1. Sovereign Grace Fellowship
From: John the Apostle 1 John
Outline for Oct 17, 2010
Sovereign Grace Fellowship
c\o Little Children P. O. Box High Street Boscawen, N. H

2. Taking 1 John Verse by Verse
John’s Purpose In Writing This Letter Our motive for writing is simply this:
We want you to enjoy this, too.
Your joy will double our joy!
(1:4 MSG)
My purpose in writing is simply this:
that you who believe in God's Son will know
beyond the shadow of a doubt that
you have eternal life,
the reality and not the illusion.
(5:13 MSG)
Taking 1 John Verse by Verse

3. 1 John 4:7–21 ESV
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

4. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

5. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear
18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

6. Q. What do believers need to understand about love in order to experience deeper and more meaningful fellowship with God?
Let's trace the thought of our passage.

7. The first thing we want to consider is verses 7 and 8. 1 John 4:7-8
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ESV
Love is central
Because God is love, the person who shares God's love will love. This is simply a fact; a reflection of the reality that where there is no will to love, God is absent.
There is so much more to the Christian life than resisting error and testing spirits. The positive side is shown in the love Christians have for each other. ‘Let’s do it,’ writes John, ‘Let’s live together in the love of God!’

8. The love Christians have for each other is a real experience of God’s love. God is invisible, but through the church we can realize and receive his love for ourselves.
In John’s Gospel, the invisible God is seen in the coming of Jesus (John 1:18).
John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. ESV
According to John, the invisible God is found in Christian fellowship.

9. (1 John 4:9-12). Love is an ought (4:11).
9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. ESV
Love is an ought (4:11).
This ought is not a moral obligation, but a case of simple appropriateness. We have been loved and so it is only fitting that we be loving.
Love made complete (4:12).
God’s love finds its fulfillment on earth when we love others as He has loved us.

10. Q. Won't those who love like Christ be taken advantage of
Q. Won't those who love like Christ be taken advantage of? John's answer is twofold.
First, the capacity to love in this way exists in every person who is born of God. Thus, it is not a few loving everyone, but it is all of us loving one another!
Second, as we take up the joyful burden of loving others, God, who no one has seen, becomes strangely visible in the church. We see God Himself as He "lives in us and His love is made complete in us" (v. 12). As God becomes more real among us, even those who have not responded will be touched by His love.

11. God does live in us (1 John 4:13-16).
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ESV
Is such love possible? Of course! We don't rely on any capacity of our own to love our brothers. It is the person of the Holy Spirit God who lives in us and will love through us.
We are to learn and mature as we share in God's love for us.

12. Love and fear (4:17–18).
17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. ESV
Love and fear are not compatible.
When we experience God’s love for us our whole attitude toward Him is transformed. We still stand in awe of Him, but that awe is without terror or fear of punishment. The more we live in love—and living in love means expressing as well as receiving love—the more confident we become in our relationship with the Lord.

13. Love frees us from fear.
John has an exciting prospect for the fearful and doubting among us.
As we see God's love taking visible shape in the community of faith, we become more confident and more like God. "In this world," John said of the believing community, "we are like Him" (v. 17).
“because as he is so also are we in this world.”
Love transforms us. We realize that God is not angry or eager to punish; love has driven out fear.
The way love drives out fear is beautiful.

14. Love is our proper response to God (1 John 4:19-21).
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. ESV
We did not love God; God loved us. God reached out first. But in being loved by God, we are freed to love in return. Then we can reach out to others.
Who do we love when God's love frees us? Yes, we do love God. But we also love our brothers and sisters in Christ. In fact, love of God and love of His family are so inseparably linked that John flatly stated, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar" (v. 20).

15. Love wears no blinders that cut off some while focusing on others.
When love touches us, our whole personality is affected.
We see God and sensing His love, are drawn to Him.
We see people for the first time.
We reach out to touch and to care. Love has transformed us.
In Christ, and within His community of faith, we will learn to walk in love.
Together we will learn of Christ and his love.