Sure of a Relationship
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1 John 2:3-11,15-17
My relationship with God is reflected in how I live.
My relationship with God is reflected in how I live.
Life has a way of surprising us and throwing us into a sea of unknowns. We saw this in early 2020 when a virus from the other side of the globe came crashing down on us.
One day people had steady, stable jobs. The next day, many businesses had to shut their doors. For many, not working meant not getting paid. Even worse, many lost their jobs.
One day people were free to move about, but suddenly they were told to stay in for fear of catching or spreading the COVID-19 virus.
When life is full of unknowns, confidence and assurance can disappear. In their place come fear and doubt. We all need confidence and assurance, and when it comes to living the Christian life, confidence and assurance become critical.
The Setting
The Setting
First John is a letter of assurance. John began by establishing his credentials as an eyewitness. Then he described the character of God. Next, John revealed three false claims and responded with three of God’s truths about forgiveness. Then John discussed believers’ relationships with God.
I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude 1 John 1: God Requires Repentance for Fellowship
BOOK PROFILE: 1 JOHN
• Sent to Christians in Ephesus, in Asia (western Turkey), possibly circulated to churches throughout Asia
• The date is uncertain. Some believe between A.D. 60 and 65, while others believe later, between A.D. 80 and 90.
PRAY:
PRAY:
Transition into the study by asking God to help the group understand the importance of our relationship with Him. Thank Him for valuing us and desiring to have a relationship with us.
STUDY THE BIBLE
STUDY THE BIBLE
1 John 2:3–6 (ESV)
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Compare to:
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
Greek word for know, YE NO SKO, means to understand; to discern
Greek word for abide, MEH NO, means to reside or stay
What can we learn from these definitions and how does it apply here?
We can know what the Scriptures say, but if they have no residence in us, what good does it do?
How does the concept of obedience tie to these passages?
Obedience happens as we keep His word. We still will falter on occasion, but all true Christians seek to live their lives in obedience.
Does obedience produce faith or faith produce obedience?
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Therefore, if we lack assurance of salvation, we should look at the pattern of obedience in our lives. Obedience to God’s commands doesn’t save us; we are saved by grace through our faith in Jesus. Now we obey because we have that relationship.
Compare verse 4 to
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
John uses “walk” to equate to works
Your relationship with God is reflected in how you live.
What is Gnosticism?
I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude A. Gnosticism
Gnosticism was rooted in ancient Greek philosophy (Plato and Philo). When the church spread from Jerusalem to Greece, it inevitably encountered this philosophy. Gnostics did not see how a good God could have created an evil physical world, so they concocted a worldview that absolved God of any responsibility for this world by separating the spiritual world from the physical world.
I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude A. Those Who Know God Must Obey Him (vv. 3–6)
Apparently, some people in Ephesus claimed to know God, but they made no effort to keep God’s commands. The religion that came to be known as Gnosticism prided itself in knowing God through mystical enlightenment, though that knowledge had no bearing on their moral behavior. They had no understanding that sin was a barrier to their relationship with God. John set them straight about this claim: “If you know God, you keep his commandments, and if you make no effort to keep his commandments, but still claim to be a Christian, you are a liar.”
STUDY THE BIBLE
STUDY THE BIBLE
7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Temporal vs. Eternal
RECAP: Love repeatedly shows up in 1 John. It appears 24 times in the 105 verses that make up this letter! In this passage John wrote of love as both an old and new command. Love is “an old command” in that it is mentioned in the Old Testament law (Lev. 19:17-18; Deut. 6:5). In fact, Jesus said the entirety of the law could be summed up in the commands to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37-40).
RECAP: The light John referred to is God’s kingdom, which was inaugurated at Christ’s first coming: “the true light is already shining.” Jesus is “the light of the world” (John 8:12), and His kingdom is characterized by both light and love. Our love for God and for others is proof we are citizens of that kingdom.
As citizens of Christ’s kingdom of light, we push back the darkness when we walk in love. If we don’t walk in the light, we will be blinded by the darkness. Loving as Christ loves doesn’t come easily. Love can be costly. God’s love for us led Him to the costly sacrifice of His Son. But when we love sacrificially, we are reflecting the love of God, and we are reflecting a right relationship with God. Of course, there will be times when we don’t love as we should, but the Christian life is characterized by light, not darkness—love, not hate.
DISCUSS: Question #3 on page 25 of the PSG: “How would you describe spiritual blindness?”
ALTERNATE QUESTION:
How does our culture get love wrong?
ACTIVITY (OPTIONAL): Use the Blindfold option on page 35 of this Leader Guide to help illustrate the dangers and difficulties of spiritual blindness.
TRANSITION: In the next verses, we see that we are to walk in the will of God, not the ways of the world.
