Commentary - 1 John 3:11-24

Bird's-eye view

In this section of his letter, the apostle John lays out the stark contrast between the children of God and the children of the devil, and the defining characteristic that distinguishes them is love. This is not a sentimental, gauzy, greeting card kind of love. This is a rugged, practical, costly love that proves we have been transferred from the kingdom of death to the kingdom of life. John is not interested in theoretical Christianity; he is pressing the point that genuine faith has hands and feet. It helps a brother in need. It lays its life down.

John grounds this exhortation in the original story of brotherly conflict: Cain and Abel. Cain's hatred was not random; it was theological. He hated his brother because his brother's works were righteous, and his were evil. This sets the pattern for all of history. The world hates the church for the same reason. John then pivots from the world's hatred to the believer's assurance. How do we know we are saved? Because we love the brethren. This love is not just a feeling but a concrete action, which serves as a powerful testimony to our own hearts, especially when they are prone to condemn us. The section culminates by summarizing God's entire commandment: believe in the name of Jesus Christ and love one another. These two things are inextricably linked, and the presence of the Holy Spirit in us is the divine guarantee that we are abiding in Him and He in us.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;

John is not introducing some new ethical standard here. He is reminding them of the baseline, the message they got when they first signed up. This is Christianity 101. From the very beginning of the proclamation of the gospel, the ethical core has been this charge to love one another. This is not an add on, not an elective. It is part of the foundational curriculum. The love he speaks of is not a free floating sentiment, but a covenantal bond. It is the glue that holds the people of God together in a world that is actively hostile to them.

v. 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

To make sure we understand what this love is, John immediately gives us the ultimate picture of what it is not. He reaches all the way back to the first family and the first murder. Cain is the negative example par excellence. John says plainly that Cain was of the evil one. His spiritual parentage was satanic. This is why the hatred was so potent. It was not a simple sibling rivalry. It was a manifestation of the serpent's hatred for the seed of the woman. And the reason for the murder is laid bare: it was a clash of works. Abel's deeds were righteous, and Cain's were evil. Righteousness will always attract the hatred of the unrighteous. The very presence of a godly man is a torment to the conscience of a wicked one. This is the root of all persecution.

v. 13 Do not marvel, brothers, if the world hates you.

Given the Cain and Abel template, this is the logical conclusion. If you are living a righteous life, you should fully expect the world to despise you. John says, "Do not marvel." Don't be surprised. Don't act like something strange is happening. The world system is energized by the same spirit that energized Cain. When the world sees a group of people whose lives are a quiet rebuke to their own, hatred is the natural reaction. If the world loves you and thinks you are just swell, you have a far bigger problem than if it hates you. A friendly world is a sign that you have probably compromised with it in some fundamental way.

v. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. The one who does not love abides in death.

Here is one of the great tests for assurance of salvation. How do you know you've been born again? How do you know you have crossed that great border from the realm of death into the realm of life? John gives a very practical, observable test: you love the brothers. This is a Spirit wrought affection for God's people. Before conversion, you may have found Christians to be odd or off putting. After conversion, you find you have a new family. You are drawn to them. This love is an evidence, a proof, of the new life within. The flip side is just as stark. The one who does not love his brother, whatever his profession of faith might be, is still abiding in death. He hasn't crossed the border. He's still in the old country.

v. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

John radicalizes the sin of hatred, tracing it to its root, just as Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount. Hatred is murder in the heart. It is the desire to eliminate the object of your hatred. And the conclusion is inescapable: no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. This is not to say that a murderer cannot be saved. David was a murderer and an adulterer, and he was forgiven. Paul was complicit in murder before his conversion. But the point is that a man cannot simultaneously have a heart full of settled hatred for his brother and have the life of God abiding in him. The two are mutually exclusive. An ongoing, unrepentant spirit of hatred is a clear sign that eternal life is not present.

v. 16 By this we have known love, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

