Introduction
Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 John 3. We are going to look at verses 11-15. As you are turning there, I want to mention that what we are going to look at might look similar to you. What I have appreciated in our time together going through this epistle is that John presents doctrines several times, but he does so in new ways each time. This morning we are going to look at the topic of love once again.
This text most closely aligns with 1 John 2. However, this passage is more direct and pointed than the text was in chapter 2. In chapter 2, we saw the topic of love in a general sense. My hope for this morning is that we will see it in our own experience. I want us to see this in two ways. First, we will see what Christian love does not look like. We will see this in verses 12, 13, and 15. Second, we will see what Christian love looks like. This we will see in verses 11 and 14.
You will notice that John spends much more time in this section speaking about what Christian love does not look like. I do not want us to be discouraged by this. We need to be faithful to the text and, here, John wants us to see Christian love, for the most part, in a negative way. John speaks on Christian love and what it looks like, so we must not set our minds on the negative. There is a great truth that we see when we love one another. Let’s read verses 11-15.
- What Christian love does not look like (vv.12-13, 15)
This section begins in verse 11 with a general call to Christian love of the brothers. We will look further at this in our second point. If you would, look with me at verse 12 where we begin to see what Christian love does not look like. Notice with me, that it begins with a strong unction. “We should not be like Cain.” Does this mean that we should not be a person who builds with his hands and grows nations? He did these things, and none of us would say that these things are bad.
What we need to focus on here, is not the man named Cain, but who Cain was. Cain was a worker of the ground. Some people make the point that this was a part of the reason that Cain’s offering was not accepted. In that it was not a blood sacrifice. This would be far from the truth, for we see in the Old Testament sacrificial system, cakes, wine, and other items that were not meat offered as a sacrifice, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. As we know with John, the physical is not of greatest importance, but what resides on the inside is what matters most to John. He associates Cain with his sinfulness and his heart that was far away from God. Further, Cain represents a people group that leaves the presence of God or has no desire to enter into his presence. Cain is the first person to leave the presence of God, and thus the example of anyone who would follow him (Genesis 4:16). We see this very quickly unfold in Genesis 4:23-24 where Lamech, a generational relative boasts in killing two men. Although, Cain did not boast, we see the effects of the lineage of Cain in short order.
The purpose of verses 11-15 are to show us what Christian love looks like. John does that in the negative before we see the positive. Cain did not love his brother. However, what John is most hammering down on is not the lack of love, but the void, the emptiness in Cain’s heart of any brotherly love. Cain did not possess this attribute with Abel. So, yes, we should not be like Cain and physically murder people. But more to the point, we should possess love toward one another unlike Cain.
Why did Cain not love his brother? There are many reasons that come to mind on the surface, but digging deeper we see that he did not love his brother because “he was of the evil one.” The evil one refers to Satan. Satan in Greek means “adversary.” This title is fitting as we think about Cain and Abel. Cain was an adversary to Abel. Not the other way around. The same is true for our Lord Jesus Christ. Satan is the adversary to Jesus and not the other way around. Sin crept itself into Satan the same way it did in Cain, and the same way in Judas Iscariot. In each instance, sin desired to overcome and it did. Remember what was read for us in our Scripture reading today? Speaking to Cain, “If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.” Human beings follow in the sin of Adam. But nowhere is the assertion “being of the evil one” attached to his name. Cain sinned and he continued to sin willingly all the days of his life without any desire for heavenly repentance. The same is said of Satan. He desires not to be saved by God. He wants only to bask in his sin and to see others fall into it. When Abel would not sin in his offering, Cain got to a boiling point and that resulted in murder. Do you see why the text says to not be like Cain? John tells us that because in so doing, we are being like Satan.
There is much more here, but I would like to highlight one thing. Cain is of the evil one. Did you know that that did not affect Cain’s present life, but his eternal state? Now, the murder of his brother did not put him in hell. What put Cain in the same category with Satan is his desire to not turn from his sin. Cain had the two opportunities to come back to the Lord. The first we read in Genesis 4:8 where sin was lying in wait, but the other is in verse 9 when God asked Cain, where was Abel? In both of these instances, his hatred toward his brother and toward God is evident. That is why Cain left the presence of God.
Cain left a legacy, albeit a bad one. The false teachers that Jude warns of are guilty in the same way that Cain was. They both act like “unreasoning animals”, they both do not “understand.” The false teachers do not understand the Word of God, nor did Cain when he offered up a sacrifice that was not pleasing to the Lord. If Cain would have obeyed and followed God, his sacrifice would have been different than what he offered. The legacy of Cain lives on today. There are people in this world that hate God, might never turn to God, and live to be an adversary to God. Yet, what we will see this morning is that love for the brothers as Christ loved us is more powerful than any adversary.
