THAT WE SHOULD BE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD

1John 2:18-3:10

Key Verse 3:1

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Recognizing Antichrists

1. Read 2:18-23. What shows that this is the last hour? (18) How can we recognize antichrists? (19-23)

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.[e] 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Remaining and Continuing in Jesus

2. Read 24-29. Why should the believers see to it that what they had heard from the beginning remained in them? (24) What did God promise them? (25) How could they overcome those who were trying to lead them astray? (26-27) How could they be confident and unashamed before Jesus at his second coming? (28-29)

24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life. 26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

God’s Love For His Children

3. Read 3:1. What did the Father do for us? (1) What does this show about Him? Why doesn’t the world know us?

3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

God’s Hope for His Children

4. Read 2-6. What is God’s hope for his children when Jesus comes again? (2) How should we respond to this hope? (3) How does the law help us to know what sin is? (4) How can our sins be taken away? (5) What are the consequences if we continue to sin? (6)

2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

Doing What is Right

5. Read 7-10. Why is it important for us to do what is right as opposed to what is sinful? (7-8) Why can’t we go on sinning? (9) How can we know who the children of God are, and who the children of the devil are? (10)

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 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. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

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