We are striving to be pleasing to God and therefore we confidently pray to God. 4236 Haverhill Road, West Palm Beach Florida, 33417, 2018 Lectureship Series (A New View of Life), 2016 Lectureship Series (Growing In Godliness), 2015 Lectureship Series (Following The Followers of Jesus), 2012 Lectureship Series (Escaping Ordinary), 2011 Lectureship Series (Refreshed: Revive Your Faith), 2010 Lectureship Series (He Still Moves Stones), 2009 Lectureship Series (Building Character from Bible Characters), 2008 Lectureship Series (A Closer Look at Romans 12), 2007 Lectureship Series (Drawing Closer to God), 2006 Lectureship Series (Building Proven Character). “It is the Lord’s command, and if this is done, it is enough.”. Perhaps we think John is exaggerating or going a little overboard. They were the ones with the new revelations. God is greater than our guilty feelings. And any gospel you believe, any gospel you proclaim that does not include both doctrine and ethics is only half a gospel tragically incomplete, radically distorted, hopelessly deficient. "For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another." We are proving we are not his disciples. Test the *spirits to see if they are true (1 John 4:1-6) v1 My friends, do not believe every *spirit. By coincidence, I was reading a commentary on this exact passage earlier today. God knows that you are seeking him. The doctrinal foundation that God is light and the moral, ethical foundation of love for one another are both at the heart of the apostolic gospel. Therefore, do not be surprised that the world hates you. God is greater than our hearts. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:12–15 ESV). Since we are God’s children now, and since we hope in the day when we shall be […] It is a very close parallel (almost word for word) with 1 John 1:5. ", Vine - The readers heard it from the beginning, since it was among the first things inculcated in their hearts as believers, and not only so but it had been constantly repeated. But John wants us to know that we can have our hearts assured. There the message which John's readers had heard was a doctrinal one, the theological foundation for their faith that rests in the character of God 'This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all' (1Jn 1:5). We beat ourselves up for not doing better. The practical example John gives is of a Christian who has material possessions, sees a brother in Christ in true need, and does not do anything about it. John 15:12 "is itself a restatement of the “new commandment” of John 13:34." … … From Talk Thru the Bible. Supremely these moral responses are to be ones of love. And then and only then will we be free to forget about ourselves in order to genuinely love someone else. Love is the denial of self for another’s gain. John begins the next section of his letter with his central theme -- love: "This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another." John speaks of the evidence of love in 1 Jn 3:14–15, and sandwiching those verses on either side comes John's teaching about the essence of love. We are talking about sacrificing for each other. (1 John 3 Commentary - Daily Study Bible), Harris notes that "This section marks the beginning of the second major part of First John (1John 3:11–5:12)." But God is greater than our hearts. Perhaps some have thought that because Christians talk about a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” that it is only us and Jesus who matter. Jerome informs us that toward the close of the apostle’s life, after he had become too infirm to preach, he still continued constantly to give the exhortation, “Little children, love one another.” He tells us how he remarked. We know that we have fallen short. We must be around each other to love each other. God knows us and forgives us even we seem to be unable to forgive ourselves. Our churches are full of selfish, bickering people. What we need, which is what his readers needed, is to go back to what we have heard from the beginning. 1Jn 3:11 and 1Jn 1:5 are the only NT uses of aggelia. (Harris), Stott explains that this original Gospel message "was also public knowledge in contrast to the private and secret enlightenment which the false teachers claimed. THE BEGINNING MESSAGE A. Now in our verse today (1 Jn 3:11) the message they had heard from the beginning was equally foundational, but now not in the realm of doctrine, but of ethics. These sinful decisions can weigh our hearts down. (Harris) Earlier John had said, Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. We have the full, complete revealed word of God that tells us what we must do to be pleasing to God. Why do we need to confess our sins in they have already been forgiven (1 John 1:9)? As the writer of Hebrews declared, we stir each other up to love and good works when we are gathering together (Hebrews 10:24-25). This hope is the motivation for our purification. When we are walking in the light, confessing our sins, and turning to the Lord, God has promised to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). This is the great commandment of God. We are living with Christ, but are living in darkness, separated from God. God answers our prayers when we are walking down the right path. For (hoti) serves here as a marker of an explanatory clause, "drawing an inference based upon all that has preceded." 