1 John Part 16

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8

Love Love Love

How do we love one another? The Bible says that we show love to God by obeying his commands. This is not appropriate in relationships between Christians unless someone has authority over us in a particular situation. So, how do we love one another?

First Corinthians 13 gives what I believe is the most complete description of what love is in the Bible. What does this passage tell us about love? It tells us what love is and also what it is not. What it does and what it does not do.

Let's make two lists. First, what love is and does:

1. Patient
2. Kind
3. Rejoices in the truth
4. Always protects
5. Always trusts
6. Always hopes
7. Always perseveres

Second, what love is not and what it does not do:

1. Envy
2. Boast
3. Proud
4. Rude
5. Self-seeking
6. Easily Angered
7. Keep a record of wrongs
8. Delight in evil
9. Fail
   

It is clear that love is shown in thought and action. It involves emotion like rejoicing and lack of envy, but is primarily action based. Even when you describe love as patient, it means that love shows patience through actions. Love shows kindness through actions. We must keep doing these things more and more, having our actions towards one another being motivated and influence by this godly love. Even just working on increasing one of these characteristics in our lives would make us much more effective at showing true love towards one another.

I am struck by the constancy of love. Three things that love does starts with the word 'always.' Love is not fickle. Love doesn't usually protect. Love always protects. Love doesn't usually come through. Love never fails. Never.

When one reads what love is and what it is not, it is almost self evident what John says about love in 1 John 4:7-8. First, love comes from God. It certainly could not come from any of us? Who does not envy? Who does not boast? Who is not self seeking? It seems like self seeking is almost all that we (I) do. Who is naturally patient? Who is not proud? Who isn't rude at their core, even though you may resist the rude words and actions just to be polite? Maybe I'm revealing more about myself than is wise, but since no one is good as the Bible says, I know I'm in 'good' company.

Also, anyone who loves must know God, for how could you love apart from his Spirit? It is impossible. And anyone who does not know God can not love, for God's Spirit has not taught him what love is and how to carry it out.

Look at the list of what love is not. It is no surprise that the first seven characteristics on that list have to do with our self-centeredness? We are self centered, so we envy what others have wanting it for ourselves; we boast about what little we do have; we are proud and self-protective; we are rude, disregarding the value of others; we are self seeking in all we do, and finally and easily angered if anything goes wrong or if anyone dares do anything we don't want him to do. Love demands that we seek the good of others above our own. That's what God did for us.

1 John Part 15

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

John wrote this in the context of fighting false religion, specifically religion that presents a false view of Jesus and seeks to corrupt the Church. These things can be intimidating, but we have the Holy Spirit and can trust him to give us whatever we need to stand strong.

This is the verse to cling to when you see world events and start to worry about the future. We need to remember that our ultimate destiny has already been determined, and if we belong to Christ, it is glorious beyond all imagination! So if someone gets away with a crime or a horrible person gets elected, we know all things will be made right in the end and the shenanigans of evil are only temporary.

And we know that evil can do nothing to us if we call on the Holy Spirit to guide and protect us. Why do we choose to go unprotected into battle so often? Baffling.

Why do we overcome?

Only because of the greatness of who is in us. It has nothing to do with our position or abilities. It is only, only, only because of the Holy Spirit in us. This is an ever important lesson that seems nearly impossible for me to remember.


5They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 1 John 4:5-6

I need to remember this passage and not be angered and annoyed and frustrated when I see millions of people believing lies and garbage without even examining what they believe. It's also a shame that those that listen to worldly people also do not listen to God. They've heard the wisdom of God but refuse to listen or even entertain that it might be true.

May the Lord increase in my life.

1 John Part 14

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

John went on to address a common heresy of that time, that Jesus had not really come in the flesh but was some kind of spirit being. While this particular false teaching may not be common today, there is a whole host of false teachings to take its place.

There are many false teachings and teachers that most people can see coming a mile away. Cults and televangelists come to mind. Some of their antics and ideas are so goofy that few fall for their ideas, though there is always someone who does.

There are other teachings that might seem true if you do not know your Bible well. The health and wealth gospel appeals to our greedy nature. Twist a few verses, and you're there. Of course Jesus promised us trouble in this world so I guess I can't believe in the health and wealth gospel and the true gospel of Jesus Christ at the same time. Oh well...

I believe there are many other false spirits that we believe much more easily. They do not always come in the form of a television preacher or a door to door evangelist; they come in the form of thoughts planted by Satan and the slow drip of worldly culture into our minds. We entertain thoughts because of a messed up childhood. Maybe dad wasn't a good example of a loving father, and we believe our Father in heaven is angry and unpredictable even though the Bible says he is slow to anger and never changes. Maybe we think that we're worth less because we're not pretty or we're overweight, even though God looks at what's inside a person and sent his Son to die for us. These spirits are the ones that must be tested, and man should they fail the test! But we don't test these spirits and let them into our minds and hearts with little or no protest at all.

Remember... take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5b

1 John Part 13

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 1 John 3:23

John, being the disciple whom Jesus loved, was probably with him when one of the experts in the law asked Jesus what the most important commandment was. Jesus answered:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Matthew 22:37-40

I think this is very close to what John says in verse 23. Believing in Jesus is how we love God; there's no possible way to love God without believing in his Son. Perhaps this is the starting point in fulfilling the most important command to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.


'Those who obey his commands live in him.'

Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. 1 John 3:24

This statement makes sense to me. We are living in God's will if we do what he says. But does it mean more than that? Do these verses from Galatians help clarify the true meaning of this passage?

