I lost my internet yesterday, so you get a twofer today.
God loves the world. Go thou and do likewise.
Ron Rhodes, 1001 Unforgettable Quotes about God, Faith, & the Bible (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2011).
—Erwin Lutzer (born 1941), pastor, Moody Church, Chicago
Bible Truth Behind the Quote:
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).
In Wednesday’s post, we examined God’s Love. Today, we will briefly explore how that love translates to others. Looking at the overall theme for 1 John 3, it is difficult not to use the word love. Verses 11-18 are all about the love expressed by believers to each other. Another way of expressing that is “Love in Action.” Note God calls us his children v.1, God loves us v.5, and calls us v.11 to demonstrate that love daily to each other. (continued below)
STUDY
Chapter 3 –
It is a mark of God’s singular love toward us, that we are now called his sons, and designed for further happiness hereafter, 1, 2; and therefore we must obediently keep his commandments, 3–10, and love one another with true brotherly kindness and actual beneficence, 11–24.
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible, vol. 3 (New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1853), 934.
In this chapter, the apostle exhorts to a holy life and conversation in general, and to the exercise of brotherly love in particular. The former of these is urged from the consideration of the great blessing of adoption, which springs from the free love and favour of God, is unknown to the men of the world, and indeed, in the present state of things, does not appear to the saints themselves in all its fulness and advantages, as it will do in the future state, when the children of God will be like to Christ, and see him as he is; the hope of which should engage them to purity of life and conversation, ver. 1, 2, 3 and this is further enforced from the nature of sin, which is a transgression of the law, ver. 4 from the end of Christ’s manifestation in the flesh, which was to take away sin, and who was without it, ver. 5 from communion with Christ, expressed by abiding in him, seeing and knowing him, which such must be strangers to that live a sinful course of life, ver. 6 from this, that only such that do righteousness are righteous persons, and these are righteous as Christ is, ver. 7 and from a man’s being of the devil, that is, of a vicious conversation, who was a sinner from the beginning, and whose works Christ was manifested in the flesh to destroy, ver. 8 and from the nature of the new man, or that which is born of God, which is not to sin, nor can it, ver. 9 and from the distinction there is between the children of God and the children of the devil, those not being of God who do not righteousness, nor love their brethren, ver. 10 from hence the apostle passes to brotherly love, and excites and engages to that, from its being a message which had been heard from the beginning, ver. 11 which is illustrated by its contrary in the instance of Cain, who by the instigation of Satan slew his brother, because his works were righteous, and his own were evil, ver. 12 wherefore, it is no wonder that good men should be hated by the world, who, as Cain, are of the same wicked one, ver. 13 brotherly love is further urged unto, from its being an evidence of passing from death to life, or of regeneration; whereas he that hates his brother openly continues in a state of death, is a murderer, and so has not eternal life abiding in him, ver. 14, 15 and from the great instance of Christ’s love, in laying down his life for his people, the saints are incited to lay down their lives for one another; to such a pitch does the apostle carry brotherly love, ver. 16 wherefore, he that is rich, and is incompassionate to his brother in distress, cannot be thought to have the love of God dwelling in him, ver. 17 hence he presses the exhortation to brotherly love, that it be not in profession only, but true, real, and cordial, ver. 18 and that by observing the advantages of it, as that hereby men know they are of the truth, and can assure their hearts before God; and which is illustrated by the contrary, the condemnation of the heart, ver. 19, 20 the advantages of non-condemnation of the heart are confidence before God, and receiving whatsoever we ask of him; the reason of which is, because his commandments are kept, and things done which are pleasing to him, ver. 21, 22 the commandments are explained of faith in Christ, and love to one another, ver. 23 and the happiness of them that do them is, that Christ dwells in them, and they in him, the evidence of which is, the spirit that is given unto them, ver. 24.
John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament, vol. 3, The Baptist Commentary Series (London: Mathews and Leigh, 1809), 634–635.
VERSE 11
the message [angelia]—‘announcement,’ as of something good; not a mere command, as the law. The Gospel message of Him who loved us, announced by His servants, is, that we love—not here all mankind, but our brethren in Christ, children of the same family of God, of whom we have been born anew.
David Brown, A. R. Fausset, and Robert Jamieson, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Acts–Revelation, vol. VI (London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited, n.d.), 638.
CONTEXT VERSE 10-13
10 In this, by applying this practical test, we can distinguish clearly between the members of the two families into which the human race is divided. The phrase “children of the devil” occurs nowhere else in N. T., but we have “son of the devil” in Acts 13:10 and “sons of the evil one” in Mt. 13:38; cf. Our Lord’s words in Jn. 8:44. Plummer reminds us that, as Irenaeus in his treatise Against Heretics informs us, it was for pressing the doctrine that a tree is known by its fruits to an extreme, and maintaining that a world in which evil exists cannot be the work of a good God, that the heretic Marcion was rebuked by John’s disciple Polycarp, in words which sound like a reminiscence of this verse, “I know thee for the firstborn of Satan.” John wants to emphasise now for a little one special aspect of righteousness, love of the brethren, for love is righteousness in relation to others: cf. Gal. 5:14.
