The apostle John is writing to help Christians know if they have eternal life (cf. 1 John 5:13). John does not want anyone to be deceived regarding their relationship with God. He wants us to evaluate our walk so that we can know if we are walking in the light or if we are walking in the darkness. The third chapter of this letter has been set off by calling for everyone to see the love of the Father.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. (1 John 3:1 ESV)
Our walk with God is defined and transformed by the fact that the Father has shown an extraordinary love for us. The love of the Father is to change us so that we do not practice sin. John tells us that we are practicing in our lives shows who we belong to: the Father or the devil (1 John 3:8-10). This truth is now going to bring the author to turn our attention horizontally. What we practice shows who we belong to, according to 1 John 3:10. The apostle says that the one who does not practice righteousness is not of God. But then he also states that the one who does not love his brother is not of God. This sets the direction for this paragraph as the apostle wants us to think about love and if we understand what love is. Open your copies of God’s word to 1 John 3:11-18.
The Negative Example (1 John 3:11-13)
The apostle John begins with the teaching. This is the basis for which we live before God. Look at verse 11. The message that has been proclaimed and you have heard from the beginning is that we are love one another. Now John is going to tell us what he means by this. But before he explains what it means to love one another, he wants us to consider a negative example. He wants us to think about an instance where a person did not love his brother.
The example that John turns our attention to is Cain. The message we have heard from the beginning is to love one another. Then we are taken back to the beginning and told to think about Cain, one of the sons of Adam and Eve. We are to love one another but not like Cain. Listen to how Cain is described. Cain was of the evil one and murdered his brother. Now I want us to think about how many times we have wondered why Cain would do this. We want to know how Cain could kill his brother. Was it really over the difference of their sacrifices? Was all of it just a misunderstanding? No. Look at the rest of verse 12. Why did Cain murder his brother? “Because his own deeds were evil and is brother’s righteous” (1 John 3:12 ESV). Why did this happen? Was it because Cain was a good person? Was it because Cain was misunderstood? John cuts right to the truth. Cain was doing wrong while his brother was doing right. The murder of Abel is concisely expressed to us. Cain was living wrong and his brother was living right.
Friends, it is really this simple. Darkness does not like light. Darkness hates light (cf. John 3:19-20). We seem to have a problem with this truth in our culture. There are evil people and there are righteous people. Cain’s actions were evil. His brother’s actions were righteous. This was all the motivation that was necessary for kill Abel. John is exposing for us the wicked power of jealousy and envy. John is showing us the evil power of hatred and anger. Jealousy, envy, hatred, and anger are emotions that can be ignited because someone else is doing what is right, and we are not doing what is right.
We see this today in the world. Why is there such a hatred against the things of God? Why is there such anger against righteousness and godliness? The answer is simple. Because godliness is doing what is right and the people in the world are not doing what is right. This is what John says in verse 13. Do not be surprised if the world hates you (cf. John 15:18-19). Of course the world is going to hate you because you are doing right and their actions are evil. The problem is no more complex than that. Darkness hates light. Jealousy, hatred, and anger are what are alive under the evil actions.
What We Know (1 John 3:14-15)
Now what does John make this point? Why are we talking about the conflict of darkness and light? Why are we looking at Cain and how he hated his brother because his own actions were evil and his brother’s actions were righteous? The point is in verses 14-15. Look at what John declares. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brothers. How does this connect with the last sentence in verse 13? The implied point is this: if you hate, then you are of the world. Hate is a worldly attitude. Loving our brothers and sisters in Christ shows that we have passed from death to life. Loving the people of God is evidence that we are not in the darkness but are walking in the light. Loving the church is how we know we have been transferred from the domain of darkness to the inheritance of light of his Son (cf. Colossians 1:12-13). A lack of love shows we are still in death (1 John 3:14). A lack of love shows that we still belong to the world, regardless of what we claim. A lack of love reveals that we are of the evil one. This is how John is connecting the prior idea to this truth. There is no room for our hearts to hold hatred toward one another.
