WAGING WAR WITH LOVE

A Study of 1 John 3:11-24

¹¹ For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹² Do 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. ¹³ Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵ Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

¹⁶ This 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 and sisters. ¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps God’s commands lives 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.

 Outline

The message of the Gospel from the beginning does not change. The truth about the Person of Christ and about Christian conduct is unalterable. The apostles originally taught that we should love one another. The opposite to this is seen in the example of Cain, who, under the domination of the devil, and out of jealousy murdered his brother. Just as Cain hated his brother our contemporaries may hate us. In contrast to the world however we love one another. Eternal life is evidenced in love for one another. Lack of love is evidence of spiritual death. Hatred is murder and the antithesis of eternal life.

The essence of love is self-sacrifice, shown in Christ. Love leads to self-sacrifice. Christ is the supreme example of love. Love is the willingness to surrender that which has value to us, to enrich the life of another. Love is neither sentiment nor talk, but deeds.

The works of love assure us that we belong to the truth and so we can be confident of God’s love. Our consciences may be overscrupulous and make us feel guilty of not doing enough for others, but God knows our intentions and does not condemn us. If we are right with God and are at rest in his presence we have confidence in our prayers. We are to believe in Christ and to love one another. If we do these two things then we live in Christ and he in us. All this is only possible by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Questions for Reflection

1. What is the ethical message of Christianity?
2. Why did Cain murder his brother?
3. Why do people murder one another today?
4. Why is hatred murder?
5. How can you get people to stop hating one another?
6. Why the present controversy over so-called ‘hate’ speech?
7. What is the essence of love?
8. How does Jesus Christ provide the supreme example of love?
9. How do we manage pitying those in need in a responsible fashion?
10. How do you deal with guilt in relation to those who have less then you?
11. What is the necessary condition for answered prayer?
12. How do we know that Christ lives in us?