Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson CXLVIX) 08/29/22

^4:20If anyone says, “I love God,” but keeps hating their spiritual brothers or sisters are lying, for if they don’t love their fellow believers right in front of their eyes, how can they claim to love God whom they have never seen?

John Phillips (1927-2010) says that the Apostle John will let us not get away with nothing less than agápē. He turns from the logic of love to the law of love: “God gave us this command: If we love God, we must also love each other as spiritual brothers and sisters.” It is not a suggestion; it is a command. Love, in the Bible, is not so much emotional as volitional. The Lord Jesus summed up the entire Torah in two commandments and, in so doing, reduced all of life’s obligations to the twofold law of love. We are to love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength and love the other fellow as much as we love ourselves.[1] The reason behind this mandatory command is that this is the only way we can show our love for God. We can’t hug, kiss, or look tenderly at Him because He is invisible. But we can do all that when we love those in whom He dwells.

David E. Hiebert (1928-1995) states that the formulated command, “the one who loves God should love their Christian brother and sister also,” asserts that you cannot separate true love from its Godward and manward qualities. The command refutes the heretical claim that some love God while hating their fellow believers. The present tenses indicate that this is a continuing obligation. The opening “That” is generally taken as simply telling the contents of the command. The final particle “that” gives more than the simple contents of the commandment. It marks the injunction as directed toward a goal; and implies that the effort to obtain it can never be relaxed.”[2] So, John suggested we condemn those who fail to utilize agápē while hating their spiritual brothers and sisters.[3]

Warren W. Wiersbe (1929-2019) says that the Apostle John makes it crystal clear that spiritual honesty brings peace and power to the person who practices it. They do not need to record the lies they’ve told and do not use all their energy to cover it up. Because they live in open honesty with the Father, he can live in honesty with other people. Love and truth go together. Because they know God loves Him and accepts Him (even with all their faults), they are not trying to impress others. They love God and, therefore, love their fellow Christians.

Wiersbe then shares this clinical illustration. A college student’s grades were far below his usual performance, and his health seemed to fail. Therefore, his new roommate was concerned about him and persuaded him to talk to the campus psychologist. “I can’t figure myself out,” the young man admitted. “Last year, I was sailing through school, and this year it is like fighting a war.” “You’re not having trouble with your new roommate, are you?” the counselor asked. The student did not reply immediately, which gave the counselor a clue. “Young man, are you concentrating on living your life as a good student or trying to impress your new roommate with your abilities?” “Yeah, I guess that’s it,” the sophomore answered with a sigh of relief. “I’ve worn myself out acting and haven’t had enough energy left for living.” Confidence toward God and honesty with others are two marks of maturity that are bound to show up when our love for God matures toward perfection.[4]

Stephen S. Smalley (1931-2018) says that here the Apostle John gathers up all that he has been saying in this section about love, as a condition for living as God’s children, by reaffirming the love command given throughout the previous verses.[5] It now becomes defined as a spiritual necessity in the life of a Christian believer, which is also “an accelerated acquisition” to fulfill the urging of John here in verse twenty-one.[6] John has already articulated the command to love.[7] But his restatement of the ordinance here is no mere repetition. (a) It gains force and precision in the light of his description so far of the source,[8] inspiration, and practice of love. (b) The apostle speaks positively of the need to love God and others for the first time in this epistle.[9]

Dwight Moody Smith (1931-2016) says that a good strategy in preaching from this text would be to pick it up at the end where the Apostle John’s gripping and graphic denial that Christians can love the invisible God if they do not love their highly visible spiritual brothers or sisters.[10] John has a gift for stating first principles briefly but memorably; this is a prime example. Next, one may move back to where John articulates God’s agápē for us[11] and then move forward to mutual love in Jesus.[12] All the verses in-between may then be viewed as an elaboration upon the fundamental truth that “God loved us first;”[13]. After introducing the theme of judgment, John addresses the possibility of fear. Since one of his overarching purposes is to reassure the reader, he wants to stress the absence of fear for the one who is perfected or fulfilled in love. This emphasis on the positive side of judgment is entirely consistent with the nature of the Gospel itself: This is good news, not bad.[14]

Edward J. Malatesta (1932-1998) says that in verse twenty-one, John rephrases the relationship between God’s agápē and love for our Christian spiritual brothers and sisters. It also reintroduces the theme of the commandment, last mentioned in 1 John 3:24. It is like tying a string around a bale of hay to keep it from unraveling. The Apostle John uses the Greek verb agapaō in the present active sense, which many translators have rendered as “must love.” So, it is not a choice; it is a command, and obeying a declaration is necessary to stay in harmony with the one who gave the order.[15]

John Painter (1935) notes that the Apostle John asserts that “this is the commandment that we have from Him.” Many have taken sides as to whether John meant God or Jesus. It didn’t matter in John’s mind because both were God. John announces the commandment to those who claim to love God. We see the content of the commandment in the Greek conjunction hina (“that”) and the following verb “that he loves his fellow believer also.” There is no command to love God here that the person who loves God (or claims to) is the basis for the assumption to love one’s, fellow believers.

