Rev. Ronald C. Purkey,
Pastor
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The following Bible study outline was
prepared by Rev. Ronald C. Purkey for
the Adult Bible Class at Paul’s Chapel where
Rev. Purkey is the teacher.
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LOVE IS LIGHT
SCRIPTURE:
INTRODUCTION: In
I. IMITATING
CHRIST (1
A. The
Christian’s Obedience. (2:3)
1.
Obedience in a desire to do God’s will.
John is about to give the true marks of those who
are in the Christian fellowship. The first is obedience. We can have assurance
concerning our relationship with God if our life is characterized by a loving
desire to do His will. These verses are doubtless aimed at the Gnostics who
professed to have a superior knowledge of God, but who showed little interest
in keeping the commandments of the Lord. John shows that such knowledge
is hollow and worthless.
2.
Obedience in a threefold way.
a. Keeping “His
commandments.” (2: 3)
b. Keeping “His
word.” (2:5)
c. Walking as “He
walked.” (2:6)
There is a definite progress in thought. To keep
His commandments is to obey the teachings of the Lord Jesus as found
in the New Testament. To keep His word means not only obedience to what
is written, but a desire to do what we know would please Him. To walk as He
walked is the full expression of God’s standard for His people; it means to
live as Jesus Christ lived.
B. The Christian’s
Desire. (2:4)
John does not imply that the Christian life
consists in faultless obedience to the will of God, but rather that the
Christian habitually desires to “keep
His commandments” and to do those things that are pleasing in God’s
sight. John is looking at the over-all picture of a person’s life. If someone
says he knows God but does not keep God’s commandments,
then it is clear that he is not telling the
truth.
C. The
Christian’s Testimony. (2:5)
When we keep “His word,” then “the
love of God is perfected” in
us. “The love of God” does not refer to our love for God, but
rather to His love for us. The thought is that God’s love toward us has been brought to its purpose when we keep God’s word. It accomplishes its aim and
reaches its end in producing obedience to the Lord.
D. The
Christian’s Example. (2:6)
Whoever says
he abides in Christ should walk
just as the Lord Jesus walked.
Christ’s life, as set forth in the Gospels, is our model and guide. It is not a
life which we can live in our own strength or energy, but is only possible in
the power of the Holy Spirit. Our responsibility is to turn our lives over to Christ
unreservedly, and allow the Lord to live His life in and through us.
II.
A. The Old Commandment.
(2:7)
1.
Love your brother.
Another important mark of true believers is love
for the brethren. John says that this is not a new commandment which he is writing, but an old commandment which they had had from the beginning. In other words, the Lord Jesus had taught
His disciples to love one another from
the very beginning of His
earthly ministry.
2.
Test the message.
The Gnostics were always parading their teachings
as being new. But the apostle urges his readers to test everything by the teaching
of the Lord Jesus when He was here on earth. There is always the danger of
drifting away from that which was in the
beginning. John says, “Get back to the beginning, and you will know what
is true.”
B. The New
Commandment. (2:8)
1.
The Lord’s example.
This commandment is not only an old commandment,
but there is a sense in which it is also new. When the Lord Jesus was here,
He not only taught His disciples to love one another, but He gave them a living
example of what He meant. Jesus’ life was characterized by love for others. The
commandment was therefore true in Christ when He was here on
earth.
2.
The believer’s change.
But now there is a sense in which the Old
Commandment is new. In this dispensation, it is not only true in the Lord Jesus, but in
believers also. We Christians have formerly been heathens, living in hatred and
passion. Now we are to illustrate and embodied the great law of love in our
lives.
3.
The Christian’s attitude.
Therefore the
darkness is passing away whenever men or women receive the light of the gospel.
The darkness has not all vanished because many have not come to Christ, but
Christ, the true light, is
already shining. Whenever sinners turn to Christ, they are saved and from
that day forward they love their fellow believers.
C. Discerning
Commandment. (2:9–11)
1.
