Our Savior Lutheran Church

Open It

1. Who is someone (in history or alive today) whose life is an example of what it means to love?

2. Who is someone (in history or alive today) whose life is an example of what it means to hate?

Explore It

John is now ready to lead his readers into a second look at the second test. Having shown them a preliminary outline of the test of love in 2:7-11, he distinguished between the hatred of the world exemplified in Cain (3:12-13) and the love of believers exemplified in Christ (3:14-18).

3. What message had the readers of 1 John heard from the beginning? (3:11)

The old-new command of chapter 2 was the command to love. Here “the message you heard from the beginning” is made emphatically clear. The love commanded is both mutual and reciprocal. There is no target mentioned. It is a love for all people.

4. Why did Cain murder his brother? (3:12)

To contrast love with hate, John drew an illustration from the world’s second generation. In the conflict between Cain and Abel, we see the awful consequences of anger, hate, and making wrong choices. Cain’s murderous act revealed his family origin. He “belonged to the evil one” (v.12). His jealousy turned into hatred. Hatred resulted in murder. In this deed, his identity was revealed.

5. About what should believers not be surprised? (3:13)

Based upon the truth behind this real-life illustration, a command is given (v.13). Believers are not to be surprised if the world hates them. Why? Because hatred is all the world knows. Cain’s life is simply a picture of how the world works. Children of the devil act like the devil, and the people of the world hate like their “father.”

6. How can a person know that he or she has passed from death to life? (3:14)

The contrast between true believers and people of the world is not presented. What do loving attitudes prove about a person (vv.14-15)? What does love look like (vv.16-18)?

A life of love is an indication that a person is saved. “We know” means that John and the true believers know for a fact. What they know is that they are saved from death. The classic picture of salvation is painted here by John when he refers to the passing “from death to life” (v.14). The perfect tense of the verb passed signifies an act accomplished in the past with the results remaining in the present. “Life,” meaning eternal life, is the permanent state of the believer that came about as an act of faith.

“We have passed” translates a picturesque Greek word (matabaino). It is normally used of a topographical change of place. For example, it is translated “leave” in John 7:3: “You ought to leave here and go to Judea” In John 13:1, Jesus used it to describe His departure from this world to go to the Father. When used of “passing” form death to life, a literal spiritual change of address is meant. Jesus taught this reality when He said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).

The opposite is also true. The person without love is still in death. The present tense of the verb remains (v.14b) signifies the current and abiding position of the person who does not love.

7. What is the result of hating one’s brother? (3:15)

The result of the above condition is stated in verse 15. The person who lives a lifestyle of hatred is essentially a murderer and does not possess eternal life.

8. How do we know what love is? (3:16)

John is finally ready to give some substance to his teaching on love. Here in verses 16-18, he defined love by way of example. No longer is this a vague command but a specific duty.

John began by writing literally: “In this we know love” (v.16a). “We know” translates the word for that means to “know by experience.” How do we come to understand the nature of love? It was not possible to grasp this until Christ had “laid down his life for us” (v.16b). He sacrificed His physical life for us. This is love. As Cain was the supreme example of hate, Christ is the perfect picture of love. To rob a person of his or her life (murder) is the worst of sins. To give up one’s life for another is the supreme example of love.

John quickly turned from the definition to the response. He focused on the example, and then pointed the way toward action. If love is the mark of a true believer, and if love is defined by Christ’s laying down His life for us, then “we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (v.16c). The effects of Christ’s loving self-sacrifice are unique, but the pattern for our social behavior is set by Him. We must sacrifice for others.

9. What question did the author ask his readers? (3:17)

If John’s readers thought that death is the only way to love others, he reminded them in verses 17-18 that love is eminently practical. John switched the target of love from plural (“our brothers,” v.16) to singular (“his brother,” v.17). By doing so, he brought the command from the world of theory to the world of practical and attainable action. True believers love by sharing what they have with those who are in need. If they don’t, how can the love of God be in them?”

10. How should Christians love? (3:18)

11. What is God greater than? (3:20)

Verses 19-24 is an “aside,” but it is important. Verses 19-20 relate how assurance is gained, and verses 21-24 describe some benefits of this assurance.

