Ep. 357. 1 John 3-5 | God is Love

EPISODE 357

GOD IS LOVE: 1 JOHN 3-5

One key sign that someone is a person of faith is their love for the fellow believer. In fact, "We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers." Jesus says a similar thing in John 13 when he says, "By this, all men will know that you're my disciples, that you love one another." We see then that the way we love one another in the faith is one of the key indicators we are, in fact, people of faith.

The other major indicator of faith mentioned here in First John is what the individual says about Jesus. Remember, if you don't acknowledge the Son, you do not know the Father. What people often do is point to 1 John 2:3-4 and say, "By this, we know that we have come to know him, that we keep his commandments." And "Anyone who says 'I know him' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him." People usually read these verses and interpret them to mean that we should obey the Ten Commandments or the Law of Moses. The problem with that line of thinking is that Paul directly contradicts it in Galatians and Romans. Furthermore, the context of 1 John supplies us with what it means to "obey the commandments." In Chapter Three, we read, "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. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him." So we see that the commandments of God are that we believe in Jesus and that we love the brethren. Why we make it more difficult than that, I won't ever understand.

ADDITIONAL READING: 1 Corinthians 15:49; Romans 8:9; John 3:16; Romans 5:8-10