We may suppose, says Painter, that when John refers to “the person loving God,” he has in mind the one who says, “I love God.”[16] I should remind a person of the command “that they love their fellow believer also.” On top of that, the idiom of loving one another has been dominant.[17] Yet reference to “his brother” returns here in verses twenty and twenty-one. The theme of loving and hating “his brother” first appeared in 2:9-11. 1 John 3:10 tells us about the identifying marks of God’s children and the devil’s offspring. The example of Cain, who murdered his brother, exemplifies the world’s hatred for the children of God.[18] In other words, it is like hating your brother as Cain did Abel. Here the opponents stand thinly veiled as part of the devil’s brood. John now turns from his positive exposition of the source and character of the command to love one another in combating his opponents’ false claims. Instead, he specifies that those who claim to love God should also love their spiritual brothers and sisters.[19]

James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000) reminds us that in verses thirteen to sixteen, John developed the first of two ideas introduced in verse twelve, First, the indwelling of the Christian by God. Now he returns to the second of those two ideas, the perfection of love, and explains what he means practically. Consequently, we might wonder how God’s agápē could be perfected in us or anywhere else. Many aspects of perfection exist, but John singles out two such possibilities. First, there is confidence because of God’s coming judgment in verses seventeen and eighteen. Second, there is the love of fellow believers in verses nineteen to twenty-one.

Boice notes that at the beginning of this chapter, someone asked the question, which is the most important of John’s three tests: righteousness, love, or truth? We answered that love was the most important, but at this point, we have several additional insights for knowing – why. First, we need love most, particularly in evangelical churches. These have sound doctrine, at least to a point. There is a measure of righteousness. But often, sadly, there is very little love. Without it, however, there is no actual demonstration of the life of the Anointed One within true worship of the Father.

***The second reason is that Jesus listed love in the first and second of the commandments. The first commandment is love for God.[20] The second is love for one another.[21] Therefore, the two properly belong together. As Jesus said, “The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”[22] The third reason is that the realization of this double love in us for God and humanity was the object of the Anointed One’s coming. John seems to speak about this in the opening verses of the letter when he says, “We proclaim to you that we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Jesus the Anointed One.”[23] John’s proclamation that the Anointed One has come was so that those who hear of His incarnation might believe in Him. By this, they learn to love God and one another.[24] 

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[1] Phillips, John: Exploring the First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 158

[2] Westcott, Brooke Foss: The First Epistle of St. John, op. cit., p. 162

[3] Hiebert, David E., Bibliotheca Sacra, op. cit., January-March 1990, p 88

[4] Wiersbe, Warren W., Be Real: Turning from Hypocrisy to Truth (The BE Series Commentary), op. cit., pp. 158-159

[5] 1 John 4:17-20

[6] See 1 John 2:7-10; 3:10-23

[7] Note 1 John 3:23; cf. 4:7, 11

[8] 1 John 4:7-20

[9] Smalley, Stephen, S., Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 51, op. cit., p. 264

[10] 1 John 4:20

[11] Ibid. 4:18

[12] Ibid. 4:21

[13] Ibid. 4:19

[14] Smith, D. Moody. First, Second, and Third John: Interpretation, op. cit., pp. 116-117

[15] Malatesta, Edward J., Interiority and Covenant, op. cit. p. 297

[16] See 1 John 4:20

[17] Ibid. 3:23; see 4;7, 11, 12

[18] Ibid. 3:12-17

[19] Painter, John. Sacra Pagina: 1, 2, and 3 John: Vol. 18, loc. cit.

[20] Deuteronomy 6:4

[21] Leviticus 19:18

[22] Matthew 22:40

[23] 1 John 4:3

[24] Boice, James Montgomery: The Epistles of John, op. cit., pp. 121-122

SKEPTICS may ask, why don’t people follow the advice of numerous proverbs and maxims of forethought available for centuries? Instead, they conclude that these apply only after some rightful venture has gone “horribly wrong.” When, for instance, a person gambles and loses all they have, including their house, why didn’t they remember the old Scottish proverb, “willful waste leads to woeful want?” But didn’t the gambler know this well-worn saying from earlier years? However, it wouldn’t have done much good. So, are the maxims of morality useless because people disregard them? For Christians and Jews, the Book of Proverbs is a great example. Yet, what about other religions and philosophers?

