1 John Study Questions #4
Foundations of Faithful Followers
1 John 2:12-17
INTRODUCTION: Coming out of the preceding passage, John pauses to speak an encouraging reminder over his audience. Verses 9-11 are a bit heavy. In those verses, John uses stark contrasts to highlight his point that selfless love for our neighbors is supposed to be a mark of a Christian. However, he doesn’t want those stark contrasts to unsettle the confidence and faith of his audience, so he reminds them of their great hope and confidence in Christ. He does this by addressing each spiritual stage present in his audience, children, young men, and fathers. These references are not about age or gender but spiritual maturity. And at each stage, they have an experience with Jesus to look back on and hold confidently to their faith. We stated it this way, “As faithful followers of Jesus, we all have an eternal experience to remember.” Every believer has a foundational experience that inspires faithfulness.
GETTING STARTED – Share within your group your salvation story. What did you feel at the moment of salvation? Freedom? Relief? Hope?
IN THE WORD – Let’s dig back into the passage. First, before you read the passage, take a moment to ask God’s Spirit to quiet your mind and heart and to illuminate the text to you. Second, read the passage aloud to the group. Then, follow the simple method below. (O.P.A)
Observe: Make 8-10 observations from the passage. Pay close attention to observe and note repeated words and phrases, names, places, and themes.
Make sure to note his repetition of the stages of spiritual development (children, young men, fathers).
Principles: From your list of observations, what patterns or big ideas do you see emerging? Can you distill it down into 2-4 big idea truths?