1 John 3:11-4:6
Key Verse 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Ch 1-3 spoke about the light. God is light and sin is darkness. These two cannot coexist together in and among God’s people. In the second part, John moves on the topic of life that must reflect light. It is about our walk with Christ; how we live daily. Entire our being, our thoughts, our mind, and our talk and our actions must coherent with each other to reflect one thing; the command to love, i.e., loving others in obedience to God.
Today’s passage will be divided into two. In the first part (11-16), John speaks of the fundamentals of love: he defines its origin (11), its unique character (12-15) and its nature (16). In the second part (3:17-4:6), John spoke about how to live out the love: believers to love in action and in truth (17-18); love in obedience will bring confidence (19-21); we must discern false spirits that provide plausible reasons not to obey the command to love others (4:1-6).
1. The love in truth is of God (11)
Love is foundational in God’s creation.
1 John 3:11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: we should love one another.
John taught the believers that they were told the message to love others from the time when they met Christ first. This was the case for the 12 disciples (John 13). On the night before his arrest, Jesus told them to love each other—the command he gave to his disciple. Likewise, all the believers following the message of the disciples were also were taught to love others (1 John 2:13-14). In other words, the power of salvation and a compelling desire to love others came together; not separated or independent message. At the outset of their belief in Jesus, this message of love came along with the grace of salvation for them and also this message is traced back to Jesus’ will to come who was from the beginning of creation. In other words, John did not see this command to love just as an inviolable rule that God or Jesus laid upon his followers and that the believers are forced to follow it because of his command. John traces back the root or source of love all the way from the beginning, the beginning of the universe when God created the world. It was in God’s heart even before the creation of the world and He created the world in His love for the whole human races and he wanted to restore that principle through His Son Jesus.
Like this, John saw the transcendent truth about love. He saw it was in Jesus who was from the beginning of creation (1:1; 2:13), and the entire promise of salvation from God is of this love (1 John 1:1; 2:24). Sending His son Jesus is also the utmost expression of God’s love for fallen humanity. In OT, there is a Hebrew word ‘hesed’ love. This word characterizes and denotes God’s heart in making Israel as his people and in giving them the Law of the Covenant of Promise (Ten Commandments). This word denotes the essential character: the love of God (Exo 15:13). John came to know this and said this; God is love (4:8-9) In other words, love is the foundational truth of the world that He laid out in his creation. Then can anyone who defies the truth or contradicts or oppose the love stand? In the backdrop of this truth about love, John calls for our obedience to love others.
Having laid the fundamental truth about this command, John authoritatively declares;
11b we should love one another.
Many follow new ideas of the time for they think that ‘new ideas’ are the new frontline of truth and this newly developing truth might offer a better deal for their lives. But God stands tall above all creation and He sent the last and the undeniable message through His son; His love for the fallen human races with a demand to obey to that love of God. So, we all should love one another.
Nowadays, socialistic ideals have taken the helm of the major part of the political realm in the USA. Their commanding principle is an equal distribution of all wealth so that all human races may enjoy a good life. This is presented as the new front line of American political ideology. Their foundation of life is material wealth. If one has enough money to enjoy life, then, it would be heaven. So, if one has a love for others, then he or she must work toward that goal. In the processes of making that goal accomplished, they adopt all devious measures for their heart is in money or material; they are willing to all cunning schemes even deceiving, murdering people; it seems to be a good-willed ideology for making the lives of all people comfortable and enjoyable. The more they are stressed the more they yearn to have such peace of mind, which they think that they can obtain through securing an abundance of materials. Yet this process causes more trouble then the ideology for their foundation is not on man and justice but on material goods. When the foundation is not sound, all the things built upon that foundation will surely collapse.
Love is not in providing and distributing material good for better living; it is care for a human being for their blessing in the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth.
Anything less than this love is not of truth (12-15)
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.
