1 John 3.16b-The Believer is Obligated to Divinely Love Their Fellow-Believer Because They Benefit From Christ's Death
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday January 31, 2018
First John: 1 John 3:16b-The Believer is Obligated to Divinely Love Their Fellow-Believer Because They Benefit From Christ’s Death
Lesson # 127
1 John 3:16 We have come to know love by this: that Jesus laid down his life for us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians. (ESV)
“Thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) nominative first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ), “we” (3) first person plural present active indicative form of the verb opheilō (ὀφείλω), “ought” (4) preposition huper (ὑπέρ), “for” (5) articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun adelphos (ἀδελφός), “brothers” (6) articular accusative feminine plural form of the noun psuchē (ψυχή), “lives” (7) aorist active infinitive form of the verb tithemi (τίθημι), “to lay down.”
The conjunction kai means “consequently” since the word is functioning as a marker of result which means that it is introducing a declarative statement which presents the result of the believer being the beneficiary of Jesus laying down His life for the believer.
The nominative first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego means “each one of us” since the word refers to the church as a corporate unit and is used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
The verb opheilō means “to owe, to be obligated to, to be under obligation to meet certain requirements” and expresses the fact that every Christian without exception is obligated to lay down their lives for their fellow-believer.
Once again, we have the verb tithemi but this time the word is used with church age believers as its subject and means “to lay down one’s life voluntarily.”
We also have again, the noun psuchē but this time it is in the plural and means “lives” pertaining to the condition of the believer living in their human body.
The noun psuchē is in the accusative case and this time functions semantically as the subject of the infinitive form of the verb tithemi, “to lay down.”
John is using this construction to emphasize with each member of the Christian community in the Roman province of Asia who were the recipients of First John that they are under obligation to sacrifice their lives on behalf of their fellow-believer.
The noun adelphos means “spiritual brothers and sister, fellow-believer” referring to church age believers and describes them as related to each other and the Lord Jesus Christ through regeneration.
The noun adelphos is the object of the preposition huper which again means “on behalf of, for the benefit of” since it functions syntactically not only as a marker of participants who are benefited by an event.
Therefore, huper with the genitive masculine plural form of the noun adelphos marks each and every member of the body of Christ as “benefitting” from each member of the body of Christ sacrificing their lives.
It does not contain the idea of substitution as it did when used in relation to Jesus Christ sacrifice on the cross for His church.
The present tense of the verb opheilō is a customary or stative present used to signal an ongoing state expressing the idea that every believer exists in the state of being obligated to lay down their lives for the benefit of their fellow-believer.
The infinitive form of the verb tithemi is functioning semantically as a complementary infinitive which means that it is identifying specifically for the Christian community what each of them is obligated to do as a result of being the beneficiaries of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for each one of them.
1 John 3:16 By means of this, each one of us knows experientially that which constitutes divine-love, namely that, He Himself, the one and only, laid down His life on behalf of each and every one of us. Consequently, each and every one of us is obligated to lay down our lives for the benefit of our fellow-believer. (My translation)
In 1 John 3:16, the result clause “each and every one of us is obligated to lay down our lives for the benefit of our fellow-believer” presents the result of the believer being the beneficiary of Jesus experiencing the wrath of God on the cross for them by suffering a substitutionary spiritual and physical death on the cross.
It asserts that the believer is obligated to lay down their life on behalf of their fellow-believer.
Therefore, this means that as a result of the believer being a beneficiary of the love of God by means of Jesus’ sacrificial act on the cross, the believer is now obligated to lay down his life for his fellow-believer.
Now, when John speaks of the believer laying down his life for his fellow-believer, he is not referring to them dying spiritual and physically for their fellow-believer as Jesus did for the entire human race.
The believer can never die for the sins of their fellow-believer.
Rather, he means that the believer is obligated to sacrificing their life in the sense of sacrificing their desires, interests, pursuits, money, possessions, and time when necessary as well as dying physically for the benefit of one’s fellow-believer if called upon by God to do so.
In fact, in 1 John 3:16-17, the apostle John gives a practical example of what he means that the believer is obligated to lay down their life for their fellow-believer.
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? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. (ESV)
Notice, John is asserting that the believer is obligated to lay down their life for their fellow-believer because Jesus did this for them.
This echoes the Lord Jesus when He taught His disciples that they must love one another as He loves them (cf. John 15:12-14).
He laid His life for those who trusted in Him as their Savior as well as for those who not trust in Him.
John is saying the same thing in 1 John 3:16.
However, instead of explicitly mentioning love, he uses self-sacrifice for the benefit of others as one of the manifestations of this love.
It is very important that the believer understand that Jesus self-sacrificial act of love on behalf of all people as the basis for the believer acting in love toward others by self-sacrifice is what distinguishes the love the believer is commanded to demonstrate with others and human love.
In other words, the love the believer is commanded to demonstrate towards their fellow-believer and all people is based upon Jesus self-sacrificial act of love on their behalf.
The believer gains the capacity to exercise the very same love that Jesus demonstrated at the cross when they exercise faith in the Spirit’s teaching that Jesus laid down his life for them.
This faith appropriates the power of God and thus enables the believer to demonstrate this love toward others.
Paul mentions this principle as well since he taught in Ephesians 5:1-2 that the Ephesians were to love one another as Christ loves them.
He taught the Ephesians and Colossian Christian communities that they should forgive one another as the Lord has forgiven them (cf. Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:12-13).
Therefore, here in 1 John 3:16, John is presenting to the Christian community in the Roman province of Asia who were the recipients of First John another characteristic which manifests the fact that a person is a child of God, namely self-sacrificial love on behalf of others.
John’s statement here in 1 John 3:16 helps us to understand when he says 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.
1 John 2:6 The one who at any time does say he is living in fellowship with Him, he must himself also conduct his life in the same manner as this One conducted His life. (Author’s translation)
Therefore, a comparison of these two verses reveals that the believer lives their life in the same manner as Jesus did or in other words, they imitate Him by acting self-sacrificially for the benefit of one’s fellow-believer as a result of being the beneficiary of Jesus’ self-sacrificial act on their behalf.
John is teaching the recipients of First John that self-sacrificial love for one’s fellow believer as a result of being the beneficiary of Jesus’ self-sacrificial act of love on the cross for them is a mark of the child of God, which distinguishes them from the children of the devil.
The latter are characterized by disobedience and hate.
As we have noted, the chiastic structure of First John indicates that 1 John 3:11-18, which emphasizes the importance of the command to love one another, is the most important section in this letter since it is standing in the middle of the letter.
The content of 1 John 3:16 reveals that this verse is the most important verse in this pericope since it teaches that the believer’s love for their fellow-believer is their obligatory response to Jesus Christ’s act of self-sacrificial act of love on the cross on their behalf.
Lastly, John’s teaching here in 1 John 3:16 instructs the recipients of First John how they are to obey the command to love one another, which he refers to several times in this epistle (cf. 1 John 2:7-11; 3:10-11, 14).
Consequently, it teaches them how they can practice righteousness in relation to their fellow-believer, which would constitute the practice of God’s love since righteousness is loving one’s fellow human being as oneself (cf. 1 John 3:4-10).