Read: 1 John 12-29
1) vv12-14: Six times John draws attention to what he is writing to whom. Do you recognize any structure in John’s [3 different] greetings? (symmetry, repetitiveness,…)
- Whom did John call ‘little children’ earlier in this chapter (v1), and do you remember why?
- v12: Why are they comforted with an affirmation that unlimited forgiveness for them is ‘on account of His name’? Hint: How might Christians become discouraged by the preceding solemn warnings?
- v13: How does their knowledge of the Father help them to obey Christ’s commandments?
- Who are those called ‘fathers’ in the faith (vv13a & 14a)?
- How are they tempted to love ‘the world’ more than they love their brothers, and how are they encouraged here to not fall for it?
- Why remind them of their knowledge of him ‘who is from the beginning’?*
- Why are ‘young men’ reminded by v13b of their experience in ‘overcoming evil’?
- Where does such strength come from (for progress in obedience)? cf v14b
2) v15: What does it mean ‘to love the world’? cf 1Cor 7:29-31
- How can one not love the world? ->
- Read Jn 3:16. In what sense did God love the world? gr. kosmos, same word as in 1Jn 2:15; cf Jn 1:3
- What aspect or part of this created order did John identify as ‘not from the Father’?
- Desires/lust (gr. epithymia) involve biological/hormonal causes. In what sense are they ‘of this world’ and therefore not ‘of the Father’?** 2Pet 1:4
- v17: What reasons are believers given why they must not love the world?
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- What does it mean that this kosmos will ‘pass away’? 2Pet 3:10-12 (cf Heb 1:10-12, quoted from Ps 102:25-27; Mt 24:35; Mk 13:31; Lk 21:33)
- What must they do besides ‘not loving the world’?
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- What did John mean in this context by ‘doing the will of God’? cf v10
3) Personal & application
- What do you find encouraging, and what do you find hard or difficult in this passage about the Christian duty to obey Christ?
- Does anything in vv12-13 stick or resonate with you as useful or ‘practical’ to boost your eagerness, strength or skill in serving and loving others?
- Did John regard ‘love of the world’ in graded shades, or as either/or?
- How does that compare to how your Christian community sees this?
- Accordingly, should one resolve to love the world “less”? Why not?
- How can we find out whether we still love the world?
- We can deceive people and even ourselves, but not God: What makes you confident that God thinks of you that you love him and not the world? And what undermines such confidence?
- If you are certain that you love God and not the world, can you share what helped you to get there?
* As veterans, they may be tempted to look down on the younger, but they remain humbled by knowing ever more deeply that their seniority pales compared to the pre-eminence of Jahweh and his ‘logos’.
** Desire is created by God, but desires that are sinful (as defined by God’s laws) are not, cf Ja 1:3-4
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