Suddenly John throws a bombshell on the believers, by saying ‘don’t be like Cain.’ It is an awful thing for calling anyone to be like Cain. Cain in his jealousy murdered his brother. He did not listen to God’s warning and his heart was inflamed with jealousy and anger against his brother and killed him. Actually, none of us killed anyone. There are many who killed someone and they are already in jail or had been to jail. There are millions of believers. But less than one-hundredth of one point might be actual murderers. Does he say in hyperbolic exaggeration? John says that Cain belongs to the evil one and his action was evil. He seems to say that what he offered to God was not of faith and honor to the Lord and was evil though he offered. Though he offered to the Lord, his heart did not give full honor to the Lord and was evil. In other words, half-hearted obedience or obedience in form only without true reverence and fear of the Lord is evil. In this respect, if anyone of us follows God or obeys the command to love others in such a fashion, he or she is following the way of Cain. John calls such person a murderer or eventually fall into murdering people! Rejection of God is a rejection of God’s command to love. The full-blown expression of such a heart is violence and murder (Gen 6). In this way, John is implicitly saying that when one does not have the love in truth, his heart is heading toward a desire to murder others. Once when I was young, in my teen years, I hated many things and many people. In my hate, killing others was so close to be within the stretch of my arms. When the love in truth is not in me, the only avenue of my righteousness is to murder someone. An absence of love in truth leads the world and the world is so violent and killing others is a daily affair of our society. Even our hearts are so dull and immunized to the conditions of no love well in the extent that these are facts of life and we should not concern too much about it. What does it mean? There are only two choices; to love or to hate to be a murder. There is nothing in between. We may recoil back from the true love and remain neutral by hiding in Indifference, dislike, and contempt. But these are only a prelude of real murder. No love? Then, it is a highway to murdering someone. Jesus said, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (Mat 5:22 NIV)
What does John say about this?
13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
If then, is there a mind that lingers in between the love in truth and the murder? How about unloving, disinterest, or unconcerned, or dislike, or hatred… finally hate If we do not uphold the love in truth, we can easily become content with and reside in unloving, disinterest, or unconcerned, or dislike for these are acceptable since we do not hate enough to kill others. When we entertain such middle ground, John is saying that God is not there in our heart since these things have little to do with the love of God. All these things will eventually evolve into hate and murdering others.
15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.—an absence of love; death contrary to v 14
What does it mean to us? We are to uphold the love in truth as the utmost truth of life, this truth that governs the whole creation and the whole human races and even all the living. Though it is much changed in its color, when God created man and woman; God embedded the love in truth in this creation of the human race. In this regard, the love never leads us to stumble! It was in God, in His creation, in His promise, in Jesus the Son of God, the full revelation of God’s love for us.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
While the world is still in darkness, we know the truth of love that transcends the world. It is in us while the world is still in the darkness of hate. God speaks even now, in and among us of that love that whole human races yearn to have. God is and Jesus is calling for us to begin that love from each of us.
Jesus is the true love (16)
What is the love in truth? Or the love that was from the beginning of creation God embedded? There are thousands of languages of love. In Greek, there are three words that are translated ‘love’ in English. Even a murderer shows their love for his daughter. When we drive through a certain cross-section, we see some beggars or solicitors of money or help. Once in a while, I give them a dollar or two to them. Even such a little thing, we cannot do if we don’t have love.
But here John defined what the love is.
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 and sisters.
This is the most simple and precise definition of the love in truth that God embedded from the beginning of creation. Though we heard of it and know much about it, I like to explore the meaning in order for us to apply more precisely to our lives.
When one laid down his life, he is releasing his control over his life to someone other than himself. Jesus committed his life on God’s hand for he was certain that God the father would raise him from the dead, nullifying the death, the ultimate force of sin. The mode of love that God wanted Jesus to use was to give his life for the sake of sinners.
