1 John 4

John seems to say the “antichrist” (1 John 4:3) wasn’t so much a person as it was a pervasive, anti-Jesus spirit that infected people. John says the spirit of antichrist was one that led people in his day to preach that Jesus came as a spirit being who only pretended to be human. That movement later became known as Docetism. Why do you think a teaching like that might pose a problem?

“We belong to God. That’s why God’s people listen to us. And that’s why people who have nothing to do with God don’t listen” (1 John 4:6). If that’s the case, why bother trying to spread the news about Jesus?

John spends most of the chapter telling us we need to love others. He says this many ways, coming at it from several different angles. Which one of his approaches caught your attention most?

“We know that we are linked to God, united in spirit. We live in him, and he lives in us” (1 John 4:13). That sounds a bit like the mystical connection Jesus said he had with the Father: “The Father and I are one and the same” (John 10:30). That might sound as though it could be tough to distinguish between the Father and the Son and between God and us. How can we make sense of this statement?

LIFE APPLICATION. We know we’re not supposed to believe everything we hear, even if it comes from preachers and Bible study teachers. But how do we follow the advice to “check it out. See if what they say and do line up with what you know about God” (1 John 4:1)?

LIFE APPLICATION. John seems to identify one problem some people were having with Jesus. Some Christians were apparently teaching that though Jesus came from God, he did not come “as a flesh-and-blood human being” (1 John 4:2). He only appeared human. They said Jesus wouldn’t take a human body because flesh is evil and only the spirit is good. So, the ancients had trouble believing Jesus was human. People today have trouble believing he was divine. Why do you think it’s so hard for people today to believe Jesus is the Son of God?

LIFE APPLICATION. John says, “God is inside you. He’s part of who you are” (1 John 4:4). What about us do we associate with God? If he’s part of who we are, what part is he? How does he show himself to us?

LIFE APPLICATION. John seems to say that Christians should not be afraid because “fear has nothing to do with love. Just the opposite. Love chases fear away” (1 John 4:18). How have you seen love do that?

LIFE APPLICATION. “If someone says they love God but hates a fellow Christian, that person is a liar” (1 John 4:20). Could it be that John needed to get out and meet more people who called themselves Christian? They probably had some despicable folks among them, just as we do. Can’t we hate a despicable person for at least a little while? Why or why not?