Week 17 of the series on the epistles on John. This week is 1 John 3:11-24.

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1 John 3:11-24

Intro
In this section we will read of love and hate. We come to the centre, or mid-point, of the letter. Perhaps we could also say we are getting to the heart of the letter as John speaks of love.

The turn of the spiral this time is on the word ‘beginning’, verse 11.

See 1 John 1:1
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched— this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

1 John 2:7
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.

1 John 2:13
I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.

1 John 2:14
I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

1 John 2:24
See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

1) Cain

Cain represents the unbelieving world around us, while Abel represents the people of God and righteousness. See Genesis 4.

See Hebrews 11:4
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

Cain represents man’s way rather than God’s way, man made religion rather than the way of the creator. Grain offering rather than the required offering which involved blood. “Without the shedding of blood…”

Cain represents a supposed bloodless route to God. I say “supposed” because there is not other route. No other route leads to the one God, Lord of lords, King of kings.

See Hebrews 9: 11-18, 22
11 When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation.
12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.
14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance— now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
16 In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it,
17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.
18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.
22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

How can we compare other faiths compared to the Way of God, the only, and the most high, the way of the Lamb that was slain?

Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

See John 1:29
The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Revelation 1:4-8
John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father — to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 5:6
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the centre of the throne…


2) “Have passed from death to life”
We know we are not of Cain because we (v14) have passed from death to life. And we know we have passed from death to life because we love our brethren.

“Have passed from death to life” is already accomplished. This is something we are meant to “know”. See John 5:24 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 20:30-31
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The hearers of this letter would have known these words of Jesus. Members of this community are being reminded that to know they are part of the community of faith in Jesus is important when compared to the claims of the false teachers and their attempts to recruit.

3) Love and Hate
Verse 18, “With actions and truth.”

Here the teaching of this letter reaches the crescendo. After the beginning in 1:1 and a high point in 2:7 where love is hinted at but not fully explored, here it is like the clash of cymbals with a background roll of drums as music soars. This is a pivotal moment in the letter. This is about how to live, when we are with believers and when we are with unbelievers.

Verses 19-20
Assurance when we feel condemnation. Assurance of our security results from love with “actions and truth”. “Love…with actions and in truth… This then is how we know that we belong to the truth.” However, our security does not come from the quality of our lives, but by grace which we have received through faith. See Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no-one can boast.

Hate 3:13
In the Bible both hatred and love are seen primarily as moral qualities, attitudes expressed in actions rather than mere emotions.

We will experience opposition for no other reason than we belong to Jesus. Some of those still in spiritual darkness will delight to feel the presence of Jesus in us while others will be irritated and enraged by it.

NOTE:
Why should Christians often assume they are hated by unbelievers? I think we should cultivate the opposite expectation or we are doomed to poor relationships.

I heard a preacher say, “When you enter a room, expect that the people there will like you.” He went on to say that it will alter how we behave and how others treat us. We are more likely to get what we expect.

This week I want to expect the best. I want to make the correct decisions to love in truth and action. I want to be resting in the assurance that the price is paid for me, I am someone who has already passed from death into life.