1. From the very beginning, that is, from the very first time they heard the Gospel, John's readers knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what God would expect and would empower them to do: love one another… And any gospel you believe, any gospel you proclaim that does not include both doctrine and ethics is only half a gospel, tragically incomplete, radically distorted, hopelessly deficient. His example, John says, is not at all to be followed by Christians. You and I as individuals are responsible to share our goods with our brothers and sisters who experience true need. 1 John 3:11–18 follows an important passage on our identity as children of God, 2:28–3:10. 1. Arché refers to what is first or has primacy (the state of being first). Compassion will lead to action. We must clean out the filth in our lives and stop practicing sins because we see the amazing love the Father has given us so that we can be called children of God. "The beginning" likely refers to when his readers first heard the gospel message. We must show we love (cf. The character of God, who as light is wholly righteous, true and loving demands and empowers moral responses on the part of his children. (1 John 3 Commentary), John Piper: "The wording of 1Jn 3:11 is striking. Hawley - Our nature has consequences; eventually we act the way we really are. We are not talking about saying that we love each other. (Love: A Matter of Life and Death), Choose Book of Bible to StudyGenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SolomonIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Search Wikipedia using spiritual discretion, Exalting Jesus in 1, 2, 3 John (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary. In the last 3 verses of this passage John speaks of right relationship between ourselves and other Christians. Loving the Lord means that we deny ourselves for the glory of God. What does 1 John 3:11 mean? And it still is. John concludes this paragraph by encouraging our hearts and giving us further hope. Jesus now discloses to the henceforth silent Nicodemus, in growing excitement of feeling, the source of his ignorance, namely, his unbelief in what He testifies, and which yet is derived from His own knowledge and intuition. And I would add specifically "Life in the family (love of the brethren)! It is always about what others are doing for them, never about what they can do for others. Because of this the adjective “gospel” is included in the English translation (The NET Bible = "the gospel message"). He laid down his life for us. Date of Writing: The Book of 1 John was likely written between A.D. 85-95. Now in our verse today (1Jn 3:11) the message they had heard from the beginning was equally foundational, but now not in the realm of doctrine, but of ethics. When he appears, we shall be like him and we will see him as he is. A MARK OF THE CHILD OF GOD, Westcott sums up 1John 3:10-18 - "Life reveals the children of God!" “It is the Lord’s command, and if this is done, it is enough.” What is here stated, then, is that the manifestation of the character of Christ in the believer is the outcome of receiving the word of God. Sometimes our consciences still bother us because we know we have done wrong. Love acts. John was not telling them some new truth or something he had "invented." Bultmann cites Pauline usage as well (Rom 12:19; 2 Cor 7:1) to support his assertion that this was a common form of homiletical address in early Christianity. If we do not love, then we abide in death. Notice that John does not pass this off to the church to first deal with the situation. In these verses we are reminded once again that our love for one another is evidence of genuine faith in our hearts. I. 1John 1:5 And this is the message (aggelia) we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. We know that we have not loved like we ought to have loved. Book of 1 John - Bible Survey Who was John the Apostle in the Bible? God is greater than our condemning hearts. He knows your passionate pursuit of him. As John Calvin said "John reminds us that he was teaching nothing but what had been heard by the faithful concerning love from the beginning and had become old through long usage. What manner of (ποταπὴν) The word is of infrequent occurrence in the New Testament, but is found in all the Synoptists and in 2 Peter 3:11. When we get angry with one another and refuse to show proper love, we are showing that we are not born of God and do not have eternal life. John concludes that obviously murderers do not have eternal life. Read 1 John 3:23-24. Third, and the easiest to detect, God’s children love each other (1 John 3:11-24—Social). [⇑ See verse text ⇑] John begins a new section with a positive reminder about love. The reason why Cain killed Abel was because his own actions were evil while Abel’s actions were righteous. The Bible is the history of the Jewish people, and their existence to-day is a guarantee that the basis of the book is firm and undeniable. We can make decisions and take actions that affect our lives, affect the lives of our