The Command to Love - Part 2
Love is NOT optional for the true Christian.
The Imperative of Love
10 “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 not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another”.
This describes two classes of people:- Children of God and Children of the devil.
13 “Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him”.
The Outworking of Love
We have experienced the love of Jesus by laying down His life for us. Therefore we MUST love.
16 “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him”?
Verse 17: This is the acid test of Christianity, in other words, it demonstrates the true value of our Christian faith, by which we know whether we are following the example of God’s love to others. If we are not willing to give of material things to others in need, we certainly would not lay down our lives for them.
18 “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth”.
John is telling us here how to love and how NOT to love. How must we love? In deed- that is by definite acts. And in truth (by being genuine in doctrine & obedient to His word).
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.” Remember the scripture in John 13:34……. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error
24 “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us”.
If Christ is sinless and the purpose of His coming was to remove sin, then whoever abides in Him does not sin. Habitually sinful conduct indicates an absence of fellowship with Christ. Therefore, if we claim to be a Christian, but sin is our way of life, our status as children of God can legitimately be questioned. We are called to have such a close relationship with Jesus that our life is lived through Him. As you’ve no doubt heard before….when people look at us they should see Jesus and be drawn to Him. Wow what a challenge that is!
Verse 18: Similar to James…..in our last chat. Don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger. God’s word is truth. We either believe it or we don’t. I know that many Christians believe in ‘Once Saved Always Saved’, they believe that we only have to make a commitment to the Lord at any stage of our lives and then continue to live however we like and we are on our way to heaven. I see nothing in the bible that supports that, although I can understand why they would believe that…..because they are lazy Christians. They have no fear of the Lord and just want a comfortable ride to heaven. Sadly, they may well arrive at the wrong destination, as they’ve taken the wide road rather than the narrow.
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing”. Let’s continue to bear the fruit that Jesus requires of us.