In scientific experimentation, a Litmus Test is a test to establish the acidity or alkalinity of a mixture. The phrase has also been applied metaphorically to represent a crucial test using a single issue or factor as the basis for judgment. (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Throughout the scriptures, love is presented as a litmus test of one’s relationship to God. It is a love that does not derive from mystical experience or attach to emotional sentimentality, but that originates in salvation (cf. Rom. 8:28–30) and demonstrates itself in the good works of sanctification (cf. Eph. 2:10; Heb. 10:24). The fullest expression of it occurs when believers obey the Lord: “Whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected” (1 John 2:5; cf. 5:3). But our understanding of doing this starts with God’s nature.
When we look at the world with all its evil and suffering, so many damaged and broken lives, how can there be a God who really loves? Yet, John insists, this is the very nature of God…Amazing enough, He is so great that he can be bothered with each of us individually (Jackman, D. (1988). The message of John’s letters: living in the love of God (p. 117). Leicester, England; Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.).
The Apostle John first presented love in 1 John 2:7–11 as a proof of true fellowship. Then in 1 John 3:10–17 John discussed love as evidence of believers’ sonship. Now here in 1 John 4:7-21, this third discussion of love is an example of John’s cycling back through the letter’s moral and doctrinal proofs of salvation, each time providing his readers with greater depth and breadth. He shows love reflected in 1) The character of God (1 John 4:7–8), 2) The coming of Christ (1 John 4:9–11), 3) The Christian’s claim of faith (1 John 4:12–16), and 4) The Christian’s confidence in judgment (1 John 4:17–21).
1) Perfect Love and the Character of God (1 John 4:7–8)
1 John 4:7–8 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (ESV)
John addressed his audience as beloved (agapētoi, “[divinely] loved ones”) (cf. 2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 11) whom he urged to love one another. Again, unlike emotional, physical, or friendship love, agapē (love) is the love of self-sacrificing service (Phil. 2:2–5; Col. 3:12–14; cf. Rom. 14:19; 1 Cor. 10:23–24; 13:4–7), the love granted to someone who needs to be loved (Heb. 6:10; 1 Peter 2:17; cf. Rom. 12:15), not necessarily to someone who is attractive or lovable. “Godly love is the willingness to inconvenience yourself to bring benefit to somebody else.” Christian families and fellowships are full of examples of the Spirit at work in people’s hearts (Jeske, M. A. (2002). James, Peter, John, Jude (p. 256). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.)
John now begins to list reasons believers are to extend such sacrificial love to one another. The first reason is that love is from God. Just as God is life (Ps. 36:9) and the source of eternal life (1:1–2; 3:1–2, 9; 5:12; 2 Tim. 1:1; Titus 1:2), and just as He is light (1:5–7; 2:8–11; cf. Isa. 60:19), He is also love (cf. 4:16). Therefore, if believers possess His life and walk in His light (righteousness and truth), they will also both possess and manifest His love, since whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. As alluded to earlier, the love John refers to is the divine, perfect love that God gives only to His own. The verb rendered has been born is a perfect passive form of gennaō and could be literally translated “has been begotten.” Everyone God has saved in the past continues to give evidence of that fact in the present. Those who possess the life of God have the capacity and the experience of loving. Because they are God’s children, manifesting His nature, they will reflect His love to others. In other words, it is not the person’s ability to love that causes the new birth, but the ability to love flows from regeneration in Christ (Akin, D. L. (2001). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 38, p. 178). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.). Love, as Christians understand it, is not a human achievement; it is divine in origin, a gift from God (Morris, L. L. (1994). 1 John. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 1406). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.)
