KNOWING AND ASSURANCE

SESSION 3 – KELLY MINTER // WHAT LOVE IS

IN THIS EPISODE

• Day 1 discussion of 1 John 2:18-22 | 4:42
• Day 2 discussion of 1 John 2:20-29 | 13:48
• Day 3 discussion of 1 John 2:18-29 | 27:14
• Day 4 discussion of 1 John 3:1-10 | 36:31
• Day 5 discussion of 1 John 3:11-18 | 45:47

INSTANT TAKEAWAYS

1 | Remain when things change

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.[a] I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. | 1 John 18-22

Often we find ourselves questioning whether a thought or a teaching is true or not. In this passage, John guides us in how to evaluate ideas that go against God’s plan for us by looking at who remains in the church & in the truth of the Gospel. As an older church father, John was empowering believers to not be swayed by deceptive teachings that cause divisions in the church. He is trying to protect the fellowship of believers and their relationship with God.

2 | The Holy Spirit anoints & teaches

READ 1 John 2:18-29

John addresses false teaching that said you needed a special knowledge or anointing to reach a form of enlightenment. John wrote to reassure believers of their standing before God. He reminded them (and us) that they already have an anointing, a sacred purpose, because the Holy Spirit lives in them and that they already know the Gospel truth because they have the Holy Spirit in them which teaches them continually.

3 | Remain in God & His Word

As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him. | 1 John 2:24-27

God and his Word are constant and never change. John reminds us to “remain in what you have heard from the beginning,” i.e. the Gospel. It’s what we return to when questions or doubts arise. Our job is to remain and abide and dig into the Gospel even more. It’s the core of the Christian faith & what we filter all of life through.

4 | Children of God

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. | 1 John 3:1-3

Kelly Minter has us examine the tie between the lavish love of the Father & us being children of God. In his great love for us, he gives us a way to have a relationship with himself through the work of his son Jesus. So the fact that we are considered children of God is a result of the lavish love of the Father.

5 | Life laid down

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,[a] if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid do | 1 John 3:11-16

In order to be able to lay our lives down for others, we have to root out the hate in our hearts. We don’t usually jump from zero to hate, so what are the warning signs now? It is worth it to do this work before God so that we can be freed up to live the life He has for us. God is faithful to lead us through these hard places because he doesn’t want us to be held down by hate. He’s too kind to leave us there as he desires us to enter the blessing of loving others well and through that loving him well.

SHOW NOTES

In our 3rd study session of Kelly Minter’s book “What Love Is: The Letters of 1,2,3 John” we cover 1 John 2:18-3:18. Some themes we see in week’s study include remaining in the constancy of God & his Gospel, how to filter truth from false teachings, what anointing means for the believer and how to lay our lives down for others. Grab a cup of coffee and join us for this discussion!

Below are some links we mentioned in the episode in case you want to take a closer look:

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