Love in 1 John

Love seems to be a big theme in 1 John. He uses the word 43 times in just 5 chapters. To understand the book, we need to understand what love is. What is this love John is talking about. How do we know we have this kind of love? What are the characteristics of it? Are there more than 1 kind of love in this book? What are the Greek forms of love used in this book?

Love in the Bible... (taken from English)
-- Gen 22:2
-- Ex. 20:6, 34:6
-- Lv. 19:18
-- Num. 14:18
-- Dt. 5:10, 6:5
-- Jos. 22:5
-- 2 Chr. 5:13
-- Ps. 31:16, 31:23, 36:5, 51:1, 100:5, 103:8, 136:1, 145:8
-- Prv. 9:8, 10:12, 20:28
-- Ecc 9:9
-- Sg. 2:4, 8:7
-- Is 61:8, 63:9
-- Jer. 31:3, 33:11
-- Dan 9:4
-- Hos 11:4, 12:6
-- Am 5:15
-- Mi 3:2, 6:8
-- Mtt. 5:44, 22:37
-- Lk 6:32
-- Jn 11:3, 13:34, 14:15, 15:9, 15:13, 15:17, 21:15
-- Romans 5:5. 8:28, 8:35, 12:9, 12:10, 13:10, 15:30
-- 1 Cor 2:9, 8:1, 13:1, 13:4, 13:7,13:8, 13:13, 16:14
-- 2 Cor 5:14
-- Gal 5:6, 5:22
-- Eph 1:4, 2:4, 3:17, 4:15, 5:2, 5:25, 5:28
-- Phil 1:9, 2:1, 4:1
-- Col 3:14
-- 1 Thes 4:9, 5:8
-- 2 Thes 3:5
-- 1 Tm 4:12, 6:10, 6:11
-- 2 Tim 1:7, 2:22, 3:10
-- Heb 10:24, 13:1
-- Jas 1:12, 2:8
-- 1 Pet. 1:22, 2:17, 4:8
-- 2 Pet 1:7
-- 1 Jn 2:15, 3:1 3:10, 3:11, 3:14, 3:16, 3:18, 3:23, 4:7-11, 4:16, 4:18, 4:19, 4:21, 5:2-3
-- 2 Jn 1:5-6
-- Jde 1:12, 1:21
-- Rev 2:4, 2:19

Loved in the Bible... (English)
-- Dt 23:5
-- Ps 45:7
-- Jer 31:3
-- Jn 3:16, 13:34, 15:9, 16:27
-- Rm 8:37
-- Gal 2:20
-- Eph 2:4, 5:2, 5:25
-- 2 Thes 2:16
-- 1 Jn 4:10, 4:19

Loves in the Bible... (English)
-- Ps 33:5, 37:28,
-- Pr 3:12, 12:1, 17:17,
-- Eccl 5:10
-- Mt 10:37
-- Lk 7:47
-- Jn 14:21
-- Rm 13:8
-- 1 Cor 8:3
-- 2 Cor 9:7
-- Eph 5:28
-- Heb 12:6
-- 1 Jn 2:10, 2:15, 4:7, 4:21, 5:1
-- Rv 1:5

Different kind of loves... (English)

Grace

What is Grace?
References to Grace in the Bible
What is the Grace of Christ?
Why did Paul reference it in Galatians chapter 1?

Grace is unmerited favor or honor.

References
Psalm 45:2 "Grace is poured through your lips" Would that be into your mouth and therefore into your very being? Grace is a blessing.
Proverbs 3:34- "He gives grace to the afflicted" but not the scoffers. So, he gives grace to the lowly, to the people who need it.
Luke 2:40- "the grace of God was upon Jesus"
John 1:14- "Father full of Grace and truth"
Romans 5:20- "where sin is increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness." Grace makes us righteous, cleanses us from our sin.
Romans 16:20- "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you". It is something Jesus/God gives.
2 Corinthians 12:9- "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness." Grace works through our weaknesses.
Ephesians 2:8- "for by grace (unmerited honor) you have been saved" God's grace is one of His gifts to us.
Titus 3:7- "so that being justified by His grace..."
James 4:6, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives Grace to the humble"

So... Grace is God's unmerited favor for us. It comes from the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a gift from him that we have to humble ourselves to receive. Grace gives us power we do not have on our own.

Why did Paul say this? It shows part of God's character and the mercy he gives us that we cannot earn grace on our own. This is different than any other gospel preached. Paul wants to make this clear.

Tomorrow- Listen and read 1 John 5 times.

Galatians 1:1-10

Who were the Galatians? They were part of a Roman province.

Theme- Justification by faith. With no other Gospel.

Who was Paul sent by?

--v4 How does this relate to the grand narrative of the Gospel?

So... the greeting covers verses 1-5. What is Paul trying to get across in these 5 verses?

--Why he should be listened to. He states who's he is (Jesus's) and who he is sent by (God). He is sent by the God who raised Jesus from the dead! Therefore he should be listened to.

--Then he gives a greeting in the Lord's name. This further states who he is being sent by. Who is he to give a greeting in the name of God? Only Christians who know the Gospel are able to do this.

--How does verse 4 fit into all of this? Paul is showing the mightyness of Christ to show them that they are turning from (what he talks about it the next verses) is very wrong. How can you turn from someone who sacrificed himself for our sins and rescued us from evil?

--Verse 5 gives glory to Him from Paul. He should be given glory because of v 4.

Verses 6-10

--What is the complaint Paul has against the Galatians? That they are deserting the Grace of Christ.

----Why would it be the GRACE of Christ and not just Christ in this verse? What is the Grace of Christ?

-- These people are turning to a different gospel...  a gospel that really doesn't exist. They are worshiping demons and are being turned away by false teachers.

-- Verse 8 talks about an angel from heaven coming down to preach a different gospel, that he should be accursed. This kind of sounds like Paul has a lofty opinion of himself. Why can Paul say this? It is because he has divine inspiration from God himself, and therefore has a better testimony than that of an angel? 

-- Verse 10... Who is Paul seeking favor from? GOD. He is trying to get his point across again. If he was seeking approval from men... he would very likely not care what the Galatians were doing.

Paul in these verses seems to be saying that Christ is enough. There need not be any adding to the Gospel or changing to another gospel. Christ is our portion. 

Tomorrow... Figure out what exactly is the Grace of Christ and do a word study on grace.