THE LETTERS OF JOHN: HOW DO I KNOW?

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2022-07-17 Matt Willmington 1 John 4:7-21 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is made complete in us. 13 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world’s Savior. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. 16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17 In this, love is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister. SUMMARY: Love each other because God is love. He proved it by sending his son to save the world. He loved us first so we love him and each other. We haven’t seen God but we can see his family. When we love, God lives in us and we live in him. His love is completed in us, and it gives us confidence against fear, judgment, and punishment. If we say we love God and hate each other, we are liars and we have not seen God. 1. If you love the Father you love the family. [7, 8, 16, 19] Love each other because God is love a. “dear friends” “brothers sisters” not neighbors [Lev.18, Luke 10] b. 4 times here, 11 times in John’s letters [agape] c. No love? Don’t know God [7, 8, 16] 2. Love sends, serves, sacrifices. [9-11, 14] He loved us first and proved it by sending His son to save the world a. Trinity – Father [9 14], Son [9 14], Spirit [13] b. Love’s Revelation = God sent the Son i. ‘One and only’ = priority, not origination ii. “world” – yes elect, but not exclusive iii. “SAVIOR”= ‘atoning sacrifice’ not example, teaching c. He loved first d. Since God loved by serving WE must also 3. We love what we see to love what we can’t see. [12, 14, 20] We can’t see God but we can see family a. John testimony – “we saw him!” b. We ‘see’ Jesus, we see His family c. His love grows to completion 4. Live in God because He lives in you. [12, 13, 15, 16] When we love, we have the Spirit, God lives in us and we live in him a. Proof of his remaining in us = Spirit b. Confess Jesus = God is in you, you are in God c. We know + believe. You can know w/o believing d. If you live in love God lives in you and you in him [John 17] 5. Completed love gives confidence. [12, 17, 18] Love is completed in us, gives confidence for fear, judgment, punishment a. Love doesn’t fear [1 Cor.13] it drives out fear. b. Fear judgment? You aren’t living in love 6. Haters don’t love, lovers don’t lie. [20-21] If we say we love God but hate each other we lie and have not seen God a. Can’t love God if you hate family b. Jesus’ command from – John 13, 17