1 John 4

Verse 11 – If we are all brothers in Christ, we should love one another. Once again, this doesn’t give any qualifiers. We are to love the brethren, even though they may be different. Denominationalism may be a curse on the Church, but Scripture gives us a basis to love all the brethren no matter where they come from.

1 John 4

Verse 10 –

Look at this love. Look how gracious God is to us. “Not that we loved God, but He loved us.” We didn’t even love God.” We didn’t even want Him. We did not understand. We didn’t even seek for Him (Romans 3:10-11). What grace does God have that He would even allow us to know Him; we who spurned Him? WE DID NOT LOVE GOD BUT HE LOVED US! This is so amazing. Not only did we not want Him, but we were dead in our trespasses in sin (Ephesians 2:1). We were the MOST WORTHLESS creature. Even all of creation praised God except for us. BUT GOD in His mercy gave His only son “to be the propitiation for our sins”; to take our sins so that we may know The Almighty. Even in our wicked estrangement, He graced us. His grace – in the form of His Son. His Son – in the form of our salvation.

Every Man Unrepentant

Oh… my wretchedness.
Oh, the disgusting filth that my flesh now is…and will be.
Oh how, how terrible is my body, my flesh, …my self.
I am not but a filthy vagabond roaming this terrestrial sod, and what more…I LOVE IT!
Oh, and what a sad love it is.
That I would love these rotting bones…these “pleasures”

Why can I not be at ease for just one moment?
Do you not see I am in torment because of my deeds?

Each deed I love.
Oh, but they are fleeting, these loves of mine.
Where are you my hopes, my loves?
Why don’t you stay?
Why don’t you comfort me for one more…moment?
They do not love me.
But I love them…And I will pursue them…

Yes, I see them once again.
They are over there, but…I will go too.
I will go wherever my loves take me.
I will die with my loves, my deeds.
They are wretched, but I cannot help it.
I will defile my soul ever more if only to have one more drop of comfort.
For they alone can comfort me…My evil deeds.

Here is my fate.
To be bound to them. I do not mind.
Here I will rot.
Here, my soul shall be lost forever

1 John 4:8-9

Verse 8 – Those who do not love do not know God. Love is an essential part of the Christian life. It seems that God loves us so much that His love just shows right on through us, but those who do not know God do not have love. Therefore, since they do not have love, no love shines through them.

Verse 9 – How does God love us? How much does He love us? Well it says here that He gave His only Son so that we may live through Him. Can you imagine the sacrifice of God in this? He gave His Son, knowing that He would be ridiculed, mocked, scourged, whipped, beaten, and crucified. And yet it pleased Him to bruise Him (Isaiah 53:10)…Why? Why did He even want to do that? ...So that we would live… Think about that. How great is the grace of God that He would willingly give His son to die. And what more; that He would have us to live through Him.

God gave his Son so that we could have life.

What grace…

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Thoughts on 1 John 4:1-7

Verse 1 -Do not believe every teacher that you hear, but test them to see that they are from God. There are many teachers (spirits) that have gone throughout the world preaching lies and falseties, and it is our job to be skeptical of them. Test them by their faith.

Verse 2 - This is how to test them. Do they profess Christ, that He has come in the flesh? If they do, then they are from God. If they don't, they are not from God. (There are teachers that are actually professing believers that are not from God. I don't think I'm taking this too far, but I think that we can derive that we can tell false teaching by comparing it to the Word of God. If they don't line up, they either need to be corrected or labeled false.

Verse 3 - The spirit of the antichrist is already in the world. The teaching is already there. Watch for it.

Verse 4 - We are from God. We have overcome the false spirit of antichrist because God lives in us, and He is greater than antichrist

Verse 5 - The false spirits/ antichrists are of the world. they are not of God. We know this because they speak like the world and they are appealing to the world. Therefore, the world listens. Beware of those guys

Verse 6 - We know God. Everyone who knows God listens to us. Everyone from the world doesn't listen. We can tell about a preacher/teacher by who they listen to and also by whom we listen to.

Verse 7. Let love be the theme of the brethren. Not strife. Because God is love. He has shown us so much love in our salvation and sanctification. Not to mention all of the grace that he gives us daily. Those who love the brethren truly know that God is God. As Christians, we cannot go on without loving the brethren. It is essential. Of course, we know that all Christians have something wrong with their theology, but that doesn’t mean that we love any one more or less based on their accuracy. In other words, we should love all Christians the same even if their theology be more skewed than our own. Yes, Love our Armenian brothers. Love the Charismatic. Love all who are of the bride of Christ. But…teach them. Teach them, in light of Scripture, of their errors. Teach them in love. Not in arrogance, but love. It is our command, and it can be our joy as well. “Let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God.”

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