..for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Galatians 3:27

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Galatians 2:20a

Part of the problem is we're limited by human thought and language while trying do describe a profound spiritual truth that is beyond description. In some way our old selves have died and Christ makes us spiritually alive, so we live in him. And while we our old selves are gone, we are still here on earth as individuals, and Christ lives in us. But we are not just in his will if we obey him; he also spiritually sustains us. After all, how could we obey him without his help? And 'help' seems like such an inadequate word, as if someone on a ventilator is only hooked up to a 'breathing helper' when the person would stop breathing and die without it. God sustains us and makes it possible for us to do his will; he's not just a 'helper.'


We know that God lives in us by the Spirit he gave us.

How else could we know? We are so dull in ourselves and completely unaware of God and his Spirit that the only way we could possibly know that God is in us is if the Spirit told us himself.

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. John 16:13-15

It is comforting to know that the Spirit will tell us only what the Father and Son say. The Spirit of God will never lead us astray. We can also trust the Spirit to make things known to us if we listen. He brings glory to Christ by making what is His known to us. What an amazing gift. One that I ignore regularly.

1 John Part 12

18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 1 John 3:18-20

I find the phrase "whenever our hearts condemn us" very interesting. I don't know a single Christian that hasn't felt condemnation within themselves at some point. If you have not doubted your salvation, you have for sure doubted the quality of your faith and your value to God. Jeremiah 17:9 says that the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.

It seems to me that this verse is saying that if you love in actions and truth, then our hearts will be assured of salvation and of our right standing with God. We do not need to run or hide from God.


The Next Level

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 1 John 3:21-22

Now that we have assurance of salvation and we know the truth, we add to this foundation obedience. Because we are close to God and are obeying him, we then can receive from him anything we ask for. I believe it is largely because we will ask for the right things. We may ask for opportunities and favor in sharing the gospel rather than a shiny new bike like we did when we were children. But I also believe we receive special favor from God the more faithful we become.

This is true empowerment by the Holy Spirit. We quit with the old things of worrying about our standing with God and rest in his power and care. That is when we can start to truly live for him, free from the chains of doubt and false condemnation.

1 John Part 11

The way we treat each other is important

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:14-18

Sometimes we may be tempted to keep our faith between ourselves and God, and not let it influence us to get involved in the lives of others. We can philosophize and ponder why we are to reach out to others and not keep to ourselves, but the fact that God tells us to is enough. Understanding why helps, but it is not essential. Love one another.

How do we show love toward each other? John says we should lay down our lives for each other. Now if we need to die for one another we should be willing to do so, but the more difficult task is to daily put others' needs ahead of our own, to sacrifice our interests and well being for the sake of another.

Talk is cheap

Verse 18 shows that true love is shown in action, not words or 'feelings.' Words mean nothing if they are not backed up by action. Gary Chapman has come up with the concept of love languages, five different ways of showing love to others. The one that means the least to me is words of affirmation. It's probably because I've heard people make way too many promises and say things they didn't mean. How did I know they didn't mean it? Because their words were not backed up by actions. One actually has to do something to show love. Words alone don't count. The only time words mean something to me is if I can tell someone went out of their way to say something to me or I can tell it took courage for them to say what they did.

Love in truth

It's very important to note that love must take place in truth. Since true love is shown in actions, one must know the truth to know the proper actions to take. Glossing over sin is not love. Saying there are many ways to heaven is not love. Avoiding conflict is not love when the conflict is necessary. Doing something that's wrong or misguided even when you have the best of intentions is not loving, even if you meant the action to show love.

1 John Part 10

Hope they hate us for the right reasons.

This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. 13Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 1 John 3:11-13

I mentioned this subject briefly in my last post. The world hates Christians. This is a fact. The question is, 'Why?' Why do they hate us?

Part of the reason is Christians that do not act like Christ - ones that are mean, greedy, sticks in the mud, etc. I never hated all Christians before I came to Christ, but the televangelists and the self righteous ones that I saw were not my favorites. And if that's all you saw, then I'd imagine you wouldn't have a real high opinion of Christians.

I think I hear this line of thinking quite a bit in the church, mostly because we as American Christians know we fall short in many ways and carry quite a bit of guilt over it. We've lived through the legalism of dress codes and a culture of judgment rather than forgiveness. We've been guilty of getting too comfortable in our life to make real changes and be convicted of our sins. I just don't think that this is as big a reason as Christians may think.

People hate us because we stand for what is right. We are the do gooder righteous folk that think we have all the answers for people. We don't drink or swear. Even if you don't say one word to someone, if they're drinking and you're not, you are likely to take heat for it. You'll be made fun of for your clean speech. Just wait until someone finds out that you tithe. You're crazy. John says it pretty plainly using the example of Cain and Abel; if your actions are righteous and the other person's actions are not, you will be hated. It's not because you didn't present yourself in a relevant manner or you came on too strong; you're hated because you're a Christian. Sometimes it really is that simple.

This doesn't give you license to act like a punk; you'll be hated no matter what, right? We are told to answer non believers with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15), and to make the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:16). You can't do these things while acting like a jerk. Of course if you realized that you are where you are only by the grace of God this won't be a problem.

Don't be surprised

I think I also need to emphasize what John says about not being surprised if the world hates you. I think I am still surprised by the world's reaction to Christians and Christian principles, probably because society used to respect Christian principles for the most part. This is not the case anymore. This should not surprise me or shock me the way it does sometimes. In a sense things are getting back to normal in America since it is more against Christians every day.

So when some government official goes out of their way to remove a Christian reference, a store refuses to mention the word "Christmas," or other religions are given preferential treatment, I need to remember to not be surprised.