Toward the end of verse 12, John gets to the core principal of Cain’s hatred toward Abel. He tells us that the murder took place because Cain’s deeds were evil, and Abel’s were righteous. I love how John brings similar principles and brings them in new ways. Light vs. darkness, righteousness vs. evil. If you recall 1 John 2:9-11 is very similar to what we are looking at this morning. It’s not that John is regurgitating information and putting a different spin on it. No! He is looking at the same truths as he did before, but he is showing it in real life. This brings back the fact that it wasn’t about fruit versus meat. It was about the righteous offering of Abel vs. the unrighteous offering of Cain. To be clear, Cain was an unrighteous person. This was not because he murdered his brother but because all his sins were never atoned for. What if the act of murder was atoned for, but his other sins were not? Would that be good enough? We know that it wouldn’t be. Jesus’ blood covers ALL our sins, not just one. It was not enough that he murdered someone and hated him in his heart, but Cain in and of himself was unrighteous, in contrast to Abel.
Abel was righteous in word and in deed. The righteousness that Abel possessed was the same as that of Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. There is something of greater interest for us to think about though. If we stop at the hatred that man has toward man, we miss the entire point. The next verse goes into the hatred that man has toward God. John sets us up to see the main theme of this section of verses. That theme is unrighteousness that leads to hatred. As I have said before, hatred might not always be manifest, but unrighteousness is always at the foundation.
We turn now to verse 13. My hope is that we will see the connection made between the example of Cain and Abel and the world today and Christians. John says, Read verse 13. Why would John say this? May I answer the question by asking another? Has the world changed since the time of Cain and Abel? Is the world we live in any less evil? Do murders still occur? Is there great hatred in the world today? The answer is a resounding YES!
A few reasons John wrote this are 1. Because the hatred in mankind has been since the beginning after sin entered the world (Genesis 4), 2. There has been a hatred toward those who love God since the beginning (Noah in Genesis 6), 3. The unrighteousness that fuels hatred is conjured up in the minds of sinful people who inhabit this world (Psalm 53:1-3, Romans 3:10-18), and 4. John heard this directly from the Savior’s mouth in John 15:18-25. Turn there with me. Read the verses. Therefore, John can say with confidence that the world will hate Christ and his followers. We are promised that the world system is going to hate us. Here is some food for thought, does the life that you live right now cause the world to hate you? I am not talking about politics or social causes. Does the life that you live reflect Christ in such a way that the world would despise you? See, that’s what the word hate means. It means to detest someone, as in, that person, that Christian is despicable. How could he believe those things?!
There is a large pool of evidence that shows that humans only love themselves. Humans desire to get their greatest gain at the expense of everyone and everything. For Cain, not even his brother was untouchable. Come to the present day. How many times do you hear about internal warring within families? How many times do you hear about a family member getting so angry at another that physical harm is inflicted? Brothers, this world has enough trouble loving its own. Even if there were some love to go around, it would last be given to an “enemy” or anyone who would disagree with the world system.
And if you still have trouble believing this to be true, might I offer a few verses for you. Matthew 10:21-22 “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” Luke 21:16-17 “You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” John 16:2 “They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” John 17:14 “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” Christian, the world does not hate you. It hates the Light that shines within you. It hates everything about God. It detests God, it loathes God, it wants to put God out, it wants to keep people trapped, so they cannot see God.
Drop down with me to verse 15. He has given us a good foundation to build upon in verses 12 and 13. John turns his attention to all men in verse 15. He tells us that anyone who hates his brother, no matter what the thought or deed, is a murderer. Now, can a Christian be unloving at times? Yes. Can a Christian hold a grudge? Yes. Does the Christian actively hate his brother during these moments? Yes. That is why Paul spent time addressing this issue. Colossians 3:12-13 tells us why we are to forgive one another quickly and earnestly. Paul does not want Christians to be murderers in their hearts!
The unbeliever can hate his brother too. No eternal life resides in him. I do not want to belabor the point, but if the so called “Christian” does not love his brother, he is counted as an unbeliever. John does not exclude anyone. He says that every person who hates his brother is a murderer. There is no escape. If this is not enough a warning for you, may I remind you that Revelation 21:8 says that the murderers “portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” In other words, the murderer is counted as out of the presence of God!
