, Father!"?
What is indicated by crying out, "Abba, Father!"? Who is it that can cry out, "Abba, Father!"?

(18) "perfected in love"
Read 1 John 4:12.
When is God's love perfected in us?
According to Romans 8:15, if we have this perfected love, what can we cry out? What type of relationship do we have with the Father?

Reread 1 John 4:17-18.
How did reading the cross-references for these verses help you to more fully understand what John was saying to his readers?