A STUDY OF 1 JOHN (25)

 

Beloved, Let Us Love One Another

1 John 4:7-12

Victor M. Eskew

 

            John begins this section of his epistle with a simple command:  “Beloved, let us love one another…” (1 John 4:7).  In verse 11, he gives a similar admonition:  “…we ought also to love one another.”  We have used John’s words to title this article.  Remember, loving others was not a command eagerly followed by the Gnostics.  If another did not adhere to their heresy, that individual was not loved by the Gnostic crowd.  Their lack of love was one proof that they were not of God.

            In 1 John 4:7-8, John makes a contrast between those who love and those who love not.  We have entitled this section:  OPPOSITE POSITIONS.  John tells us:  “…every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7).  To be born of God indicates that a person is a child of God.  Notice, too, that John says that they “know” God.  It was the Gnostics who declared that they had true knowledge, but they did not love as God commanded.  John declares that those who love are the ones who know God.  Faithful Christians are put at odds with the antichrists because they love.  They love because “love is of God.”  If an individual has truly been born again, that individual has the same traits as his heavenly Father.  God loves.  Therefore, God’s children love. 

            On the other hand, John says:  “He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:8).  The Gnostics boldly proclaimed that they knew God, but they did not love.  Their lack of love was evidence that they did not know God at all.  Here, we learn that claims alone prove nothing.  Claims must be back by evidence.  If a person does not love, he cannot know God.  Why?  John reveals the answer.  “…for God is love” (1 John 4:8).  God’s nature is love.  He is the fountain of all love that exists in the world.  Where there is no love, God is not present. 

            John finished verse 8 making a claim about God, that is, “God is love.”  Now he proves that claim.  He reveals the OPTIMUM PROFESSION of love that has ever been shown in 1 John 4:9-10.  “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”  Notice that God “manifested” His love toward us.  Strong’s Concordance defines the word as “to render apparent.”  Thayer says that it can be defined as:  “make actual and visible, apparent.”  Vine teaches us that the Greek word comes from a root word meaning “to shine.”  He defines the words as “open to sight, visible.”  God’s love for man is not concealed within the mind of God.  It shines forth brightly.  It is open for all to see. 

God’s love shines brightly by means of His Son Jesus Christ.  God’s love sent His only begotten Son into the world.  Just to send Jesus into the world in the form of a human being was an act of love.  His coming, though, has a purpose.  God wanted sinful man to “live through him.”  He did this through an even bolder act of love.  God’s Son became “the propitiation for our sins.”  Jesus came to atone for our sins.  Jesus came to appease our sins.  The divine sentence for sin is death.  Once a man sins, he has no means on earth to be forgiven of his transgressions.  Animals cannot do it.  No other human being can do it because no human is a perfect sacrifice.  Out of His deep love for humanity, God sent His only begotten Son to be the perfect sacrifice for sins.  In the tenth chapter of Hebrews, the inspired writer discusses the sacrifice of Christ in detail.  “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10).  “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12).  “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Heb. 10:14).  It is impossible for us to understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us on Calvary.  A spirit being taking the nature of flesh.  God being tempted by Satan to sin.  A perfect individual bearing the sins of the world.  An eternal being dying for us because He became flesh.  An innocent victim being subject to the horrors of crucifixion as if He were guilty of great crimes.  This sacrifice was made because God loved us and sent His son.  He commanded Him to die for the sins of His enemies.  When God saw Jesus’s blood and His death at Golgatha, He was satisfied (Isa. 53:11).  “Oh what wonderous love He had for you and me!”

John ends this second section with an admonition to his readers.  “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (1 John 4:11). How can someone refuse to love another once he understands how God has love him?  We might have to die for the person, but the possibility of that happening is not great.  God calls upon us to live for the individual.  We are to serve, help, encourage, forgive, comfort, and edify that individual.  God loved that person when He sent Jesus to die on the cross.  We, too, are to love that person fervently.

In the last verse of the section, 1 John 4:12, John reveals an OVERWHELMING PROMISE to those who love others.  He first states a truth.  “No man hath seen God at any time.”  God is a Spirit.  He is invisible.  No man, including Joseph Smith, has ever seen Him.  This does not mean that we cannot have a relationship with Him.  Listen to the conclusion of 1 John 4:12.  “…If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”  Isn’t that an overwhelming promise?  God can dwell in us.  No, we are not possessed by Him.  As God’s children, all that is involved in the nature of God can be found in us.  This includes His love.  And, that love is perfected in us.  As we learn and grow, our love matures.  We learn in a small measure to love as God loved.  We learn to put the needs of others before our own.  We learn to sacrifice on another’s behalf.  Others might ask us:  “Why do you love so?”  Our response is simple:  “Because God love us.”