The Epistle of 1 John – Part Ten

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

This is the tenth part of a series on the epistle of 1 John written by John the apostle. In this series we will cover the basic concerns John had for writing this letter to Christians. Included are the fourteen reasons he wrote these epistles of 1, 2 and 3 John as well as the eleven assurances we have that establish our salvation as a Christian.

 

1 John 3:11

“This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”

 

Here in 1 John 3:11 John again repeats a teaching he wishes to emphasize to the Christians in Asia Minor. He reminds them once again that from the beginning of the Jewish law and from the beginning of Jesus’ teachings, they have been taught that we should love one another. This was commanded in the Old Testament and it is the core of who a follower of Christ is in heart, mind and soul. God’s love is extensive, powerful and intimate and He expects us to pattern our lives after this love. Loving in this manner is one of the defining behaviors and attitudes one must have to be called a true Christian.

 

Numerous verses speak of this in Scripture.

 

John 13:34-35

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 

John 15:12-14

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

 

1 John 4:7-9

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

 

1 John 4:12

“…if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

 

1 John 4:19-20

“We love because he first loved us.”

 

1 John 3:12

“Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.”

 

John gives an example at this point to stress his point regarding loving others and references the poor example that Cain demonstrated.

 

Cain slew his brother Abel and therefore became the first murderer to commit fratricide. His history and actions are given to us in Genesis 4. Cain’s sacrificial offering was not acceptable to the Lord but Abel’s was because it was a blood offering. Cain had a choice, he could ask for forgiveness and humble himself before God or he could grow bitter against God and let anger rule his life. Cain chose the latter. When any of us makes a choice to walk the bitter path it eventually leads to a mountain of massive anger. With bitterness in our lives and anger ruling our hearts and minds we not only fail to love God we lash out at those around us. This is why John used this example from the Old Testament. He knew that Christians will be tempted to feel bitter towards life and angry towards others. He also knew that God’s love in the heart of a follower of Christ can overcome these sinful emotions. Righteous anger is one thing, bitter anger is quite another. So John gives this example to demonstrate what can happen if a person fails to love God and others.

 

1 John 3:13

“Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.”

 

John knew that one of the consequences for living a godly life in obedience to Christ would be that the world and those who live in it would often hate Christians. While non-believers are sometimes curious about Jesus Christ and interested in knowing about God, often they are rebellious to what Jesus represents. He represents a single path to knowing God and the world wants numerous options to God according to desires of their sinful hearts. Christ represents the necessity of confession of sin and the world doesn’t want to be held accountable for sinful actions. Jesus represents the Lord that must be master of ones life and the world wants to be independent of any authority. Because Jesus Christ requires us to submit to His authority as the only true path to our Heavenly Father and requires us to repent of our sins, the world will hate anyone who follows Him.

 

Jesus knew this as a reality in His own life and He knew His disciples would face it as well. The apostle John wrote about this in the Gospel of John as well as in the Epistles of 1, 2 and 3 John.

 

John 15:18-19

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

 

1 John 3:1

“The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

 

1 John 3:13 – 13

“Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.”

 

So when we face persecution, hatred, abuse and prejudice because of our faith we should not be surprised because the reason is that we have not only committed our life to Christ, we are becoming more like Him each day. The more we become like Christ, the more some people will hate us because they hate Christ. The more we reflect Christ in our actions and attitudes, the more we will convict others that they need a Savior. The reward for our obedience to God and living in step with the Holy Spirit is that some people will see this Christian lifestyle and want to know why we are different. This is the first step that they take in accepting Christ.

 

1 John 3:14

“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.”

 

John again verifies one of the marks of a true Christian, they love their brothers and sisters. These actions of love towards others also gives us assurance that we are saved because we will notice this love that we have goes beyond any normal efforts we might normally possess. We will find ourselves loving people that usually we would avoid or have trouble loving. This is an amazing experience, for when we see this behavior in ourselves we see Christ manifesting Himself in our lives. We see the Holy Spirit empowering us to love. We see our Heavenly Father giving us compassion and grace towards others that only comes from Him. The reverse side of the verse is that “anyone who does not love remains in death.” John is stating that a sign that you are not a follower of Christ is that you do not love in a godly fashion. Most people can love, but only those indwelt with the Holy Spirit can love as Christ loves. Anyone who has not accepted Christ as Savior does not have the Holy Spirit living in them, has no relationship with God and has no commitment to model their lives after Jesus Christ. Without these resources of empowerment and standard for behavior written on their hearts, those who have not given their life to Christ cannot love at God loves and they remain condemned under God’s judgment. If we know people who remain in death, our responsibility is to share the gospel with them so that they will be saved from their sins, pass from death into life and be enabled to love in the godly way of “agape” love, God’s love.

 

1 John 3:15

“Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.”

 

John carries his warning for those who reject Christ even further in verse 15 of chapter 3. He goes so far as to say if you hate your fellow man in thought, its as good as if you murdered him. This follows in line with Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25:21, that just hateful angry thinking towards someone in an unrighteous manner is the same as committing murder. Such statements by the apostle John and Jesus Himself illustrate the high standard that our Heavenly Father has for loving others. It also communicates the high standard God has for living a holy righteous life. When we consider this we are overwhelmed with the thought, “How can anyone love so purely and correctly?” Actually no human being can, but those who accept Jesus as Savior and Lord have their sinful thoughts and actions of the past, present and future forgiven. This means that as a child of God you are forgiven for hateful thoughts and actions and now can begin loving others in a godly fashion. When a Christian fails to love in this manner, they can confess this sin, restore fellowship with God, and begin loving again in the way Jesus would. Who would not want such a relationship with God? Who would not want to have forgiveness for the hate that wells up at times in their thought life? Who would not want forgiveness for intense anger towards others? Who would not want peace and the ability to love anyone at any time?

 

John then in verse 16 of this chapter defines the epitome of love. It is summed up in the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for all mankind.

 

1 John 3:16

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”