By Grace Alone

John tells us in 1 John 3:23 that we are to live out our faith in love towards our brothers and sisters just as He has commanded us.

“And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.” (1 John 3:23, ESV)

The Lord Jesus has given us this command (not a recommendation) and therefore we are to obey it. However, we cannot obey it if we do not belong to Him. You see, it is one thing to say we love our brothers and sisters in Christ, and it is something totally different to live that out in true genuine love for one another.

This verse gives us a single command with two distinct purposes – have faith & love one another and these two cannot be separated. If we have true faith in Christ we will love our brothers and sisters and if we don’t love the brothers it shows that we do not have genuine faith.

In Christ
Jeff

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John tells us in 1 John 3:19-20 that we shall know we are of the truth by loving our brothers and sisters in Christ.

“By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.” (1 John 3:19-20, ESV)

The lack of love today that is shown to our brothers and sisters from inside the church is unbelievable. People who worship together each week in a local church setting are treating each other like pagans.

The New Testament paints the image of church as a family, not a social club, not a social service. We must love our brothers and sisters more than we love ourselves because John has shown us (1 John 3:16) that we must lay down our lives for the brothers and that includes putting others ahead of ourselves.

When we do love the brothers we have added benefits, including assurance of our salvation and a picture of God’s amazing grace for His children, the believers themselves.

In Christ
Jeff

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Cain murdered his brother because his deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous. Cain was from Satan and Abel was from God. We can get a good look at the modern day church when we examine the first two humans born after the garden and here they are:

1. They were blood brothers
2. They had the same parents
3. They both brought sacrifices to God

Now here is where the similarities end.

Able was:

1. Child of God
2. True Worshipper of God
3. Righteous

Cain was:

1. Child of Satan
2. False Worshipper of God
3. Evil

In Today’s world children of the devil masquerade as true believers, they attend religious gatherings and they might even bring offerings but at the end of the day they are children of the devil. That is why outward actions are not valid proof that a man is born of God. What? Outward actions are not valid proof?  Then what is?

Jeff

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” For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” (1 John 3:11, ESV)

This past Sunday we examined this passage from 1 John 3:11 about loving one another. Some key points we need to understand are:

1. We must define the families before we can identify the siblings:

“By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” (1 John 3:10, ESV)

” While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:46-50, ESV)

2. Once we identify the siblings then we are to be reconciled with them and have nothing in the way of our relationship with each other:

“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24, ESV)

3. Our love for one another is the key to our evagelism and outreach:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”” (John 13:34-35, ESV)

4. We are to show preference for one another over all other relationships:

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:10, ESV)

This is a good start as we look at  this section of 1 John 3.

Love in Christ
Jeff

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John continues to remind his readers who they are in Christ. The verse we are looking at this week is “I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father.” (1 John 2:13, ESV). Let us continue to be reminded of who we are in Christ.

 

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John tells us “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.” (1 John 2:12, ESV) and in this message we explore what the Word has to say about true forgiveness.

 

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John tells us “But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” (1 John 2:11, ESV) and in this message we explore what the Word has to say about this subject.

 

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John tells us “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.” (1 John 2:10, ESV) and in this message we explore what the Word has to say about this subject.

 

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John tells us “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.” (1 John 2:9, ESV) and in this message we explore what the Word has to say about this subject.

 

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John tells us “At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.” (1 John 2:8, ESV) This “old commandment” of love that we discussed earlier has now given birth to a “new commandment” of love. Love 2.0 if you will… Enjoy :-)

 

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