For example, English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher William Hazlitt (1778-1830) once wrote:

“Let a man’s talents or virtues be what they may; we feel satisfaction in his company only as he is satisfied in himself. We cannot enjoy the good qualities of a friend if he seems to be none the better for them.” (#27)

This sounds very much like King Solomon’s advice to parents that after their children are dedicated to being a successful individual, let them choose the path they want to follow to accomplish it. (Proverbs 22:6).

But the advice of the Apostle Paul seems more relevant: “Welcome with open arms, fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with – even when it seems they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their history to deal with. Treat them with respect.” (Romans 14:1-2 – The Message)

Renee Mercer loved her calling as a pastor’s wife. She was content serving in the background, serving next to her husband, Dave, a Wesleyan Methodist pastor. They recently celebrated thirty years of “I do’s” and were looking forward to the next thirty. They had a home with three teenage boys and one girl newly married. Their church was bursting with possibilities and new people.

A knock on the door in the wee hours of a cold December Sunday morning shattered her and the children’s lives. Upon answering the door, Renee was given the crushing news that her husband had died while on his mission trip to Nicaragua. Time seemed to stop at 5:20 a.m. as she cried, “No, this can’t be!”

Renee soon began to ask questions: Where is God’s will in this? David still had so much to do. I can’t live without him! When no answers came, she did what many do in the silent mysteries of suffering: blame themselves. Did I not pray hard enough? Did I not love him enough, or did I somehow deserve this? God, what did I do wrong? God, what’s going to happen to my kids? I don’t think this hurt will ever go away,” Renee wept. “Sometimes the sorrow is so deep all I want to do is throw up. It’s hard to move on when every moment feels like 5:20 a.m. when I was blindsided.”

“At my lowest moments,” she said with a trembling voice, “God’s grace often appears clothed as ordinary people who not only grieve for me but with me.” Renee recalled that on the first night of being a widow, someone slipped a note onto her pillow that read: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). This proved to be true when some church members helped her sell their house in three weeks. Others helped her find a new one in three days in Kentucky (where her family lives).

“Some days,” Renee confessed, “I want to sit down and quit because this is too hard, but God’s grace scoops me up and helps me keep doing the next thing. My children and I struggle in our unique ways with the ongoing grief, and as their mother, I wish I could ‘fix everything.’”

Many friends tried to tiptoe around her suffering, not to make her cry. But Renee knew crying was therapeutic and part of her healing. She recounts the Apostle Paul’s statement that “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Renee said, “We are learning to daily lean on God and limp at our most untroubling pace.”

But another Christian lady, Sarah Cochran, dealt with all the disappointment and sadness at being infertile that took root deep in her heart. She fell in love with Tom the summer after high school graduation, and three years later, they were married. She felt blessed and happy to join him in his call to ministry.

But one thing afflicted her. She often jumped out of bed screaming with abdominal pain or doubled over while strolling through a store or driving. Doctors diagnosed her with the polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and Sarah soon learned that conceiving children would be difficult. Bearing children became a goal to be achieved to make physical pain worth enduring. For years, Sarah told God, “I will do whatever you want me to.” However, when it became almost unbearable, Sarah began withdrawing from people. Symptoms of depression began to appear as she and Tom pursued fertility treatments month after month without results.

One morning, after years of trying to conceive and yet another failed pregnancy test, Sarah locked herself inside their bathroom and screamed. She repeatedly banged her head against the wall. She vomited out of pain – caused by nausea from the fertility drugs – and her disgust and rage. She cried out to God to let her die. Her prayers felt as though they bounced off the ceiling, mocking her every thought. How could she have faith in a God that would not heal? She was weary of the pain and weary of praying for others, doubting that God even cared. She became cynical and bitter. Her life had been built around a God who cared, but she could see no evidence of that care in her situation.

One morning, as questions swirled in their minds, Tom played his guitar in the bedroom where Sarah lay and began to sing: “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love…the Lord is good to all, and He has compassion on all that He has made. As far as the east is from the west, that’s how far He has removed our transgressions from us.”[1] At that moment, God met them in that room.

A seed of faith and hope began to take root in Sarah’s heart. It expanded and grew over the next decade. Finally, God answered Sarah’s prayer: “God, I will do whatever you want me to.” Sarah realized God was asking with all her heart. He did care for her, but did she care about God’s creations, plans, and people, or was she blindly focused only on her desires and comfort? God wanted her to surrender her full attention, plans for her future and family, and aspirations for education and a career. Could she submit her entire life to God?