False love.
In verses 9–11 we have the contrast between love
that is “false” and that which is “true.” If someone professes to be a
Christian and yet hates those
who are truly Christians, it is a sure sign that the person is in darkness. This expression shows
that it is not a case of backsliding that is in view. The person continues to
be what he always was, namely, lost.
2.
True love.
On the other hand, the person who characteristically loves his brother abides in the light, and
there is no cause for stumbling in him. This may mean that the person
himself is not in danger of stumbling, or that he will not cause others to
stumble. (Either interpretation is true.)
3.
Practical love.
If the Christian is really living in touch with the
Lord, the light illuminates his own pathway, and no one else is offended
because of any discrepancy between his profession
and his practice. The Gnostics had a
deep hatred for those who were true to the Word of God. This proved that they
were in darkness and walked in darkness, and that they did not know where they were going, because the darkness had blinded
their eyes.
Love not the world
“Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world.” What “world” is John
talking about? He does not mean the world of creation, that is, the system and
order found in the physical creation. In spring the flowers bloom and the trees
put out leaves. In the fall the leaves begin to turn all kinds of beautiful
colors, like yellow and gold and red. Then the leaves fall off, and winter soon
comes. This is not the world we are warned against loving. This is the world
God created for our enjoyment.
Nor is the world about which John speaks the world
of humanity or mankind. We are told that “God
so loved the world.” What
world? The world of people, of human beings. “… God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son …” (John
Then what world does John mean? The Greek word for
“world” here is kosmos. It means the world system, the organized system
headed by Satan which leaves God out and is actually in opposition to Him. The
thing which we need to hate today is this thing in the world which is organized
against God. – J. Vernon McGee, Thru the
Bible
A. The
Problem. (2:15-16)
1.
The “unholy trinity.”
We are plainly warned not to love the world or
the things that are in the world,
for the simple reason that love for the world is not compatible with love for the Father. All that the world
has to offer may be described as the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
The lust of the flesh refers to such sensual
bodily appetites as proceed from within our evil nature. The lust of the eyes applies to such
evil desires as may arise from what we see. The pride of life is an unholy ambition for self-display and
self-glory.
These three elements of worldliness are illustrated
in the sin of Eve. The tree was good for food; that is the lust of the flesh. The tree was pleasant to the eyes; that is the lust of the eyes. It was a tree to
be desired to make one wise; this describes the pride of life.
2.
The love for “things.”
As the devil is opposed to Christ,
and the flesh is hostile to the Spirit, so the world is
antagonistic to the Father. Appetite, greediness, and ambition are not of the Father, but of the world.
That is, they do not proceed from God
the Father, but find their source in the world. “Worldliness”
is the love for passing things. The human heart can never find satisfaction
with “things.”
B. The
Solution. (
The world is passing
away, and the lust of it.
When a bank is breaking, smart people do not deposit in it. When the foundation
is tottering, intelligent builders do not proceed. Concentrating on this world
is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. So wise people do not live
for a world that is passing away. But he who does the will of
God abides forever. It is the
will of God that delivers us from the temptation of passing things.
This, incidentally, was the life verse of D. L.
Moody, the great pastor and evangelist. It is inscribed on his tombstone: “He who does the will of God abides
forever.”
CONCLUSION: There can be no true fellowship without love. Unless we love God
and God’s children, we cannot walk in the light and fellowship with God.
THOUGHT TO
REMEMBER: “You're headed in the right direction if
you're walking with Christ.”
On the Right Footing
Walking
in darkness is a choice. One thing is certain: you cannot simultaneously remain
in darkness and walk in the light. To hate our brother not only means we are
walking in darkness, we are also abiding in death (1
Love
grounds, or provides traction for, our footing so that we do not stumble nor
become a stumbling block to our brother’s faith. Read
PASTOR RONALD PURKEY’S OFFICE
E-Mail: Pastor Purkey
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