Scripture: 1 John 2:3-28
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. (1 John 2:3-6)
I. If You Love God, You Will Love Fellow Believers
A. Exemplify Love For One Another in Deeds
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. (1 Jn 2:7-8)
Love one another:
- An Old command goes back to Law of Moses: "Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18)
- A New command derived from Jesus: "that you love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn. 13:34)
- "as I have loved you”－how we should love
Jesus demonstrated love through His deeds
- Washing disciples’ feet
- Loving the disciples who had different kinds of characters
- Laying down His own life
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13)
B. Do Not Stumble One Another
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. (1 Jn 2:9-11)
Love refers to the sacrificial love that gives of oneself for the happiness and well-being of another.
- Person who does not love, lives in the darkness (v.9)
- Person who does not love, causes other believers to stumble (v.10)
Be Building Blocks, not Stumbling Blocks to fellow believers.
II. If You Love God, You Must Not Love the World
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 Jn 2:15-17)
A. Warning Against Worldliness
“World” (kosmos, Gk): Not physical entity or people but a created order in rebellion against God
Why must we not love the world?
- Loving the world and loving the Father cannot co-exist (v.15b)
“Friendship with the world is hatred toward God” (Jam 4:4)
- Loving the world affects our response to the love of God and the will of God (v.17)
“If you love Me, keep My commandments” (Jn 14:15)
3 Areas to Guard Against Worldliness:
- Lust of the Flesh: pursues & goes beyond satisfying the God-given desires
- Lust of the Eyes: pleasures that seek to gratify & entice the sight and mind
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”” (Mt 6:22-24)
- Pride of Life:
- impresses others with importance
- desires to outshine, outrank others
Worldliness sneaks up on a believer in a subtle and gradual process.
III. If You Love God, You will Not Deny the Son
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. (1 Jn 2:18-23)
Antichrists (liars):
- Left fellowship and no longer in church (v.19)
- Denied Jesus is the Christ (v.22)
Cerinthianism
- Jesus was born naturally without the Virgin birth
- “The Christ” and Jesus are separate beings
- “The Christ” came upon Jesus at his baptism and left Jesus just prior to his crucifixion
- After Jesus’ baptism, Christ descended upon him in the form of a dove from the Supreme Ruler
This heresy as it undermines the very foundation of Christian faith.
“When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me” (Jn 16:8-9)
A. Doctrinal Beliefs
1. Jesus is the Pre-Existence God
To deny Jesus as the Christ is to deny Jesus’ Deity
a. Jesus' Pre-Existence and the Godhead
"Before Abraham was existing, I AM.” (Jn 8:58)
“Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.” (Ex 3:14)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Jn 3:16)
b. Jesus' Pre-Existence as the Eternal Word of God
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” (Jn 1:1-2)
c. Jesus' Pre-Existence in His Creation of the World
“All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (Jn 1:3)
“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him” (Col 1:16)
B. Believe that Jesus is the Incarnate Son
- Jesus is God, He is not the Father
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1)
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn 1:14)
- Jesus’ birth was foretold by Prophet Isaiah
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isa 9:6)
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” (Mt 1:23)
C. Practical Living
1. Remain in Him
“See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us–even eternal life.” (vv. 24-25)
“That which was from the beginning… this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.” (1 Jn 1:1)
Pay attention to what we have heard (Lk 8:14; Heb 2:1)
2. Continue in Him
26 “I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit— just as it has taught you, remain in him. 28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.” (1Jn 2: 26-28)
Don't be deceived and led astray!
The Holy Spirit will empower us to do God's will!
If you love God, You Will:
- Love Fellow Believers
- Not Love the World
- Not Deny the Son
