My Bible Study Notes

A number of years ago, just after I had committed my life to Jesus Christ, a good friend and co-worker, being a very strong Christian, suggested we have a lunch time Bible Study. We did. I received a lot of guidance from Dave.

First - a two-minute testimony:
I grew up going to church. Mom and Dad were faithful Christians and members of the First Christian Church of Lebanon, OR. I had Perfect Attendance awards to prove it. When I was nine or ten, I went forward at an altar call and accepted Christ, and was baptized. Unfortunately that was about as far as it went. When I went away to college, so did my faith - not completely. There was form but little substance.
I got married, and my wife who had accepted Christ in college through Campus Crusade for Christ (now known as CRU) kept insisting that CCC was so great. Hey! I didn't need Campus Crusade, I had accepted Jesus as a kid, what else was needed? But I had not taken stock of my life, and wouldn't admit that my life did not match my profession of faith. My temper was over the top on occasion, scaring the wife and kids. Not that I actually physically abused them; I did not. But I was volatile, and my anger would flare. It always went away quickly, or so I thought. I was just fine, but they were still anxious and worried.
In 1972, Campus Crusade held a big event in Dallas, TX. Donna convinced me to go. So in June 1972 I took my skeptical self to Dallas for Explo '72, to keep her quiet. The big evening meetings were in the Cotton Bowl, the smaller meetings (only a few thousand people) were in the basketball arena.
The Holy Spirit slapped me up side the head with the 'Four Spiritual Laws', and then He bowled me over with 'Four Laws of the Spirit Filled Life'. I knew right then, right there that I had been playing at Christianity the last few years. I re-committed my life to Christ - confessed my sins and failures, accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of my life, and asked to be filled, controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The verse in First  Corinthians "When we are in Christ, old things have passed away, behold, new things have come" truly fits my life. 

Dave is a good mentor. One of his suggestions was to study a book or letter of the scriptures - reading and asking God to help me understand what was being said therein. By the way, no concordances, commentaries, or Bible dictionaries were to be used. That was overwhelming at first. Another part of that suggested study was to write down what I learned as I studied. That was 'doable'.

So that is the genesis (no pun intended) of the beginning of my Bible Study. I have a couple of spiral notebooks, with handwritten observations of the studies. I have started to type them out and save them on the computer. Since that start, I have discovered there are questions and parts that simply require I check a Bible Dictionary, or Commentary, visiting with my pastor, or the notes in a Study Bible. So I have not studied 'cold turkey', and rely on the Holy Spirit to lead me.  

I plan to post them on this blog - not all at once. The notes need to cleaned up and formatted a little better. Please read, enjoy, and I pray there may be a germ or two of insight that will bless your day.

In Christ -

1 John - Proof of Life - Introduction

John's First Letter - 
This is the theme of the John's letter -  So that we may KNOW…

One of the interesting things in our my spiritual journey, is that we (my wife, family and I) were in a church in Gresham. They (the church members and leaders) felt that you could not know for sure if you were going to heaven. What if you had just committed a sin and then died before you take communion? You might not be saved! It was very 'works' oriented. They took the Philippians verse about working out your salvation very seriously. Jesus's sacrifice gave you the opportunity to work your way into heaven, to prove you were worthy.
They had no answer to, "But it says you can KNOW you have eternal life." This letter and John's gospel were fundamental in my confidence that Jesus loved me, died for me, was raised from the dead, and is my personal savior. I know that Jesus has provided eternal life for me, because I accept Him as Svior and King.

These are the evidences that you are, or are not, a child of God… Proof of Life”
OUTLINE 
1 John 1:1-4 – Personal witness testimony
1:5-7 – Fellowship with Jesus
1:8-10 – Sin damages the relationship
2:1-2 – So you may not sin
2:3-8 – Obedience shows fellowship
2:9-11 – Light vs. Dark
2:12-14 – Reason for letter
2:15-17 – Do not love the world
2:18-27 – Warning against the anti-Christ
2:28-3:2 – Children of God
3:3-10 – Practicing righteousness or practicing sin
3:11-18 – Love one another
3:19-21 – Heart is our conscience
3:22-24 – His commandment
4:1-6 - come
4:7-21 – Love abides in us
5:1-3 – We have the love of God
5:4-5 – Overcoming the world
5:6-12 – Witness of the Holy Spirit
5:13-16  – We can know
5:17-19 - Confidence
5:20 - We have the truth
5:21 - Final exhortation 

