A Faithful Church 1 John

A Faithful Church is a Walking Church Christians who practice truth, 1 John 1:6-7 Practice righteousness, 1 John 3:6-10 Jesus leads and we follow, Hebrews 5:7-9 Christians who confess sins, 1 John 1:8-10 Contrite hearts, Psalms 51:16-17 (4) Deliberate choice not to let sin rule, 1 John 3:4-5, 8 Christians who obey Jesus, 1 John 2:3-6; 3:24

A Faithful Church is a Testing Church Why tests are necessary, 1 John 4:1 Error is deceptive, 1 John 4:5-6 (2-3) False prophets are still prevalent, Jude 4; Matthew 7:15; 2 Peter 2:1-3 Apostolic truth is essential to know God, 1 John 4:6

A Faithful Church is a Testing Church Failure to test all things, 1 Thess. 5:21-22 Sin and error creep into hearts and lives Complacency toward sin grows, 1 Cor. 5:6 Love for the truth grows cold, cf. Matt. 24:10-13 Fellowship with sinners becomes normal, 2 Jno. 9-11 Faithful Christians are discouraged, Rev. 2:24-25 Christ is not pleased, Rev. 2:20-23

A Faithful Church is a Loving Church The obedient, testing church is also a loving church Keeping the word is a mark of mature love, 1 John 2:5 Loving one another includes the tests needed to insure God’s truth is taught and practiced, 1 John 3:14-24 (4:1)

A Faithful Church is a Loving Church Loving one another includes holding each other accountable to God, 1 John 4:7-11 God holds us accountable even while He gave His Son to die for us, 4:9, 11 Love includes correction, Hebrews 12:5-8 We love by teaching truth while refusing error and sin, 1 John 5:1-4

Fellowship with Christ is at stake, Revelation 2:5 For a church to be faithful, its members must be faithful to Christ, 1 John 5:20-21 Walk in the light of truth, test all things and speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15)