1 John part 11 A love worth giving
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Introduction:
Introduction:
Third major division of the epistle
John spoke of love in the previous 2 sections but now prepares to present a “fuller development of a theme.” —Edmond Hiebert
“John presents an elaborate development of the nature and results of Christian love.” —Edmond Hiebert
It’s a love based upon theology not an emotion
spiritual birth
atonement
gift of the Holy Spirit
confidence at judgment
“I love my church” What does that mean?
God’s love exhorts us to love
God’s love exhorts us to love
The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary a. A Further Elaboration of the Social Test: Love (4:7–12)
Why is reciprocal love the plain duty of Christians? It is, as he began to say in 3:16, that God has revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ as self-sacrificial love. God is love in himself (8, 16); God has loved us in Christ (10–11); and God continues to love in and through us (12–13); these are the reasons why we must love each other
We find the definition of love in the person of God
We see the description of love in the redeeming work of God
God is the source of this love
God is the source and very essence of love
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7
The exhortation to love one another
John uses the some form of the greek word for love, agape, three times in this first phrase. It’s used 32 times in this section and 43 times in the entire letter.
John begins with an address of love - “Beloved”
John’s greeting expresses his love for the believers
beloved (lover) n. — a person dearly loved and cherished; sometimes preferred above all others and treated with partiality.
John includes himself in this exhortation - “let us”
Those in position’s of leadership must lead the way in showing Christ like love to one another
John calls for a mutual love - “love one another”
A love that comes from God
A love that is continuous
A love that is intentional
A love that is shown by all
A mutual love that is not our own - “for love is of God”
A mutual love that is birthed at conversion - “and everyone who loves is born of God”
A mutual love that grows as one gains greater knowledge of God - “and knows God.”
A love birthed at conversion
A love that will grow as we grow in our knowledge of God
God’s nature and essence is love
The exhortation to love one another
John uses the some form of the greek word for love, agape, three times in this first phrase. It’s used 32 times in this section and 43 times in the entire letter.
John begins with an address of love
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
John’s greeting expresses his love for the believers
John
The exclusion of those who do not have God’s love
God’s love is absent in the life of the unbeliever - “He who does not love does not know God”
beloved (lover) n. — a person dearly loved and cherished; sometimes preferred above all others and treated with partiality.
It is not available to those without Jesus Christ
It’s unattainable through human wisdom and effort
God’s nature is perfect love “for God is love.”
Those in position’s of leadership must lead the way in showing Christ like love to one another
beloved (lover) n. — a person dearly loved and cherished; sometimes preferred above all others and treated with partiality.
John includes himself in this exhortation
Those in position’s of leadership must lead the way in showing Christ like love to one another
John calls for a mutual love
We share God’s love with each other - John calls for mutual love to be flowing in the church: “let us love one another,”
A love that comes from God
A love that is continuous
A love that is intentional
A love that is inclusive
A love birthed at conversion
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The absence of love is an indicator one does not know God: “He who does not love does not know God,”
The reason this is so God is love: “for God is love.”
We give testimony by sharing God’s love: Loving is a characteristic of true believers: “and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God”
A love that is shown by all
A love that is given with our conversion
A love gained by growing in our knowledge of God
John uses different
The absence of love is an indicator one does not know God: “He who does not love does not know God,”
The reason this is so God is love: “for God is love.”
His love permeates his other attributes
Love is intelligent and not blind
We find the definition of love in the person of God
Love is eternal
Love is holy (in Chapter 1 we see God is light with no darkness
We see the description of love in the redeeming work of God
Love is self-sacrificing
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
God’s self-sacrificing love is revealed by His action - “In this the love of God was manifested toward us”
His love had us as His object of affection
God’s self-sacrificing love moved Him to act on our behalf - “that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world”
The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John (1) Love Others Because God Loves You (4:7–10)
Love is always demonstrated by actions. It is not abstract; it is never complacent or static.
God’s selfless act was an example of self-sacrificing
God’s self-sacrificing love was costly
which means God’s selfless act of love was costly
Costly because of who He gave
Costly because of who He sent Him to
God’s self-sacrificing love brought life to those who received it - “that we might live through Him.”
Does our love bring life to others?
Love is selfless and others centered
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
We did not seek God but rejected Him
The absence of love is an indicator one does not know God: “He who does not love does not know God,”
The reason this is so God is love: “for God is love.”
His nature is love
God’s love is seen in His self-sacrificing for our atonement
The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John (1) Love Others Because God Loves You (4:7–10)
Our act was to sin. God’s was to love and send.
Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
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.
Isaiah 53:
God’s love is holy seen in His sacrifice for our sins
We spurned His love and crucified it on a cross
His love was unwarranted but He gave it freely
We see the demand of love because of our salvation
The characteristics of mutual love
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John (2) Love Others Because God Lives in You (4:11–21)
Once one begins to understand the incredible price paid for sin and the magnitude of personal sin, he will understand the love of God and demonstrate it himself (John 13:31–35).
The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John (2) Love Others Because God Lives in You (4:11–21)
Burdick explains:
The fact of God’s matchless love lays upon us a continuing obligation (Greek present tense) to be loving one another. Not only is it true that we have received the nature of God by reason of our new birth and thus we should love, but we have the example of His love teaching us and persuading us to love each other.
