Learning to See Christian Love
The FIRST EPISTLE of JOHN
Learning to See Christian LOVE
1 John 3:10b-23
This section is marked off by the fact that the word “love” is used at the beginning and end of the section.[1] John has just concluded a section in which he has shown that the doing of righteousness is the only way a child of God can be manifested.[2] And sin can be no part of that manifestation.[3] But now he goes on to show of what this righteousness consists. What is unique about Christian morality, he will say, is the demand for brotherly love based on our mutual faith in Christ.[4]
What LOVE is Not (3:10b-15)
It is clear in this section that a Christian brother is in focus (for one must be a child of God before he could love or hate his brother). In his transitional statement John affirms that what is true of not doing righteousness is also true of not loving one’s brother.[5] Neither activity is sourced in God.[6] And his readers had been taught from the beginning that they should “love one another”.[7] This, of course, is just the opposite as the classic example of brother-to-brother hatred – Cain.[8] Though the world hates believers,[9] the Apostles could claim a different experience.[10] They are experiencing the reality of passing from death to life by their love for their Christian brethren.[11] By contrast, a Christian who does not love his brother is abiding in death.[12] That is, he has lost touch with the experience of God’s life.[13] In fact, the one who hates his brother is not only experiencing death but also is experiencing murder.[14]
What LOVE Is (3:16-18)
If hatred of one’s brother is the very antithesis of Christian love, what then is true Christian love? John declares that Christian love can be recognized by its conformity to the supreme model that is found in Christ’s death for us.[15] But, if we profess love but are not willing to meet our brother’s needs,[16] we are not allowing the love of God to abide in us.[17] Our love should not be in word or in tongue; but it should be in deed and in truth.[18]
What LOVE Does for Believers (3:19-23)
John, as an experienced Christian shepherd, would have known that such a high standard of love (modeled after the Savior’s own love) could produce in his readers even guilt or self-reproach.[19] However, loving in deed and in truth assures us that we are truly loving as Christ loved and (in addition) will persuade our hearts [if our hearts made us feel guilty] that God is taking into account all that we are doing.[20] When that occurs [that our heart does not condemn us] we will have confidence [boldness] in prayer before God.[21] That is, we can be assured of answered prayer.[22] This is because we are keeping His commandments [doing those things which are pleasing in His sight]. His commandments can be summarized by one commandment [expressed in two aspects]:
· believing on the name of His [God’s] Son Jesus Christ
· loving one another as He [Christ] gave commandment.[23]
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[1] This is a common literary device [called inclusio] used by ancient authors and John uses it often.
[2] 2:29-3:10a.
[3] 3:9.
[4] This section uses the word ”righteousness” only once (in the previous section it was used 5 times) but “love” a total of 9 times (but only once in the previous section). In fact, in the entire unit from 2:28 to 4:21 “love” [ἀγαπάω agapao and its derivatives] is used 34 times. It is used 51 times in this epistle. “For John, there is no such thing as Christian righteousness which does not include love for one’s brother (3:23).”
[5] 3:10b.
[6] That is, God is not behind it (Cf. Acts. 5:38-39).
[7] 3:11. Cf. John 13:34-35. Perhaps the Revisionts had dismissed this commandment (Cf. 2:24).
[8] Vs. 12 and Gen. 4:1-15. What he did was, of course, sourced in Satan (Cf. John 8:44). But this does not necessarily mean he was unregenerate (Cf. 1 Pet. 4:15). The proposition that no Christian could possibly hate his Christian brother is totally unrealistic and unbiblical. Spiritual envy led to the first murder in human history.
[9] Vs. 13 (Cf. John 15:18-19).
[10] The we in verse 14 is emphatic in the original text.
[11] Vs. 14. This was not a test of their eternal salvation. [Assurance of salvation is based on the testimony of God – 1 John 5:9-13.]. “John is here declaring that he and his fellow apostles have a direct and immediate knowledge of their passage from death to life through the experience of loving their Christian brothers.” The Greek verb used here is οἶδα oida which has the sense of “understand, recognize, come to know, experience. Cf. Gen. 22:12; 1 Cor. 2:11, John 5:24.
[12] Vs. 14b.
[13] Quoted from The Epistles of John. This does not mean that John is referring to a non-Christian. Death has a wide range of meanings (Cf. Rom. 4:19, Col. 3:5, Rom. 7:9-10 etc.). On the other hand, abide is John’s favorite word for Christian discipleship (1 John 2:5-6, John 15:8). Of course, it is true that a non-Christian who hates a Christian is also abiding in death.
[14] Vs. 15. Note that John did not say, “No murderer has eternal life.” [Cf. 1 Pet. 4:15]. “The spirit of hatred [like Cain had] is that we want to ‘get rid of’ our brother and really would not care if ‘he died’. This is the spirit of a murderer.” Furthermore, abiding is a reciprocal relationship [“Abide in Me – and I in you” (John 15:4)]. Since Christ Himself is eternal life (1 John 5:20), the statement is equivalent to saying, “No murderer has Christ abiding in him”. That is, the believer who is hating his brother cannot be experiencing the presence of Christ and the vital experience of His life.
[15] The Epistles of John. This is essentially the statement of 1 John 3:16. “Our hatred of our brother makes us like Cain; whereas our love for our brethren makes us like Christ.”
[16] Vs. 17a. The word translated “goods” is another word for “life” [Greek: βίος bios = life in its earthly and/or material aspects]. What might keep me alive, I am giving to my brother. (Cf. Acts 2:44-45, 4:32). “shuts up his heart from him” is better translated “locks up his sympathies [bowels of compassion] from him”.
[17] Vs. 17b. This Christian is not living the abiding life (living as Christ lived – 1 John 2:6). Cf. 2:28.
[18] Vs. 18. That is, conforming to Christ’s selfless standard. Cf. Acts 5:1-10 for self-serving “Christian” love. Also see John 15:13.
[19] The Epistles of John. Not a lack of assurance of salvation but rather “Could I ever love as He loved?” “Am I really doing that”?
[20] Vs. 19-20.
[21] Vs. 21.
[22] Vs. 22. God is pleased when we obey His commandments. “He never takes our obedience for granted or fails to appreciate it (Cf. Mal 3:16).” John will state later in his epistle that we can expect answers to prayer when we ask “according to His will” [1 John 5:14-15]. Of course, the one who is actively seeking to “do those things which are pleasing in His sight” will ack for things that are pleasing in His sight. Cf. Luke 22:42.
[23] “God’s will, therefore, can be summarized as faith in His Son’s name and obedience to His Son’s commandment”.