CLASS 4 LOVE the greatest commandment GOD commands

CLASS #4 LOVE the greatest commandment GOD commands us to love. First Him, our brothers and sisters in CHRIST and then our neighbors (everyone else in the world). JESUS says if we obey these commandments, that we will fulfill every law or commandment ever given. How, because GOD says that if we love Him we will keep His commandments. And if we love our brothers and sisters, as we love our selves. We won’t do anything to hurt them. The first and second Greatest Commandments Mattew 22: 37 -40 Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Laws and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. “ The New Commandment John 13: 34 -35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. 1. How does Matthew 22: 37 -40 fulfill all the other commandments and laws of GOD? 2. How will people know that we are disciples of GOD? 3. Is it easier to love someone as you love yourself or to love them as JESUS loves you? Explain your answer. Page 1 of 7 LOVE _____________________ _____________________ _____________________

CLASS #4 LOVE the greatest commandment There is nothing greater or more powerful than LOVE – for GOD is LOVE. 1 John 4: 7 -12 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of GOD; and everyone who loves is born of GOD and knows GOD. He who does not love does not know GOD, for GOD is love. In this the love of GOD was manifested toward us, that GOD has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved GOD, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen GOD at any time. If we love one another, GOD abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 4. Why is love the greatest and most powerful thing we have? 5. According to 1 John 4: 7 -12, How has GOD shown His love for us? 6. Is the following statement True or False? If we love one another, GOD lives in us. Page 2 of 7 LOVE ___________________ ___________________ TRUE or FALSE (circle correct answer)

CLASS #4 LOVE the greatest commandment We have so many thoughts, views and opinions of what love is. Webster Dictionary says that love is to regard with affection, to delight in, to be tenderly attached… Well that all sounds good. But since Love comes from GOD and GOD is Love – we can’t know what love is unless GOD tells us. And He would not leave us to guess at what the meaning of something so important as love is. This is what GOD tells us in His Word: 1 Corinthians 13: 4 -8 a King James Version a) Charity suffereth long, and is kind; b) Charity envieth not; c) Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; d) Doth not behave itself unseemly, e) Seeketh not her own, f) is not easily provoked, g) thinketh no evil; h) Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; i) Beareth all things, j) Believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. k) Charity never fails. New Century Version a) Love is patient and kind. b) Love is not jealous, c) it does not brag, and it is not proud. d) Love is not rude, e) Is not selfish, f) and does not get upset with others. g) Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. h) Love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth. i) Love patiently accepts all things. j) It always trusts, always hopes, and always remains strong. k) Love never ends. Page 3 of 7 LOVE

CLASS #4 LOVE the greatest commandment 10. A Jailor, Acts 16: 30 -33, . . . "Sirs, what must I do to be saved? " They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-- you and your household. " Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 11. A Synagogue Ruler, Acts 18: 8, Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized. 12. Baptism By Immersion Some Questions you may have: Baptism by immersion, going fully under the water, is the form that best fits the New Testament model. The word itself means primarily to immerse or to dip. Further, when John the Baptist was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, he did so because there was much water there, John 3: 23. The Ethiopian said, See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized? Acts 8: 36. Finally, the believer's death to sin, and their resurrection to new life in Christ, is best illustrated by immersion, Romans 6: 4 -6. 13. Children and Baptism The issue is simple. Has the child entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Do they comprehend that they were sinners? Do they understand that Christ had to die for their sins? Are they trusting in Christ alone for eternal life? Often preschool child are not able to understand the symbolism involved in baptism. Therefore it is suggested that they not be encouraged to be baptized. Older children will need to be able to give a clear salvation testimony to the pastor. Because the Bible puts no age restrictions, neither do we, only that they comprehend the significance of believer's baptism by immersion. 14. Infants and Baptism Since baptism is a picture of what Christ has done in the life of the new convert it is inappropriate to baptize infants. Many however do dedicate their infants to the Lord in a Parent-Child Dedication. Page 4 of 7 LOVE