In contrast, verse 8 explains that anyone who does not love does not know God. Those whose lives are not characterized by love for others are not Christians, no matter what they claim. The Jewish religionists (scribes, Pharisees, and other leaders) of Jesus’ day, as well as the false teachers in the church of John’s day, knew a lot about God, but they did not really know Him (cf. 1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 3:7). The absence of God’s love in their lives revealed their unregenerate condition as conclusively as did their aberrant theology. The point here is that the absence of love for one another is evidence that a person does not know God, because God is love, and there can be no real knowledge of God which is not expressed in love for fellow believers (Kruse, C. G. (2000). The letters of John (p. 157). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.).
Please turn to Psalm 36 (p.465)
The God is love is seen in redemption: God the Father purposed, as a love gift to His Son, to redeem a people who would honor and glorify the Son (cf. John 6:39; 17:9–15). God created people to love him: God’s greatest commandment is that people love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:29–30). Third, the reality that God is love also explains His providence. He orchestrates all the circumstances of life, in all their wonder, beauty, and even difficulty, to reveal many evidences of His love (Pss. 36:6; 145:9; Rom. 8:28). Fourth, that He is love explains the divine plan of redemption. In the most well-known statement of His earthly ministry, Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16; cf. 2 Cor. 5:19–20; 1 Tim. 4:10; Titus 3:4–5).
Summarizing the totality of His nature and actions the Psalmist writes:
Psalm 36:5-12 5 Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD. 7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8 They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. 10 Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!11 Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12 There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise.(ESV)
God by nature is love, and therefore He defines love; it does not define Him. People constantly impose on God a human view of love, but He transcends any such human limitations. The expression “God is love” is not meant to depersonalize God or portray Him as a force, a sensation, a principle, or some sort of cosmic energy…Second, this verse by no means identifies God with everything our society labels love… The love of which he speaks is a pure and holy love, consistent with all the divine attributes. Third, this is not meant to be a definition of God or a summary of His attributes. Divine love in no way minimizes or nullifies God’s other attributes—His omniscience, His omnipotence, His omnipresence, His immutability, His lordship, His righteousness, His wrath against sin, or any of His glorious perfections. Deny any one of them and you have denied the God of Scripture (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1996). The God Who Loves (p. 28). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.).
Poem: F. M. Lehman wrote a poem entitled: “The Love of God:” The love of God is greater far Than tongue or pen can ever tell; It goes beyond the highest star, And reaches to the lowest hell. The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win; His erring child He reconciled, And pardoned from his sin. When hoary time shall pass away, And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall, When men who here refuse to pray, On rocks and hills and mountains call, God’s love so sure, shall still endure, All measureless and strong; Redeeming grace to Adam’s race— The saints’ and angels’ song. Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky. O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure— The saints’ and angels’ song. (F.M. Lehman as quoted in MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1996). The God Who Loves (pp. xi–xii). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
2) Perfect Love and the Coming of Christ (1 John 4:9–11)
1 John 4:9–11 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (ESV)
Jesus Christ is the preeminent manifestation of God’s love (John 1:14; cf. Rom. 5:8); He is God’s only Son. In/By this the perfect love of God was made manifested among us [believers], that God has sent His only Son. In Greek the word translated “only” is monogenēs. It is made up of two words that we have borrowed from Greek and brought into English. Mono means “one,” and genēs is the word from which we get our word gene. Jesus as Son is “one of a kind,” unique, sharing in the very nature of the Godhead in a way that no other created being shares. Jesus is the Son of God who is divine (Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 189). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.)
The incarnation was the supreme demonstration of a divine love that was and is sovereign and seeking. It was through this that we [believers] might live through Him. The apostle’s point is that since God, in sovereign mercy, graciously displayed His love in sending Christ, the saints should surely follow His example and love others with sacrificial, Christlike love (Eph. 4:32). The Father not only gave His children a perfect love when He redeemed them (Rom. 5:5), but He also gave them the ultimate model in Christ of how that love functions in selfless sacrifice. The cross of Christ compels believers to such love.
