So I just finished my long delayed bible study of 1 John some time ago. Even though it took way longer than I intended for it to take, it was something I found immensely rewarding. Sure, part of the reason why I took so long was procrastination, but the other part of it, really digging in slowly and scraping every bit of it, that was worthwhile.
I didn't do it super intensively like what Bible scholars would do, dissecting word for word and checking up the original Greek words and all. Still, it was a marked increase from normal intensity. 1 John would be something I could either casually read in one sitting or read more closely a chapter a day, but I ended up doing about a quarter of a chapter on average a day.
One way I would describe this experience would be that it felt richer. More than just cramming more knowledge into my head, I felt myself drawing closer to God and coming to better understand His heart. It makes me look forward to do a couple more such studies (short ones heh, 5 chapters in 1 John took so long, Romans would probably kill me as much as I want to do it heh). So I do highly recommend trying out something like this!
Anyway, here's the conclusion/summary I just did for the book, feel free to ask me for the entire document if you want!
- Love characterises the people of God, false doctrines spread discord
- There are three tests to measure a genuine Christian: believing, loving one another, and becoming more like Jesus
- When we believe God, we will obey His commandments. It is only a natural result
- When we do not believe Jesus, we effectively call God a liar
- Sin is lawlessness. It is disregard for the law of God, disregard for the law maker. If we claim to have fellowship with God, our lives should reflect that, keeping away from sin
- People who makes a practice of sinning do not truly know God. A lifestyle of habitual sin is inconsistent with a life of abiding in Christ
- Sin is dejected in the Christian's heart, though it is not ejected. Sin may enter the heart, and fight for dominion, but it cannot sit upon the throne
- Our love for other Christians is a measure of our walk with God, if we can’t love each other, then we have no way to claim a real love for God
- Hate is to reject and fail to see God’s love for that person, just as God has loved us. Hate for a brother demonstrates a lack of genuine understanding of the love of God and His grace, which is a necessary part of walking in the light
- Love is more than a feeling, it isn’t just felt but also demonstrated. Jesus demonstrated the highest love when He died on the cross for us
- It is our calling to demonstrate that same love to one another, not mere wishing but sacrificing ourselves for one another. Not in a grand noble gesture, but bit by bit, piece by piece. More than just talking about love, we need to live it out
- God is love, but love is not God
- No one has seen God, thus the greatest evidence of God’s presence and work among His people is in their love
- We love because He first loved us
- The best way to grow in loving others is not to will ourselves to love them but to grow deeper in our love for God
- To love God is to obey Him. It is more than just an emotional experience
- God’s commandments are not meant to be burdensome. They are not meant to shackle but to set free
- To love the world is to be seeking for something apart from God. We cannot receive God’s life when we are looking for life elsewhere, because what the world offers us is what God is healing us from
- Lust of the flesh – The desire to satisfy physical needs
- Lust of the eyes – The desire to own or possess something we see
- Pride of life – Attempting to exalt ourselves above God
- Though we are free from the evil one, the rest of the world is not. This means that our lives and values are incompatible with that of the world. We are to be careful and separate ourselves from the world in rebellion against God
- We protect ourselves against the spirit of the antichrist by abiding in the original, core Christian message, sticking to the Truth that is revealed in the Bible
- Not everyone who talks about God is from God. Be vigilant, if we are not alert, we may take in ideas that sound Christian but really are not
- It doesn’t matter if a man thinks he loves Jesus or prays to Jesus, as long as it is a false image, he is praying to a version of Jesus which doesn’t exist, and thus cannot save
- We don’t deserve to be called the children of God, but because of his true and deep love for us, God is not ashamed to call us His children
- Sometimes we still feel condemned, but our relationship with God is not just by feeling. We can feel condemned but in reality it does not affect our standing before God, it is the work of the accuser
- Even when we were still living our lives of sin, God loved us. His love is not dependent on what we do, but He loves us as a father loves his child
- We know we have eternal life, because we believe in Jesus and not in ourselves
- The world does not agree with us. It cannot see who we are, because it could not recognise Jesus. Expect the world to treat us as they treated Jesus
- If we are born of God, we will overcome the world
- Victory is not in the strength of our faith but the object of our faith. We overcome because of who we are in Christ, not because of what we do.
- God would have us ask anything in prayer
- Not everything we pray for will be granted, but we should pray about everything, presenting all of our lives to God
- When we pray according to God’s will, we can be confident that He hears us, that we will see answered prayer. God wants us to bring our agenda into alignment with His
- Sometimes we want things done our way, and so we pray for it so, but then start to wonder when God does not answer those prayers. However, God in His perfect wisdom has His plans, so we need to learn to trust Him
- Prayer is more than just wishing for things, it is declaring promises found in the Word of God into action. The most powerful prayers are prayers which understand the will of God and ask God to bring it into reality
- It is not wrong to pray for something that is not explicitly stated in the Word of God, but we must then be aware that these prayers may not necessarily be answered