First John 3:11 says, “For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
Verse 23 says, “And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, even as He gave a commandment to us.”
Loving one another is a commandment from God. God commands us to do two things: to believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and to love one another. We have already believed. Now we also should love. God gave us this love, and He also gave us the commandment to love. God first gave us this love and then He gave us the commandment to love one another. Today we must love one another according to God’s commandment. We must also love one another with the love which God has given us. We must exercise the love which God has put into us. We must apply it according to its nature. We should never quench it or hurt it.
First John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God, and everyone who loves has been begotten of God and knows God. He who does not love has not known God, because God is love.”
We must love one another, because love is of God. Those who have love are begotten of God. Those who do not love have not known God because God Himself is love. When God begot us, He also begot love in us. We were without love, but today we have love. Today the love we possess is from God. God has begotten love in everyone who is born of God. God has given love to both you and others. This is why we can love one another.
Those who are begotten of God have received a life—a life which is God Himself. God is love; therefore, those who are begotten of God have such a love begotten within them. The life which we have received from God is a life of love. Everyone who is begotten of God has love in him, and everyone who has love in him spontaneously loves the brothers. It would be strange if we could not love one another. God gave every Christian a life of love. He also gave him the commandment of love based upon this life of love: “Let us love one another.” God first gives us the love, and then He tells us to love. He first gives us a life of love, and then the commandment of love. We should bow our heads and say, “Thank You! God’s children can now love one another.”
Now let us consider all the verses under this category in 1 John.
First John 2:9-11 says, “He who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him; but he who 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.” Are you clear? Whether or not a man is a brother and whether or not he walks in the light and turns away from darkness are determined by whether or not he loves his brother.
If a person knows that you are a brother and yet he hates you in his heart, it proves that he is not a Christian. If he has seen five brothers and says, “I love four of them, but I hate one in my heart,” it proves that he is not a brother. We must realize that we do not love a brother because he is lovable but because he is a brother. We love him because he is a brother. This is the only reason for us to love. If a person knows that you are a brother and are of the Lord yet still hates you, it proves that he has no life in him. Here it says, “He who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness.” He is in the darkness and he walks in the darkness. In other words, the Bible denies the possibility that anyone can hate his brothers; it does not accept this as a possibility at all. If you know that a person is a brother and yet hate him, you must say, “Lord, I am not walking in the light. I am in the darkness and am walking in the darkness.”
First John 3:10 says, “In this the children of God...are manifest. Everyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, neither he who does not love his brother.” He who does not practice righteousness outwardly is not of God. In the same way, he who does not have an inward love for his brother is not of God. He who does not love his brother is not of God, because this love and this feeling are not in him. In this the children of God are manifest.
Verse 14 says, “He who does not love abides in death.” This love does not refer to ordinary love but to the love with which one loves his brothers. If a person does not have such a love for the brothers within him, the Bible says that he “abides in death.” We can understand why a person has no feeling or attraction for other believers before he believes. But it would be very strange if, after believing, he still has no feeling or attraction toward other believers. His faith may not be that genuine. “He who does not love abides in death.” Formerly, such a person was dead. I am afraid that he is still dead because faith is based on love. Whether or not a person’s faith is genuine depends on whether there is love. Those who believe in God have a love for the brothers. If love is absent, it proves that the person still abides in death.
Verse 15 says, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” We cannot imagine that any person would still murder after becoming a believer. The Bible tells us that to hate one’s brother is to murder. A person who has eternal life should never hate his brother. Hating the brothers proves that there is no love in him. It means that eternal life is not in him.
God’s children can be in many different conditions, but they can never hate. If there is a brother who is offensive in certain ways, we may not like him in our heart. If there is a brother who has committed a sin worthy of excommunication, we may deal with the matter with indignation. If there is a brother who has done something extremely evil, we may ask him to come to us and rebuke him severely before the Lord. But we can never hate our brothers. If a brother hates another brother, eternal life is not in him.
Every child of God has a life rich enough to love all the brothers and sisters. As long as a person belongs to the Lord, he deserves a believer’s love. Our love for any one brother should be the same as our love for all the brothers. The brotherly love that is applied toward one brother should be equally applicable to all the brothers. This kind of love for the brothers makes no distinction. As long as one is a brother, he deserves this love. If anyone hates a brother, it proves that he does not have eternal life in him. He does not have to hate all the brothers. As long as he hates one brother, it is enough to prove that he does not have brotherly love in him. The brotherly love that we are speaking about is a love that loves all the brothers.