Please turn to Isaiah 53 (p.614)
Verse 10 reiterates that God defines love, not our actions. That is why John states in this is love, not that we [believers] loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for believers sins. The term propitiation refers to a covering for sin (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17), and is a form of the same word (hilasmos) used in 2:2. Hundreds of years before Christ, the prophet Isaiah foresaw Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice:
Isaiah 53:4–6 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (ESV) (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; 1 Peter 3:18)
• Acting as His people’s substitute, with no support or understanding from them, the servant took upon himself the bitter consequences of their sin: (cf. Matt. 8:14–17). (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1338). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
• Love acts for the benefit of others even when they are hostile towards us.
Thus John exhorted his readers in verse 11: Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (cf. John 15:13). The apostle really just restated his admonition from 1 John 3:16, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” No one who has ever savingly believed in Christ’s atoning sacrifice, and thus been granted eternal life, can return permanently to a self-centered lifestyle. Instead such persons will obey Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians to “be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (Eph. 5:1–2; cf. 1 Peter 1:15–16).
• How do we go about loving one another, especially when we have some people in our church family that are not particularly easy to love? We have to see ourselves as agents of God’s love and recognize that our ability to love that person does not come from our (emotional) will, but from God’s enablement. To understand how to love them we must meditate on God’s love until we understand its nature and expression from God to us. Only when we really understand how much and how we are loved by God can we in turn live out this love for others. It is a costly love and will require our time, energy, emotions and money. However, when we do it the world will know we are Christians by our love. They will also know that our God is a loving God. They will see Him as He is in the faces and voices of His children (Derickson, G. W. (2012). First, Second, and Third John. (H. W. House, W. H. Harris III, & A. W. Pitts, Eds.) (1 Jn 4:21). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.).
Poem: John states that love originates with God, not with people (cf. 4:19; 2 Thess. 2:16). God loves the unlovable. As an anonymous poet wrote: I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew He moved my soul to seek him, seeking me; It was not that I found, O Savior true, No, I was found, was found of thee. I find, I walk, I love; but O the whole Of love is but my answer, Lord, to thee! For thou wert long beforehand with my soul, Always, always thou lovedst me. (Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of James and the Epistles of John (Vol. 14, p. 333). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.)
3) Perfect Love and the Christian’s Claim of Faith (1 John 4:12–16)
1 John 4:12–16 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.(ESV)
In this section the apostle John also sets forth a key sequence of evidences to remind readers once again that they can know they are saved. Assurance begins with the work of the Holy Spirit (2:20, 27; Rom. 8:9, 14–16; 1 Cor. 6:19–20; Eph. 1:13–14). In verse 12 John makes the simple point that if no one has ever seen God the Father at any time (cf. John 4:24; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16), and Jesus is no longer visibly present to manifest Him, people will not see God’s love unless believers love one another. If they love one another, God will be on display, testifying that He abides in [them], and His love is perfected in [them] (cf. John 13:34–35; 1 John 3:24). The unseen God thus reveals Himself through the visible love of believers; the love that originated in God and was manifested in His Son is now demonstrated in His people. The verb “is perfected” is perfect in tense, speaking of a past completed act having present results. (Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (1 Jn 4:12). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.)
(VERSE 13 SLIDE)
Having already focused on the Father and the Son within his discussion on perfect love, John now emphasizes the role of the Spirit. In verse 13, John assures his believing readers they can know that [they] abide in God and He in [them], because He has given [them] of His Spirit. “Has given” is perfect tense in the Greek text. The Spirit was given the saints as a permanent gift. He is in us to stay, as James says (James 4:5), “The Spirit who has been caused to take up His permanent residence in us.”( Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (1 Jn 4:13). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.)
By noting the work of each member of the Trinity, the apostle underscores the Trinitarian origins of perfect love. Such love, which is accomplished through the work of each member of the Trinity and subsequently manifested in the lives of believers, finds its source in the triune God, who from eternity past enjoyed perfect fellowship as Father, Son, and Spirit. As those who abide in God, believers will reflect His love, because God abides in them and His Spirit is at work in their hearts. Love is a dynamic word, not a static word. We must then decide to live in its living presence and grow in its full implications or else we will grow cold and go adrift (Palmer, E. F., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1982). 1, 2 & 3 John / Revelation (Vol. 35, p. 65). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.)
