The Ultimate Test 1John 3:11-23
John wrote these letters in the latter years of his life. He wrote as a tender father would write to His dearly loved children. It is filled with tenderness and endearing language. “Beloved, dear children, my little children, brethren, dear friends.” He is tender, yet tough. He writes as a loving yet protective father to warn them against destructive false teaching and deadening faulty living. He emphasizes the wonder of being a child of God who is light and love.
He used words like “fellowship”, “abide in”, “be in”, walk in light, love God, love one another.
John interspersed a few clear declarations of his purpose throughout the letter.
1. That we might have fellowship with God and each other. 1:3
2. That we might have joy 1:4
3. That we might not sin 2:1
4. That we might not be deceived 2:26
5. That we might be assured of eternal life 5:13
This is a very difficult letter to logically outline as John interweaves some specific themes all through the letter. The character of God as light and love runs strong. The character, privilege and responsibility of being children of God runs strong. The responsibility to love fellow brothers and sisters is prominent. The admonition to live holy (walk in the light) is abundantly clear and frequent. Almost everything in this letter could be organized under the two headings of light and love. The first two chapters focused on “God is light” and His children must walk in the light if they are to enjoy fellowship with Him.
Light = Purity, enlightenment, truth, warmth, energy, life, eternity.
John introduced Jesus in his gospel as the “Light of the world.” Followers of Jesus are said to be the “light of the world”. Matt 5:14
God called us to be His children. We are reborn, anointed of His Spirit with His DNA, His divine nature, His seed. As His children, we were born to walk in the light. The implications of being children of light are all through the letter. The first three chapters are full of issues related to waling as children of light.
Practice righteousness.
Walk in the light.
Keep His commandments.
Confess sin.
Abide in truth.
Light is shinning and darkness is passing away.
Our sins are forgiven.
Overcome the evil one.
His word abides in you.
Abide in His word.
Beware of false teachers / anti-christs.
We have an anointing from God.
Abide in Him.
You will be like Him.
Be like Him now.
Purify yourselves.
Jesus came to take away sin.
Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
Chapter three focused on God is love and the implications of our connection to the God of love.
God is love and both declares and demonstrates that love. There is definitely an overlapping of the concepts of light and love. In fact it is actually an interweaving. If you walk in the light you will love. If you love, you will walk in the light. They are like two sides of a coin; two wings of a plane.
Love the brethren.
God’s love is perfected in us.
Don’t love the world but God.
God’s love is in us.
Abide in the light and you’ll love the brethren.
The Father called us because of His great love.
Christ laid down His life for us.
We should lay down our life for our brethren.
John’s letter is also a study in contrasts.
Light / darkness
Walk / stumble
Life / death
Love / Hate
Truth / lie
Christ / anti-christ
Spirit / spirit
Believe / not believe
Eternal life / eternal punishment
Children of God / children of the devil
Abide / rebel
Practice righteousness / practice sin
Have the Son / don’t have the Son
The logic of the letter is really quite simple.
God is light (pure) and God is love (passionate).
Because of His great love, He invited us into His community or family.
Through the sacrifice of Jesus and ministry of the Holy Spirit we are reborn into His family.
As children of God we are encouraged and enabled to live purely and passionate.
We are to walk in the light and love the brethren.
I. The God of light 1:1-2:28
A. The Message – God is Light 1:1-5
B. The Implications 1:6-2:28
II. The Children of light 2:29-3:23
There are five factors to consider in relation to genuine children of God.
A. The “Likeness” factor 2:29-3:3
B. The “righteousness/sin” factor 3:4-10
1. The nature of sin – sin is lawlessness
2. The contrasting nature of God’s children and the devil’s children
No one who abides in Him practices sin
No one who practices sin has seen Him or knows Him.
The one who practices righteousness is righteous (of Christ), just as He is righteous and practices righteousness 3:7
The one who practices sin is of the devil, just as he is sinful and practices sin.
No one who is born of God practices sin
The one born of God cannot practice sin
C. The “Love factor” 3:11-23
This theme is especially prevalent throughout the rest of the letter. Verse 11 has a logical connection to verse 10.