This is a very sobering thought. If a believer does not love his brother but hates him instead, or if he threatens or attacks his brother, we can say only, “May God be merciful to him! Here is a person who thinks that he is a believer and yet he is not saved at all!” As long as he hates a brother, it proves that he is not of the Lord. This is a serious matter!
Under normal circumstances, if a brother has done things which irritate you, you can exhort him and rebuke him, but you cannot hate him. If he has done something which provokes you, you may be angry with him and rebuke him severely. But there cannot be any hatred in you. Even if you “tell it to the church,” according to Matthew 18, your intention should still be to gain him and restore him. If you have no intention of restoring him and if your goal is only to attack him and tear him down, it proves that you are less than a brother. The brother spoken of in Matthew 18 told the church because he wanted to gain his brother. The whole issue is whether your goal is to tear down your brother or to gain him. This is quite a serious matter. We must not take it lightly!
Concerning the fornicator in 1 Corinthians 5:13, Paul said, “Remove the evil man from among yourselves.” At the beginning Paul delivered such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh in the name of the Lord Jesus and with the power of the Lord Jesus because the Corinthians did not do anything to cast him out. Is this kind of dealing too severe? It was indeed extremely severe. But Paul did this so that the man’s spirit would be saved in the day of the Lord (v. 5). The purpose for his flesh being destroyed in the present time was so that he would not suffer eternal loss. The purpose of telling it “to the church” in Matthew 18 is for restoration; the removing in 1 Corinthians 5 is also for restoration.
When Joshua judged Achan, he said, “My son, give glory to Jehovah” (Josh. 7:19). Though Achan had committed a great sin, he spoke to Achan with such a spirit and such brotherly love.
David took hold of his clothes and tore them when a young messenger brought the news of Saul’s death to him. He mourned, wept, and fasted until the evening (2 Sam. 1:11-12). When someone told David about Absalom’s death, David was much moved. He wept, saying, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you!” (18:33). Saul was a king who hated David, and Absalom was David’s rebellious son. Yet David wept when they died. He had to fight the battles, and he had to judge, but he could not restrain his tears. He had to judge, and he had to condemn, but he could not hold back his tears.
Brothers and sisters, if a person can only judge and condemn but has no tears or sadness, it proves that he does not know anything about brotherly love. If anyone rebukes a brother only for the purpose of tearing him down, such a one has no love in him, only hatred. To hate the brothers is to murder them! This is a very serious matter!
A brother once wrote to J. N. Darby about the matter of excommunication. Darby’s first words were, “I think it is the most dreadful thing for a sinner whose sins have been forgiven to excommunicate another sinner.” There is nothing more dreadful than for a sinner whose sins are forgiven to excommunicate another sinner. Mr. Darby’s reaction was something that issued from a life of love. No doubt, there are many things which need to be addressed. We can excommunicate a sinful brother or sister from the church if it becomes necessary to do so. But we must never harbor any hatred in dealing with them.
First John 4:20-21 says, “If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God love his brother also.” Here John shows us that to love one’s brothers is equal to loving God. He who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. We should love our brothers if we want to love God. This is the commandment which we have received from God.
We must be careful not to do anything that will offend love. We should not offend our brothers lightly. We must love one another and must honor the brotherly love that has been placed in our hearts. We should not put aside such a heart. God has placed this heart in us so that we can use it to serve and help the brothers. We should allow this brotherly love to grow, to be strengthened, and to be empowered.
First John 3:17 says, “But whoever has the livelihood of the world and sees that his brother has need and shuts up his affections from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” John did not say, “How does the love of the brothers abide in him?” He said, “How does the love of God abide in him?” because the love of God is the love of the brothers, and the love of the brothers is the love of God. The love of God does not abide in a person who shuts up his love for his brother. He cannot deceive himself by saying, “Although I do not love my brother, I love God.” Our relationship with the brothers comes from our relationship with God. If we are not related to the brothers, it means that we are not related to God. If we reject our brothers, the love of God is not in us.