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The book of First John A Verse by Verse Study A. V. 6 “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” 1. “We are of God:” He is our Father and therefore we are like Him. John 8:42 “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.” a. We are of God born by His Spirit, led by His Spirit, taught by His Spirit. b. We have been sanctified (set aside to be Holy) to be holy is to be like our Father. c. We know truth just as the lost follow lies we follow the teachings of the Holy Spirit. d. We follow the same teachings that the Apostles followed. John 21:24 “This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.” Because we are of God. 2. “he that knoweth God heareth us;” We do not speak to deaf ears, there are people to hear the message, Gods words never go in vain. Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” a. People hear however some may ignore because they are seeking to please their itchy ears. b. Those that hear and stand on truth will be blessed. c. We know God’s men because we hear them, they preach truth and this is how we tell the difference between the spirits. “Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” d. Isaiah 8:20 “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” B. John returns us to Christian love V. V. 7 – 21, however John now puts a different thought on it. As we will see the reason he spoke about our love for one another so strongly is because it is not our love but the love of God in us. 1. Let’s look at some key thoughts. a. V. 7 “for love is of God;” b. V. 8 “for God is love.” c. V. 9 “In this was manifested the love of God toward us,” d. V. 10 “not that we loved God, but that he loved us,” e. V. 11 “Beloved, if God so loved us,” f. V. 12 “God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” g. V. 13 “Hereby know we that we dwell in him,” h. V. 15 “God dwelleth in him,” i. V. 16 “God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” j. V. 17 “Herein is our love made perfect,” Herein means because of this. k. V. 19 “We love him, because he first loved us.” l. V. 21 “That he who loveth God love his brother also.” 2. All of these statements have one central theme: We love because God loves us and His love is our love because our love is His love flowing from our hearts. a. The reason John makes such bold statements like 1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” Is because God hates none that are saved by His grace, therefore since it is His love in our hearts it is imposable for one believer to hate another. b. The very key to this love is in verse 17 “because as he is, so are we in this world.” As He is so are we because He is in our hearts. C. The new topic, somewhat different from the old is that we are to love each other with the love of Jesus that resides in our heart. V. 7 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” 1. Here we see from which love flows,
let’s notice “for love is of God;” the word “for” comes from the Greek word hoti pronounced hot'-ee and means because that, because that love is God’s
love. 2. All true love comes
from God and this is the only love a believer should have. Just as the
believer follows the Lord Jesus in other areas we must also follow in this. John 13:34 “A new commandment I give
unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love
one another.” And in verse 36 “Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst
not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me
afterwards.” 3. V. 7b “and every one
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth
God.” Just as we cannot be born of God and hate our fellow believer we also
cannot love them and be lost. Without God’s love we can do either just we can
not love then if we have His love. 4. “for
God is love.” a.
Never to hate one elect soul. b.
never to love one none elect soul. c. By grace He
elected us, prepared a way of salvation for us, He uses us for His glory, and
He adopted us as children, however, the greatest example of His love to
us-ward is Him sending His beloved Son to die for us. d. Yes! God is love,
and as He is love so are we, not that we should be but that we are, it is not
a choice or decision we make like going to church but rather it is a fact of
our new nature. |