This is what the latter part of verse 15 says, “no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” What does John mean when he says that the murderer does not have eternal life abiding in him? Jesus Christ is the embodiment of eternal life. Without Christ, eternal life does not exist. So, the one who hates his brother and does not love him is a murderer and one who is excluded from eternity in heaven. This we see clearly from prior studies in this epistle.
Now, might I mention that this verse is not a stance for annihilationism (the belief that you die and are annihilated, not spending eternal torment somewhere). For every person will live eternally either in heaven or hell. The Bible speaks about this plainly (Dan. 7:18, 22, 27, Rev. 20:7-10, 22:5).
A note, Christ continues on with the believer. The Holy Spirit continues in the believer. Because both are true, we must consider where our lives are at this moment and honestly ask the question, “Am I storing any hatred or grudge toward a brother?” The Bible is clear, your witness will not be true if you confess with your mouth that Christ is God yet hate your brother. More on that, Lord willing, next week.
- What Christian love looks like (vv.11, 14)
We turn our attention to what Christian looks like, which is our second point. Look at verse 11 with me. If you notice, this verse is the opposite of what we saw in verse 10. The one who is a child of the devil does not love his brother. Verse 11 tells us that we are to live in opposition to the ways of the evil one. The command to love is what was heard from the beginning. This was God’s original intent.
God never desired for murder, strife, jealousy, and death. That’s why God responded to Cain after asking him where Abel was in Genesis 4:10 saying, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.” I believe this to be true because John writes of Cain specifically.
Yet, the love that we have for one another is love that is to replicate the love that God has for us. As God loved us, so we are to love one another. In the same way, when Paul commands the church to imitate him, it is because he imitates Christ. Our love is to imitate Christ.
Since we have spent a great deal of time on loving one another throughout this epistle, I want us to spend some time considering what Christian love looks like according to verse 14. Look there with me. I love the absolute assurance of knowledge in this verse. John uses one of his favorite words “know” with complete confidence that what he is about to say is known and believed without any doubt. This is a concrete truth for John and his hearers. That means that this is a concrete truth for us today. And as John has done before, he takes the truth and makes it experiential. It is not because we know the truth that salvation is applied, but we have experienced the change in our lives. God gives us his word and experiences in this life to assure us that we are saved. Verse 14 is unique in that it combines love for one another with life and death. Before we get to life and death, John tells us that we have passed from one to the other. What does he mean?
To pass in this sense is not to pass by or pass away. It is a term of transfer (Logos). We have passed from who we once were (being of the evil one like Cain) to who we are in Christ (he whom Abel followed). For John, this is a present reality. Just like God being our present refuge and strength in time of trial, God has transferred us from spiritual death into spiritual life. ““Death” is the opposite of life; it never denotes nonexistence. As spiritual life is “conscious existence in communion with God,” so spiritual “death” is “conscious existence in separation from God”” (Vines).
John speaks about life in this passage in the same way he has since the very beginning of the epistle. 1:2 says, “the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us.” So, we have passed from spiritual death to spiritual life, even eternal life that is found in Christ alone. John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” “Eternal life is the present actual possession of the believer because of his relationship with Christ” (Vines). And what is a sign of this reality in us?
The middle of verse 14 tells us “because we love the brothers.” Do you see how important it is to love one another? This is a sign that you have passed from death unto life! So, the next time you feel angry toward another or hold a grudge, remember that we have passed from death to life! You and I are no longer overruled by the old person. You and I seek to love and not hate.
Our Lord spoke of this in Matthew 25:31-36. Permit me to read this to you. Read the verses. Do you see the similarities? To love a brother in the Lord is like loving Christ. Because our brothers are in Christ, when we love them, we love Christ who loves them far more than we ever could.
Conclusion
Brothers, do you love one another? Is there any resentment in your heart? As we have seen, on the outside Cain gave an offering to God, a meager one at that, but he killed his brother. Are you a worshipper of God on Sunday, but a grudge holder throughout the week? Were you wronged, maybe by accident, but have yet to forgive your brother?
Is it said of you that you have passed out of death unto life? Have you tasted the sweetness of salvation in Christ as the forgiver of all your sins? He doesn’t hold a grudge against you, so don’t hold a grudge against one another.
Regarding our outward testimony, is there anyone who is not a believer, and you hold some anger toward him/her? What does this say about your testimony? Our love toward an unbeliever is to have the same basic principles as it being toward a believer. We are to love them as Christ loved them. We are to long to see them in heaven. Is this true of us?
Let us love one another, for Christ first loved us.