Words used/repeated in 1 John:

* * *
Fellowship – 1:3, 6, 7, 
Joy – 1:4
Light – 1:5, 7,  2:9, 2:10, 
Darkness – 1:5. 1:6, 2:8, 9, 11, 
If we say – 1:6, 
Know – 2:3, 5, 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 29, 3:2, 5, 6, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 24;
  4:2, 6, 7, 8, 13, 16, 5:2, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 5:15, 18, 19, 20
Come to know – 2:3, 4, 
Does not know – 2:11, 21,  3:1; 4:8, 13, 16 
Abide – 2:6, 10, 24, 27, 28; 3:6, 9, 14, 15, 17, 24; 4:12, 13, 15, 16, 
Practice sin – 3:4, 8, 9, 
Practice righteousness – 1:6 (truth), 2:29; 3:7, 10, 
Do not practice – 1:6, 
Love (loves) – 2:10, 15, 3:1, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18,
  4:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21; 5:1, 2, 3, 
Hates (hate) – 2:11,  3:13, 15, 4:20, 
By this - 2:3, 5, 18 (from this), 3:16, 19, 24, 4:2, 6, 9, 13, 17, 5:2,
Have (has) the Father (Son) – 2:23; 5:12, 4:1-6
Keep … commandments – 2:3, 4, 3:22, 24, 5:2, 3
Born – 5:4, 
Bear witness - 5:7-11; 
Beloved – 2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7, 11;  
***

I included the above list, because it is my firm conviction that God uses repetition to emphasize a topic. Lecturers know that a subject must be repeated at least six times for it to 'catch' in a listeners mind. Sometimes, a subject is not repeated verbatim, but with a slight variation, or using allegory, or other type of illustration to get it to stick. Don't fool yourself. Just because you are not flogged with a topic in a letter does not mean it is not important. For example, Joy is only mentioned in the first chapter. However, we know that joy is important to Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. 

***

The following table shows the positive and negative truths that reveal whether you believe and accept Christ as Lord in your life or not. This should not be used as a club against others. Use it as a barometer of your own life - are walking with Christ or not?  This is how you may KNOW you are a Christian.

Are you walking with Christ or not...

- - YES - - 1:7 - walk in the light 1:9 - confess our sins 2:3 - keep His commandments   2:5 - obey His word 2:11 - love fellow Christians 2:20 - have the H.S. 3:3 - hope means purifying self 3:7 - practice righteousness 3:14 - love fellow Christians 3:19-21 - our conscience is convinced by the H.S. 3:24 - keeps commandments, believe in Jesus   Christ, have H.S. 4:2 - confess Jesus is Christ 4:6 - listen to teachings of apostles 4:13 - have the H.S. 4:15 - confess Jesus is Son of God 5:2 - love God and obey commandments 5:5 - have conquered the world

- - NO - - 1:6 - say fellowship but walk in darkness 1:8 - say do not sin 1:10 - say have not sinned 2:4 - say know God but do not keep commandments 2:9 - hates fellow Christians 2:19 - they left the church (antichrists) 2:22,23 - denies Jesus is the Christ 3:8-10 - practices sin 4:3 - does not confess Jesus 4:6 - do not listen to apostles teachings 4:20 - hates fellow Christians.

John's writing style is different than Paul's.
I don't know how many of you ever diagrammed a sentence. That was pretty standard when I went to grade school. Diagramming sentences helps to figure out the subject, predicate, object, and any adverb or adjective phrases. Diagramming one of Paul's sentences are a huge undertaking. On the other hand the long, convoluted sentences can be broken down to more clearly get to the root of what is being stated, and what is amplification, or expansion. John's writing is not so convoluted as Paul's (clearly God uses the writer's personality and training when inspiring them to write - can you doubt that Paul is a scholar, perhaps even a legal scholar?). John writes in a florid fashion, with more imagery and feeling. I am not saying Paul was pedantic and dry. John's writing style seems more 'personal' than Paul's. Both writers address people they know, but John seems more empathetic.