1 John questions

God is light

1 John 1:1-2:2
Key verse 1:5

1. [1-2] Who are “we” and who are the recipients (cf. 3:1; 5:13)? What do they proclaim concerning the Word of life? (1; John 1:1,4) How do they come to proclaim the life? (2a) What is their proclamation about the life? (2b; cf. John 1:14,18)

2. [3-4] What is the purpose of their proclamation of the life? (3a) What is the meaning of “fellowship?” Whom do “we” have fellowship with? (3b; cf. 14:20; 17:23a) What is the purpose of writing this letter? (4)

3. [5-7] What is their message from him? (5) What does it say about us if we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness? (6) What will happen, however, if we walk in the light? (7)

4. [8-10] What does it say about us if we claim to be without sin? (8,10) What will Jesus do if we confess our sins, and why? (9)

5. [2:1-2] Why does the author say this? (1a) What is his proclamation for the one who sins? (1b) Why? (2)

6. Overall, discuss the life of those who have fellowship with God and how to deal with sin?

Loving others will make us never stumble

1 John 2:3-17

Key Verse 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.

1.      [3-6] What did they come to know and to agree with (3; Ref. 1:6-10)? What’s the implication of knowing this for those who do not do his commands (4)? What about for those who obey his commands (5)? Why (6)? What does it mean to you that one must live as Jesus did? 

2.      [7-8] What is the old command that he is writing (7; ref. John 13:34)? Yet why is he writing a new one (8a)?  Why is it new (8b)?

3.      [9-11] Who are still in darkness (9,11)? Who are living in the light (10a)? Why will such person not stumble (10b; Ref. John 11:9-10)? How can we apply this to our lives? 

4.      [12-14] What has been the purpose of his writing to children (Ref. 2:1,7)? Why is he writing to them again (12)?  Why is he writing to fathers and to young men respectively (13)?  Why has he written to children, and then to fathers and to young men respectively (14; see NAS)? Discuss what the experiences of each group of people were and the implication of their experiences now. 

5.      [15-17] What does he teach them (15a)? Why (15b)? What are the things in the world (16a)? Where do they come from (16b)? What will be their end (17a)? Who lives forever?

Continue in Him

1 John 2:18-29

28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears, we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

1.                   [18-21] How does John denote the time now (18a)? Why(18bc)? What’s its significance for them (Rom 3:11; Rev 3:3)? Who are the antichrists (18a, 19)? How could they discern the antichrists? How were they different from the antichrists (20-21)?

2.                   [22-23] What is the beliefs of the antichrist (22b)? Why (22c; Mt 11:27; Jn 10:38; 17:6)? What are they (22a)?  Why (23)?

3.                   [24-25] What are the believers to do (24a) Why (24b)?  What is that they heard from the beginning (25)?

4.                   [26-27] Why is he writing about these things (26; vv18-25)? How can they not be led astray (27a, c)? Why (27b)? Discuss what is the anointing they received and what his anointing teaches them might be? 

5.                   [28-29] When they continue in him, what is the hope (28)? What does it mean to continue in him (29)? Discuss the significance of ‘being born in him’ particularly in regard to the anointing, and continuing in him.

6.                   Discuss how one can escape the lures of ‘the antichrists’

Because God’s seed remains in them 

1 John 2:28-3:10

Key verse 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.

1.                   [2:28-29] What did John admonish the believers to do (2:28a)? Why (2:28b)? At his coming, what is the most important thing (29b)? How can one be certain of one’s new birth in Him? (29a)?

2.                   [3:1-3] What were they (1b)? How did they become children of God (1a)?  Why does the world not know this (1c)? Why is it not apparent now (2a)? When will be apparent (2b)? Why (2b)? What’s its implication for us now (3)?

3.                   [4-7] What is sin (4)? Why did Jesus appear (5)? What’s its implication for us (6)? How might some misconstrue his knowledge of him (7a; Cf. 5)? What is the correct understanding of Jesus appearance (7b; Cf. 5)?