Two types of assurance are described here: 91) the assurance that comes in normal times and (2) the assurance that is needed in times of crisis when our own hearts condemn us. In both cases the assurance comes from the same source. “This is how” points backward toward the truth that love toward others carried through in actions is proof of a person’s true relationship with Christ. It is this genuine love that provides the assurance that “we belong to the truth.”

The crisis John brought up is the crisis of a condemning heart. The phrase “whenever our hearts condemn us” in verse 20 reveals that this may not be such an abnormal or infrequent crisis. When it does occur, it is a continual, persistent work of our conscience. At times the true believer may experience thoughts which encourage doubt.

When this happens, John says there is a way in which assurance can be gained, a way in which our hearts can be “set at rest.” In those moments when doubt enters a believer’s heart, it is not the feelings that are to be trusted; it is knowledge. What we know about the truth and our compliance with it can bring assurance. If there is evidence of a sacrificial, loving lifestyle, then assurance is gained. This kind of love is not natural; it is brad into those who have become God’s children. So the visible evidence of Christlike love produces the assurance of a Christ-saved life.

Our hearts or our consciences cannot always be trusted. John declared, “God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” God is greater in that He is more knowledgeable and is more true. Sometimes our hearts will condemn us, but if a true believer is condemned, then the accusations are unjust and we are to rely on the justice and mercy of God.

The phrase “set at rest” translates a unique word in the New Testament (peisomen). It only occurs here and in Matthew 28:14. The basic meaning of the word is “to convince” or “to persuade.” In context it takes on the meaning of “pacify,” “soothe,” or “reassure.” As a tranquilizer can calm a wild animal, so the truth can pacify a confused heart.

12. What is the result of not being condemned by one’s heart? (3:21-22)

John moved into the wonderful benefits of assurance with a term of endearment. With the title “dear friends” (literally “beloved”), the heaviness of his discussion lightens somewhat and the freshness of relief is felt. John listed two benefits of assurance (vv.21-22) and gave a summary of God’s commands (v.23) before he gave his final thought on assurance (v.24).

Two primary benefits of assurance are mentioned in verses 21-22. First, there is “confidence before God.” John mentioned this confidence in 2:28 in the context of the believer before Christ at the Second Coming of Christ. Here he said this can be a present experience. The principle is that the true believer obeys the love command and has confidence to speak boldly before God.

The second benefit is the assurance of answered prayer: “And receive from him anything we ask” (v.22a) “Ask” and “receive” are both in the present tense, suggesting an ongoing activity and experience of immediate response by God to our prayers. There is a condition for such a benefit (not a cause). This conditio9n is that the believers “obey his commands and do what pleases him” (v.22b). This obedience and pleasing action (namely to love others) are evidence that our will is in harmony with God’s. God doesn’t just grant whatever a believer asks. He gives when the prayer is asked according to His will (1 John 5:14).

13. What is God’s command? (3:23)

What are the commands that we are to obey? John gave them in verse 23, but he listed them only as one command (note the singular, “command”) with two parts. First, we are to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.” To believer in the name means to “accept the character of.” We are commanded to believe that the man Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ who is the Son of God. the verb believe is in the aorist tense, and signifies a single, once-for-all act. Second, we are “to love one another as he commanded us.” “To love” translates a present-tense verb that signifies ongoing, continual action. Faith and love are combined into a single command. Obedience of this command keeps the believer in the heart of God’s will.

14. What is the result of obeying God’s command? (3:24)

In verse 24, John added that the Spirit aids in our assurance. John’s mention of the Spirit does not introduce a new inward or subjective test. John is saying that the Spirit in us is the one who can lead us to obey, love and believe. Therefore, assurance comes as we look for and find evidence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

15. How do believers know that God lives in them? (3:24)

Get It

16. How does the world hate believers today?

17. When have you experienced the hatred of the world?

18. What does it mean to love one’s brother?

19. When do you struggle with loving other Christians?

20. How do you demonstrate your love for fellow believers?

21. Why do we struggle with loving other Christians with our material possessions?

22. Why is it easier to love with words rather than actions?

23. In what way does love result in life, and hate result in death?

Apply It

24. For what fellow Christian whom you have difficulty loving will you do something kind this week?

25. How can you use your material possessions to love another believer this week?

26. What specific step will you take this week to put your love for another Christian into action?