This Is How We Know, Part 9: We Love Because We're Loved // Bruce Read · The Street Church · Radar

The Context of 1 John0:39 – 4:56

0:39

John's writing to a group of churches in, uh, Asia Minor, uh, most likely in the western side of modern-day Turkey, and at the center of those churches is the church of Ephesus, and that church had some history.

0:55

Paul had planted it in the AD 50s, and he had warned the, the elders of the church at that time, "After I leave, I know that savage wolves will come in amongst you who will not spare the flock.

1:10

Men will arise amongst you who will distort the truth in order to gather disciples after them." Now some 35, 40 years later, John's writing to the churches.

1:25

The savage wolves have been feeding on the church.

1:28

They've been introducing false teachers, teaching.

1:32

Teachers had emerged from within the churches, and they were trying to convince other people that Jesus could not possibly be both God and man, because, I mean, God never sins, and human beings, well, they always sin.

1:50

But John is adamant with the Christian teaching that Jesus is fully Go- uh, fully man, "We heard Him, we saw Him, we touched Him" and fully God and able to give us eternal life because He is life.

2:09

Now, the reality of coming to faith in Jesus Christ, John is going to repeatedly talk about throughout this letter, there will be three evidence, truths, tests that we have come to true faith in Jesus Christ.

2:25

One will be what we believe, that we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, our Savior.

2:33

We will obey the teachings of Christ, and we obey His commandments.

2:38

And third, we will love other Christians.

2:41

The reality that we have come to faith.

2:44

Now, John builds his whole book around three attributes of God.

2:51

The first attribute, seen in chapter 1, is that God is light.

2:57

And Jesus said, "I am the light of the world", and He invites us to come from darkness of sin, out of relationship, into His light.

3:09

And when that's true for us, it'll be evident in what we believe, who we obey, and how we love.

3:18

Now, the second character trait, attribute of God...

3:22

And these are entrances that we can use into relationship with God.

3:26

The second attribute is that God is righteous.

3:30

And in chapter 3, he's been talking in 2 and 3 a whole lot about human sin, that our sin separates us from God, and now God is righteous.

3:42

That means He's holy, He's pure, He does exactly what is right.

3:47

But our- we're, we're sinful.

3:50

But He invites us into relationship with Him, that if we confess our sin, He, Jesus Christ, is faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, so we can come from our darkness and from our sin into a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

4:14

Now, the third attribute of God that John's going to speak to is in our passage today, in 1 John 4:7-21.

4:27

And here, God, uh, it says here, "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.