CLASS #4 LOVE the greatest commandment The Role of God’s Holy Spirit 15. Matthew 3: 11– 12 John the Baptist said that the Messiah would offer two baptisms—Spirit and fire 16. 1 Corinthians 12: 13 "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body …" 17. John 4: 14; 7: 38– 39 Christ compared the Holy Spirit to "rivers of living water" 18. Acts 8: 18; Hebrews 6: 2 Following water baptism, we find that it was the practice of Christ’s first century ministry to practice the laying on of hands. This laying on the hands symbolized a special setting apart by God. In the aftermath of baptism, it set apart the newly baptized person to receive God’s Holy Spirit. 19. Acts 2: 38 Peter told his listeners on the day of Pentecost that following repentance and baptism they would "…receive the gift of the Holy Spirit". 20. Galatians 2: 20; Philippians 2: 5 It is through the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ dwells in us and empowers Us to live the same kind of life that He lived when He walked the earth as a human 21. 22. 1 Corinthians 3: 16 Since Christ dwells in us through the Holy Spirit, our bodies are accounted as the temple of God; 2 Peter 1: 4 Peter explains that it is through the Holy Spirit, God’s divine power, that we become "…partakers of the divine nature…" Page 5 of 7 LOVE

LOVE CLASS #4 the greatest commandment The Role of God’s Holy Spirit 23. What is receiving the Holy Spirit intended to accomplish in our lives? ____________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________ We are told to glorify God in all aspects of life 24. 1 Corinthians 6: 20 25. Titus 3: 5 26. Romans 12: 2 (Please read this scripture) 27. Hebrews 8: 10 We become a new creation because God is changing us by writing His laws in our hearts and minds 28. Acts 19: 1– 6 We read that Paul encountered in Ephesus some people who believed his preaching, and previously had been baptized. However, they had not fully understood the Gospel when they were baptized and had never received the Holy Spirit, nor indeed even knew of it. After counseling with them, Paul re-baptized them in Jesus’ name and laid hands on them for the receiving of God’s Holy Spirit. God showed through an unusual miracle, such as had occurred on the first Pentecost of the New Testament era, that they did indeed receive the Spirit this time. Why was all of this necessary? (Please read this scripture) Page 6 of 7 LOVE

CLASS #4 LOVE the greatest commandment The Role of God’s Holy Spirit 29. Though it is the power of God that makes this transformation possible, nevertheless we have our part to play. We have to exercise God’s Spirit, we have to follow the lead of God’s Spirit—in short, we must walk with God’s Spirit will lead and empower, but it will not possess or control us. We must seek and desire to follow God’s lead in our lives. Our efforts apart from God’s empowering Spirit are hopeless, yet God’s power without our efforts simply represents potential energy. It is like a light switch in the off position; the potential to light up the room is present, but the circuit is open and nothing is flowing through. It is the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God that will ultimately make possible the completion of our salvation. 30. God "Inducts" You into His Church Through baptism and the receipt of God’s Holy Spirit, you are automatically baptized into the true Church of God. "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12: 13), for God’s Church is composed of those people who are filled with and LED BY the Holy Spirit (Romans 8: 14). You cannot just "join" the true Church of God! God must "draw" you or "call" you and then place you in His Church by giving you His Holy Spirit. Remember how Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6: 44). Yet God does have an organized Church—and always has! Jesus Christ stated, "I will build My CHURCH, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16: 18). That "Hades" or the grave would not prevail over God’s true Church may be taken in two ways: First, God will NEVER permit His Church to be completely destroyed or cease to exist. Second, the basic hope of all true Christians is the RESURRECTION from the dead. So although individual Christians may die, they WILL live again at the seventh trumpet when Christ returns to this earth as King of kings! "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" 1 Corinthians 15: 51– 52. Page 7 of 7 LOVE