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I John 4:17-18 Life without Fear 1 John 4:17-18 Dr. Grant Hodges Read Verses 17 and 18: list the fears which may be found in love. Read Hebrews 2: 14-15 – since death is not imminent at all times in our lives, discuss how the fear of death enslaves. Hint: it is eschatological! Hint: it is backwards from the life of the complete believer! Name some behaviors that people substitute for actually loving like God loves: How does that backfire on us? I. Putting the Life without Fear in Context verses 16-17 Abiding in God is the same as Fellowship with God which is completed in l_____g as God does. What are some routines that people substitute for loving as God does? Why are those routines inadequate? How do those routines set the value of God we are personally holding? Relate that to personal worship of God. Can we practically abandon all practice of "godly habits"? What is the difference between substituting the practice of "godly habits" as a means of "maintaining fellowship with God", and simply loving as God loves? Read verse 17 and discuss what it means to be as God is in the world. II. What Does Verse 18 Really Say? Read verse 18 and discuss why fear is the main subject in the verse, and why fear is the enemy of discipleship.: Discuss the difficulty of loving without fear. Why should the believer abandon this fear? (See verse 18 and "punishment") III. The Life without Fear Requires the Next Step verse 18a Why is there always a next step in the Christian life of discipleship? Why isn't "loving for the wrong reason" good enough? Why does fearless love resemble God's love? Discuss the saying "to know all is to forgive all." Will we ever know all in this life? How can lack of knowledge or uncertain knowledge become the excuse to not show divine love? What keeps us from the fear of someone taking advantage of us?

Dr. Grant Hodges

The mission of Grace Church is to share the love of Jesus Christ through Worship, Discipleship, and Evangelism.