1. God’s Love aNd Our Response
1 John 4:7-19

2. Outline 1 John 4:7-19 Setting the stage
Love one another because God loves you 4:7-11
Love one another because God lives in you 4:12-19
How can we love one another?
Summary

3. 1 John 4:7-19
7. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10. This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

4. 1 John 4:7-19 (Cont)
13. We know that we live 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. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

5. 1 John 4:7-19 (Cont)
18. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19. We love because he first loved us.

6. Setting the Stage

7. What John Previously Said About God’s Love & Loving One Another
1:5 God is light
1:7 If we walk in the light,…we have fellowship with one another
2:5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him
2:9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his bother is still in darkness
2: Whoever loves his brother lives in the light and there is nothing in him to make him stumble…But whoever hates his brother walks in darkness

8. What John Previously Said About God’s Love & Loving One Another
3:11 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another
3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers
3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers
3:18 Love not with words or tongues but with actions and truth

9. What John Just Finished Talking About
Test the spirits to see whether they are from God
The Spirit of God, that is the Spirit of Truth, acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in the flesh and is from God
The spirit of the antichrist, that is false teachers, is the spirit of falsehood, and denies that Jesus is from God

10. Love one another because
God loves you
1 John 4:7-11

11. The Command 5:7a “Dear friends, let us love one another…” Dear friends
What is Christian love?
Deep devotion and desire to glorify and trust God; results in making God preeminent in all facets of life
To put the interests of others before self
Desire God’s best for others regardless of the merit of the other person

12. Three Reasons Christians Should Love One Another
1. 4:7b “For love is from God”
2. 4:7b…“Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God”
3. 4:8 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

13. How God Demonstrated His Love
4:9 “This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”
God demonstrated love by sending his Son
Not just saved, but to actively live through him

14. Definition of God’s Love
4:10 “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Illustration of love as positive action regardless of the merit of the other person
Atone (propitiation); to make amends or satisfy

15. Application
4:11 “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
We should love the people God loved so much he sent his Son to die for their sins?
God’s love was given to us not to hoard but to overflow to others (love one another)

16. Love one another because
God lives in you
1 John 4:12-19

17. What It Means to Love One Another
4:12 “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
4:13 “We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”
Complete = deep full experience of God’s love
As Christians love one another, they experience the love of the invisible God
The Spirit’s work in us is evidence of salvation

18. What It Means to Love One Another
4:12 “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
4:13 “We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”
Complete = deep full experience of God’s love
As Christians love one another, they experience the love of the invisible God
The Spirit’s work in us is evidence of salvation

19. The Basis for the Spirit’s Work and Loving One Another
4:14 “And we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.”
John saw, we see, God’s love revealed through believers as they love one another
4:15 “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.”
Saving faith requires belief that Jesus is God

20. The Basis for the Spirit’s Work and Loving One Another
4:16 “And we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”
As the believer experiences mutual Christian love, he grows in knowledge of God love, and in turn, his reliance in God’s love grows

21. God’s Love Gives the Believer Confidence in Judgment
4:17 “In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in the world we are like him.”
Great White Throne and the Judgment Seat of Christ
2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

22. God’s Love Gives the Believer Confidence in Judgment (Cont)
4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

23. What is the Origin of a Christian’s Love
4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”

24. How can we love one another?

25. How to Love One Another Accept each other, Romans 15:7
Admonish each other, Colossians 3:16
Be devoted to each other, Romans 12:10
Be kind to each other, Ephesians 4:32
Care for each other, 1 Corinthians 12:35
Carry each other’s burdens, Galatians 6:2
Comfort others, 2 Corinthians 1:4
Confess your sins to each other, James 5:16
Encourage each other, 1 Thessalonians 5:11

26. How to Love One Another (Cont)
Forgive one another, Ephesians 4:32
Greet each other, Romans 16:16
Honor each other, Romans 12:10
Live in peace with each other, Thessalonians 5:13
Love each other, John 13:34-35
Offer hospitality to each other, 1 Peter 4:9
Pray for each other, James 5:16
Prefer each other, Romans 12:10

27. How to Love One Another (Cont)
Serve one another, Galatians 5:13
Spur one another to good deeds, Hebrews 10:24
Wait for each other, 1 Corinthians 11:33
Lay down your lives for your brothers, John 3:16
Love not with words or tongues but with actions and truth, 1 John 3:18

28. Summary

29. Summary
God loves us
God demonstrated his love by sending his Son Jesus to pay the price for our sins
When a person accepts Jesus as God’s Son and his saving work at the cross, God lives in him and he in God
The Christian is assured he lives in God by the work of the Spirit
Since God loves us and lives in us, Christians must love one another in actions and truth
As the believer experiences mutual Christian love, he grows in knowledge of God love, and in turn, his reliance in God’s love grows eliminating fear

30. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God