After defining hatred, John now gives us the ultimate definition of love. If you want to know what love looks like, don't look in a dictionary; look at the cross. We know what love is because Jesus laid down His life for us. This is the paradigm. This is the standard. Love is not about receiving; it is about giving. And the ultimate gift is one's own life. The application is direct and challenging: we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. This is the logical entailment of being a follower of Christ. This might mean literal martyrdom, but it certainly means a daily martyrdom of our own self interest, our own comfort, our own agendas, for the sake of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

v. 17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

John brings the lofty principle of laying down one's life down to the very practical, street level issue of money and possessions. If the principle is true in the greater matter (laying down your life), it must be true in the lesser (opening your wallet). He presents a scenario: a Christian with resources sees a brother in genuine need. He has the ability to help, but he shuts up his heart. He feels no compassion, or he suppresses what he feels, and does nothing. John asks a rhetorical question that answers itself: how does the love of God abide in him? The answer is, it doesn't. A profession of love for God that does not translate into practical, tangible love for a brother in need is a fraudulent profession.

v. 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

This verse summarizes the preceding argument. John addresses his readers with pastoral affection, "Little children." He is pleading with them. Let's make sure our love is the genuine article. Let's not be content with a love that exists only in words or talk. It is easy to say "I love you" or "I'll pray for you." But true, biblical love is demonstrated in action. It is love in deed and truth. The deed is the action, and the truth is the genuineness of it. It is not for show. It is not hypocritical. It is love that gets its hands dirty.

v. 19 And by this we will know that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him

Here is the pastoral payoff. This kind of practical, active love is a powerful tool for our own assurance. When we love in deed and truth, we have a tangible piece of evidence that we are "of the truth." This is how we can "assure our heart before Him." Our hearts are fickle things, prone to all sorts of doubts and accusations. John is giving us a way to talk back to our own hearts, to steady them with objective evidence of God's grace at work in us.

v. 20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

This is a wonderfully comforting truth for the sensitive Christian. There are times when our hearts will condemn us, and sometimes for good reason. We are sinners, and we know it. But even when our heart brings a charge against us, John points us to a higher court. God is greater than our accusing heart. And He knows all things. He knows our sins, yes, but He also knows the reality of our faith, however weak. He knows the sincerity of our love, however imperfect. He knows that we are His, even when we are struggling to believe it. His knowledge is the ultimate ground of our assurance, not our feelings.

v. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

Here is the other side of the coin. When our conscience is clear, when we are walking in obedience and loving our brothers in deed and truth, the result is a holy boldness before God. We are not plagued by guilt and shame. We can approach God with confidence, not the confidence of a sinless man, but the confidence of a forgiven child who knows he is pleasing his Father.

v. 22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

This confidence naturally flows into our prayer life. A clear conscience leads to effective prayer. John connects answered prayer directly to our obedience. We receive what we ask for because we are keeping His commandments and doing what pleases Him. This is not a formula for earning answers to prayer. Rather, it is describing the reality of a life that is in sync with God. When you are walking in obedience, your desires begin to align with God's desires, and so you ask for things that are in accordance with His will. And God delights to give His children what they ask for when they ask according to His will.

v. 23 And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He gave a commandment to us.

Lest anyone think that "keeping His commandments" is a reference to a complex and burdensome legal code, John provides a beautiful summary. What is the commandment, singular? It has two parts that are really one whole. First, we are to believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ. This is the foundation of everything. It is trust, reliance, and allegiance to the person and work of Christ. Second, we are to love one another. Faith and love are the two pillars of the Christian life. And notice, this love is defined by Christ's own command. We love in the way that He commanded us to love.

v. 24 And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave us.

The result of this life of faith and love is a mutual abiding. The one who obeys abides in God, and God abides in him. This is the essence of Christian experience, this intimate union with God. And how do we know this is real? How do we know it is not just a subjective feeling we have worked up? John provides the final ground of our assurance. We know He abides in us by the Spirit whom He gave us. The Holy Spirit is the personal presence of God within the believer. He is the one who produces the faith, who produces the love, and who bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. He is the ultimate guarantee.