First John: 1 John 3:17-The Believer Demonstrates God’s Attribute of Love By Providing for a Fellow-Believer’s Need for the Essentials of Life Lesson # 128

1 John 3:17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? (ESV)

“But if anyone has the world’s goods” stands in contrast with the previous assertion in 1 John 3:16 which states that the believer is obligated to lay down their life for their fellow-believer as a result of Jesus Christ laying down His life for them.

“If anyone has the world’s goods” is an indefinite relative pronoun clause which presents a hypothetical situation of a believer possessing the essentials required to sustained human life such as food, shelter and clothing.

“And sees his brother in need” presents a hypothetical situation of a hypothetical believer which is in addition to the previous hypothetical situation.

“Sees his brother in need” refers to a hypothetical believer observing carefully that a fellow-believer possesses a need for the essentials required to sustain an earthly human existence, which would be food, shelter and clothing.

“Yet closes his heart against him” stands in contrast with the previous a hypothetical situation in which they see their fellow-believer possessing a need for the essentials required to sustain an earthly human existence.

“Closes his heart against him” refers to a hypothetical believer refusing to show compassionate affections towards a fellow-believer who possesses a need for the essentials required to sustain an earthly human existence.

“How does God’s love abide in him?” is a rhetorical question, which demands an emphatic negative answer.

It is asserting that God’s attribute of love by no means lives in the believer who refuses to show compassionate affections towards a fellow-believer who possesses a need for the essentials required to sustain an earthly human existence.

1 John 3:17 But whoever at any time does possess the essentials required to sustain an earthly human existence and in addition does at any time see his fellow-believer possessing a need, yet shuts off his compassionate affections from him, how does God’s love live in him? (My translation)

As we noted in our study of 1 John 3:16, the apostle John taught the recipients of First John that they are obligated to lay down their lives for their fellow-believer because Jesus Christ laid down His life for them.

Now, here in 1 John 3:17, he employs an indefinite relative pronoun clause which presents a hypothetical believer possessing the essentials required to sustain an earthly human existence and seeing his fellow-believer possessing a need for them and yet shutting off his compassionate affections from this believer in need.

The essentials would be food, shelter and clothing.

Thus, when John speaks of a believer possessing a need, he is refusing to provide these three things.

He completes his thought with a rhetorical question which asks how does God’s love live in this believer who refuses to help their fellow-believer in need.

This rhetorical question demands an emphatic negative response.

The believer who refuses to help their fellow-believer in need by no means has the love of God living in them.

Therefore, the contrast between 1 John 3:16 and 17 is that of a believer laying down their life for their fellow-believer and a believer refusing to do so by not providing the essentials of life for a fellow-believer in need of them.

“Compassionate affections” is the noun splagchnon which not only expresses the idea of compassion toward another but also affection for another.

The term “compassion” speaks of the intense desire to alleviate the pain and suffering of another person or remove its cause.

The term “affection” pertains to a tender attachment to or fondness for another person usually an intimate friend or family member.

This compassionate affection is produced by the Holy Spirit in the believer who obeys the command to love his fellow believer as Christ loved Him (John 13:34).

Thus, it is the direct result of the believer operating in the agape, “divine-love” of God and is an expression of it.

The noun theos, “God” refers to the Father which is indicated by the word’s articular construction which in the New Testament commonly signifies the first member of the Trinity unless otherwise indicated by the context.

This word is in the genitive case and can be interpreted as a “subjective” genitive or a “objective” genitive or a “plenary” genitive or lastly, an “attributive” genitive.

An “objective” genitive is where the genitive substantive would function semantically as the “direct object” of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun.

Thus, John would be speaking of the believer’s love for God.

This type of love is mentioned in 1 John 2:5 and 4:20.

A “subjective” genitive is where the genitive substantive would function semantically as the “subject” of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun, thus, John would be speaking of God’s love for the believer.

This type of love is mentioned in 1 John 3:1.

A “plenary” genitive is where the noun in the genitive is both subjective and objective, thus, John would be speaking of both God’s love for the believer and the believer’s love for God.

Lastly, an “attributive” genitive is where the genitive substantive specifies an attribute or innate quality of the head substantive, thus, John would be speaking of love as an attribute of God.

“God’s love” is used of God’s attribute of love which was manifested at the cross by His Son Jesus Christ and which John wants to be manifested in the life of a believer who is obedient to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s attribute of love is manifested by the believer when they provide the essentials required to sustain an earthly human existence for their fellow-believer who possesses a need for them.

This interpretation is indicated by John’s teaching in 1 John 3:16.

In this verse, he asserts that John and the recipients of First John knew experientially that which constitutes divine-love by the fact that Jesus Christ laid down His life on behalf of each one of them.

In other words, they knew experientially God’s attribute of love by the fact that Jesus Christ laid down His lie for them.

Then, he asserts that each one of them are obligated to lay down their lives for their fellow-believer.

Thus, he is teaching that they are obligated to love one another by laying down their lives for one another because Jesus Christ loved them by laying down His life for them.

The implication is that the believer has the capacity to love their fellow-believer because they are the beneficiaries of this love because Jesus Christ died for them.

Therefore, John’s reference to God’s love in 1 John 3:17 refers to God’s love for the believer since he taught in 1 John 3:16 that God’s love for the believer obligates them to love their fellow-believer.

The Holy Spirit reproduces God’s attribute of love in the believer when they obey the Spirit inspired command to love one another.

Obedience to this command is manifested by the believer when they provide the essentials required to sustain an earthly human existence for their fellow-believer who possesses a need for them.

The emphasis is not upon God’s love “for them,” but rather God’s attribute of love since he speaks knowing this love experientially in verse 16 which obligates them to manifest this same love with each other.

Therefore, John wants the recipients of First John to practice this type of love which resides in the character and nature of God and was demonstrated on behalf of all of them at the cross by Jesus Christ laying down His life for them.

In verse 17, he provides for them a practical and tangible way in which they can manifest this type of love in their lives.

Therefore, the believer who demonstrates God’s attribute of love by loving their fellow-believer by helping their fellow-believer in need knows God’s love experientially.

This means that the believer is personally encountering this love as a result of accepting by faith Jesus laying down His life for them on the cross.

It also involves being affected by this encounter with the love of God by exercising the love of God when interacting with one’s fellow-believer.

The believer who demonstrates God’s attribute of love in their life by providing for their fellow-believer in need is conducting their life in the same manner as Jesus Christ always did during His First Advent since He is God.

Therefore, John’s statements in 1 John 3:16-17 help us to understand when he means in 1 John 2:6 that the believer must conduct themselves in life in the same manner as Jesus did during His life during His First Advent. In other words, the believer must imitate the example of Jesus.

So, to live like Jesus Christ is to love like He did during His First Advent and to do so requires the believer obey His command to love one another and to do this requires that the believer accept by faith Jesus Christ’s love for them as demonstrated at the cross.

Therefore, “God’s love” refers to the exercise of the attribute of God’s love, which is produced by the Holy Spirit through the believer who is obedient to the Spirit inspired teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and in particular His command to love one another as He loves.