Children Of God Part 3 (1 John Bible Study)

We study 1 John 3 to reclaim identity as children of God, confront sin with grace-fueled change, and choose faith over feelings when shame gets loud. We challenge cheap love and call for love that shows up, gives, serves, and sacrifices.

• adoption before transformation as the gospel pattern
• identity named by God, not by past or labels
• sin as lawlessness and the power of new birth to change patterns
• love that costs as the measure of real faith
• faith over feelings when hearts condemn
• assurance anchored in Christ’s finished work
• living like God’s children with visible love

Hey guys, don't forget to check out my book, Discernment, a wake up call for a generationally cursed society
We want you to check out the new website as well, www.forchristministry.com
You can uh give gifts, donate
We have custom t shirts you can order

www.forchristministry.com

Transcript

Welcome And Series Context

Opening Prayer For Guidance

Children Of God And Identity

Adoption Before Transformation

Sin, Assurance, And Real Change

Love That Shows Up And Costs

Faith Over Feelings

Defined By God’s Decision

Closing And Resources

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey guys, it's B Rob. It is the Food for Thought Faith Cast, and it is Friday, January 23rd. And this is part three of our five-parts Bible study of 1 John. And I hope you are enjoying it. You know, I was uh I didn't I wasn't aware of this, but I'm not funny. Like, that's why I quit telling the jokes on here and that sort of thing. Like um, I was on a FaceTime call the other day and tried to tell a joke, and apparently I'm not even remotely funny. It wasn't that funny. But guys, um, continuing on, uh, chapter three, first John chapter three. So if you have your Bible, you can pull that out. And um we're gonna we're gonna continue on. Let's uh let's go to the Lord in prayer first, though. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you today, Lord. We thank you for waking us up, Lord. We thank you for allowing us to breathe. We thank you for another day that we can walk with you, Lord. Please be with us this weekend through the storm. Please um keep us comfort, warm. Be with everybody in the United States, especially those up north. Please be with my folks in Minnesota, the church families up in Minnesota, as um all the nonsense is taking place, Lord. We know that you know, and we know why. We do not know why, but you know why. And Lord, everything that happens happens because you make it happen, and we know that, Lord, and we thank you for your grace, Lord. We thank you for your mercy. Just please be with our country, please be with everybody. I pray for freedom, sovereignty. I pray for wealth for our not so wealthy citizens, Lord. Just be with them, Lord. Just give them strength. Lord, it's in Jesus' heavenly, holy name we pray. Amen. Well, guys, um looking at my notes, first John chapter three, John, John, um, the the great thing about chapter three, we're gonna call this one children of God. Because John opens up this chapter like he's shouting. So if you look, verse one, see what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God, and this is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. The world treated Jesus like trash, like a Gentile. And yet they had no clue. They had no faith. But there are some that did. We should be called the children of God, not just church attenders, not just religious people, but children of God. That means your identity is not your mistake. Your identity is not your past. Your identity is not what the world calls you, what the people call you. Your identity is what God calls you. Let's move on to verse 2. Dear friends, now that we are children of God and that we will be has not yet been made known. What we will be has not yet been made known. But guys, you don't clean yourself up to become God's child. You get adopted. And then God will change your life. A lot of people think God loves the future like a fixed version of you. No, no, no, no, no, no. God loves you right now. Right now. And good news, he loves you too much to keep you stuck in a bad place. I wrote a song called Meet You Where You Are because God loves to meet you where you are. But the great news is He'll never leave you there. He'll change you, He'll bring you. Verse 3, all we have this, all who have this hope in Him purify themselves just as He is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law. In fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. No one who lives in Him keeps sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him. That's what I'm talking about. He will change you. You get adopted, He'll change you. Let's move on. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The devil's been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 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. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do right is not God's child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. You see, John makes it uncomfortable. You have to live love. Love shows up. Jesus showed up. He laid his life down. Love shows up. Love gives. Love serves. Love sacrifices. Because guys, let me tell you something. You can go to church, you can read your Bible. You can give to the poor. You can do all those things. But if your love never costs you anything, it's probably not a bit of biblical love. It's probably not a spiritual love. That's some heavy stuff. John says, even when your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart. That means your feelings don't get the final word. Faith over feelings, guys. God gets the final word. Because a lot of times, some days your heart will lie to you. Some days your past will talk back to you loudly. Some days shame will try to take your microphone because your emotions are real. But guess what? You can't let them be the boss. You cannot let them be the boss. Like I said, God is greater than your heart. Faith over feelings. God is greater than your heart. Like I said, you are not defined by your sins. You are not defined by your past. You are not defined by your worst moment. Jesus took a thief because he had faith. And that was in his last moments, his last breaths. You are not defined by your worst moment. You are defined by God's greatest decision, and that was to call you his child. Now it's your turn to live like it. Guys, this is B Rob. It's been the Food for Thought Faith Cast. I love you. God loves you. And if you do not have a relationship with Jesus, you better get right. Hey guys, don't forget to check out my book, Discernment, a wake up call for a generationally cursed society. We want you to check out the new website as well, www.forchristministry.com. You can uh give gifts, donate. We have custom t shirts you can order. Guys, God bless you, and we'll see you next time on the Food for Thought Faith Cast.