Lesson for July 31, 2024
Book of I John
I John 3:10-18
Verse 10
“By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.”
The Greek word for children is “teknon,” and has to do with our relationship with God as growing believers. When we properly function as Christ’s advancing believers, we will practice the righteousness of God and His power system. When we fail to properly function as advancing believers, we will practice the unrighteousness of Satan and his world system. The evidence of the proper function as an advancing believer is exhibiting divine righteousness and divine love toward others. The Greek word for obvious is “phaneroo,” and means to make visible, to make clear, or to make known. John was drawing a contrast between the divine good and the human good produced by an advancing believer.
Verse 11-12
“For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s (deeds) were righteous.”
The story of Cain and Abel is a well-known story in the Old Testament. This story was used by John as an illustration of the work of Satan in contrast to the work of God. Cain was an unbeliever, and as far as we know, did not accept God’s salvation solution of the coming Savior, Jesus Christ. The offering that he brought to God from his labor of tilling the ground seems to indicate that Cain was an unbeliever. Cain’s offering illustrated man’s attempt to please God by human merit, which does not result in salvation. On the other hand, Abel brought an animal sacrifice which was the type of Christ, the coming Savior, as he and Cain had been taught to do.
Abel’s offering illustrated man’s inability to please God by human merit, indicating that he was a believer. Abel showed that he understood the redemption solution; Cain did not. It was Cain’s hatred and jealousy that caused him to murder Abel.
Verse 13
“Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.”
Hatred is an inward attitude that was manifested in the murder of Abel by Cain. A believer who is living the Christian Way of Life should not be surprised if they are hated by those in Satan’s world system, just as Cain hated Abel. Satan is the ruler of this world system and “the father” of those who exhibit hatred for their fellowman. When a believer exhibits hatred toward others, they are functioning like unbelievers who hate Christians.
The spiritual relationship with God that an advancing believer possesses cannot be understood by unbelievers. This lack of understanding can lead to ridicule and hatred from others. We must always remember that we are not citizens of this world. Our citizenship is in Heaven, and we are merely passing through on the way to our final home. Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union was our prototype for living the Christian life and He was hated by the world to the point of death. Therefore, don’t be shocked when hatred is directed toward you from others.
Verse 14
“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.”
When we examine ourselves as believers, a true test of our level of spiritual maturity is whether or not we are able to exhibit divine impersonal love for our fellow believers. Since all believers are part of the family of God, it makes perfect sense that we should naturally love those who are a part of our family. This does not mean that we personally love everyone. It does mean that we love others unconditionally, especially those who are part of our Christian family.
The Greek word for death in this verse is “thanatos,” and means separation. The first “death” in this verse is an obvious reference to spiritual death, and life refers to eternal life. (Ephesians 2:1; Romans 5:12, 6:23; John 3:16) Only a believer can exhibit the love of God. An unbeliever cannot exhibit divine love.
The second “death” in this verse refers to the temporal death of a believer. Temporal death is defined as a believer out of fellowship with God, controlled by their sin nature. (Romans 8:6,13; Ephesians 5:14; I Timothy 5:6; James 1:15; Revelation 3:1; I John 3:14)
The inability to exhibit divine impersonal love toward a fellow believer is an indication that a believer is out of fellowship with God (a state of temporal death of their spiritual life). As an advancing believer, you may or may not have the doctrinal information resident in your soul with regard to impersonal love. As a believer, you may be able to define impersonal love, recite passages that refer to it, and know how it should be applied. However, if you are out of fellowship with God, you have no power to apply it.
Verse 15
“Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.”
Can a believer hate another person to the point of murder and still possess eternal life? The answer is yes. This verse does not say that a murderer cannot have eternal life or that a believer cannot commit murder.
John is once again contrasting the life within God’s power system with the life within Satan’s cosmic system. The contrast is between hatred (Satan’s system) and love (God’s system). Jesus did say in the Gospels that a person who hates his brother without cause has already committed murder in his heart. This satanic attitude of hatred is not from God and will not be exhibited by a person who is in fellowship with God. Has eternal life remaining in him means that when a believer exhibits hatred toward another person, they have acted in a manner as an unbeliever who does not have eternal life abiding in them.
Verse 16
“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters.”
The Greek word for know is “ginosko” and means to know by experience or observation. John knew the love of God by first-hand observation and experience. John observed the impeccability of Jesus Christ, observed the miracles He performed and ultimately watched as Christ was crucified. John understood the love of God in a way few others could. Now you and I can understand that same great love from the study of God’s Word. God’s love for us should be the motivating factor in all that we do. John uses the love of fellow believers as one of the results of this motivation. Both hatred and love can be motivators. Hatred can motivate a person to commit murder. Love can motivate a person to lay down his life for another. Once again, we see the contrast between operating in God’s power system and operating in Satan’s world system.
Verse 17
“But whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him?”
In the previous verse, John tells us that we should be willing to lay down our lives for a fellow believer. If, as John suggests, we should be willing to lay down our lives, then it follows that we would be willing to do the lesser deed of showing compassion. For believers with the means to help others, they can demonstrate their impersonal love by helping fellow believers in need.
Verse 18
“Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”
John continues his thought by reemphasizing the necessity of demonstrating our love by our divine good works. These outward demonstrations of our impersonal love as Royal Ambassadors are the result of a maturing relationship with God as Royal Priests.