In these verses, John gives us a clear and precise way to know who is saved and who is not: obedience and love for one another.
Because the word "love" is repeated throughout this chapter, we can say that John wants us to know what sin is and what love is. By reading and studying this chapter, we believers can have assurance of our salvation and we can know who is and who is not a Christian by their actions and their love for the brethren.
Let's go back in history and study love that pleases the Lord. In this chapter, John brings up Cain and Abel, which we will look at more closely in the next lesson, because this is the prime example of hating a brother. But we won't begin here with Cain's evil act, but with the aftermath. Dr. RC Sproul has a great study out on man vs. God called "City of Man". In this study, Dr. Sproul tells of how in scripture man is always attempting to build an empire for himself to topple God's creation.
Please read:
Gen 4:10-17
Here we see the punishment God bestowed upon Cain. But because of God's mercy, He did not strike cain dead where he stood, instead God allowed Cain to live as a marked man. How did Cain respond in comparison to his parents when they were punished?
Gen 4:1-3
Notice how Eve acknowledged the Lord when she was given a son. Notice how Adam and Eve taught their sons to give an offering to the Lord...and this was before the Law was given.....and how Abel was taught to give of the firstfruit. It is obvious here that although they were greatly punished by the God they knew personally, this couple did not curse God nor teach their children to hate God. Instead, they honored God by acknowledging gifts received from Him and they taught their sons to honor the Lord as well.
Contrast that with Cain's reaction to the Lord's grace: he built the first city. There is no love for Cain's brother in that he doesn't not even mention him nor name the city after his dead brother or his father. It is as though Cain wants to start over and begin with a new land.
Gen 4: 17-24 and Gen 5:6-32
As you read these verses, notice how the names are similar. How is this indicative to what we see between religions created by man and God's Law?
Man made religions like Mormonism and Islam also use names from the Bible or names similar in order to try and be "like God" which is what Satan used to tempt Adam and Eve...
Gen 3:3-4
I wanted you to read these verses in order to see how the devil is made manifest: by trying to create a bigger better empire to conquer the Lord's creation and by destroying God's creation through hatred.
"For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."
As we read further into 1 John chapter 3, we see how imperative it is that we love one another and show that love outwardly so that God's word is honored.
John 3:19-21
It is important for us to love the light and to do our deeds in the light that they may be seen.
John 13:34
Eph 5:11-14
We are to love the light and hate the shameful things done in darkness. Although now days these shameful things are done in broad daylight!
I saw a blog written by a man in San Francisco who went to the Gay Parade and Carnival to expose how these people are degraded. Apparently, he knew they were allowing young children to attend this event even though many did not believe him. So, with his camera, he attended the event which was held during the day....and sure enough, there were little children present. Now, at this event, men and women were actively engaged in sexual acts that included sodomy...out in the open!
And these young children were exposed to this! So, the man sent the pictures to the newspaper and the Mayor's office...this was late last year and so far there has been no mention of this in any papers or any outcry from the public in San Francisco. So, we are in a time where these evil acts aren't even being hidden in darkness any longer....
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By loving one another, John knows that we are covering a multitude of sins. By loving one another, we are showing the Lord that we obey His commandments.
Matt 22:37-40
Rom 12:9-21
Rom 13:8-10
Heb 13:1-6
Phil 2:3
1 Cor 8:1-3
1 Tim 1:5
Heb 13:1
1 Pet 2:17
1Pet 4:7-
Prov 10:12
We can easily read in these verses that the commandment of God is exact: by loving one another we are protecting ourselves from the temptation to desire to rule over God. This commandment is put before us as a way to evade idolatry and temptations to build that "city of man" that the devil used so many times to mislead people away from God.
Our love for one another forces us to put others before ourselves.....and gives God all the glory and honor.
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Life Application
"Love will cover a multitude of sins..."
Our Lord loves us so much that He provided us with a way to please Him. So many times I have heard people say, "If there is a God, why doesn't He show Himself?" to which I always answer: "He did."
Not only did He reveal Himself then, but He continues to reveal Himself now through His children. How? By our love for one another.
And not only did God reveal Himself....but He gave of Himself by dying a painful death so that we do not have to fear death any longer.
This Resurrection Sunday, take time to consider all this. Our Messiah has come. And not only did He come once....He is coming again. His love for us saved us....and now He says that our love for one another will cover a multitude of sins. It can be hard to love one another. I know. To be honest, I have a hard time with this...I don't know about you.
My husband is very good at loving fellow believers. As a result, I have seen our little family be spared a lot of suffering because God sees my husband's heart. I wish I could say it was because of my love for the brethren, but I cannot. I have a hard time loving fellow believers with that unconditional love. It takes a lot of prayer and time in God's word for me to feel and show love. But I am learning through my husband what this kind of love looks like. He is so good at showing love for the brethren. And I have seen the Lord honor this sacrifice time and time again.
Now it is up to us to go and do as Christ did: give up ourselves daily, take up the cross, and follow Him.....in love.
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Until next time....
"...The manifestation of the love of Christ gives the soul abundant contentment. This love of Christ is exceedingly sweet and satisfying; it is better than life because it is the love of a person of such dignity and excellency. The sweetness of His love depends very much upon the greatness of His excellency; so much the more lovely the person, so much the more desireable his love. How sweet must the love of that person be who is the eternal Son of God, who is of equal dignity with the Father!
-Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) (Altogether Lovely, 1997, p. 100)
Blessings,
Ruth
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