A Real Christian Loves all the Other Christians, Part 2
1 John 5v1-4a
5th October 2023
Sometimes, chapter boundaries don't reflect a change in the writer's train of thought. The start of Chapter 5 is a continuation of Chapter 4, verses 19-21. We're continuing from the study first published on 28th July 2023. Hence the title of this week's study.
1 John 5v1-2
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who
loves the father loves his child as well.
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying
out his commands.
Everybody who truly believes the Gospel, who believes it enough to claim the atoning sacrifice of Jesus for himself, turn from his sins and follow Jesus, is born of God. He’s a member of God's family – which is your family. And if you love heavenly Father, then you will love heavenly Father’s children - all of them.
Again, this is agape love, sacrificial love, love that is not earnt, unconditional love.
Every true Christian loves every other true Christian and wants to sacrifice for him, to give love, to affirm and welcome and celebrate him, with all his imperfections, because he's family.
True faith in Jesus inevitably results in us loving other, imperfect Christians. And our love for Imperfect Christians reassures us that we are truly born again. It works both ways: Because we're in healthy relationship with God, we love all other Christians, and because we love the more troublesome Christians, we know we're in healthy relationship with God, because that love only comes from God.
1 John 5v3-4a
This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
for everyone born of God overcomes the world.
If we claim to love God, then we must accept that we must live out that love by obeying God's commands. And one of God's most important commands is that we love each other.
I've heard people say "I love God but I don't like Christians". What a terrible thing to say! But you don't have to like them. You do have to love them. And if you're truly born again, then you will find it easy to love your brothers and sisters. They're God’s children.
The world tells you that you can choose your friends. The world may tell you not to waste time on people who can't do you good. The world loves to judge other people, criticise them, feel superior to them, especially if they don’t live or think the same way that you do. But if you're a true Christian then you have overcome the world! You really should have learnt not to think like that, or speak like that, or act like that.
You may remember that in Chapter 2 verse 16, John describes everything in the world as "the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does". What our fleshly appetites desire, what we see and covet, our selfish pride and ambition, come from the world, and we who are born of God, that is, born again, overcome the world. We don't need that worldly stuff. We don't need to be superior or judgemental, we don't need to exclude our brothers and sisters from our fellowship. All we need is Jesus.
The Holy Spirit lives in us, and urges us to seek what is wholesome, good, humble, gentle and loving. And by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, we're putting our sinful desires to death. God is enabling us to want what He wants, to love what He loves, and to hate what He hates. The closer we get to God,the more our desires are the same as His desires.
And He desires us to love all our brothers and sisters, including the ones who say the wrong thing, or do the wrong thing, or consistently take more than they give, the way He loves them. That is, to lay down our lives for them, even if they're still a bit dirty, even if they don’t meet our standard, even if they don't pull their weight. Jesus gave His life for them, and we should give our lives for them, imperfect as they are, imperfect as we are.