By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:10
John then expanded on this line of reasoning.
For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous. 1 John 3:11-12
The central theme of Jesus’ message was love.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35
This phrase is found over twenty times in the New Testament. Half of those show up in John’s writings.
Love for one another is a principal command for followers of Christ.
Before we look at John’s particular statements regarding love, it would be beneficial to take a moment to try to understand the term love as used in the Scripture. Our English word “love” may be, and is” used in a wide variety of ways. I found at least 17 different variations of meaning in the English dictionary. Without context it is impossible to know what someone means by the word love.
It can be used as a verb (action word) “I love you.”
It can be used as noun (person, place or thing). “Love is a many splendored thing.”
It can be used as and adjective (describe). “It’s the loving thing to do.”
It has a multitude of applications.
“I love pizza or baseball.”
“I love to read a good book.”
“I just love to take a walk on the beach on a sunny day.”
“I love ya man!”
“I love my kids.”
“I love my parents or brother or sister.”
“I am falling in love.”
“I love my spouse.”
“I love God.”
Love is a relational term. It is a term that describes our relationship with people or even things.
At the core of “love” is a sense of or desire for meaningful connection. God is love. There has been meaningful connection between the persons of the Trinity from eternity. Being created in His image, this longing for connection is at the core of every person. Even the world system recognizes that the desire to love and be loved drives our life. Its primary object is another person or group but may also apply to an activity or even an ideal. This awareness of and desire for connection engages our entire being; thoughts, emotions, senses, actions and attitudes.
The sense of or desire for connection inspires certain thoughts, emotions, actions or attitudes that either expresses or deepens the sense of connection. We call it connection, bonding, intimacy, relationship. We may feel or desire a connection with our spouse that stirs us to demonstrate or deepen express that sense of connection. Love is both the desire and the demonstration of connection. Our sense of connection may be driven by different things.
The Greeks distinguished between the causes for that sense of connection.
Feeling Love (eros)
Sense of or desire for connection based on common pleasure
Family Love (storge)
Sense of or desire for connection based on common heritage (blood relationship)
Friendship Love (philos)
Sense of or desire for connection based on common interests, goals and friendship
Foundational Love (agape)
Sense of or desire for connection based on internal character.
Only the “foundational love” functions and survives apart from mutual benefit. It alone is truly sacrificial. It seeks to give something rather than get something. This love flows out of a divinely inspired desire to connect in order to benefit the one loved. It results in actions motivated by a choice of the will. It is character driven. It inspires actions driven by the inner character of the lover not the external conduct of the one being loved.
Since the fall, people’s basic drive is selfish. Just as Adam’s “bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh” drive degenerated into “it’s her fault”, man’s “all for one and one for all” value has deteriorated into “it’s all about me!” Man became self-protective and self-serving at the core.
The radically new command of Jesus restored the focus on loving people; restoration of connection, community and meaningful relationship. He came to restore the desire to pursue connection with others without demand for response or mutual benefit.
Such a core desire is only possible through a radical heart change; new birth, conversion.
Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:22-23
Rebirth enables Christians to truly love one another from the heart. The source of this love is God Himself.
John strongly stresses this point over and over. True core change (conversion) will be evident by a new passion to deepen and demonstrate connection with each other. Christians in name only will continue to live selfish disconnected lives.
Love for one another is a principal command for followers of Christ.
An evil heart generates evil acts.
John illustrates his point from an Old Testament example.
not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous. 1 John 3:12
Cain murdered (slit his throat) his brother Abel out of jealousy. Rather than a desire to connect with his brother and live in community, Cain sought to eliminate his brother because he exposed his evil heart and motives. Cain demonstrated his evil heart and relationship to Satan by His actions. His actions did not make him evil. Cain did evil because his heart was evil.
Evil deeds are initiated by the Evil One.
Those who practice evil hate those who practice righteousness.
Another principle clearly evident here is that those who were evil cannot stand to be exposed by those who live godly.
Don’t be surprised if you are hated by evil people.
Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. 1 John 3:13
John instructs his readers to “stop being surprised” by the response of the word. They were actively engaged in loving people, feeding the poor and needy, demonstrating goodness and kindness and expected the world to appreciate this breath of fresh air in a polluted world. Righteous living stirs the devil’s anger. Satan hates those who practice godliness. Actually, the devil hates the children of God. Since he can’t hurt God directly, he seeks to hurt God by siring up hate against his children.
If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. John 15:18-19
He stirs people to hate those who practice righteousness.
Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 2 Timothy 3:12
Genuine love confirms new life.
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. 3:14a
“ Passed out of, moved on, departed, changed location” Perfect tense verb. Point in time action with continuing results. We have passed out of death into life and are still alive. This is a direct quote from Jesus.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24
How do we know this transformation has taken place? “Because we love (continually) the brethren.” The demonstration of a changed heart is a changed life. Just evil deeds are not the cause but the result of an evil heart, loving the brethren is not the cause but the result of a new life.
Failure to love demonstrates a dead heart.
He who does not love abides in death. 1 John 3:14
“Remain dead” stands in stark contrast to “pass from death to life.”
There is a darkness in the life of those who cannot connect with others.
There is a darkness in the heart of those not engaged in loving relationships.
Hate is equivalent to murder in God’s eyes.
Everyone continually hating his brother is a murderer;
Jesus rattled the religious leader’s cage on this point. They thought as long as they didn’t “pull the trigger” they were not guilty of breaking the sixth commandment. Matthew 5:21-22
It is all about heart change. A truly change heart is a heart with new desires and passions.
It is selfless. It has a new capacity to love.
and you have learned that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 3:15
Jesus demonstrated true sacrificial love.
We know (perfect tense) love by this, that He laid down His life for us;
The ultimate demonstration of selfless love is to give your life for someone else. We sometimes struggle over giving up the “last bite” off dessert to someone else. We clearly see the sacrificially love of Jesus over against the vicious jealousy of Cain.
We (as children of the God of love) ought to sacrificially love one another
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 3:16
John does not expect us to die as Jesus did but to sacrifice our agenda, our resources for others.
But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 1 John 3:17-18
John asks us to allow our passion to respond to the needs of others. The changed heart emotionally responds to needs. You can either act on that passion or close it off. He fires a most probing question. If you can close your heart to a genuine need, then it is questionable whether there has been true heart change. Has the God of love and the love God really transformed your heart? He calls them to tangibly demonstrate their heart change by loving actions not just words as the Gnostics had been doing. John, all though his letter, sought to distinguish between the true and the false, the professing and the practicing child of God. That is why he consistently uses words like “know”, “have learned”, “confidence”, “assurance.”
Genuine children of the God of Light, walk in the light.
Genuine children of the God of Love, love one another from the heart.
John finishes this section by addressing the nagging doubts that often plague our hearts.
The days when we sense this deep down love for others and desire to connect at deeper levels and demonstrate such desire by tangible deeds brings a confidence of a changed heart.
“We know by our tangible genuine love for others that we are of the truth.”
There are other days however that sometimes bring nagging doubts, even condemnation. We can be sure that God knows the true longings of our heart to please Him and love people.
in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 3:20
The more we live out our true desires to please Him and love others, the more confidence we have in the relationship.
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. 3:21-23
To please Him and love one another deepens connection with Him.
The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him.
Beside our obedience and love for one another, the witness of the indwelling Holy Spirit brings assurance of vital connection and relationship with God.
We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. 1 John 3:24
APPLICATION
Take an honest look at your relationships. Check your attitudes. Is your desire for connection base on mutual benefit? To you only maintain relationships that provide some sort of benefit to you? The evidence of a true life change is true love. When the God of light and love invades the human heart and plants his love by His Holy Spirit He gives us new desires, new passions, new longings to connect with Him and our new family of fellow brothers and sisters.
If we continually struggle in our relationships there are only two possibilities.
One – there has not really been a transformation only a profession.
Two – our connection to the flow of God’s life and love has been choked off somehow.
Be honest! How is your love life? Would someone on the outside be able to determine your inner heart by your external actions? The Bible is full of exhortations to love. Does your love match the characteristics of 1 Corinthians 13 or Romans 12?