families, and the lives of others for years and years, generations and generations. Let those heavy words sink into our hearts and minds. Others, however, while not denying the eternality of the Son, argue that that is not John’s meaning here. John's command in 1Jn 2:24 applies to us in terms of ethics as well as doctrine 'Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.'" Children of the devil are self-consumed. Now that we have zeroed in on who John is talking about, let’s allow the strength of God’s word convict our hearts. Second, behavior is characterized by purity (1 John 2:28-3:10—Moral). The grammar of 1 John 3:6 indicates that John is speaking of a settled, continued lifestyle of sin. There the message which John's readers had heard was a doctrinal one, the theological foundation for their faith that rests in the character of God. 'For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.' Message (31)(aggelia related to aggelos = messenger; our English "Angel") means tidings, news, message, report. 10b-11) • Why can John say what he does at the end of verse 10? In the context the message is a reference to the original, apostolic Gospel, the good "message" of Him Who loved us (Jn 3:16) and which births children who exhibit a Spirit-enabled, supernatural love for their brothers and sisters in Christ. They would argue that instead the phrase means what it later means in 1 John 2:7, 2:24, and 3:11, namely, the beginning of the gospel. In the gospel of John, the apostle quotes the Lord Jesus declaring love as … Never forget Paul’s words when we talk about helping others: “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8 ESV) John is not speaking about those claiming to be Christians but refuse to work at all or work enough to take care of their own needs. (3:11) It's amazing that we Christians need to hear the message, the command, of love so often -- and still we don't get it. John in this context is speaking about helping our Christian brethren, so we need to bear this in mind. Cain murdered his brother Abel, as recorded in Genesis 4. Both doctrine and ethics are at the heart of the gospel because they are so inextricably linked. I. Loving others shows we have made the transition from being a child of the devil (3:10) to being born of God and a child of God. In Jesus' time the world hated him (John 7:7) and will hate his followers (John 15:18-19). Rather than see their own wickedness and repent, they hate those who expose their evil ways. But how we treat others - how we love one another - really matters before God. The positive example comes in 1Jn 3:16–18. ; John 4:35; John 19:26, John 19:27. Biblically speaking doctrine and ethics always go together. Every contemporaneous and collateral witness adds to this assurance. And why did he murder him? Doctrine is of the essence of the gospel--doctrine about the character of God; about human sin; about the mediator, Jesus Christ, who is the God-man; about his life, death and resurrection to forgive the sins of his people and give them eternal life; about the need for personal response of faith to appropriate the work of Christ into one's own life. After all of this discussion about helping others, why does John say "His command" is "to believe in the name of His Son?" We cannot say we love. They were the ones who were modern, progressive "with-it". 1 John 3:11. 1. That's what the false teachers in John's day were trumpeting. But it is equally true that the essence of the gospel includes the moral imperatives of repentance and of a new life of love lived under the Lordship of Christ and empowered by his Spirit. He knows that you are loving him and striving to serve him. Loving others means we deny ourselves from the good and gain of others. This is the hope of those who are born of God. What is the lust of the flesh? Answer: 1. Ephesians 3:3-5; 2 Peter 1:20-21). Footnotes. Supremely these moral responses are to be ones of love. Love is the denial of self for another’s gain. Cain murdered his brother Abel, as recorded in Genesis 4. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1 John 3:16 In 1 John 1:8, the grammar indicates John is speaking about occasional acts of sin. But listen to the words of Jesus. John returns to the important topic of loving one another as a sign that we are living our lives in Christ. (Wuest), Guzik - The basic Christian message has not changed. (As we discussed, Jesus is the ultimate example of sacrificing for others. Our love for one another is demanded by the character of God but it is also empowered by the brightness of the God who is light and love, with whom there is no small print. Did he mean that he is discussing with Nicodemus the things that can be done on earth? 12 We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. 1 Jn 3:12–13 show us the negative example, Cain, who in his hatred and ultimate murder of his brother Abel is the prototype of the world. As he now fills in his preliminary sketch, he uses no colours but black and white. We also need to be aware that there are many in the world who know how to take advantage of Christians by claiming to be Christians even though their lives do not show this to be true. 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