Eventually, God called Sarah to return to school and become a pastor. She now says confidently, “God’s grace is sufficient to forgive my sins. He is sufficient for me. God does care, though he does say ‘no’ sometimes. God’s perspective is not our perspective. His is bigger and better!”

As we can see, God’s Word shines in the shades of grief and confusion, in the darkness of sorrow and despair. And the darker it gets, the brighter God’s light shines. And that Light on our pathway is not shining on us but from within us. When that Light dims, we may stumble and fall into the shadows where few people seem to see us. In a modern paraphrase. Jesus’ words ring loud and clear: “You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand – shine! Keep open house; be generous with your love. You’ll prompt people to open up to God, this gracious heavenly Father, by opening up to others” (Matthew 5:14-16 – The Message).

We often think we impress people as Christians with our behavior, but that is a candle next to the spotlight in the darkness of difficulties and hardships. Since our light is powered by the Holy Spirit, we may need to be recharged!

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[1] Ord, Graham. (1998) The Lord is Gracious and Compassionate. Vineyard Music

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson CXLVIII) 08/26/22

^4:20If anyone says, “I love God,” but keeps hating their spiritual brothers or sisters, they are lying; for if they don’t love their fellow believers right in front of their eyes, how can they love God whom they have never seen?

Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) says that if we are not enjoying these full benefits of the Christian life and experience, as the Apostle John has explained, that is undoubtedly the first need for self-examination. Start with the fellow Christians you see; start with the person right before you. If you cannot love them, ask God to help you; humbly confess your failure and sin. Tell them about the hatred in your heart, expose it to yourself, and ask God to help you get rid of it, take it out of you, and then flood You with His agápē.

Don’t stop, says Lloyd-Jones; keep going to God until you have conquered and gotten rid of it, and the moment you love your spiritual brothers and sisters, you will find your fellowship and communion with God restored. As you bask in the sunshine of His face, it will fill your life with His agápē. Love is not a sentiment; it ultimately means having a close relationship with God. My God cries out Lloyd-Jones, give us the grace, to be honest with ourselves, examine and search ourselves, and not allow the devil to delude and fool us. You don’t want to be called a liar. Instead, let us humbly before God examine ourselves and thus rid ourselves of these hindrances to the whole experience of the communion and the fellowship of God and the joy of His salvation. [1]

Ronald Ralph Williams (1906-1970) feels that the Apostle John sees this relationship with God’s children as a source of confidence that even the coming day of judgment cannot destroy. What he seems to mean is this: God’s agápē, having flowed to us through the Anointed One, reaches its climax when it flows through us to others. This is, for us, the perfection of love.[2] It means there is an apparent similarity between our situation in this world and the circumstances the Anointed One faced when God’s agápē flowed through Him to all humanity.

Knowing this (however imperfect) makes fear for the future impossible – perfect love banishes fear. The thought is very much like that of Paul’s contemplation of what can separate us from the love of the Anointed One.[3]   Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s agápē in the Anointed One, Jesus our Lord. “Fear,” we read, brings with it the terror of judgment.[4] It anticipates and makes real the pains it fears and awaits. John correctly sees that such an attitude indicates a faulty love relationship with God.[5]

William Barclay (1907-1978) has a lot to say about the Apostle John’s message in the final section of this fourth chapter. He says that because these verses are so closely interwoven, it is best to read them as part of a larger thought. John points out that Love has its origin in God, offering a double relationship with God. It is only by knowing God that we learn to love, and by loving, we learn to know God. In other words, love comes from God, and love leads back to God. To love God doesn’t mean we need to see Him; no one has ever seen God. But, just like the wind, we can see it in His effect on people. You do not need to see electricity from a socket before you have faith to plug in and receive it. However, God demonstrated His agápē in Jesus His Son. Therefore, let us keep our eyes on Him. It is a love that holds nothing back. It is an undeserved love, especially to wretched and disobedient creatures like ourselves.[6]

Noted hymn writer and theologian Frederick William Faber (1814-1863) expresses this same thought in a hymn he wrote:

He, whom no praise can reach, is affirmed

Men’s least attempts approving;

Whom justice makes all merciful

Omniscience makes all-loving.

How Thou canst think so well of us,

Yet be the God Thou art, is

Darkness to my intellect,

But sunshine to my heart.

Yet habits linger in the soul;

More grace, O Lord! more grace!