Verse 15 reveals the seriousness of this command. Listen to what John says. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. Let those words hit the way the apostle John wanted them to hit. Hating another makes us a murderer. This is a challenge for our hearts. We have the belief that it is okay for us to feel a certain way and think a certain way as long as we do not act on those feelings. So I can hate someone as long as I do not do evil against that person. It is okay to want to kill a person as long as I do not actually follow through on those feelings. We think that if we do not act on our feelings then we are doing a good job. It is certainly true that we must restrain ourselves from acting on our evil thoughts and feelings. But John is reminding that this is not enough because Jesus taught us that it was not enough. In Matthew 5:21-22 Jesus said that the religious teachers were teaching that only murderers were liable to judgment. However, Jesus says that God’s law proclaims that if you are angry with your brother who are liable to judgment. Not only this, if you insult your brother or sister you are worthy of condemnation and calling them names makes you liable to the fires of hell. There is no room for hate in the Christian life. We have not passed from death to life if we hate a fellow brother or sister in Christ. Listen to verse 15. You know that no murderer has eternal life. Therefore, our hatred shows that we do not have eternal life. There are two important conclusions we must draw.
A vertical relationship with God requires us to have horizontal relationships with each other. We cannot love God and not love each other. We are very much in a religious culture that wants to allow us to remain individualistic in our love for God. We will just love God from home and not worry about anyone else. We will just worry about our own personal relationship with God and not concern ourselves with relationships with other Christians. The apostle John tells us that we cannot do this. Loving other Christians shows we have passed from death to life. Loving each other is how we know we have eternal life.
Therefore, we are not to have broken relationships. It is not acceptable for us to just leave relationships with each other fractured. This is why there are so many scriptures teaching us that we cannot be divisive, have strife, or have discord with each other. Jesus told us to be peacemakers not relationship destroyers. So how are we going to do this? How are we going to get hatred out of our hearts? How are we going to prevent ourselves from being murderers? Look at verse 16.
The Positive Example (1 John 3:16)
This is how we know love: Jesus. We know love and we know how to love because Jesus laid down his life for us. The positive example of Jesus is the model for our lives. He died for us and that is the reason why we will love each other. Seeing what kind of the love the Father has for us is what is to change us to love each other the way God has for us.
But let us make sure we understand what God means by loving each other. We can try to get ourselves out of this difficult command by telling ourselves that there is no one in this room that we hate. We can feel good about ourselves because we can run through the checklist of our hearts and see that there are no Christians that we are angry with or jealous over. So we might think that we are in the clear. But keep reading what John tells us in verse 16. We know love because he laid down his life for us. So we ought to lay down our lives for the family in Christ. Since Jesus laid down his life for us then we are obligated to lay down our lives for each other. When John says that we “ought” to lay down our lives for each other, he is not giving us a suggestion. The Greek word translated as “ought” means to owe or to be indebted. The word “ought” is carrying the weight of obligation. This is the expectation because Jesus laid down his life for us. Jesus is the example of self-sacrifice and that is what we are to show each other. This is what carrying our cross to follow Jesus includes.
So is it true? Would we lay down our lives for every person who is a disciple of Jesus? Would we give our lives so that other brothers and sisters in Christ could live? Is it true for us? Or are there some of our brethren for which we would not do this? This is how we know that we have passed from death to live because we love each other (1 John 3:14). But he did not mean having warm feelings for each other. He meant dying for each other when he asked if we love one another. Please hear the apostle John: we remain in death if we would not lay down our lives for every person who is a Christian. This is when we know we have the heart God desires expressed in righteous fruit. You see this in verses 17-18.
The Expectation (1 John 3:17-18)
John tells us that love does not just say the words. Do not think you love because you say you love the family of Christ. Love acts. Do not love in word or talk. Love in actions and in truth. How can you see your brother or sister in Christ in need and not have the heart to do something about it? How can God’s love be in us if we do not love each other so that we will help each other and do what is in the best interests of each other? How can we think that we have passed from death to life if we close our hearts to those who belongs to God’s family? Seeing what kind of the love the Father has for us that we would be called children of God means that we see the other children of God and we give our lives for them.
So what is love? The message we have heard from the beginning is that we are to love one another. Love means that we cannot hate each other or have jealousy for one another. Love means that we do not break relationships and we make every effort to restore relationships with each other. Love means that we would give our lives for each other. Love means that we will do more than just say the words. Love means that we will give to each other what they need. Love means that we do not close our hearts to each other. How can we get to this kind of love for each other? See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we would be called children of God (1 John 3:1). Keep looking to Jesus and let his love change your love for each other.