4.                   [8-10] Who is of the devil (8aa)?  Why (8ab)? Why did the Son of God appear (8b)? Who will not continue to sin (9a)? Why (9b)? How can we discern the children of God from the children of devil (10)?

5.                   Discuss the implications of Jesus’ appearance, particularly in regard to one’s knowledge of him, his life, devil, and being born again for us (Ref. 2b, 5, 7b; Cf. 2:29, 3:9).

Let’s love others with actions

1 John 3:11-4:6

Key Verse 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

1.                   [11-12] What is the message that they heard (11b)? Since when (11a; Cf. 1:1; 2:7, 13,14,24)? Why did Cain kill his brother (12b, c)? Why is one like Cain if one does not love others (12a; Ref. 15)?

2.                   [13-15] Why might the believers be surprised by the hateful responses of the world (13)? Why should they not (14b)? What is hate in its essence (15a)? Discuss what might be the key differences of the character and life between the life of believers and the life of the people of the world. Why do such difference(s) come about (14a)?

3.                   [16-18] Define the love that John has been taught about in your own word (ref. 11-15)? How can we know it (16a) and live out that love (16b-17)? Discuss what might be the true love and the life in that love (18).

4.                   [18-22] How can we know that we belong to the truth (19a; Ref. 18)? How can we set our heart at rest in his presence (19b; Ref. 18)? When would our heart condemn us? When would it not? What are the implications of each to our life before God (20, 21b-22)?

5.                   [23-24] In view of these teachings, how can we summarize his command (23) and the life living in this command (24)?

6.                   [4:1-6] What does John tell the believers to do (4:1)? Why (1b)? Who might be many false prophets? How one can recognize the Spirit of God (2)? How can they discern the antichrist (3-6; Ref. 2:22; 2 John 1:7)? 

The love that overcomes the world

1 John 4:7-5:4

4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

1.       [7-10] What does John encourage the believers to do and why (7-8)?  How did God reveal his love (9) What’s its implication (10)?  Describe this love in your own terms.

2.       [11-16] What does the love of God compel believers to do (11)? If they do so, then what will result in (12-13)? How does this knowledge help us (14; cf. 9)? What will it accomplish (15)? How does the life of love empower believers’ life in God (16)?

3.       [17-20] How is this love made complete among believers (17; Cf.11-16)? What does it mean that we are like Jesus (17b)? What is the distinctive character of that love (18)? What is the source of that love (19)? How can one be certain that his or her love is of God (20)?   

4.       [4:21-5:4] What is God’s command (21)? How do believers know if someone is of God or not (5:1-2)? Why can one not make excuse for failing in loving other believers (3)? Why (4)?  Discuss how we can overcome the world.

“We know”

1 John 5:5-21
Key verse 5:11-12

1.       [5-9] Who only overcomes the world? (5) What did Jesus come by? (6a) What do water and blood refer to respectively? Who testifies and why? (6b) How and why are these three testimonies in agreement? (7-8; cf. 9) Why is God’s testimony greater than human testimony and what is it about? (9)

2.       [10-12] Who accepts this testimony? (10a) Who has made God a liar and why? (10b) What is God’s testimony? (11) Who has life and who does not? (12)

3.       [13-15] To whom is the author writing these things and why? (13) What is “our” confidence in approaching God? (14) So, what do “we” know about what “we” ask? (15)

4.       [16-17] What should believers do for the one who commits a sin that does not lead to death? (16a) What is a sin that leads to death and what is a sin that does not? (16b-17; cf. 10-12; Matt 12:31)

5.       [18-21] What do “we” know about sin and his protection? (18) What do “we” know about “our” identity and the world? (19) What do “we” also know about the understanding the Son of God has given? (20ab) What are the significance of the certainty in these knowledges for ‘us’?  

6.       [20c-21] What is the anchor of this knowledge (20c)? What might it mean to reject this anchor of truth (21)? Discuss the foundation of our life and what we must or must not do with it.