Love One Another - 1 John 4:7-21

Text

1 John 4:7–21 ESV

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Introduction

Someone asked this week in a whatsapp group I am in, for some tips on how to memorize scripture

I am no expert in scripture memorization, and I have not memorized much scripture myself

I have memorized some passages for sermons I was preaching

I have memorized

I have begun memorizing Romans

I can tell you what works for me: repetition

I start with the first verse and say it out loud

I repeat it until I know it from memory

Then I go to the second verse and memorize that one, but I repeat verse 1 and 2 together

Then verse 1, 2 and 3 together, and so on

Tanya Dunn gave a good tip in the group -

she suggested printing the verses and putting them all over the house where you will see them all the time

this is also a good tip - and the principle is similar… repetition

The Jews use repetition in the Hebrew language to express that something is important and being emphasized

That is why we see Jesus saying “Truly, truly...”

That is why we see Jesus saying “Truly, truly...”

He is emphasizing and underlining that what He is about to say is an important truth - and we need to take note

Repetition is a powerful tool for making people see the importance of something, and making sure they remember it

In , John uses the words “love, loves, loved, and beloved” 29 times - an average of 2 times per verse.

It is the most highly concentrated section on the theme of love in the whole bible, with a close second.

So it isn’t very difficult to figure out the main theme of this passage and for this sermon

Obviously John - “the theologian of love” as some call him - is trying to tell us something about love.

I have taken as the verse that best summarizes John’s main point:

1 John 4:11 ESV

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

That verse also gives us the outline for my sermon today:

God has loved us

We ought to love one another

1. GOD HAS LOVED US

From the outset it is very clear what John wants us to do. He gives it to us as a command:

“Beloved, let us love one another”

Simple, right? Love one another.

It is so simple, and so obvious.

Of course we should love one another…

But if it is so simple… why is it so hard to do?

It is simple and easy to say we should love one another… but putting it into practice always seems a little more complicated and difficult.

And that is why John doesn’t just give us the command to love one another, but also a compelling reason to do so…

“… for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

and if you are one of those people who like to highlight or underline in your bible, go ahead and highlight those 3 words: “God is love”.

A) God is Love

Love one another because love is from God, and God is love.

God is the source of love, and God is love.

Now there are a lot of descriptions of God in the Bible, that say things like “God is mighty”, and “God is merciful”

These are attributes of God that describe His character

But John is not saying here that “God is loving”. He is saying that “God is love”

What is being said about God here is more than a description of His character. John is describing the very essence of God.

We can say that Pastor Bruce is a very loving person - and that is true. But John is saying more than that about God.

He is saying that love is not just a quality that God possesses, but it is definitive of His being. It is woven into the fabric of who God is, as John Piper puts it.

So God is loving, and God IS love.

The World’s Concept of a God of Love

You have obviously heard this before, but I feel this needs more exact clarification still,

because the world’s concept of a God of love or a God who is love is very different from what John is talking about here.

The world’s concept of a God of love or a God who is love,

is a God who doesn’t judge anything or anyone

and a God who is tolerant of all lifestyle choices and theological perspectives.

They see a God of love as a God who would never condemn

Most certainly, the world sees a God of love and who is love as a God who would never send anyone to hell

They will say things like, how could a loving God send someone to a place of eternal torture?

And then they will come down like a ton of bricks on any Christian who points out that their lifestyle is sinful

To the world, a loving God accepts all people exactly as they are regardless of their lifestyle choices - whether that be

In this day and age, all a Christian has to do to make enemies in the world is to call anything a sin

to call homosexuality a sin

or to say marriage is only to be between a man and a woman

or say abortion is murder

homosexuality or transgender

or to say that salvation is only found through repentance and faith in Jesus

Christians are being arrested around the world for saying these things

living with someone or sleeping with them outside or marriage

Because the world believes that to be loving also means to be accepting of everything, even if it is immoral

This is playing itself out in the world in very scary ways

To the world, love and tolerance must go together, hand in hand

It started with normalising homosexuality as natural

The Christian Concept of a God of Love

Of course, this is not John’s concept of love, and this is not what is meant by “God is Love”

Love is not a simplistic call to acceptance and affirmation of all human choices and lifestyles.

Love is not a simplistic call to acceptance and affirmation of all human choices and lifestyles.

John gives us 3 “God is” statements in his writings that define God’s essence:

John gives us 3 “God is” statements in his writings that define God’s essence:

In he says “God is spirit”

and here in 1 John he says “God is love”

but he also says in that “God is light”

It is important to note that in John also says that “God is light”.

John describes God’s being this way in 3 places in his writings. In he says that “God is spirit”. And in he says that “God is light”.

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

1 John 1:5 ESV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

It is important to remember that God is not only loving, but He is also holy.

and as the late R.C. Sproul pointed out in one of his lectures...

we never see Scripture say that God is love love love,

or merciful merciful merciful

but we do see Scripture say that God is holy, holy, holy

We should remember that God’s love does not stand in contradiction to His holiness.

