1. Christians put the faith into practice – love one another!
1 John 3:

2. 1 John 3:11-15
Having hinted at the test of loving your neighbor in the final phrase of 3:10, John now enters into that social test in 3: John had first applied this test at 2:7-11. Remember John’s cyclical way of writing.
Note how John once again attacks the novel teaching‖of men like Cerinthus by appealing to “the message you heard from the beginning.” Beware of anyone who claims that they have a “new” message!
Cain‘s example (Gen 4:3-8) was the exact opposite of the principle John enunciated in v. 1(“we should love one another”).
Cain‘s spiritual father was the devil, as is the case with every unbeliever. Jesus made the same point in Jn 8:44.

3. 1 John 3:12-13
What does John say was the reason for Cain murdering his brother?
“Do not be surprised , if the world hates you” = “expect the world to hate believers and their righteous deeds.”
Consider the prophecy in Genesis 3:15.
What evidence do you see that the world hates believers and their righteous deeds?

4. 1 John 3:14-15
John states his case as confidently as possible that the child of God need not fear anything that the world hurls at us because we have eternal life (“passed from death to life”). What does he give as the evidence that we have this victory? Compare Lk 7:47.
John equates hatred with murder. Why?
“No murder has eternal life in him.” Explain that phrase on the basis of what John says in verse 14.

5. 1 John 3:16-17
What does it mean to love? This question may have been raised by the test of love thus far, 3: How may someone have underestimated Christian love
With these verses John sharpens Christian love.
How is it described in v. 16
How is it described in v
As Cain is the supreme example of hate (v. 12), Christ is the supreme example of love.
Notice that brother is plural in verse 16 and singular in verse 17. Why?

6. 1 John 3:16-17
Note the three elements of John‘s negative example of lovelessness: 1) has material possessions 2) sees his brother in need 3) has no pity on him.
Compare these words to the actions of the priest and the Levite in Jesus‘ parable of the Good Samaritan.
“How can the love of God be in him?” What excuses do we come up with for lovelessness?
What is the proper attitude toward charitable organizations?

7. 1 John 3:18-20
John urges us to love “in truth” in v. 18. John seems to understand that what God is asking of us is a standard none of us can reach. How does John comfort us when we feel guilty for our failures to “love our neighbor?”
What must we remember when our hearts condemn us for being unloving?
“he knows everything.” To what is John referring in verse 20?

8. 1John 3:21-24 How, only, can our hearts not condemn v. 21?
In Verse 22a Jesus says something about prayer that anticipates what he will say in 5:14. What is that?
In v. 22, is John saying that our keeping God‘s commandments earns us the right to come to God in prayer?
Notice that the one commandment in v. 23 that is evidence of being in God‘s family has two parts. And the one part will not, cannot, be without the other. What are those two parts?
In v. 24 it would seem we come across our first explicit reference to the Holy Spirit in 1 John. To what is John referring when he says “we know it by the Spirit he gave us”?
Compare the assurance of v. 24a to the assurance of v. 24b. How do they complement each other?

9. Application
Why does John speak so strongly about “loving your brother?”
The relationship between faith and works is often muddied in our sinful hearts. How? Why?
Self-examination reveals lovelessness, hypocrisy, and lies. What remains our hope? And how does this hope show itself in our lives?