Jesus compared the Holy Spirit to the wind (John 3:8) and said people can see only the Spirit’s effects; there are no visible, physical signs that guarantee that someone is filled with the Spirit. But the reality of their faith enables believers to know they have the indwelling Spirit, as John reminds his readers in verse 14: We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Believers bear witness that the Father has sent his Son to be Savior of the world, but they would not have believed had the Father not chosen him (John 6:44; 15:16, 19) and the Spirit opened their eyes to the truth. The perfect tense of testify (τεθεάμεθα)… implies continuity. The response of faith in the past and of testimony in the present is one which has ongoing and lasting effects (Smalley, S. S. (1989). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 51, p. 252). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.)
Please turn to Romans 5 (p.942)
Saviour covers all aspects of Christ’s work for sinners, and world the totality of the race. It is a great salvation. But not all are saved, Christ’s atoning act is adequate for the whole world, but as verse 15 clarifies, it is necessary to confess that Jesus is the Son of God if one is to experience that salvation. Then there follows a mutual indwelling of God and the believer: God abides in him, and he in God. (Morris, L. L. (1994). 1 John. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 1407). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.)
Paul explains the nature of the universal need and how Christ is saviour of the world for those who believe:
Romans 5:12-21 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (ESV)
The true believer finally as verse 16 states, has discerned the presence of the Holy Spirit, and has come to know and to believe the love that/which God has for us. The verbs of “come to know and to believe” are in the perfect tense and so indicate past experience with present results. A knowledge of basic facts must precede belief, for it is necessary to know what is to be believed (Derickson, G. W. (2012). First, Second, and Third John. (H. W. House, W. H. Harris III, & A. W. Pitts, Eds.) (1 Jn 4:16a). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.).
Such persons understand the eternal love of God, who is love, for all believers. They can rest confidently in the assurance that whoever/the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. They will further demonstrate the genuineness of their salvation by loving the Father and the Son, loving righteousness and fellow believers , and even loving their enemies, rather than the world’s system. In summary, they will increasingly love the way God loves (cf. Matt. 5:48; 22:37–40; 2 Cor. 3:18).
Illustration: Our culture trivializes love by sentimentalizing it. The love we hear about in popular songs is almost always portrayed as a feeling—usually involving unfulfilled desire. Most love songs describe love as a longing, a passion, a craving that is never quite satisfied, a set of expectations that are never met. Unfortunately, that sort of love is devoid of any ultimate meaning. It is actually a tragic reflection of human lostness. Most love songs not only reduce love to an emotion, but they also make it an involuntary one. People “fall” in love. They get swept off their feet by love. They can’t help themselves. They go crazy for love. One song laments, “I’m hooked on a feeling,” while another confesses, “I think I’m going out of my head.” It may seem a nice romantic sentiment to characterize love as uncontrollable passion, but those who think carefully about it will realize that such “love” is both selfish and irrational. It is far from the biblical concept of love. Love, according to Scripture, is not a helpless sensation of desire. Rather, it is a purposeful act of self-giving. The one who genuinely loves is deliberately devoted to the one loved. True love arises from the will—not from blind emotion (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1996). The God Who Loves (pp. 25–26). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
4) Perfect Love and the Christian’s Confidence in Judgment (1 John 4:17–21)
1 John 4:17–21 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (ESV)
What is love perfected with us? Everyone who loves does so because he or she is born of God (4:7). In new birth a capacity for love is placed within us. The new Christian begins to love everyone. But this tends soon to be lost. We ‘lose our first love’ (Rev. 2:4). ‘Un-perfected’ love is love that has not yet become a determined principle, love that is knocked aside easily. When Christians show ‘envy, strife and divisions’ (1 Cor. 3:3), they show that their love has not yet been ‘perfected’.(Eaton, M. (1996). 1, 2, 3 John (p. 160). Scotland; Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.)