God is both

God is light. He is holy and righteous, and He does not tolerate wickedness

- “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Exodus 34:6–8 ESV

6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.

Ex 34:6

So to the world living in rebellion against God and continuing to live in sin, the Bible has this to say: Jesus does not tolerate your sin

Because God is love, God hates your sin.

And by the way, that goes for all sin - not just the sins you don’t personally commit.

There are some sinners we would actually love to see burn in hell

but we tend to think a loving God will overlook our more respectable sins

like living with or sleeping with someone outside of marriage

living with or sleeping with someone outside of marriage

being disrespectful to your parents

stealing time from work

having a foul mouth

racism

mistreating your wife or husband

having all kinds of idols that you devote more of your time to than God

or lying and saying you don’t sin at all

When we think like that, we are forgetting that “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”

Because God is holy, He hates all that is not holy.

So what then does it mean to say that God is love?

And what hope is there that a God who is both light and love could love people like us who are unholy and unlovable?

That is the great question that the Gospel answers, isn’t it?!

And John gives us the clear answer in : “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

The greatest display of love that this world ever saw, was when the all-loving, all-holy God…

1 John 4:9–10 ESV

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

sent His only begotten Son into the world to save sinners

and had His Son hung up on a wooden cross, and tortured in unspeakable ways be evil men

and then poured out His wrath for our sin on His perfect, sinless Son

He made His own Son pay for our sin

That is what is meant by propitiation...

Jesus’ death on the cross was a propitiation - a sacrifice of His life for ours,

that settled our debt, removed our guilt, and satisfied the justice that God’s holiness demanded.

In this is love...

not that we have loved God first… because we didn’t

not that we lived good lives deserving of God’s love… because we haven’t

not that God overlooked our sin and chose to love us in spite of our sin…

but that God took the initiative to save helpless sinners...

and loved us by sending His Son to take the punishment that we deserved…

so that we might live through Him.

That is what is meant by propitiation…

Jesus’ death was a sacrifice that settled our debt and satisfied the justice that God’s holiness demanded

“Amazing love, how can it be… that you my God, should die for me?”

What is love? Look at the cross.

Does God love us? Look at the cross.

2. WE OUGHT TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER

It is directly after this amazing explanation of God’s love for us in verses 9 and 10 that John now says in verse 11:

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

My friends, if God so loved us, it is only natural that we who are recipients of His love should also love one another.

Because our love for one another is motivated by God’s love for us.

I want to bring out 4 characteristics of Christian love from this passage:

Christian love is the only natural response to the gospel

Christian love is orthodox

Christian love is active

Christian love is assuring

A) Christian Love is the Only Natural Response to the Gospel

- “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

1 John 4:7

1 John 4:7–8 ESV

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

In John’s gospel, we read in chapter 3:3 that Jesus said “Truly, truly (note the repetition), I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

To be saved requires much more than a simple decision, or to raise your hand and repeat a prayer, or to have an intellectual agreement that the Gospel makes sense and seems legit

Jesus said that to be saved “you must be born again”

Something supernatural happens when you are saved.

Paul says in “… when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit”

and in “… if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

When you hear the gospel and believe that Jesus died and rose again, and you repent of your sin to follow Jesus,

God puts His Spirit in you and does something supernatural to you that literally makes you a new person

Ephesians 1:13 ESV

13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

You are then born again

2 Cor 5:17

ephesians

Now John is saying in our text in verse 7, that we ought to love one another…

Why?

because love is from God

God is love, and God is the source of love

so then whoever is born again of God and knows God, will naturally also love, because he is plugged into the source

so then...

He says the same thing in verse 8 but in the negative:

whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

There is no way that you can be a Christian, a born again believer, and not love other Christians.

Love for one another is the natural response of people who are loved by God

If you are born again, you will have a new nature, and your new nature will be to reflect God’s love

B) Christian Love is Orthodox

Now when I say orthodox, I don’t mean normal or uncreative or boring

What I mean is theologically orthodox

And what I mean by that is that Christian love is bound to theological truth.

Right love flows out of right theology.

It only stands to reason that if Christian love is the natural response to the gospel, then before we can truly love, we have to know the truth!

“By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. (15) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (16) So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

1 John 4:13 ESV

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

The born again Christian is not only recognized by being a loving person - there are atheists who are very loving people

But true love - the kind of Christian love that John is talking about here - is love that flows from theological truth

Theology is a word that means the study of God - Christian love flows from knowing truth about God

If you look back at the previous verses in this chapter, you will see that John deals with testing the spirits and with false prophets.

Here John is saying that the born again Christian who has received God’s Spirit not only loves, but also confesses and testifies:

but also confesses:

that the Father sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world

that Jesus is the Son of God

that God has displayed His love for us in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ

Christian love flows out of the knowledge of the truth and right belief in the truth

If you look back at the previous verses in this chapter, you will see that John deals with testing the spirits and with false prophets.

