An Elaboration Of The Social Test Series

Scripture

As a result of poor planning, Dennis, from Katy, Texas, needed some same-day dry cleaning before he left on a trip. He remembered a store on the other side of town with a huge sign: “One-Hour Dry Cleaners.” So he drove out of his way to drop off a suit. After filling out the tag, he told the clerk, “I need this in an hour.”

She said, “I can’t get this back to you until Thursday.”

“I thought you did dry cleaning in an hour?”

“No,” she replied, “That’s just the name of the store.”

Those of us who carry the name Christian, but fail to act like the one whose name we bear, create confusion and disillusionment for those who have yet to believe.

Jesus once said, “ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). The Apostle John picked up on Jesus’ statement and noted that love is the characteristic mark of the children of God.

Let’s read 1 John 3:11-18:

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:11-18)

Introduction

The Apostle John wrote his first letter to correct false teaching that was being taught by false teachers. He set down three tests to evaluate whether one has a relationship with God: the test of obedience (in 1 John 2:3-6), the test of love (in 1 John 2:7-11), and the test of doctrine (in 1 John 2:18-27).

John repeated that and once again set down three tests by elaborating on them. He set down the test of obedience (in 1 John 2:28-3:10), the test of love (in 1 John 3:11-18), and the test of doctrine (in 1 John 4:1-6).

Today, we are going to examine John’s elaboration of the test of love in 1 John 3:11-18. In John’s elaboration of this social test, he shows how love is a mark of all Christians.

Lesson

First John 3:4-11-18 teaches us that love is a characteristic mark of the children of God.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. Love Is the Message We Have Heard from the Beginning (3:11)

2. Love Does Not Murder (3:12)

3. Love Causes the World to Hate Us (3:13)

4. Love Is Evidence of Spiritual Life (3:14)

5. Love Does Not Hate (3:15)

6. Love Is Sacrificial (3:16)

7. Love Is Practical (3:17-18)

I. Love Is the Message We Have Heard from the Beginning (3:11)

First, love is the message we have heard from the beginning.

John writes in verse 11, “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” John was of course a disciple of Jesus. No doubt he could still hear the words of Jesus ringing in his ears about the time a lawyer asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:35-40). Love God. And love your neighbor. This is the great summary of God’s law. Moreover, love is a mark that characterizes every believer.

To “love one another” is easier said than done. As far as I know, there never has been a time in human history when there was not a war between people somewhere in the world. Twice these hostilities escalated into World Wars. I have a propensity to like certain people and not others. I am cautious when I am with people who are different than I am. Perhaps they speak a different language and I cannot understand them. Perhaps they have a different economic status than I have. Perhaps they have different physical features than I do. In all cases, John’s message, which is based on Jesus’ message, is that I am to love others because I am a Christian.