This study comprises eleven sections:
Keeping God’s word is the proof that we love God.
When we love our brother, we will not stumble.
We are not to love the world or the things in the world.
We cannot love the world and love God also.
God’s love prompted Him to make us His children through the death of His Son.
Loving other believers is a fundamental requirement of the Believer’s life.
A failure to love others raises serious questions about a person’s faith.
Genuine love results in action, not merely sentimental words.
God is the source of all love.
Mature love does not produce fear but imparts courage.
Long before we loved God, He loved us.
1 John 5: 3
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”
John 14: 21
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”
Those who are being saved will be characterised by a desire to do the will of God. Our love for God is expressed in willingness to obey His commandments.
His “commandments are not burdensome”: This does not that they are not difficult at times but rather that they are the very things that people who are born again want to do. The commandments of the Lord are the very things that are best for us and the things in which our divinely inspired nature delights in.
Faultless obedience is, of course, not possible; we still have our sin nature. But we should be habitually desiring to keep His commandments. The overall tenor of our lives should involve the things that are pleasing in His sight.
The demands of obedience to God’s commands for believers enables us to be the people we were originally designed to be, closely reflecting the image of God.
The one who trusts Yeshua to follow His commands has met with Him spiritually and knows Him intimately. In his letter to the Philippians, we see that Paul wanted to be obedient to God the Father, even as Yeshua was obedient to the Father.
Philippians 3: 7 – 10
“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God in faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection … “
Thus, having been saved by the grace of God and having received His divine nature, we should show every desire to keep His word in obedience. Doing so makes us the kind of people we want to be because of our love for God; the kind of people who imitate the Lord Yeshua whom we know spiritually.
1 John 2: 10
“He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.”
A “brother” here, of course, is a fellow believer. To “abide In” means to live a life of habitual obedience; resting in the light and modelling our lives on the light. “The light”, of course, is Yeshua. “To stumble” is to fall into sin.
A loving attitude to fellow believers shows a close relationship with Yeshua and an absence of “darkness”; blindness to the truth. Believers demonstrate their salvation by a loving attitude to fellow believers.
Yeshua not only taught His disciples to love one another, He also gave them the living example of what He meant. Believers should illustrate and embody the great law of love in their lives. Yeshua set a new standard for love – love one another as “I have loved you”.
It is only possible to love our fellow believers because we have been forgiven and know God as out heavenly Father. As a result of salvation, we are part of God’s family and thus have His protection against stumbling into sin.
1 John 2: 15
“Do not love the world or the things in the world.”
This could be re-worded “stop loving the world”. This would imply that some of John’s readers were acting in a way inconsistent with their relationship with Yeshua. “The world” refers to the morally evil system opposed to all that God holds dear.
God’s love is in marked contrast to that of the world. The world loves those who love them, whereas God loves even those who disobey Him. However, obedience is the way to strengthen God’s love for us:
1 John 2: 5
“But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him.”
This is God’s love for us. The term “perfected” expresses the idea of maturity and completion. As the believer pursues fellowship with and obedience to God, God’s love for that person is more complete. And the believer knows by experience that he/she is in Him.
To stop loving the world, we only need to look at God’ great love for us; a love the world can never share. The whole world system is “under the sway of the wicked one”. Satan has the whole world system under His control, except those who are “of God”. Instead of loving the world, believers should be engaged in spiritual warfare against the “god of the air”:
Ephesians 6: 11 and12.
“Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age …”
An absence of love for this world should habitually characterise the life of those who are born again. Our affection should be toward God whose love for us is immense. He is eternal; everything of the world is temporary. Even the world itself is passing away. It is in continual process of disintegration, heading for disaster.
We have just seen the futility of loving the world, but 1 John 2: 15 and 16 takes this a step further by showing that a person cannot love the world and love God also.
1 John 2: 15 and 16.
“.. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world”.
James 4: 4.
“Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
As we have seen the “World” is the morally evil system opposed to all that God holds dear. It is a satanic system opposed to God’s kingdom. The “world” is characterised by “the flesh”; the desire for sensual pleasure; covetousness/materialism; and pride in one’s place in life. These could lure a believe away from God. But life is brief. To be consumed by what this life has to offer is to be unprepared for the next. It is tragic to devote oneself to what will not last.
As Satan is opposed to Yeshua, the flesh is opposed to the spirit. So, the world is antagonistic toward God. Appetite, avarice and ambition are not of God, but their source is the world. They are all contrary to God’s great command to love one’s neighbour as oneself.
There is no middle ground between the believer and the world. The believer’s life is characterised by love for and obedience to God. The life of those in the world is characterised by rebellion against God and being enslaved by the satanically controlled world system of sin.
Ephesians 2: 1 and 2.
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”
“Dead in trespasses” means spiritually dead and lost. Believers are saved so that they can have a life characterised by good works. They are to walk worthy of their calling in love, light and wisdom.
As a result of Adam’s sin, the entire human race is spiritually dead. Only God can grant us new life and save us from this predicament. Out of His mercy God gave His Son for us when we were still His enemies. He loved us before we loved Him. The differences between the world and God are so vast, that if we move towards the world, we distance ourselves from God.
In the world sin is considered to be acceptable and pleasurable. The world has lost its awareness of sin. Whilst the world’s philosophies and ideologies may appear attractive and persuasive, that is a deep deception. It’s real and persuasive nature is evil, harmful, ruinous and satanic. These theories can raise up against the knowledge of God and hold soul’s captive.
Thus, it is indeed impossible to love the world and love God also.
