Proof of Our Regard for God Is in How We Love

“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.  For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.  We should not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother.  And why did he murder him?  Because his own deeds were evil  and his brother’s righteous.  Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.  We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.  Whoever does not love abides in death.  Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”  -I John 3:10-15 (ESV).

In our Christian theology, we have some words we use to describe certain relationships between God and the believer.  When we are saved, we receive salvation.  The process of Jesus Christ becoming the sacrifice for our sin is called justification. When we believe and accept His sacrifice for our sins, we then have a new standing before God.  That never changes; it is never lost.  We are “made right” in His eyes.  John tells us in this epistle that when we are justified we no longer want deliberately to continue in sin.  And he confirms the fact that we will have love one for the other.  We will not be like Cain, who became jealous that God accepted his brother Abel’s sacrifice, and because of his jealousy and hatred, Cain murdered his brother.  We think that was a terrible crime to commit because of jealousy—to kill a brother.  But that is how insidiously sin works to bring about ruin.  But if we love God, we will also love our fellowman.  If we do not love, it is like we are abiding in death. 

A Native American man was converted and his love for Jesus was growing every day as he learned to read his Bible and follow its precepts.  But he was also quite aware of the two natures that warred within him: the old pull back toward his former life of sin and the new pull toward the things of God.  He said:  “It’s like I have two dogs living within me—a good one and a bad one.  The good dog wants to do good things, and the bad dog wants to do bad things.  And do you know which one wins out?  It is the one I feed the most.”  By this simple illustration, the new Christian was giving a good example of the inner man and his struggle with good and evil.  But we can be assured that the Spirit of God is striving with us always to do what is good and to lead us to love God and each other.  It is only when we say yes to the bad nature that we are pulled away and return to our old way of sin.  Therefore, “feed” the good nature by “ceasing to do evil, learning to do well” (Isaiah 1:16-17). 

Dr. Warren Wiersbe states:  “If you are practicing genuine love for the brethren, your heart must be right before God, for the Holy Spirit would not ‘shed abroad’ His love in you if there were habitual sin in your heart.  When you grieve the Holy Spirit, you ‘turn off’ the supply of God’s love.” [The Wiersbe Bible Commentary.  NT.  I John.  Colorado Springs:  Cook, 2007.  P. 991]  How about your love for the brethren?  Does it prove your respect and love for God and your love for you fellowman?