What we know/How we know it #2

For this section, you'll need to pull out your "What we know/How we know it" chart that you started earlier. If you didn't start one, go back to the blog called "What we know/How we know it" and start a chart.

Read 1 John 3:2-18.
What does verse 3:2 tell believers that they know? How do they know it? Add that information to your chart.

What does verse 3:14 tell believers that they know? How do they know that they have passed out of death into life? Add that information.

What does verse 16 tell believers that they know? How do they know it?

Perhaps, in reading these verses, you're asking yourself: What happens if a believer hates a believer? Does that mean that he doesn't have eternal life?
Notice that John doesn't say that person doesn't possess eternal life, just that he doesn't have it abiding within him. A believer who hates his brother is essentially living in the same realm as those who are of the world. He or she is not enjoying that intimate fellowship with the Father and the Son that comes from obeying God's command to love one another. Eternal life is not dwelling in his heart so long as the hatred or spirit of murder is there. So, what should a believer do when he or she realizes that he or she hates another believer?

Because Christ laid down His life for us, what does verse 16 tell us that we should do?
How would this verse speak to a believer who hates another believer?

Read verse 17.
How does this verse relate to what we've just read?

Read verse 18.
How does this verse relate to what we've just read?

Read 1 John 3:7.
From what we've been reading in these verses, what's one way for a believer to practice righteousness?

Read the first part of 1 John 3:19.
What shall the believer know? Write that on your chart.
Refer back to verse 18. How shall the believer know it?

What do you think "of the truth" means? To Whom is it referring?

What would be the contrast that would apply to someone living in the world?

Read over your list of what a believer knows and how they know it.
How would knowing these things help a believer to walk in the light?