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The Letters of John
BC Weekly Digest Monday, October 5 1998 In this issue: 1 John 4:19 1 John 4:20,21 1 John 4:18-21 1 John 4:19 1 John 4:19 (OPV) We love, because He first loved us. === John returns to the idea expressed in 10 and 11: "This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son [to be] the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another". God took the initiative in showing us love and teaching us to love. Jesus tells His followers: "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34 ASV). "Even as the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you: abide ye in my love" (John 15:9 ASV). "And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ" (2 Thes 3:5 ASV). "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all" (2 Cor 13:14 ASV). Roy Davison ------------------------------ 1 John 4:20,21 1 John 4:20,21 (OPV) 20 If a man says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God should love his brother also. === 4:20 "If a man says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar" In verses 19-21 John repeats a chain of thought found in chapter 3: (1) we learn love from God; (2) therefore this we should love one another; (3) to be valid, love must express itsself in action: "We know love because He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Now whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart against him, how can God's love be abiding in him? Little children, let us love, not in word or with the tongue, but in action and truth" (1 John 3:16-18 OPV). The same principle applies to faith: "What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him?" (James 2:14 ASV). John warns his readers about religious liars: "He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4 OPV). "Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?" (1 John 2:22). [See also John 8:44,55.] 4:20 "For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen" James expresses a similar idea: "But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] a restless evil, [it is] full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God: out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet [water] and bitter? Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? Neither [can] salt water yield sweet" (James 3:8-12 ASV). How we treat those made in the likeness of God, reveals our attitude to their Creator. John carries this idea into the next chapter: "Whoever loves Him who gives birth, loves him also who is born of Him" (1 John 5:1). 4:21 "And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God should love his brother also" Jesus forcefully taught this same lesson in a parable: "And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and made trial of him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Jesus made answer and said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And in like manner a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion, and came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on [them] oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow he took out two shillings, and gave them to the host, and said, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, I, when I come back again, will repay thee. Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor unto him that fell among the robbers? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. And Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou likewise" (Luke 10:25-37). Roy Davison ------------------------------ 1 John 4:18-21 1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love, but perfect love expels fear, because fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears has not been perfected in love" (OPV). Certainly, each one of us has sinned, but we should never let the feeling of condemnation take hold of our spirits. We must realize that fearfulness brings on thoughts of punishment and he who constantly fears God has not become perfected in love. This is because doing God's will is our way of showing our love toward Him and when we neglect to do His will, then we fear Him. 1 John 4:19 "We love Him because He first loved us" (OPV). Our reason to love God is because He has loved us, loved us enough to send His one and only Son to suffer such an ignominious death upon that cross! It is for this reason that He loved us first, even before we were born, that we are duty-bound to love Him in return. 1 John 4:20 "If a man says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who hates his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen" (OPV). We should all love one another for that is our duty. Jesus said in Mark 12:30,31: "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Bigotry will cause one to lose his soul. We cannot pick and choose whom we will love or not love. In Galatians 6:10 the apostle tells us to "...do good to all men, especially those of the household of faith." This means that I, as an individual, have the responsibility to find the opportunity to be kind, patient, benevolent, gentle and loving to all mankind and especially to those who are my brethren in the faith (Christians). Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:9, "Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." We sometimes get the denominational idea that Christians will be saved in groups or on a congregational basis, but we aren't going to be saved in any such fashion. Paul states, ".... that each one may receive the things [done] in the body, according to what he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad"(2 Cor 5:10). 1 John 4:21 "And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God should love his brother also" (OPV). Certainly, we must love our fellow man, be he poor or rich, frail or healthy, meek or strong. Regardless of their condition, we are to love all men, not just those of our race, our color or our nationality. There are wars going on throughout the world that are called "ethnic" wars in the name of religion. These ought not to be. And those who fight in such are displeasing to God regardless of the cause. In Ireland, there has been bloodshed because of religious fanaticism. In Africa there has been bloodshed because of religious persuasion. In the Baltic nations, there has been "ethnic cleansing" carried out in the name of God on one side and in the name of "Allah" on the other. Neither of these can be pleasing to God. There is no reason for men to kill their fellows other than hatred. God hates such bigotry. No one can love God without loving his fellow man. We can differ in opinion but that does not give you or me the right to hate anyone. We can and should hate sin but we must love the sinner and try to teach him what love is through our example. Remember that "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13 KJV). Howard Justice