By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
Before we dive in:
Welcome to Week 6 of the Summer Reading Plan!
The apostle John reveled in God’s love for him personally. In his own Gospel, John joyfully refers to himself as the disciple “whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23).
John knew that Jesus’ love for the Father motivated Him to do and say everything He did for His disciples and for those around Him. John personalized that love. He knew that Jesus, the Son of God, loved him, and he recognized it was his calling as a leader chosen by God to pass that love on to others.
The book of 1 John focuses on a central theme: A love for God and for others. The apostle tells us that love is not merely a sign of Christ’s ownership of us, but that it actually provides proof of our salvation. Here John insists that this is the kind of love we must demonstrate in our actions, not just in the words we say.
God’s love just blows my mind. His love for all of us is beyond what we could ever begin to understand, and we His children are to love Him and others in return. John suggests we are to be conduits through whom God demonstrates His mind-blowing and core love.
Here’s the thing: We need to constantly remind ourselves that God is love, and that He requires His people to share His love with one another and with the outside world.
Section 1:
By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
When God perfects His love in us, we don’t have to fear or feel insecure. We remain secure in His grace. We don’t fear punishment or judgement. We are free to love others. I hope you caught v. 19; it is one of my verses I go to often. We love because He first loved us. Such a simple verse but very powerful. The love of God is the only source of absolute security, and all of us can have it. Let’s look at what John teaches us about living secure in Christ:
1. Embracing God’s love gives us confidence (v. 17)
2. We can live and be alive in God’s security and peace even in this life (v. 17)
3. We can love others to the fullest because God has given us His love (v. 19)
4. God empowers us with His love, and we begin to show others this kind of love. This helps us
to lead others well. (v. 19)
5. Our love for others is a sign that we love God (v. 20)
6. If I can’t get along with others, it is very hard to get along with God (vv. 20, 21)
Verses 20 and 21 are a great reminder for us. I had a NT professor that would talk about these two verses often. This is what he would boil it down to: Too many Christians begin their spiritual lives with such excitement about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to become burdened and discouraged at some point in their journey. Their abundant life suddenly feels more like a back-bender. But when we read the words of John, victory over this problem is achieved when faith in Christ leads to love of God’ people.
Now I want you to get this. Your love for God is not measured by what you say (“I love God”) but by what you do. You cannot claim to love God if you refuse to actively love the Christian folks standing in front of you. Remember (v. 20), “ If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” You cannot disconnect these two things, loving Him and loving His people. They are intertwined.
Section 2:
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level of a man who says he is a poached egg or… the Devil… or… Lord and God.
If we love God, if we want to please Him and show Him our gratitude for His gift to us, then we keep His commandments. It only makes sense. It is for our benefit, and it pleases God when we obey Him. First John 5 emphasizes that if we love God, we will obey His commandments, and they will not be troublesome to us.
In John 5:1–5 the big idea is that we prove our love with obedient faith. So, exactly whom should we love? The one who believes in Jesus Christ. Your brother in Christ is not determined by his race, his level of education, his social status, the church he attends. If he trusts in Jesus alone, he is your brother.
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
This verse is further Biblical clarification that eternal life is found only in Christ Jesus, for He is the eternal Son of God and perfect Son of Man. People search in many places to discover eternal life outside of Christ—but it is not found in good works, denominational membership, philosophic teachings, scientific discovery, religious leanings, educational qualifications, legalistic practices, genetic modification, or any other human attempt to attain perfection and everlasting life outside of God's declared way.
Simply stated: he who has the Son has the life and he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. Sinners who believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as their sin- substitute have the resurrected life of Christ within—and nothing can alter their eternal destiny. Their salvation is by grace through faith in Christ's finished work on the cross, and forgiveness of sins and eternal life are two of many heavenly benefits that every sinner receives—by grace, through faith in the only begotten Son of God.
The Lord Jesus was declared to be the Son of God at His baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended on Him and a voice from heaven was heard to say “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased”—and He proved to be the Son of God at the cross, when as Son of Man He was lifted up at Calvary, having done all the things that the Father required—which so glorified His Father in heaven.
God Himself is witness to the world that he who has the Son has the life and he who does not have the Son of God does not have eternal life, for eternal life is in the Son. Those who believe God's witness of Christ have His resurrected life within—but those who have rejected God's witness are already condemned themselves, because they have not believed in the only begotten Son of God.