“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” (1 John 5:11, ESV) What does it look like when we’re born of God? John lists five evidences in the first verses of Chapter 5. We keep believing in Jesus as the Messiah. We keep loving God as Father. We keep loving those born of God. We keep doing God’s commands. We keep overcoming the world. John weaves faith, love, and obedience together...

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:16, ESV) John’s letter has three major sections about love: The new commandment to love – 1 John 2:7-11, Loving one another – 1 John 3:10-14, and God’s perfect love is available to every person – 1 John 4:7-21. John literally writes (Greek: agapetoi agapomen)...

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1, ESV) Right now, you may wonder where you stand. None of us exhibits continual self-sacrificial love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. All of us have moments when we mistreat the brethren by our actions – neglecting them in time of need, lashing out at...

“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18, ESV) Our previous discussion related to those who are a child of God or a child of the devil. The two criteria were to practice righteousness and love your brother (1 John 3:10). John now expands on the meaning of what it is to love your brother. John speaks of four different levels of relationships in which we can choose to live: Murder (1 John 3:11-12,...

“By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” (1 John 3:10, ESV) John has pointed out the contrasts between light and darkness (1 John 1:1–2:6), love and hatred (1 John 2:7–17), and truth and error (1 John 2:18–27). Now John turns from the ideal view of the believer to the practice of obedience....

“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.” (John 2:22, ESV) We move from considering Light/Darkness and Love/Hate of one another and between God and the world to the idea of the antichrist/Antichrist. John has previously given us the moral test of obedience to God’s commandments (1 John 2:3-6). He has also given us the relational test of love (1 John...