His exhortation to the “Beloved” in verse 7 is followed by the challenge of the obligation we owe to one another
The obligation is to love one another with the same love we just saw defined and described - verses 9-10
We see the demonstration needed to reveal the love of the invisible God
No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
God who is love and spirit cannot be seen by the human eye - “No one has seen God at any time”
Burdick explains:
The fact of God’s matchless love lays upon us a continuing obligation (Greek present tense) to be loving one another. Not only is it true that we have received the nature of God by reason of our new birth and thus we should love, but we have the example of His love teaching us and persuading us to love each other.
Akin, D. L. (2001). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 38, p. 181). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publ
He is to be seen in the lives of the believer as they love one another - “If we love one another”
His abiding presence will produce this love - “God abides in us”
Perfected or completed can mean that God’s love is being completed in us when we practice loving one another - “and His love has been perfected in us”
We are to place ourselves under the influence of the indwelling love of God and thus determining our actions
Therefore we must be filled with the Holy Spirit of God
God’s love gave us the Holy Spirit whose fruit is love
God’s love gave us the Holy Spirit whose fruit is love
The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John (2) Love Others Because God Lives in You (4:11–21)
Believers (note the plural) should be conscious of the indwelling Spirit. With a continuous and ongoing awareness, there is an intimate communion with God by his Spirit. It is the knowledge of this indwelling of the Holy Spirit that gives the believer assurance of his membership in the family of God.
The believers’ assurance of God’s presence and love is the indwelling Holy Spirit
By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
The Holy Spirit helps us fulfill our obligation to love one another
The Holy Spirit empowers us to bear the fruit of the Spirit which includes love
The demonstration of this love is only possible to those whom have surrendered and submitted to the work of the Holy Spirit
The believers’ assurance comes from the testimony of the Apostles
John reconfirms his eyewitness account of the life of Jesus Christ
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
He indicates their intimate relationship with the Father that came through knowing the Son - “And we have seen and testify that the Father”
He once again declares it was the Father who sent His Son - “has sent the Son”
He summarizes the purpose the Son was sent - “as Savior of the world.”
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
He declares the means of entering a relationship with God - “Whoever confesses”
He declares the need for faith in the truth - “that Jesus is the Son of God,”
He declares the result of a true confession and faith - “God abides in him, and he in God.”
And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
All who believe understand God loves them both by experiential knowledge and faith - “And we have known and believed the love God has for us.”
God and love cannot be separated for they are the same - “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in Him.”
This relationship with God and the believer is an answer to the prayer of Jsesus
And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
God’s love removes the fear of judgment day
God’s love removes the fear of judgment day
God’s love makes us secure about the future
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
1
God’s love in the present is working in us with the goal of bringing us to perfection which will be realized when we leave this world - “Love has been perfected among us in this:”
The completion of this work will help us stand unashamed when we someday stand before Jesus Christ - “that we may have boldness in the day of judgment;”
God sees us positionally as He sees Christ and we are like Him in this world - “because as He is, so are we in this world.”
God’s love gives us confidence against the attack of guilty feelings
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
Love cannot be subjected to fear - “There is no fear in love;”
Knowing God and His love will make us immune to fear
Completed love throws out fear - “ but perfect love casts out fear,”
Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed! —John Newton
Fear and love cannot coexist
Fear has to do with punishment and our punishment was dealt with by Jesus Christ on the cross
Fear causes dread - “because fear involves torment.”
Fear has to do with punishment and our punishment was dealt with by Jesus Christ on the cross
Fear is evidence of the lack of confidence in God’s love - “But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
Deficient in love
God’s love ignites our love for Him
God’s love ignites our love for Him
We love Him because He first loved us.
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
If God hadn’t loved us first we never would have loved Him
We love Him because He first loved us.
It’s an impossiblity
Loving one another is an indicator one has trusted Jesus Christ
Inwardly we are hidden to man’s view but it will be revealed by our action and attitude
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
Words are only that - “if someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar;”
A penetrating and logical question - “for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”
If we judge by appearance only one another our view of God could be distorted as well since God created both
God’s love is received by faith
God’s love is received by faith
verse 1
The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John 4. Obey God and Experience the Victory of Faith (5:1–5)
The Greek term translated “father” (NIV) is literally “the one who has begotten” (gennēsanta), and “his child” is literally “the one begotten from him” (tov gegnnēmenon ex auto). John is stating that a believer must love his heavenly Father and the other offspring of his heavenly Father (i.e., Jesus and/ or his brothers and sisters in Christ)
verse 2
The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John 4. Obey God and Experience the Victory of Faith (5:1–5)
Just as it is impossible to love God without loving God’s children, it is impossible to love God’s children without loving God
verse 3
The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John 4. Obey God and Experience the Victory of Faith (5:1–5)
“Love for God is not an emotional experience so much as a moral commitment.”
The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John 4. Obey God and Experience the Victory of Faith (5:1–5)
John adds that God’s commands are not “burdensome.” This does not mean that God’s laws are not exacting or demanding. Rather, it means that God’s laws are not oppressive or crushing.
verse 4
The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John 4. Obey God and Experience the Victory of Faith (5:1–5)
The particular nature of the victory is variously understood. It could refer to (1) Christ’s once-for-all victory on the cross over Satan, sin, and the world;172 (2) the believers’ victory over the heretics; or (3) the victory that occurs at the conversion of the individual believer.174
verse 5
1 John 4:4;
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Romans 8:27
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57
The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John 4. Obey God and Experience the Victory of Faith (5:1–5)
Stott aptly summarizes this section: “Christian believers are God’s children, born from above. God’s children are loved by all who love God. Those who love God also keep his commands. They keep his commands because they overcome the world, and they overcome the world because they are Christian believers, born from above.”