The Evidence of a Child of God: One Who Loves His Brother

1 John 3:11-15

John bridges verse 10 to verse 11 by introducing a second idea. Verse 10 closes like this: “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love His brother.”

The righteousness of the disciple of Christ is not the sole evidence of a person who is a child of God. In verse 10, the idea of a person loving their fellow Christian brothers and sisters is a second evidence that is introduced. Christians ought to love one another, plain and simple. Yet, while it is simple to see, it is also important. This morning, I want to look at five reasons why loving one another is so important. First,

To love one another is central to the message of Jesus

John begins in verse 11 by explaining that this message of loving one another has been from the beginning of the message of Jesus. It certainly traces back to the Old Testament as well, but the use of the word message points back to 1 John 1:5: “This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you…”

The gospel message is multifaceted. It is one of salvation, forgiveness, death to life, darkness to light, and even love. Listen to the words of Jesus Himself in John 13:34-35: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Not only is this love for one another foundational for Christian living, it is also further evidence of a person’s salvation.

We often need to be reminded of the difference between a person who has been saved and the results of that person’s salvation. In this case, loving one another is not what saves us, but it is what shows other people, including those you love, that you have committed your life to serving the Lord.

Because it is foundational to the message of Jesus, especially when He provides the reason why we should love one another being His love for us, and evidence of our salvation, we ought to make strides in loving one another well. The second reason it is so important is because

Love of your brother guides your actions

Because I tend to be a very logical person, I tend to think through decision making in terms of a flow chart. If you’re familiar with a flow chart, you know that you begin with a question and then filter the result through whichever question validates the answer.

I’ll explain what I mean in just a moment. John gives an extreme example in verse 12 of Cain, who murders his brother. We are given confirmation that he belonged to the evil one here which alludes to his eternal state. John asks the question of why this murder took place. It was because his deeds were evil. If his deeds had not been evil, he pursued righteousness as is the case of a child of God, then this would not have happened.

The proper decision would have been made through the flow chart I mentioned earlier like this. “Does this thought or action reflect love for my brother? If yes, then do it. If no, do not do it.” While Cain’s action is not one of God, the murder of his brother was not his ultimate undoing. Rather, a lack of dedication to God and a lack of loving His brother is ultimately the issue here.

When we love one another, our actions will reflect this and help us to keep in step with the will of God on our lives. Let’s now look to verse 3 where we that our love for one another is important because

We are distinguished from the world

John now highlights that the Christian should not be surprised that the world hates us. It seems as though this verse is a bit misplaced at first. However, I think that this is a subtle reminder that there ought to be no hate in the heart of a Christian for anyone, especially a brother. Here is how the disciple of Christ is distinguished from the world. The world has a natural disdain for those who love Christ. Yet, the Christian loves one another. There will be a discernible difference in the amount of love that is shown.

There is a minor point that I want to make on this verse as well. It should seem obvious but with the world against us, why do our fellow believers need yet another obstacle to overcome with someone to hate us that should be in our corner. Or to make this more applicable, why hate the very people that we ought to be working with in tandem for the sake of the gospel?!

We ought to distinguish ourselves by our love for the world because if we don’t love one another, no one else but God will.

Fourth, love for one another is important because

It is proof of life

Romans 6:13 presents this idea, as well as other places. John’s point here is that when we love one another, it is proof that we are now alive in Christ.

Romans 6:13 ESV

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

The obvious thing to think on here is how valuable this is for our public witness. I remember seeing members of a church public bicker over the choice of a staff position at their church. It pained me to watch this go on as I thought of those who may not believe and what they might think of the Church of Christ as they publicly displayed disagreement. There are many other examples of churches putting themselves in poor light rather than loving one another like they ought to.

The other person that is in need of proof here is you. If you are saved, you need to be reassured regularly of the salvation that you have that was bought with the blood of Jesus on the cross! Look at the proof of this salvation, that you have been made alive, as you love your brothers and sisters and love them well.

Finally, it is important that we love one another because

There is a promise of eternal life.

This is phrased here in the negative but the inverse is still true. Certainly, the one who hates his brother will not have eternal life and the opposite of that is true. The one who loves His brother will have eternal life. This is true because of what the verse says by itself.

But it is also true based on the inheritance that we have been promised as children of God. This is wonderful news. There is a reason so many of the great hymns through the years are written about heaven! It is because this life beyond earth with God for eternity is worth singing about and dwelling on.

However, be reminded that the brother that you hate will be there with you. We close this morning with some reflection. If there is hate in your heart for your brother, Jesus says in Matthew 5 that you should go to him before even coming to the altar to make a sacrifice. This is a sin that is in need of repenting of.

May we hold to the importance of loving one another. May we be a church who practices love of other churches. May we be known for our love for one another! And because of that, may it be evident that we are children of God.