4 \u2013 Little children, you belong to God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n – John assures them of their victory. They have resisted the temptation though the power of the Holy Spirit. There is possibly a hint of persecution here. Also note the contrast between \u201cin you\u201d and \u201cin the world.\u201d While we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, non-believers are not indwelt by Satan.<\/p>\n 5 \u2013 These people belong to the world. That is why they speak from the world\u2019s perspective,[1] and the world listens to them.<\/strong><\/p>\n – Then, as now, there was the way the world looks at things, and the way God looks at things. Those who left were of the world and they speak that way. Today we see this in the use of, and battle over, labels such as Pro-Life \u2013 Pro-choice. We must remember we are not in a popularity contest. God\u2019s message will is not to be judged by numbers. The world judges by how big and how popular something is. But for God, what matters is truth and love.<\/p>\n 6 \u2013 We belong to God. The person who knows God listens to us. Whoever does not belong to God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.<\/strong><\/p>\n – Note the change to plural. John is speaking of all Christians. Those who know God will accept the teachings of God, while those who do not know God will not. We are not in a battle of logic and reason. That someone does not accept the Gospel is not a failure on our part. That the experts disagree is not relevant.<\/p>\n 7 \u2013 Dear friends, let us continually love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God.<\/strong><\/p>\n – Having just talked about the importance of truth, John now turns to the other test: Love. Here John adds a reason: because love comes from God. He is continuing his argument that those who know God accept the truth of his message, and they reflect his actions: i.e., they love.<\/p>\n Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n – This can be a difficult verse and context is important to avoid misunderstanding. Here the context is of loving others. John is not talking about the love of a parent for a child, or love of a spouse. The context is loving people.<\/p>\n – To really love, require that we love in truth. We are to love as God Loves. To know God is to obey God; to Obey is to Love; to Love is to know God \u2013 John closes the circle. This is a goal that few and probably none actually achieve. It is something we strive for.<\/p>\n 8 \u2013 The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.<\/strong><\/p>\n – Again having stated the positive, John now emphasizes this with the negative.<\/p>\n because God is love<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n – This is one of John definitional statements, such as God is Light (1:7), God is Spirit (Jn 4:24) This statement is quite popular in the modern Church but note that it does not say God is only Love. John\u2019s argument here is that God is Love, how can we claim to be followers of God if we do not love?<\/p>\n 9 \u2013 This is how God\u2019s love was revealed among us: God sent his unique Son into the world so that we might live through him.<\/strong><\/p>\n – If we are to love as God loves, then how does God love? John gives us the greatest example in a fashion very reminiscent of John 3:16. This example has both of the major components of godly love: A true compassion that works itself out in action.<\/p>\n 10 \u2013 This is love: not that we have loved[2] God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.<\/strong><\/p>\n – John expands on his definition of love<\/p>\n Not that we have loved God but that he loved us<\/strong><\/p>\n – As we seek to understand real love, we cannot look to how we love God or how we love others. True love is to be found in how God loved us.<\/p>\n sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sin<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n – Rom 5:8 – But God demonstrates his love for us by the fact that the Messiah died for us while we were still sinners.<\/p>\n – God\u2019s love was demonstrated while we were in rebellion against him. What does that say about our love? What does it say about how we treat others?<\/p>\n If you have question or comments about the class, feel free to send me an email at elgin@hushbeck.com<\/a> and be sure to put \u201cEpistles of John\u201d in the header.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n See here for references and more background on the class<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nii. Belonging to World vs. Belonging to God (4:5-6)<\/h5>\n
f. Love comes from God (4:7-10)<\/h4>\n
i. Love one another (4:7a)<\/h5>\n
ii. Loving one another = knowing God (4:7b-8)<\/h5>\n
iii. God\u2019s Love demonstrated (4:9-10)<\/h5>\n