First John Bible Study, Chapter 2:1-11, by John.

First John Bible Study Chapter 2:1-11.

1. Let's start with a Recap, and perhaps we will add a little to what we discussed last week.
(1) John, the writer, was a disciple of Jesus.
(2) He was with Him all of the time.
(3) He witnessed the reality of the resurrection.
2. The early church decided that for a writing to be inspired, holy, Spirit-led and Spirit filled, the writer had to have such a personal relationship with Jesus.
(1) Wouldn't it be wonderful to be in the presence of Jesus like John was?
(2) Wouldn't it be wonderful to hear God speak directly to you?
3. Early church councils said that God's Word must meet three requirements:
(1) The author must have at least seen Jesus.
(2) His message must be accepted by most of God's people
(3) And it must agree with other Scriptural accounts.
4. John fit that description.
(1) He was a disciple.
(2) He was a leader in the churches.
(3) His writings agree with other written accounts.
4. In all three of these letters, and Revelation, He wrote to Christians to instruct them and encourage them. The Gospel's purpose was evangelistic, but also was written to give a straight account of the events in Jesus' life on earth that were most meaningful.
(1) The ones to whom he wrote 1st John were probably weak in the faith, so his purpose for writing was two fold.
(1) God wanted them to have some absolute truths to strengthen their faith, and to help them stand in the face of false doctrine.
(2) Persecution would result, and God wanted them to have a strong, abiding hope for the future.
5. We saw that Christians stand in the light of God, and that we cannot claim sinless perfection, but rather God accepts us as sinless in His sight because Jesus paid for our sins on the cross.
6. We still commit sins, and when we confess them God forgives them because Jesus is our Savior.
7. John wanted every Christian to know that God is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and we are able to live clean lives because of that.
8. To say otherwise is to call God a liar! And that implies His word has no place in our lives.
9. Chapter divisions are for our convenience only. (1) A French printer put them in the Bible some time after Guttenberg invented the printing press.
(2) Neither they nor the dates were in the original Bible. An Irish Archbishop James Usher, figured out the dates by mathematics, and added them.
(3) Neither the dates nor the chapters have anything to do with inspiration.

CHAPTER TWO.

1. V. 1: "My dear children," is the strongest term of affection and love a parent would use. It indicates how much John loved these Christians, and he loved them with the same love that Jesus loved both him and us.
2. John knew Christians can and will sin, so one purpose of his letter is to urge us not to sin!
3. If we do sin, we need to remember we have "one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ."
4. The King James and many other translations retain the Greek word "paraclete" here. I like to use Paraclete because of what it meant at that time in history. It referred to a person called to stand before the judge and intercede for an accused person on trial.
5. The Paraclete here is Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Romans 8:26, 27 also says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."
6. V. 2: Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
(1) Did Jesus die just for our sins? What about the rest of the world?
(2) Jesus died for all people.
a. Everyone in the world has an open door into heaven. It's Jesus. In John 10:7,9 Jesus said, "I am the gate for the sheep." and "I am the gate." The Greek word here translated gate is "THURA." It's used a number of times by Jesus, and refers to the entrance into heaven.
b. So many erroneously say, "Well, after all, everybody is going to heaven! Jesus died for everybody."
c. The last part is true. Jesus did, but their conclusion is false. Only those who trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior will go to heaven.
d. Let's look at Ephesians 2:8,9: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast."
e. Notice the tense indicates two things.
aa. He is talking to people who are already saved,
bb. And they are still saved today.
f. Notice also that God does all the saving.
g. You receive salvation by your faith in Jesus.
h. Other than having faith, there is nothing you can do to save yourself.
i. Note from this sentence construction, even faith comes from God. You want it? Ask for it! But when you receive it, expect to change. Listen to James 2:19: "You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder."
7. V 2-5. I'm sure John was asked many times, "How can I know that I'm saved?" John begins to answer that question right now.
(1) Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world!
(2) V 3; We know we know Him because we pattern our lives after Him. (We have to change to do that).
(3) V 4; "I know Him" sounds good, but they are not magic words. To say it and not live by His commands and example shows that those words are lies!
(5) V 5; Obeying God's Words completes God's love in us. (The King James has "perfected" here. Complete is a more accurate translation.)
(6) We can look at our own lives and know that we are really in Christ! The more obedient to Him we are, the greater our confidence will be that we are His saved children.
8. V 7. Agapetoi, "Dearly loved ones" is the Greek term John used to open this section. He is writing to Christians. He is going to state some negative things that do not apply to Christians, and he wants them to understand he loves them.
(1) The old command of v. 7 has always been true.
a. In Matthew 5:43, 19:19 and 22:39, Jesus said, "Love your neighbor." That is the "old commandment."
b. V. 8, The application of the command to our "brothers" is certainly the "new" commandment. (All Christians were termed "adelphos," brothers.
(2) The newest concept is its connection with light and darkness.
a. If you love all Christians (brothers), you are walking in the light, and "the darkness is passing and the light is already shining".
b. If you hate Christians (brothers), you are not walking in light.
9. V. 9, Anyone who claims to be in the light, but hates his brother has not changed. He is in the dark! Away from God.
10. V 10, Living in the light leaves nothing to cause anyone to stumble into sin.
11. V 11, The person without light can't get into the light, has no God-given sense of direction and is hopeless (unless he accepts Jesus and walks in the light). That is his only hope! It is doubtful you can love your neighbor if you don't love your Christian brothers and sisters.

Conclusion:

1. Christians are always faced with adversity because Satan is tireless in seeking to defeat and destroy God.
2. Christians have the same strong desires that lost people have, and we can and do fall into sin because we still have a strong desire to promote our own selfish desires.
3. We sin also because of our relationship with people around us.
4. We need to realize that God is light, and all sin is dark! There is no darkness in God.
5. If we do not love our brothers, we are in darkness, lost, and incapable of coming to God "The Light."
6. The situation is not completely hopeless. The door into God's loving presence is Jesus who gave His life to pay for our sins.
7. We can accept Him as our Lord and Savior, and we will be saved by His grace through our faith.
8. If our believe does not change us, we need to go back and start over because we are still walking in darkness!
9. Trust Jesus, open your life to Him, and let Him do the changing that is necessary. In John 3:3, Jesus told Nicodemus, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
10. That's how drastic the change in us must be! It's like being born all over again!