Yet through perfected love, there is confidence for/in the day of judgment which is the experience of believers who not only know when they have an accurate grasp of the gospel and other biblical doctrines, but also when love is perfected within them (cf. 1 Cor. 13:10–13; Gal. 5:24–25; Eph. 5:15–21; Col. 3:12–17). The day of judgment refers in the broadest sense to the final time of reckoning before God (cf. 2:28). John says believers can live their lives with confidence (literally, “boldness”) as they look to the day when Christ returns and they stand before God (1 Cor. 3:9–15; 2 Cor. 5:10; cf. James 1:12; Rev. 2:10). The apostle declares that boldness and lack of fear should characterize believers (cf. Rom. 5:2; Heb. 6:19) whenever they think ahead to God’s time of judgment (cf. Titus 2:13).
Why can believers have such confidence? Because as He is, so also are we in this world. This stunning statement means the Father treats the saints the same way He does His Son Jesus Christ. God clothes believers with the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 3:21–22; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9), and grants the Son’s perfect love (Matt. 9:36; John 10:11, 14–16; 13:1; 14:21) and obedience (cf. John 4:34; 5:30; 18:37). Someday believers will stand before God’s throne as confidently as their Lord and Savior does.
Those whose perfect (complete, mature) love demonstrates the reality of their salvation need have no fear of the return of Christ or God’s judgment, because, as verse 18 explains: perfect love casts out fear. That kind of love dispels fear because fear has to do/involves punishment, and believers perfected in love do not face final punishment (Rom. 5:9; 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9; cf. Eph. 5:6). However, anyone whoever fears God’s judgment has not been perfected in love. Someone who professes Christ but fears His return evidences that something is seriously amiss, because all true saints love His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8; cf. James 1:12).
The motive for those who have such confident assurance regarding the future is obvious: we [Christians], as verse 19 explains, love, because He first loved us. It was God’s perfect and eternal love that first sovereignly drew believers to Him (4:10; John 15:9, 16, 19; Acts 13:48; Rom. 5:8; Eph. 1:4), thus enabling them to reflect His love to others.
The apostle repeats his warning (cf. 2:4, 9; 3:10, 17; 4:8) in verse 20, that anyone who claims to love God but does not love others is a deceiver: If anyone 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. It is absurd to claim to love the invisible God but at the same time not show love to His people.
Please turn to 2 Thessalonians 3 (p.990)
John counters that hypocritical notion in verse 21, with a closing command: this commandment we have from Him, whoever loves God must also love his brother. Brotherly love seeks nothing in return; instead it unconditionally forgives (cf. Matt. 18:21–22), bears others’ burdens (Gal. 6:2), and sacrifices to meet their needs (Acts 20:35; Phil. 2:3–4). Yet it is also a righteous love that tolerates neither false doctrine nor habitual sin (1 Tim. 5:20; cf. 2 Thess. 3:15).
2 Thessalonians 3:11–15 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. (ESV)
• Why might some (v.13) become weary in doing good? Because some will not work together and put the burden on others to do all the tasks. Do we resent the offloading, no, we are to approach them (v.15) in love. It is for their spiritual health and the health of the assembly to do so.
God’s perfect love is a blessing for believers to know and a joy for them to manifest to others. Although it enhances and enriches the emotional love they have for other people, perfect love far transcends any kind of feeling the world might experience. It is a complete, mature love that reflects the essence of God and the work of Christ and flows through believers to anybody with a need (3:17; Matt. 25:34–40; 2 Cor. 8:1–7; 9:7–15; James 1:27; cf. Matt. 5:16; Acts 9:36; Titus 3:8), especially others in the family of God (Gal. 6:2, 10; cf. 1 Tim. 5:8; Heb. 6:9–10).
(Format Note: Outline & some base commentary from MacArthur, J. (2007). 1, 2, 3 John (pp. 162–172). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.)
