Love One Another 1John 3:11-23
God proved His love by sending His Son to this earth. He came to restore life. He came to bear the penalty for our sin.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:7,11
Almost everything in this letter could be organized under the two headings of light and love.
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 AND HIS CHILDREN OF LIGHT 1-2
II. THE GOD OF LOVE & HIS CHILDREN OF LOVE 3-4
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
C. The ¡§Love factor¡¨ 3:11-23
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
Love for one another is a principal command for followers of Christ.
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. We call it connection, bonding, intimacy, relationship. 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.
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.
Stop being 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.
"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.
You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. 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. This is the central theme of chapter four. Here, John contrasts the sacrificial 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 like Jesus) ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 3:16
This is not the only place we are urged to emulate the love of Jesus and God.
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Ephesians 5:1-2
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. John 13:34
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:12
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 and pursues community. You can either act on that passion or close it off. He next launches a most piercing question. If you can close your heart to a genuine need, then it is questionable whether there has been a 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 finished this section by addressing the nagging doubts that often plagues 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
Romans says the same thing.
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, Romans 8:16
APPLICATION
Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 1 Peter 1:22
Take an honest look at your relationships. Check your attitudes. Is your desire for connection based on mutual benefit or passion to serve others? Do you only pursue relationships that yield 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 deposits 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. He restores our original passion to pursue and live in meaningful community with others.
If we continually struggle in our relationships, there are only two possibilities.
One ¡V there has not really been a transformation; only a profession.
Two ¡V 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 identify your inner heart by your external actions? The Bible is full of exhortations to love. The Bible even provides a barometer. 1 Corinthians 13 and Romans 12 contain specific descriptions of what this kind of love looks like.
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
One would think that encouraging speech, spiritual insight, powerful faith, sacrificial ministry to the poor or paying the ultimate sacrifice would prove the level of my love. Aren¡¦t these loving acts? According to Paul, maybe not. You can do all these things and yet not have a passion for and pursuit of community. You can do all these things for other reasons. The ultimate validation of love comes in how we carry out our everyday relationship with people.
He follows then with a list of representative actions and attitudes. These make a good check list.
ć Love is patient (long suffering) not irritated or intolerant
ć Love is kind not cruel or uncaring
ć Love is not jealous but trusting
ć Love does not brag but builds up others
ć Love is not arrogant but humble
ć Love does not act unbecomingly appropriately
ć Love it does not seek its own but the good of others
ć Love is not provoked or exasperated but tolerant and forbearing
ć Love does not take into account a wrong suffered but forgives
ć Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth
ć Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
Paul warned the Romans (12-15) about hypocritical love or love that is not sincere.
Then he followed with a list of characteristics of unhypocritical love.
¡§Let love be without hypocrisy.¡¨
ć Abhorring what is evil (hurts others)
ć Clinging to what is good. (helps others)
ć Being devoted to one another in brotherly love (friendship love)
ć Giving preference to one another in honor
ć Not lagging behind in diligence but being fervent in spirit
ć Serving the Lord (serve people with the same heart you would serve the Lord)
ć Rejoicing in hope (believing in others)
ƒá Persevering in tribulation (keep on loving even when it¡¦s hard)
ć Being devoted to prayer (for one another)
ć Contributing to the needs of the saints
ć Practicing hospitality
ć Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (watch your words and attitudes)
ć Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep (Be involved with people)
ć Thinking the thing toward one another (guard against prejudice)
ć Not thinking more highly but willing to associate with the lowly
ć Do not be wise in your own estimation.
ć Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.
ć Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
ć If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
ć Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God
ć Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:9-21
The rest of Paul¡¦s letter expands his them of a loving community even further.
ć Be subject to governing authorities as minister of God.
ć Owe nothing except to love.
ć Love your neighbor as yourself
ć Love does no wrong.
ć Behave properly
ć Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
ć Accept the one who is weak
ƒá Don¡¦t pass judgment on the practices of others
ć Pursue the things that make for peace and building one another up
ć Bear the weakness of those without strength
ć Please your neighbor to their edification (up building)
ć Be of the same mind toward one another.
ć Accept one another as Christ accepted us.
How did you fair? This is God¡¦s standard. Does this sound impossible? This is how heaven will function. This is kingdom protocol.
Only as we abide in Christ and rely on the transforming power of the Holy Spirit can we love like He loves. It is a process of perfecting His love by doing it. It is not a feeling but a choice of the will to pursue meaningful connection. It is the true longing of EVERY child of God.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7
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 is perfected in us. 1 John 4:11-12
We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. 1 John 4:19-21
Failure to love as God loves is a sin.
I challenge you examine your love against God¡¦s list.
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Colossians 3:12-15