11 One of the first lessons you learned in your first days in the school of Christ, John says, was the command to love one another; cf. 2:7. In 1:5 he wrote about the message received from Christ which tells us of the nature of God; he now refers to another message which tells us of our duty to the other children of the Father. Jerome informs us that during John’s last years, “Little children love one another” was the one exhortation which, after he had become too old and feeble to preach, he never ceased to give. “It is the Lord’s command,” he would say; “and if this is done, it is enough.” The old commandment which is ever new (2:7–11) is here reiterated by John, not merely as being a duty to which believers are bound, but as being one of the most decisive proofs of their Divine sonship.
12 Love of a brother suggests its opposite, hatred of a brother. The first death which took place in the human race was a murder. Cain allowed his smouldering hatred of Abel to burst forth into a devouring flame; his hands became stained with a crime of specially crimson hue, the murder of a brother. The verb “slew” is a link between this Epistle and the Apocalypse; it occurs only here and 8 times in the Apocalypse (Rev. 5:6, 9 and 12; 6:9, etc.). Cain proved himself to be a child of the evil one. Christians have overcome the evil one (2:13): hatred in the heart shows that the evil one is master there, and that hatred may easily, but for the grace of God, develop into murder (v. 15). The devil is a murderer par excellence, as our Lord said (Jn. 8:44). The diabolical nature of Cain’s crime came out in this, that it was his brother’s righteousness and his acceptance with God that excited his murderous hate (Gen. 4:4, 5). It is interesting to observe that, in 3 out of the 5 places in which Abel is mentioned in the N. T., he is described as “righteous” (Mt. 23:35; Heb. 11:4 and here). In the two parallel passages, Mt. 23:35 and Lk. 11:51, the “blood of Abel” is mentioned as denoting the first transgression which called for special judgment from God. In the remaining passage, Heb. 12:24, there is another deeply significant reference to the “blood of Abel.”
The word “righteous” and the word “righteousness” do not occur again in the Epistle. Righteousness is now, as Plummer puts it, “merged in the warmer and more definite aspect of it, love.”
Alexander Ross, The Epistles of James and John, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1954), 185–187.
Continued Comments
1 John 3:11 is not new; Jesus had already given this same command to the Apostles many years before John wrote this epistle. Or, on the surface, at least, it appears that way. As always, context is everything, and John is quoting Jesus in John 13:34, saying a new command, I give you is to love one another; here in the context are brethren and neighbors. In today’s text, John clearly writes to and directs 3:11 to believers alone. Alexander MacLaren’s Expositions Of Holy Scripture does an excellent job of commenting on John 13:34:
Do not misinterpret my comments; 1 John does not imply that we no longer must show neighborly Love. My point was to ensure the context: John was addressing the saints of the time and reminding them of the command to love each other.
One last comment: Reflect on Tertullian’s quote. Is he not saying the same thing as John? What do others see when they see you, us, fellow Christians? Do they see that brotherly love? Or do they see a “Christian” in name only? Remember, our greatest testimony is often not words but our daily interaction with non-believers.
DEVOTION
1 John 3:11 Song of Solomon 4:8-9
We should love one another. – 1 John 3:11
TODAY IN THE WORD
Many of the most popular songs throughout history have described the thrills and frustrations of romance. Common themes include loving someone who apparently loves someone else, feeling unsure of someone else’s romantic feelings, and the roller-coaster ride of falling in and out of love.
What usually passes for love in today’s world, however, is often only self-gratification. This kind of “love” is primarily a matter of physical attraction. When the initial thrill of desire fades, so does the love of the one who experienced it. The groom’s love for his bride was markedly different.
It did include physical attraction. The groom praised his bride’s beauty and said that she had stolen his heart with one glance of her eyes. But his love was not selfish. Instead, it was characterized by a desire for the bride’s well-being. He pleaded with her to come away from the lions’ dens and the haunt of the leopards to a place of safety and intimacy.
An abiding concern for the other person and an atmosphere of intimacy are the primary ingredients in a healthy love relationship. They are also interrelated. A genuine concern for the other provides the kind of environment that in turn allows those who love one another the freedom to be intimate.
The rewards of biblical love come to those who give of themselves on behalf of those they love. As scholar and author Miraslov Volf has observed, there is more to marital love than eros: “It has to do with how you treat each other when dishes need to be washed or garbage taken out, when misunderstandings arise and when one has transgressed against the other. Love is not the desire to be united with the other, but action on behalf of the other, and constancy in pursuit of his or her well-being.”
APPLY THE WORD
Author Rainer Maria Rilke has written that “Love … consists in this, that two solitudes protect and border and salute each other.” Human love is never completely devoid of self interest. However, the more we can nurture, protect, and respect the other, the greater the likelihood that our own desires will be satisfied.
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