1John, chapter 3, comments

 

1John 3:1 ¶  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Christians must not be confused that they are rejected of men because Christ was rejected of men.

John 17:25  O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

John 15:20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21  But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

John 16:2  They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. 3  And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.

The world can’t comprehend what we believe unless God the Father intercedes, in a manner of speaking, to enlighten them. The very mind of God, the Holy Ghost, is involved in this transaction.

John 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Our eventual destiny is to be like Christ. We will not only have a glorified body.

Romans 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Not only will we be changed but with our own eyes we will see Him.

Job 19:25  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins (that’s internal organs) be consumed within me.

The pure, the righteous, God’s people by virtue of what Christ did, not what they have done, have this blessed hope.

Titus 2:11 ¶  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Matthew 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

1John 3:4 ¶  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 5  And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6  Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. 7  Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9  Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10  In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Here, sin is defined as breaking God’s standard of righteousness, the Law given to Moses which is our Creator’s standard of righteousness, transgressing it. But Christ came to take away our sin and was sinless Himself. If you are in Christ you are not held accountable for your sin but those who abide in their sin, whose lives are defined by their sin have not known Christ and are not known by Him. It would be inconceivable for a murderer to get saved and then to continue murdering or someone who worshipped a heathen god to continue in that worship were they to be saved.

We are righteous when we do righteousness because our Savior is righteous. But the one who ignores Christ’s calling away from sin is of Satan himself. Christ came to destroy the works of Satan. Because the very mind of Christ indwells us we are not held accountable in eternity for our sin, which has been forgiven. But there are traits that show that a person is not truly saved and that includes not only refusing to do right but holding one’s brothers and sisters in Christ in contempt.

Paul made it clear that if you are saved you can’t lose your salvation because, if you did, you could never get saved again because that would involve recrucifying Christ, an absurdity.

Hebrews 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Notice also how Paul admonished the believers in Corinth.

1Corinthians 6:9 ¶  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Let’s not take our salvation lightly.

1John 3:11 ¶  For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12  Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. 13  Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

John reinforces what he reported in his gospel about what Jesus said regarding this.

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

John 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends… 17  These things I command you, that ye love one another.

This is in sharp contrast to Cain’s lack of love for his own flesh and blood brother. Cain was doing the work of Satan as the first-century Judean Jews who persecuted these early Jewish Christians did.

John 16:2  They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

Why did they do that? Because their own works were evil and because...

John 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The disciples of Christ should not be amazed that the world hates them.

John 15:18 ¶  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21  But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. 22  If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. 23  He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

Think of this. The Jews had interpreted the Bible knowing that God was manifest in the Father, in the Word of God, and in the Skekinah, His glory, which some commentators interpret as the Holy Ghost in the Old Testament. So, there is the Trinity, a word coined by the early church father, Tertullian, who lived from 165AD to 220AD, to describe the threefold nature of the Godhead. The living Word of God had been right in front of them; teaching in depth and wisdom and authority, raising the dead, controlling natural events, casting out demons, and then defying all understood reality of life by rising from the dead Himself after letting them execute Him at the hands of the Romans. You might say, well why didn’t He do something like part the Red Sea? Remember, though, that didn’t make the Israelites obey God or even love Him. And these things Jesus did were personal, individual miracles that would impact their lives right then. And still the religious leadership valued their political positions more than the truth, more than salvation, so they killed Him.

John 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

1John 3:14 ¶  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17  But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

John speaks of one evidence that we have passed from death to life, and I might add, everlasting life, our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a fundamental doctrine of Christ-centered Christianity. Hatred is a type of murder, showing contempt for another’s very life. Christ showed us the importance of that love by dying for us and John says we should be willing to die for each other.

Friendship and love in Imperial Rome were all about the usefulness of a person to you. Friendships could enhance your social standing, provide support in times of need, and reveal the complex interdependence between public and private life. As they are today, friendship and love are complicated social arrangements. However, the love that Christ calls for is not like human love, predicated on tolerance and conditional on the actions of the beloved. Christ died for all of humanity, even for those who did not know Him as well as for those who hated Him. His love is inclusionary not exclusionary. It doesn’t require an object who is our same skin color, social rank, gender, or ethnicity.

Galatians 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

It doesn’t even require an object who is kind to us. It is a standard we Christians rarely grasp.

Matthew 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

 

If there is anything that should cause you to abandon your faith and walk away from Christ this would be it. To love the unloveable, even the malicious, is unimaginable to us. Again…

 

Matthew 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

 

John reinforces a statement made by James in his letter.

 

James 2:14 ¶  What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16  And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

 

John, like James, demands that we prove who we belong to by our selfless love for our brothers and sisters in Christ rather than the mercenary exploitation and power dynamics that characterize so much of what passes for love in the world. It’s not just talk and it is a height I have never attained in my own life. There are people and types of people who set my teeth on edge and whom I detest for their behavior and words, some even in churches I’ve attended who are deserving of my prayers much moreso than my contempt and that because of what Christ, the Word of God, the Son of God, did for me.

 

This isn’t about tolerating or approving of someone’s sin. This is about, in spite of their sin, not denying the things which they need to live and it is about praying for them to be convicted and changed. It is possible for our protection and for the protection of innocent others that they be removed from our midst but never mistreated and always prayed for sincerely. Our love for our brothers and sisters is not suicidal empathy and we must be clear on that. It is not about inviting someone into our home who has sworn to kill us. But it is about a genuine love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, in all of our imperfections.

 

But would you give your life for a brother or sister in Christ who can do nothing for you in return, who is weaker than you, perhaps powerless to reward your sacrifice? There are many questions we have to contemplate in our walk with Christ.

 

1John 3:20 ¶  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 22  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

We may not be able to accept ourselves, and dwell heavily on our unworthiness before God but God is greater than our self-loathing, our fears, and our self-anger. What He knows is greater than all we could have done in the past. On the other hand, if we are willing to accept His forgiveness then our trust in Him is real and evident in a way that the Christian who is filled with self-contempt cannot understand. Either of those people just mentioned wants to do right by God, by His standards and stated expectations, and our prayers are answered because we are His, if what we ask is according to His will.

Matthew 7:7 ¶  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9  Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

If what we ask is according to His will. Understand that God sees all events from the perspective of them having already happened. If it is His will that some believer die to go on to be with Him for eternity or that some unbeliever has had all the time they will have and God knows their heart will never let them come to Him then that’s what is going to happen. We cannot change God’s eternal decrees. What the fervent prayer of a righteous person who seeks to please God does is to change them, making them more accepting of God’s will in every circumstance, even as they themselves do what is right and work toward a good outcome. We should pray in all things that God’s will be done. This is a hard thing to accept and another reason for faith to sometimes fail. No one is willing to bury their child or face a shortened life due to a dread disease. No one wants failure and loss, pain and suffering. But if we are His there is something from Him in our most dire or tragic circumstances and in our pain and through our tears we can and should see it. The world cannot understand this. Most of us can’t either. But He knows all things.

1John 3:23 ¶  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Here are fundamentals of the Christian faith, what it means to be a Christian. We believe on the name of Christ and we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. Keeping the commandments of Christ, the Word of God, show that we have His Spirit, His very mind, inside of us.

We believe Jesus was who He said He was.

John 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

When we believe in Him the Spirit, the very mind of God, indwells us.

John 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

And there are outward proofs, evidence that we have that very mind of God indwelling us.

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Matthew 22:35  Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38  This is the first and great commandment. 39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.