Fathers and mothers love their children. They express their love in various ways. Fathers lean toward discipline. Mothers tend to love by providing whatever their children's need. The focus of God’s love was and is to impart a new life for His children who are under the power of death. So, God’s mode of love is life-giving. This is starkly revealed in what and how Jesus did on the cross. Laying down one’s life is the mode of love that we are commanded to follow.
For us to lay down our lives, first, we must be assured of our wellbeing. Otherwise, we will be gripped with fear and retreat to self- preserving mode when we see an imminent threat to our wellbeing. But we praise God the father for He guaranteed our lives in His kingdom for those who believe in His Son Jesus’ sacrifice for sinners. Jesus’ resurrection provides us that certainty and in this, we can put our faith in Him. In this faith, we can overcome even the power of death and we can stay put in the mode of life-giving love for our brothers.
Our love must work toward redeeming sin and its outcomes. Jesus explicitly displayed this when he washed the feet of his disciples; unless I wash you, you have no part with me (John 13:8). Are you willing, to pay the cost of sins and weaknesses of fellow brothers? The love says yes.
2. How to live out this love (3:17-4:6)
Love in daily life (17-18)
17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
After ratifying the Covenant of blessing between God and Israel, God took them to the door to the land of blessing, and then to the wilderness of Paran. There Israel roamed for about 40 years. During this period, God showed his love by providing whatever necessary for their lives. The most common and powerful threat to their wellbeing was lack of the basic necessities of life; water and food. While they were on the brink of life and death, they complained and God miraculously brought water from a rock and food from heaven. Why did God lead them to such situations repeatedly? He wanted His people to know their true predicament on the earth: they are under the power of sin and death. All the resources of the earth are not sufficient to provide life but only God is.
What about now? Many are going through the same predicament as those who roamed in the desert, lacking the basic necessities of life. Practically all human beings are under the same predicament of life in the desert as Israel was. We fall short of something and have never had enough. We yearn to have plenty and yet we never feel secure even with so much cumulation of riches.
Christ undid the curse that came upon man by his love. That love will undo the ill-effects of sin. Though we cannot frame God’s will only in this periscope, in general, we know that God blesses many to convey that love to others who are still suffering under the power of sin. We, believers, are the channel of that love, not only to our fellow brothers and sisters but also for others. As Jesus undid the power of sin on the cross, so God is undoing the power of sin of many through the love that he implanted in the depth of our being.
So, it is vital to see those who are going through such a tough time in life with the same scope as Jesus saw us while we were living in sin. It is having pity on them and having empathy for the predicaments of sinners. The cross of Jesus speaks loudly of that compassion and calls for pity and empathy for those who are going through the same suffering under the power of sin. How can we have pity or compassion on our brother when we do not see Jesus’ compassion for us? We must look up the cross and feel his compassion and love for us. We won’t be left in dry spells of a loveless life. Love nullifies all ill-effects of sin and enlightens us to see the blessings that God imparted to us in Christ, the true and essence of God’s love.
One of our brothers went through a very tough time in his teenage years; poverty, having no parents’ care and even living on the street as a homeless. This bore a profound effect on him even now, going through tough times, no opportunity to learn, or to have a job. His life itself is being snuffed out. Only God’s love, nothing else, can undo these ill-effects of sin and unlock that chains him into hopelessness and helplessness.
This love begins with the basics; giving basic necessities of life so that life may not be snuffed out but be sustained through the darkness of sins of the world. God gave us life and takes our lives in his time according to His purpose. But it is our responsibility to sustain the lives of all whom God called for his blessing. It must begin with us. The love of God in us is greater and powerful than the sins of the world. Jesus’ love in us can do amazing things; far more than we can imagine. The power of this love is in action in obedience to the Lord for our obedience to His commands obligates Him to do His amazing power.
As we discussed in ch 2, the first obedience is important. First obedience empowers our spirit and enlightens our understanding of His truth. I pray that we may do love others today in obedience to His command.
