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The book of First John A Verse by Verse Study A. In part one we learned: 1. John spoke of an old commandment. “Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning.” V. 7a This commandment is love, that is the love that God has given us. 2. John also spoke of a new commandment, “Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: “ New in that this commandment came to us from Jesus. John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. (35.) By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” 3. We also saw that this love is
unconditional. The bottom line is this, if we are saved we love other
believers unconditionally, this is the commandment of the Lord, just as He
loves us. Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (36.)
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are
accounted as sheep for the slaughter. (37.) Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. (38.) For I am persuaded,
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come, (39.) Nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord.” B. V. 9 says, “He that saith he is in the
light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even
until now.” 1. Again notice there is
no condition to hating his brother; it cannot be under any condition. 2. There is no mean between light and
darkness, love and hatred, life and death, God and the world: wherever
spiritual life is, however weak, there darkness and death no longer reign,
and love supersedes hatred. Luke 9:50 “And Jesus said unto him,
Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.” 3. If life is there then
love is there, however, wherever life is not, there is
death, darkness, the flesh, the world, and hatred. Hatred is not in the
vocabulary of Christians. Luke 11:23
“He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth
not with me scattereth.” C. V. 9b “hateth
his brother, is in darkness even until now.” 1. The easiest way to
define this is, he who hates his brother is
lost. That is, he cannot have true
religion unless he has love to the brethren. 2. Loving one another was
not an option, but rather a command from the Lord. John
15:17 “These things I command you, that ye love one another.” 3. This love we have one
for the other is how people tell we are different. John
13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if
ye have love one to another.” 4. This is really not a
subject that should have to be taught. 1 Thessalonians 4:9 “But as touching brotherly love ye need not that
I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of
God to love one another.” taught of God means divinely instructed – meaning
God wrote it in our hearts. D. V. 10 “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of
stumbling in him.” Stumbling in him means there is no scandal or offence in
him. 1. One that walks in the
light does not set stumbling blocks in his brother’s paths. If we are in the
Lord then we are in light not giving room for darkness to enter. 2. We also will not put
stumbling blocks in our brother’s way, or do something that will cause them
to sin. Romans 14:13 “Let us
not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man
put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his
brother's way.” 3. The Lord tests us
sometimes but never puts stumbling blocks in our path to cause us to stumble
in darkness. E. V. 11 “But he that hateth his brother is
in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth,
because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.”
1. He here the Lord says
if a person is saved and cannot love his brother then he is not saved. 2. The word “walketh” means to be occupied with, that is to say it is
their daily walk and that daily walk is in darkness. 3. The Lord goes on to say
“knoweth not whither he goeth,
because that darkness hath blinded his eyes” because he is not saved he has
not light in which to see to walk. 4. Nothing else matters,
church membership, kindness, hard working, great depthness
in the doctrines. If one cannot love his brother in Christ he is spiritually
dead. 5. God speaks of a lot of different things
Christians are to do but this one is a must because this love flows from God
to us all. |