Love Defined | Week 3 · Rewind

Love Defined | Week 3 · Rewind

Pastor Hunter Jones · Sep 12, 2026

Big Idea

If you know Jesus personally, you will obey Him daily.

Hunter shows from 1 John 2 that God's grace is meant to free us from sin, not give us permission to keep returning to it. Because Jesus stands as our advocate before the Father, already having paid for our sin, we are free to treasure and keep His commands — and the more personally we know Him, the more naturally obedience follows.

Key points

1 John 2:1-6 (NLT)
God’s grace is power, not permission.
1. Hunter explains that John writes 'so that you will not sin' right after describing God's endless forgiveness, warning the church not to treat grace as a license to keep returning to sin. He illustrates this with his daughter's game of dropping her toy and saying 'uh-oh' expecting him to keep picking it up, and points to Romans 6 where Paul rejects the idea of sinning more so grace can increase.
God’s grace will lead you away from sin, not toward it.
Jesus has you covered.
1. 1
  1Jesus has you covered as your personal advocate
  Hunter unpacks the Greek word parakletos, explaining that in Roman legal culture a person without status would ask a well-regarded friend to stand with them in court and lend them their name and reputation. He says Jesus does this before the Father, answering the accuser's charges by pointing to the cross where the penalty was already paid.
Jesus gave us His name, reputation, perfection. The accuser is right, but the crime has already been punished.
Obedience means you treasure His commands.
1. 2
  2Obedience means you treasure His commands, not merely comply with them
  Hunter notes John's chosen word for obey means to keep, guard, and treasure, not to be held under like a soldier obeying orders. He tells the story of his high school pastor Bryce giving him a wooden 'be strong and courageous' lion decoration, which he treasured for years because of who gave it, as a picture of treasuring Jesus' words because of who He is.
2. 3
  3Knowing Jesus personally is what produces deep love, and deep love is what produces obedience
  Hunter shares that years of quick five-minute devotionals never deepened his love for Jesus, but giving Him more sustained time did. He reframes the question from 'how obedient do I have to be' to 'Jesus, could you help me love you more,' comparing it to how love for a spouse or parent is never measured by minimum requirements.
3. 4
  4Stepping into obedience opens the door to the life God intends, even when it doesn't make sense
  Hunter tells three stories: a woman who started giving despite barely making ends meet and saw God do more with her 90 percent than she could with 100 percent, a woman who felt led to pay for strangers' groceries and gas, and his own experience of missing then getting a second chance to pray for a young man selling turf door to door. He frames these as evidence of what obedience unlocks even when the sacrifice is real.
Obey = keep/treasure. People who know Jesus personally, treasure his words daily.

Application

Hunter's charge is to find one area where you'll obey Jesus simply because He asked, not because it makes sense.

Identify the sin you've made peace with
Ask what sin you've gotten comfortable with or justified as 'just who I am,' and bring it back under God's grace instead of treating forgiveness as permission to keep returning to it.
Double your time with Jesus
Whatever time you currently spend in prayer and Scripture, double it this week — trade quick devotional check-offs for unhurried time getting to know Him personally.
Pray 'help me love You more'
Instead of asking how much obedience is required, ask Jesus daily to help you love Him more deeply, trusting that obedience naturally follows deeper love.
Do one thing simply because Jesus asked
Pick one specific area — forgiveness, ending a relationship, breaking an addiction — and take action this week not because it makes sense or feels safe, but only because Jesus asked you to.

Take it into your week

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“It says in John chapter four, Bill talked about first John chapter four that God is love”
From the transcript
“And so we're gonna be in first John chapter two starting in verse one today. If you have your bibles, I'd love for you to open up and follow along”
From the transcript
“And here's what he says in verse one. He says, my dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin”
From the transcript
“Paul even talks about this in Romans chapter six. He's like, should we just keep sinning so God's grace would you would just keep pouring out more grace on us? He says, by no means absolutely not”
From the transcript
“Here's what John says. He says, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous”
From the transcript
“Revelation chapter 12 says, Satan, he is the accuser who accuses men and women day and night over and over and you've heard his voice”
From the transcript
“Here's what John says in verse three. He says, and we can we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims I know God”
From the transcript
“Scripture says, taste and see that the Lord is good. And I'm telling you, when you take time to taste and see how good God is, you will be overwhelmed”

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

Hunter opened this message with a warning John slips in almost quietly: "My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin." Grace is power, not permission. Paul asks the question head-on in Romans 6: "Should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace?" His answer is blunt: "Of course not!" (NLT). Hunter pictured his young daughter dropping her toy again and again, saying "uh-oh," fully expecting him to keep picking it up. It's a tender image, and it's exactly how we can be tempted to treat forgiveness — as a safety net that lets us keep returning to the same thing. But grace was never meant to keep us comfortable in sin. It was meant to break sin's grip. The mercy that covers you is the same mercy that frees you to walk away. That's not a heavier burden; it's a lighter one. You don't have to keep dropping the toy. As this week begins, let the size of God's grace surprise you — and let it set you loose, not settle you in.

For reflection

Ask what sin you've gotten comfortable with or justified as 'just who I am.'

Pray

Pray for honesty about where you've quietly treated grace as permission.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Hunter told about his daughter dropping her toy over and over, saying "uh-oh" and expecting him to keep picking it up every time. What's a small game or habit a kid in your life keeps repeating just to see what you'll do?

Discussion questions

1
Read 1 John 2:1-6 aloud together. What stands out about why John says he's writing this — 'so that you will not sin'?
2
Hunter unpacked the Greek word parakletos, describing how someone without status would ask a well-regarded friend to stand with them in court and lend them their name. How does picturing Jesus doing this before the Father change the way we hear the accuser's charges against us?
3
Hunter pointed out that the word John uses for obey means to keep, guard, and treasure, not to grit our teeth like a soldier under orders. What's the difference between treasuring someone's words because of who they are and merely complying with a rule?
4
In Romans 6, Paul flatly rejects the idea of sinning more so grace can increase. Why do people so easily slide into treating forgiveness as permission, and what does it look like to receive grace as power instead?
5
Hunter said years of quick five-minute devotionals never deepened his love for Jesus, and he reframed the question from 'how obedient do I have to be' to 'Jesus, could you help me love You more.' How might unhurried time getting to know Jesus reshape the way we approach obedience?
6
Hunter's charge was to pick one area — like forgiveness, ending a relationship, or breaking an addiction — and take a step this week simply because Jesus asked, not because it makes sense or feels safe. Between you and God, where might that invitation be landing for you?

Pray together

Ask Jesus to help us love Him more deeply, trusting that obedience grows naturally out of knowing Him.

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Topics

God's Grace Heart Transformation Identity in Christ Obedience

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