This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a summary of Chris Dilley’s exposition of 1 John 3:11-4:6 given on Sunday, August 2, 2009.
At this point in 1 John, the beloved apostle begins his main treatment on the topic of true Christian love. This love is one of the three main “tests of assurance” that flows throughout this epistle, the other two being the doctrinal test, and the ethical/moral test. This portion of 1 John can be divided into three sections, the first being 3:11-18: This section of the epistle deals with the “message from the beginning” that believers are to love one another with a Christ-like love. This command had it’s origin with Jesus (John 13:34). To contrast this godly love, John speaks to the murder of Abel by his own brother Cain in Genesis 4. John’s point here is that those who do not love their brother (biological/spiritual) are of the evil one, and simply do not know God. Furthermore, one certainly doesn’t have to commit murder to be a “murderer” in the biblical sense (Mt. 5:21-22). An example being when John refers to the believer who sees that his brother has a real need, yet he refuses to meet it because of selfishness and sin. John provides the rhetorical question: How can the love of God abide in such a person? The answer: it cannot. Moreover, in verse 16, John tells his readers how they can know what true love is through the sacrifice of Jesus. The willing sacrifice of the sinless Son of God is the ultimate expression of love. It defines love. It is the basis of all of our worship, and hopefully all of our lives. John exhorts his readers to exemplify this love, but not simply by talking about it. Love requires action, and God requires that we love not with word or tongue, but in deed and in truth as Christ did.
The second section division is 3:19-24: This part of the epistle deals with reassuring the recipients of this letter that they were not like the false teachers, and that they indeed did have a genuine faith in Christ. John defends this assertion by affirming that their obedience to the Lord is indication that they are in the faith. Furthermore, John says the Holy Spirit provides assurance for the believer through His inner witness. The final section is found in 4:1-6: This portion deals specifically with discerning whether doctrines are from the Holy Spirit, or, as Paul would put it, from the spirit of the age. John provides his readers with a doctrinal test example that is quite simple: If someone affirms the incarnation of Christ they are from God, if not, they’re not from God. Finally, John reassures them that they have overcome the false teachers and the spirit of the age because the one who is in them is greater than the one who is in the world. May this text be a rebuke and an encouragement for us to love each other as Christ loves us. That is, are we willing to live uncomfortably, sacrificing much, even to the point of death for the brethren? Or is our view of Christian love only in our head, a mere intellectual exercise that never is practically applied? Surely we can love as we ought to through the power of the Spirit who assures us that we are God’s children, and that we have overcome Satan and his devices. Have a blessed week.