1 John 3: 1.
“Behold the manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! … By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us … “
John 1: 12
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John is amazed that God’s love extends to including believers in His family. Yeshua’s work on the cross freed believers from the penalty of sin and from the power of sin. Having been cleansed of sin, we can come into the presence of a holy God.
From John’s gospel we see that Yeshua gave us “the right to become children of God.” This provides for the legal entitlement to be heirs with Yeshua. There is therefore a right to that which was won by Yeshua.
Ephesians 1: 3 – 6.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will …”
All of God’s children have an inheritance based on their relationship with Him, which is incorruptible, undefiled and reserved in heaven. This inheritance includes the expectation of eternal life.
God initiated the plan of salvation for us. Yeshua dealt with our sin and allowed us to be adopted by God as sinless and without spot. Thus, our eternal inheritance is assured.
We saw in chapter 2 verse 10, that John argued that loving one’s fellow believers protected us form falling into sin. In chapter 3 he takes this a step further.
1 John 3: 10 – 11, 16, 23.
“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does he love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning that we should love one another.
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
And this is His commandment: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.”
Believers manifest their nature by practising righteousness. Children of the devil display their basic nature by sinning. Love for other believers is basic to living in Yeshua and advancing His kingdom.
For those who are truly born again, love is an indispensable characteristic. Love of one’s fellow believers is not merely an optional duty for a believer but a proof positive that a person is indeed born again.
John 13: 35
Yeshua “laid down His life for us.” Love amongst believers should be self-sacrificing and giving. That Yeshua gave up His life for believers epitomises the true nature of God’s love: “we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” God calls on believers to the same standard of love for one another as He has for us.
1 Peter 1: 22 – 23.
“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again …”
As we have just seen there is a requirement for us to love our fellow believers. But what if there is a significant absence of such love?
1 John 3: 14
“He who does not love his brother abides in death.”
Galatians 5: 22
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love … “
1 John 2: 9
“He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.”
So-called “believers” hating others are expressing the nature of the children of the devil; it is a demonstration of “darkness”.
When a person is saved, they develop an entirely different attitude to fellow believers. This is one way we receive assurance of our salvation. A person who does not love a true child of God may profess to be a believer, but scripture says he “abides in death”.
Indeed, that person was always spiritually dead and remains so. There are two kinds of children in this world: children of God and children of Satan. No-one can simultaneously belong to both families. In Satan’s family the individuals exhibit their sinful nature and do not love. Becoming a believer is a resurrection from death to love, a turning from hatred to love.
We saw that the first fruit produced by the Spirit is love (Galatians 5: 22). It is impossible to know God without loving others. Anyone in whom God dwells reflects His character. To claim to know God while failing to love others is to make a false claim.
1 John 3: 17 and 18.
“But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
Deuteronomy 15: 7 and 8.
“If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him, and willing lend sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.”
In 1 John chapter 3, the term “goods” refers to a “living” or “a livelihood” I.e. the material necessities to sustain life; food, clothing and shelter. By sharing our material possessions with those in need we demonstrate the same type of sacrificial love that Yeshua demonstrated on the cross.
Of course, love is not limited to the supreme sacrifice as made by Yeshua. Love can be shown in lesser sacrifices for others. Practical love for those in need is all that is required. When this does not exist, it is questionable if that person is a child of God.
1 John 4: 7,8 and 16.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. … And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”
We have just read in 1 John chapter 4, that “love is of God … God is love”. God is the essence of love. Love is inherent is all He is and does. Even His judgment and wrath ae perfectly harmonised with His love.
Love should be a habitual practice among believers, for those born again have received God’s nature and Spirit. This divine nature enables us to become Christ-like and the essence of the divine nature is love.
Romans 5: 8
Titus 3: 4 – 7.
“But when the kindness and the love of God our Saviour toward men appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have now, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our saviour, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
1 John 4: 17 and 18.
“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
Believers live within the sphere of God’s love. That love is both experienced and expressed in daily life. The mature experience of “perfected” love produces confidence as the believer anticipates Yeshua’s return to judge the world.
1 John 2: 28.
“… abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”
A mature understanding of God’s love removes any fear of God’s judgment. When John writes that “Love has been perfected among us”, he is not suggesting sinless perfection, but rather mature love marked by confidence in the face of judgment.
Yeshua called God “Father”, and so may we since we are accepted in the Beloved. It is not our love that is made perfect (i.e., mature) but God’s love is made perfect in us.
When we stand before Yeshua, we can have confidence because perfect love has settled the question of sin once and for all. Because we have come to know God’s love, we have no fear of perishing. We can be assured of God’s love because He sent His Son to die for us. We know that love because His Spirit indwells us. We can look to the future with confidence because we have committed to repentance and receiving forgiveness.
The love that builds “confidence” also banishes fear. We love God and have reverence for Him. It makes no sense for us to hide from Him in terror.
2 Timothy 1: 7.
The concept of “fear” involves punishment or torment; a reality which children of God will never experience.
Long Before We Loved God, He Loved Us First.
1 John 4: 10 and 11.
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
The only reason that we love God at all is because He loved us first. The Ten Commandments require people to love God and their neighbour, but the law could not produce this love. God solved the problem by sending His Son to die for us. Such wonderful love drew our hearts to Him in return.
Yeshua, in His sacrificial death, actually becomes our “mercy seat”. He did this when His blood was spilled on behalf of us, thus satisfying the demands of God’s holy justice and wrath against sin.
1 John 4: 19.
“We love Him because He first loved us.”