1 John 4-5

1 John 4

Love is powerful

Relationship with God is grounded in love

Loving one another

Does God love us or Himself more?

Love is mentioned 50 times in 1 John, 27 of those are in chapter 4

Agape

Worldly love will always have a condition

God shows us love and empowers us to love (agape)

“Test the spirits”

Don’t listen to anyone blindly. Take time and test what people say against the word of God. We are in Spiritual war and need the sturdiest foundation possible.

What is the “spirit of the antichrist”?

1 & 2 John are the only places the word antichrist is mentioned in the Bible.

As i think about this fact and the them of love we see in 1 John, i cannot but help to think a characteristic of an antichrist spirit is hate

Antichrist = opposed to Christ / not of Christ

Verse 18

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

“been perfected in love” we are all working on this, meaning fear wills till hit us at times.

break the verse down

Verse 20 Discussion

1 John 5

Being in God separates us from the world

Being in God gives us power over sin

We follow God’s commands out of love

Love for God gives us a desire to live a life pleasing to him.

How must we believe in Jesus?

“commandments are not burdensome”

What if they are?

How to make them not burdensome?

How does the Spirit testify? What does the Spirit testify about?

Verse 12 discussion

Verse 14 asking according to God’s will

Discuss verse 16-17

Discuss Christians and sin (v. 18)

Discuss verse 21

How to keep yourself from idols?