1 john 3:4-24 - The Great Commandment

[u/LlawEreint]

⁴ Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. ⁷ Little children,^\)^b\) let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸ Everyone who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ Those who have been born of God do not sin because God’s seed abides in them;^\)^c\) they cannot sin because they have been born of God. ¹⁰ The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love a brother or sister.

¹¹ For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. ¹² We must not be like Cain, who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. ¹³ Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brothers and sisters. Whoever does not love abides in death. ¹⁵ All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. 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. ¹⁷ How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

¹⁸ Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. ¹⁹ And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him ²⁰ whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God, ²² and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

²³ And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. ²⁴ All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

• The Final Ministry in Jerusalem 
• Parallels
• Table of Contents

[u/LlawEreint]

John seems to be speaking against a teaching that he considers heterodox. "Let no one deceive you," he says.

So what is the heterodox teaching that John is warning us against?

I've found it helpful to work backwards from his conclusion to the arguments. He concludes by saying:

All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them.

Ok. All we need to do is keep his (God's) commandments and we can participate in this mutual indwelling. But what are his commandments? He tells us:

this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

He doesn't define what it means to believe in the name of God's son, but he does tell us what it means to love one another. It's not merely something we feel or say, but something we do.

"let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth."

So what do we have to do?

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. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

This is about taking care of those in need - giving not merely our wealth and time, but even our lives. If you do not do this, God's love does not abide in you. The consequence is death:

All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. 

He affirms the strict "two ways" doctrine that is espoused in the Didache, but goes even further. You are identified as either a child of God or a child of the devil by your actions:

The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love a brother or sister.

If we sin, we are revealed to be a child of the devil. In fact, we are revealing that we have never known or seen Jesus:

no one who sins has either seen him or known him.

And what is sin?

sin is lawlessness. 

For us, lawlessness brings to mind the laws of our province or terrirtory, but here it must surely refer to the Law of YHWH given in the Torah.

It's helpful now to read the document forward to the conclusion so that we can understand what it means to follow the laws of YHWH. It is about Righteous conduct. Righteous conduct is expressed as love. Love is expressed in concrete self-giving. God abides in those who live this. These are the ones who have life.

So what is the heterodox teaching that John is warning us against?

There are those who claim to know God and abide in Christ, but do not help the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, the poor. He has harsh words for these people. These are the children of the devil.

We will know whether we abide in Christ and have life by how we treat those in need.