1 John 2:7-11 Commentary
[VERSE 7] Walking in the light can keep us from being blinded by the darkness. John specifically addressed his dear friends, or translated more literally, beloved. The Greek word refers to God’s type of love, love that is given but not earned. The new/old command recalls John 13:34-35. The Greek New Testament uses two primary words rendered new. One has to do with time (our word chronology); the other, used here, has to do with extent, quality. The commandment to love was old; it had been known a long time (throughout the Old Testament: Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18). Yet the commandment to love was new because in Jesus, love reached a standard it had never known before.
[VERSE 8] John specifically addressed the new aspect. It is a new command in at least five senses: (1) love because of fellowship with God; (2) the standard of love for others being Jesus’ love; (3) love with humility; (4) love resulting in self-sacrifice; and (5) love resulting from regeneration of believers. The words its truth is seen in him and in you reflect how the light Jesus brought into the world shines in Christians. The result is that the darkness is passing; the true light is already shining. Here light refers to goodness, righteousness; darkness refers to evil, sin. Imagine the first few rays of day; there are still places of darkness, but light is on its way. Wherever there are disciples of Jesus Christ, there is light. To the extent we unite our lives with God through Christ, we are light. To the extent we let our old nature control our life, we are living in the flesh.
[VERSE 9] The behavior resulting in darkness is hate. Anyone who claims to be refers to false teachers—or anyone who meets the conditions laid out. Most of the time in the New Testament, brother or sister refers to Christians. John was saying, “In the same way light and darkness cannot be in the same place, love and hate cannot be in the same person.” The genuineness of faith is seen in right relation to God (keeping His commands, v. 3) and people (loving others, vv. 9-10). Love and hate are similar to two sides of the same coin; the absence of one means the presence of the other. Hate reveals the presence of sin and the absence of righteousness.
[VERSE 10] What John stated negatively in verse 9, he stated positively in verse 10. John did not write whoever says he loves … . Rather, John wrote anyone who loves their brother and sister. John was much more concerned with action than speech. The word stumble refers to acting in ways contrary to God’s revealed will; this is also called darkness, unrighteousness, sin. What did John mean by nothing in them to make them stumble? (Our English word scandal comes from the word rendered stumble.) He meant the Christian will: (1) recognize temptation; (2) refuse temptation; and (3) lead others toward Christ, not away from Him. The light—Christ’s Spirit living in us—shines on our path and lights the way so we will have no reason to stumble or to lead others to stumble.
[VERSE 11] John listed three results of hate. The person who hates (1) is in the darkness, sin; (2) walks around in the darkness; (3) do not know where they are going. Why? Because the darkness has blinded them. Whenever we hate, it hurts us more than what or whom we hate. The more we yield to hate (sin), the more we blind ourselves, and the less we see of God. The result of continuous, lifestyle sinning is that we harden our hearts toward God (we blind ourselves) and therefore cannot respond to His call. Love enables us to walk in the light; hatred leaves us in the dark. Sin separates us from both God and one another. Love for God (v. 3) and for people (v. 10) promotes fellowship. Therefore, it is not only the absence of habitual sin that characterizes the life of the believer, it is also the presence of love. My relationship with God is reflected in how I live.
STUDY THE BIBLE
1 John 2:15-17
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.
READ: Ask a group member to read aloud 1 John 2:15-17 on page 26 of the PSG.
DISCUSS: Question #4 on page 26 of the PSG: “What are some things in the world we are tempted to love?”
ALTERNATE QUESTION:
What are some examples of the things in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions?
SUMMARIZE: Highlight the main points from page 26 of the PSG. The world’s temptations can be grouped into three categories:
1. The lust of the flesh. This is the desire for selfish pleasure; the person who cares more about himself than others.
2. The lust of the eyes. This type of temptation is tied to the greedy longing for gain, always wanting more but never satisfied.
3. The pride of life. This temptation refers to envy and the love of popularity, recognition, and applause.
GUIDE: Use the commentary for the verses on the next page of this Leader Guide to help explain the temptations of the world.
LEADER PACK: Display Pack Item 3, “Worldly Temptations” poster, to give group members an opportunity to apply lessons from this passage. Invite group members to collaborate to fill in the poster.
DISCUSS: Question #5 on page 26 of the PSG: “How can our group help one another overcome the ways of the world in our lives?”
DO: Direct group members to Engage with “Living Obediently” on page 27 of the PSG (page 35 in this Leader Guide) to help reinforce “The Point.”
GUIDE: Refer back to “The Point” for this session: “My relationship with God is reflected in how I live.”
ACTIVITY (OPTIONAL): Use the Testimony option on page 35 of this Leader Guide to allow group members to hear an example of a thriving relationship with Jesus.