Love in action by obedience opens our knowledge of Him (19-21)
It is our conscience—that discerns what we have done; we find two choices; condemn or be at peace with joy. Our hearts where our conscience operates is the place of truth where God imparts his truth
How can we lay down our lives in love for others? How much do we have to love others? No one can measure the exact amount of love. Not others and not even ourselves! The love in truth is a loft goal for us all. It looks almost impossible for us to follow Him for we are reminded of the care for our own lives are always the first priority. We experience our failures to follow Jesus every day.
19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God
Have we followed Jesus and loved others as he loved us? How can one know If one has done so or not?
Frist when our hearts condemn us, then it is obvious that we are fall short of the love in truth for God is greater than us and if we fall short of our own standard, how can we meet God’s measure? It is not an amount but a matter of the heart that honors the Lord in full extent. This is well depicted in the story of Cain and Abel. Was their full honor and fear of God in loving others? Then we would not condemn ourselves and find confidence in God.
We are walking daily toward this goal. When our hearts condemn us, we repent and do more in love fully until we find confidence in God. What is the objective sign of being one with the Lord?
22 and receive from him anything we ask because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
Prayer and receiving the answer to that prayer is the proof in our heart that God is happy with us. (John your joy will be complete) In this way, we are living in joy. When we do not obey, our relationship would become a long and distant memory. But when we obey and love others daily, then the joy from the Lord would be a daily event.
So how can we conclude Jesus’ teaching?
23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
How is this teaching lived out in our lives?
24 The one who keeps God's commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Being one with Christ and with God, the father now is and should be not only a current reality but also we come to know with certainty of His power living in us as we obey Him fully in love for others.
Discern the false spirits that deny true love (4:1-6)
In the previous message (3:1-10), we come to know what the true nature of the false prophet, antichrists. In today's’ message I like to look at why we have to test the spirits to discern the spirits of the false prophets or antichrists from the Spirit of Christ. The antichrists offer very plausible reasons for the unnecessariness of our obedience in action. These human reasons provide many to escape from God’s command to love others, encouraging outright disobedience to His command to love others. So John warns:
4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
Here key point is that Jesus came in ‘flesh’. He was a man in all aspects, having flesh like us that needs to eat to sustain life, to walk to go one place to the other, suffer pain and sickness as we suffer pain and sicknesses. Though he was the Son of God, he took upon himself the flesh that we have so that he might suffer for our behalf. By suffering in his body, he showed his love for us all. In other words, his love for us cannot be separated from his suffering in his body, and that suffering was even to the point of death, i.e. life-giving. This defines love in truth. If he had not come in flesh, then all the love that he showed is not of any relevance to us for we have a body that needs salvation.
Both Gnostics and Docetism denies the truth about our lives and the love that we are to live by. Gnostics claims that our spirit is good and our body is evil. As long as we keep our spirit in good, all the failures of our body matter little. By letting one’s body go a different way from the spirit, Gnostic understanding of our life nullifies Jesus command to love others in action.
Docetism does not acknowledge that Jesus came in the flesh as we are. He came only as a spirit. This denies the fact that Jesus shared the same suffering that we are going through and the life Jesus lived cannot be applicable to us of an earthly body. The ultimate purpose or outcome of devising such ideology is the same as Gnostics, providing us the unnecessariness of our obedience to love in action.
What is the roadblock that these groups of people try to go around? It is suffering in our body as Jesus did on the cross.
We know that the love of Jesus is life-giving love. Our love for our brothers must of life-giving, which inevitably calls for suffering and pain as Jesus did on the cross. The spirit of Jesus is the spirit that is willing to give his life for the sinners; life as a whole including suffering and even death. There are many spirits that look and sound like Jesus’. But if anyone does not count suffering as his or her way of life in love, then we can raise a question and most likely our estimation will come out true. On the other hand, whenever one is willing to suffer in his/her love for others, we know that the Spirit of Christ is living in him or her.
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