John is very concerned that his beloved church family know and hold to the true gospel

and is keen to protect them from false teachers who are intent on leading them astray

He wants his brothers and sisters in Christ to be theologically knowledgeable and mature,

and he wants them to be discerning… able to distinguish between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error

Now look back to the end of chapter 3 and you will see that John was there also speaking about love and loving one another, mentioning love 7 times there as well

Isn’t it interesting then, that John intentionally places his section about theological truth and discernment right in between these 2 passages on love?

In actual fact, John is connecting love with theological truth.

Christian love is theologically orthodox - it flows from right theology.

The born again Christian is not only recognized by love - there are atheists who are very loving people

1 John 4:14–16 ESV

14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

But true love - the kind of Christian love that John is talking about here - is love that flows from theological truth

1 John 4:14-15

There are many atheists, buddhists, muslims and everywhere in between that are very loving people

The born again Christian

Theology is a word that means the study of God - Christian love flows from knowing truth about God

And Cambridge, this is why your elders are so painfully concerned about teaching right theology and protecting this pulpit

What theological truths are we talking about?

It stems from our faith in and confession of God’s love for us, our genuine love for God, and our genuine love for you.

We want you to be firmly grounded in the truth

And we will fling ourselves between you and the thousands of wolves in sheeps clothing who would love to have you - even if it means injury to ourselves (and it often has)

That is our calling

Today, medical errors are not tolerated. But sadly, theological error is.

When a doctor or nurse messes up our surgery or inflicts damage to our physical bodies, we get angry and sue for damages

Medical doctors can lose their medical licenses for malpractice

But when a theological doctor screws up the message of the Bible and inflicts damage to our souls with a false gospel…

the world and sometimes even the church, celebrates that false teacher and crucifies the servant of God who dares to warn against a false teacher

I wish almost every popular so called Christian author or TV preacher would lose their license

Don’t be fooled by the false prophet who only talks about love and spice and all things nice

There are popular preachers who brag that they never talk about repentance and only about love. They ought to be banned from ever opening their mouths again other than to repent

The preacher who truly loves - the Christian who truly loves - will always speak the truth.

Christian love flows from theological orthodoxy.

You cannot have a right love for others unless we also have a right perspective of the gospel.

C) Christian Love is Active

If you love truth but don’t love one another in active, practical ways, you don’t know Christian love.

“If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

1 John 4:21 ESV

21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

John is very clear here.

John is very clear here.

1 John 4:20 ESV

20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Amazingly, the theologian of love doesn’t sound very loving at all by world’s standards here, or sugar coat his words at all

He says very plainly, if you claim to be a Christian, and even if you claim to love theological truth, but you don’t love your Christian brothers and sisters, you are a liar.

How can you claim to love God, whom you haven’t seen, when you don’t love your brothers and sisters who are right in front of you?

No sir, no madam

Christian love for the invisible God is made visible in our love for one another.

Christian love for one another will be made visible in more than just lip service. It is visible when it is seen in action.

“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?”

1 John 3:17 ESV

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?

“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?”

Christian love is much more than just warm words of encouragement and promises to pray for you when you’ve fallen on hard times.

James 2:15–16 ESV

15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

Christian love is seen in practical, down-to-earth actions

Its the modern equivalent of washing each others feet, serving one another, sharing each other’s burdens, and loving each other in compassionate, sacrificial ways.

Christians are too often unwilling to sacrifice for one another, and this is something we all need to repent of.

Christian love is displayed in our actions, not just our words.

D) Christian Love is Assuring

As I considered all these things in my sermon preparation…

God’s love for me, an undeserving sinner

love for others as a response to God’s love for me

love that flows out of right understanding of the gospel

love that is not just words but is sacrificial and active

I was broken by that fact that I have failed to live up to the standard I am preaching

Maybe God has brought these feelings of failure up for you as well

But I was encouraged with these words from verses 17-19, and I hope to encourage you with them as well and that’s why I have left them for last:

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.”

1 John 4:16 ESV

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

If we are left to wonder about whether or not God loves us, we would have every reason to fear and be anxious to death because of our failures.

But here’s why every Christian can live free from fear:

1 John 4:17 ESV

17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

“We have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.”

John says if we abide in love, we abide in God, and God abides in us.

1 John 4:18–19 ESV

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.

And every born again Christian displays the kind of Christian love that John has described in this passage, even if it is imperfect and sometimes dysfunctional.

So I am encouraged by even the small and imperfect displays of Christian love among us.

They are small yet visible signs of us abiding in love, abiding in God, and God abiding in us.

Let us be encouraged to do more. Let us be encouraged by God’s love for us.

And John says that by that, “love is perfected in us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment.”

Brothers and sisters we are imperfect, and we are often dysfunctional, but God is working among us and his love is being perfected in us.

One day we will stand before God and we will be perfected, and we will have confidence, and we will have no fear.

Why?

Because He first loved us

Praise God!

May Jesus receive all glory and praise

May we continue to abide in him and grow in love for Him and for one another.

Here in chapter 4 John is saying that God is love.

Buddhism sees love only as an action of a person, not a being

Islam