Be Real --1 John-- Warren Wiersbe

Chapter 3- Something Old, Something New

CHAPTER 3-Something old, Something

New (1 JOHN 2:7-11) Last week we talked about the life that is real also

has an enemy, and this enemy is sin. This week we discuss Love, Life and Light.

Love is affected by Light and Darkness. A Christian who is walking in the light (obeying God) is going to love his brother Christian.

So why should we love one another?o God has commanded us to love 1 Jn 2:7-11o We have been born of God and God’s love lives in us 1 Jn

3:10-24o God first revealed His love to us “We love…. Because He

first loved us” 1 Jn 4:7-21

Defining LOVE

LoveThe Greek word that is used is AGAPE (ah-GAH-pay) or the

word for o God’s love toward mano God’s love for other Christianso God’s love for His church (Eph 5:22-23)

Another Greek word for love is PHILIA (fee-LEE-ah)o Used elsewhere it carries the idea of “friendship love”. o Not as profound or divine as Agape

A third Greek word is EROSo Meaning erotic and it is not used at all in the New

Testament.

1 John 2:7-10

1 John 2:7 –Old but NewJohn says he writes a new commandment to you but it is actually an old one which is from “the beginning”. A word we have heard from “the beginning”.How is it possible for one commandment to stand head and shoulders above all the others?oLove is the fulfillment of God’s Law. (Rom 13:8-10)oWhen you love people you don’t lie about them or steal from them.oLove for God and love for others motivates a person to OBEY God’s commandments without even thinking about them.oThis is why John says “Love one another” is a new commandment. IT IS NEW IN EMPHASISoThe old commandment is the one we had from the beginning.

Discussion/Examples

The phrase “From the beginning” is used in two different ways in John’s letter.o In 1 John 1:1 he describes the eternality of Christ, we read that

He existed “from the beginning “.o In John 1:1 we read “In the beginning was the Word and the

word was with God and the word was God”.o In this verse 1 John 2:7 the subject is the beginning of the

Christian Life. It is in our hearts from the beginning of our faith in Jesus Christ. The light.

o As a believer we discover that we now hate what we used to love and love what we used to hate. This is how this becomes a New commandment. It lives inside of us through the Holy Spirit.

o “Love one another” is repeated in Jn13:34, 15:9,12,17; Rom 13:8;Thes 4:9;1 Peter 1:22; 1 Jn 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11-12 and 2 Jn 5.

o 1 Cor 13 message is the Christian life without love is nothing.

1 John2:7-11 1 John 2:8 –A true written commandment

oTrue in us because the darkness is past and the light is to be shining.oLove one another was first TRUE IN CHRIST. He is the greatest example of this commandmentoJesus does not ask us to do something that He has not done Himself.He lived it every day!oThe four Gospels records are an account of a life lived in the spirit of love, In effect, Jesus says to us “I lived by this great commandment and I can enable you to follow MY example”.oHe was patient with Peter’s impulsiveness, Thomas’ unbelief, and even Judas’ treachery. When He commanded them to love one another, He was telling them to do as He had done.

1 John 2: 7-11o Perhaps the greatest thing about Jesus’ love was the

way it touched even the lives of his enemies.o He yielded to his enemies when the mob came to get

Him.o He died for themo Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his

life for his friends”.(Jn 15:13)o Jesus died not just for His friends.o What is true in Christ ought to be true in His believers.o A believer should live a life of Christian love “because

the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining”. 1 Jn 2:8

o Satan is the Prince of darkness, and he extends his evil kingdom by means of lies and hatred.

o Jesus Christ is the standard of love for Christians. Jn 15:12 “This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you”.

1 John 2:7-11 1 John 2:9 –Hate thy brother?

He that says he is the light and hates a brother is in darkness. SIN!o Is it easy to talk about Christian and hard to practice it?o It is impossible to be in fellowship with the Father and be out of fellowship with a another Christian at the same time..oThis is one reason God established the local church. The fellowship of believers.oThe Christian life has two relationships. Vertical=Godward and horizontal=manward. A d what God has joined together, man must not put asunder.oSaying and doing are very different. James 1:23 “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass”.

1 John 2:7-11o Phil 1:9-10 Paul says “and this I pray that your love may

abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment. That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense til the day of Christ”.

o Hatred is blinding people!o Christian love is a practical thing; it applies in the every

day affairs of life.o What can we do to show love for one another?o Jn 13:14, Rom 12:10, Rom 12:16, Rom 15:14, 1 Thes

5:11, Gal 6:2, James 5:16, 1 Peter 4:9What does 1 Cor 13:4-7 mean?• Christian love that does not show itself in action and in

attitude is false.

1 John 2:10 –Love thy brotherHe who loves his brother abides in the light (law) and we are not to stumble (err). John saw it through Jesus because He lived it.oThe second tragic result is the stumble.oIt is one thing to hurt ourselves but when we start to hurt others the situation is far more serious.oThe best way to help another Christian not to stumble is to love them.oIt is important that Christians exercise love in a local church, or else there will always be problems and disunity.oPaul puts it this way. “let us not therefore judge one another anymore; but judge this, rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brothers way. Rom 14:13

1 John2:11 1 John 2:11

o “But he that hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and knows not where he goes, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

o But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

o Walking in the light and walking in love is the secret of Christian growth, which nearly always begins with love.

o Perhaps the best thing we can do right now, is to search our hearts to see if we hold anything against a brother, or if someone has anything against us. The life that is real is the honest life, and it is the life of doing, not merely saying.

o An active love in Christ; forgiveness, kindness, long-suffering. But also joy, peace and victory.

Next week

The Love God Hates