1 John 2:15-17 Commentary
[VERSE 15] We have seen two of John’s three tests revealing our relationship with God as reflected in how we live. Our next session will focus on the third test, the test of doctrinal confession (1 John 2:18-27). But first, let’s look at another way to understand the first half of 1 John 2. Verses 3-6 teach us to walk in obedience to God’s commands. Verses 7-11 teach us to walk in the light so we won’t go blind. Verses 12-14 describe the best way we can walk in the light: remember who we are and what God has done for us. Verses 15-17 instruct us to walk in the will of God, not the ways of the world. Let’s camp here a little. God commands: do not love the world. The command is founded on two arguments: (1) the incompatibility of love for God and for the world and (2) the transient nature of the world contrasted with God’s permanence (v. 17). John used the world to describe both pagan society and its standards. Worldliness lies in attitudes that result in sinful actions. Next John defined the consequences of disobeying the command not to love the world: if you love the world, you cannot love the Father. Our actions demonstrate where our love resides, the Father or the world. Put another way, God commands us to walk in the will of God, not in the ways of the world. By stating love for the Father is not in them, John revealed the lack of salvation for those who love the world. The choice is clear: either we love the world or we love God; there is no in between.
[VERSE 16] John exposed what loving the world means with three specific examples. The first example of loving the world is the lust [or desire resulting in action] of the flesh. Flesh refers to our sin nature. Thus, lust of the flesh describes judging anything by material standards, making a god of worldly pleasures. It is blind to the commands, judgments, standards, and perhaps even existence of God. The second example of loving the world is the lust [desire] of the eyes: being captivated by outward show. This lust sees nothing without wanting it. This is not merely the attitude that recognizes an object is beautiful; it says, “I’ve got to have it.” The misplaced belief is: happiness can be found only in what we see. The third example of loving the world is the pride of life. This attitude describes one who spends one’s time trying to impress others with possessions, positions, or accomplishments—a braggart. This attitude seeks security in what one has, not in a relationship with God. John warned of the origin of everything in the world. The origin of such comes not from the Father but from the world. Understanding this verse helps us walk in the will of God, not in the ways of the world.
[VERSE 17] John stressed the temporary nature of the world and its desires and contrasted it with God’s permanent nature: but whoever does the will of God lives forever. The world with its lusts is temporary; these things are victims of change, decay, and the result of sin: death (Jas. 1:15). However, the reward for the one who does the will of God is that he or she lives forever. This describes life in the present as well as life in eternity. This life is quantitatively and qualitatively different, life as it was meant to be lived. My relationship with God is reflected in how I live. The best way for a person to walk in the light is to remember who he or she is and what God has done for him or her. The world’s standards are deceiving and temporary. The person who does God’s will has been promised life: eternal and spiritually abundant in this world and the next one. Having received this gift from God, we must walk in obedience to God’s commands, walk in the light so we won’t go blind. We must walk in the will of God, not in the ways of the world.
LIVE IT OUT
GUIDE: Direct group members to page 28 of the PSG. Encourage them to choose one of the following applications:
Examine your life. Consider the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. If, after examining your life, you feel as though you have fallen short in manifesting a true Christian’s character, then repent and trust in Christ now.
Align your life. Perhaps through this study, you have been assured of your relationship with God. However, you also realize there are a few things in your life that need to be re-aligned under God’s will. If so, begin making those changes this week. It might be something as simple as waking up earlier so you can spend quality time with God.
Make a difference in someone else’s life. Be intentional this week to share about your relationship with Christ. Look for opportunities to serve someone, and when you see it, don’t hesitate. Serving others gives a great opportunity for sharing the gospel.
Wrap It Up
TRANSITION: Read or restate the final paragraph from page 28 of the PSG.
This past year has certainly thrown us plenty of curveballs, things that could cause us to doubt. But our relationship with Christ gives us confidence and assurance to overcome anything that seeks to undermine our faith.
PRAY: Thank God for establishing a relationship with us. Ask Him to help group members honor that relationship by living in obedience to Him.
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ENGAGE
Living Obediently. Choose one of the following images that best represents an opportunity for you to live obediently this week. Then ask God for strength to make it happen.
My prayer:
BONUS CONTENT
ACTIVITY (OPTIONAL): In advance, enlist two volunteers. Instruct the first volunteer to close his/her eyes (or wear a blindfold) and walk around the room by voice commands from the second volunteer. Be sure the first volunteer has someone close by to keep him/her from falling over something. After the experiment, encourage the first volunteer to share his/her experience about walking in the darkness. Make the point that we need to walk in Christ’s light by obeying His voice through His Word.
ACTIVITY (OPTIONAL): In advance, enlist a group member or someone from your church to give a testimony about their relationship with Christ. Invite them to tell how they came to Christ and how their relationship with Him has grown as they have learned to live obediently [LifeWay Adults (2020). (p. 35). Bible Studies for Life: Adult Leader Guide - NIV - Fall 2021. LifeWay Press. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com] [LifeWay Adults (2020). (p. 35). Bible Studies for Life: Adult Leader Guide - NIV - Fall 2021. LifeWay Press. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com]