Kootenai Church: Adult Sunday School - 1 John

Every believer throughout history believes in a certain set of doctrines. John illustrates in this lesson what those basic doctrines are and why we are to practice them. To hold to anything else is to open oneself up to being led astray by false teachers. These are the liars and antichrists that were trying to lead the believers in Asia Minor away from the simplicity and truth of God’s Word. These basic doctrines provide encouragement and hope for all believers at all times. An exposition of 1 John 2: 24-27.

Every Christian should be living their lives with the expectation that one day they will meet Christ face to face. No one knows the day or the hour when that will happen, so the best approach is to always be practicing righteousness. Time is one aspect of life that we have dominion over. We should, and must, spend it wisely with an eye toward the future coming of Christ. How we live today matters to those around us, and when we meet our Savior in the clouds.

The Lord Jesus Christ on the cross is our ultimate example of love. True believers look at that model, and it motivates them to follow His lead in loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. Without that love, they become like Cain, who is of the evil one and killed his brother Abel. Those kinds of people are said to abide in death. It is incompatible for Christians to love like the world because their lives have been changed from death to life. Their new nature no longer has mastery over their lives. One way to tell is that they have an otherworldly love for their brothers and sisters in the Lord. They serve them the same way Christ served His disciples, demonstrating that true love is done with action. An exposition of 1 John 3:11-18.

Loving those in the body of Christ is proof that we have passed from death into life. Through this love, we have assurance in our hearts that we are children of God. But sometimes our hearts condemn us into thinking that our actions are not in line with the word of God. When that happens, God comforts us because He knows the motives of our hearts and all things. We are to be reminded that when we love others, it brings confidence and boldness to come to Him in prayer, knowing that our actions are true. The Spirit living inside of us provides further assurance that we abide in Him. For it is the one who keeps His commandments who abides in Him. An exposition of 1 John 3:19-24.

The book of John is written to warn against the false teaching that was infiltrating the churches in Asia Minor. The church is to be the defender of truth, and often times the attacks come from within. When that happens, how do we tell truth from error? What tests can we use to prove whether these teachers are from God or not? John gives us the answers in this passage.An exposition of 1 John 4:1-6.