More sweetness from Thy loving Heart,

More sunshine from Thy Face![7]

But we must not forget, says Barclay, that human love responds to God’s agápē because He loved us first. And when this agápē fills our hearts and minds, fear of future judgment is driven away and fades. Let us always remember, however, that God did not share this agápē to obligate us to love Him. No, it was given to us by Him so we could also love our fellow believers and sinners. This energy of love discharges itself along the lines of a triangle,[8] God at the top, ourselves on the bottom left, our fellow saints on the bottom right, and then right back to God. This is the only way, says the Apostle John, to show that God lives within our hearts.[9]

GOD

Ourselves Saints

William Neil (1909-1979) So, if love becomes the ruling principle in our lives, we live in union with God, and the Day of judgment can hold no terror for us. Loving God and loving others are two sides of the same coin. If there is no charity in our hearts and actions while claiming to live for God, we are living a lie and defying our Lord’s Commandment to love one another.[10]

In this letter, F. F. Bruce (1910-1990) John has already emphasized that brotherly love characterizes the children of God. To hate one’s brother is to proclaim one’s kinship with Cain.[11] Here the same lesson is emphasized afresh, and the test of love is applied. Where God’s agápē or our love for God is mentioned, John makes no distinction between the Father and the Son. Alike in loving others and being loved by them in return, the Son and the Father are one.[12]

The Apostle Peter also speaks of the Anointed One, “whom, not having seen.”[13] John agrees but adds that love for the unseen One will be attested by love for His people whom we do see. So much verbal expression of devotion for the person of the Anointed One can coexist with remarkably unchristian attitudes towards the children of God, and John’s comment on this inconsistency is sharp and undisguised. In this, he is at one with his Master, who declared that behavior towards His brethren will be counted as behavior towards Himself in the judgment.[14] Those whose lives are marked by a lack of love in this regard may well have a sense of anxiety as they look forward to the day of the final review.[15]

Rudolf Schnackenburg (1914-2002) points out that along with the reasoned argument about loving one another comes the positive command of God here in verse twenty-one. It shows that mutual love is unconditional. The Gospels’ permanent bond between loving God and loving the neighbor is called “the great commandment.”[16] But since this verse operates precisely with this inner bond, the Apostle John must be referring to this tradition and not to John 13:34, as he did in 1 John 2:7ff. He brings the Synoptic report into conformity with his new commandment. Love of neighbor becomes the love of brother and sister.

The latter is seen as a concrete application of the former to the life of the Johannine community. In the Greek text, verse twenty-one begins with the Greek conjunction kai (“and”) omitted from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). This forms a close connection with verse twenty. At the same time, this verse serves as a valuable early Christian commentary on the double commandment of love as preached by Jesus. Speaking only for the community, the Apostle John is convinced he has understood Jesus correctly in proclaiming mutual love as a necessary requirement and an unquestionable seal of one’s love for God.[17]

John R. W. Stott (1921-2010) The folly of the liar’s position is seen in its characteristic inconsistency and in the fact that love for God and love for our brothers and sisters form one command.[18] Jesus taught this. He united Deuteronomy 6:4 and Leviticus 19:18 and declared that all the Law and the Prophets are anchored in them.[19] So we may not separate what Jesus has joined. Besides, if we love God, we will keep His commands,[20] and His order is to love our neighbor as we want to be loved.[21]

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[1] Lloyd-Jones, Martyn: Life in the Anointed One, op. cit., p. 559

[2] See 1 John 4:17

[3] Romans 8:35-39

[4] 1 John 4:18

[5] William, Ronald R., The Letters of John and James, op. cit., p. 51

[6] Hebrews 12:2

[7] Hymns selected from Frederick William Faber, published by Bridgman and Childs, Northampton, 1869 Harsh Judgments, “O God, Whose Thoughts are Brightest Light,” p. 73

[8] See 1 John 4:16

[9] Barclay, William: The Daily Study Bible, op. cit., pp. 109-111

[10] Neil, William: Harper’s Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 529

[11] 1 John 3:12

[12] Cf. John 10:30

[13] 1 Peter 1:8

[14] Matthew 25:31-46

[15] Bruce, F. F., The Epistles of John: A Verse-by-Verse Exposition. Kingsley Books, Inc. Kindle Edition.

[16] Matthew 22:37-40

[17] Schnackenburg, Rudolf: The Johannine Epistles, op. cit., pp. 226-227

[18] Cf. 1 John 3:23

[19] Matthew 22:37-40

[20] 1 John 2:5; 5:3

[21] Stott, John. The Letters of John (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries), op. cit., p. 171

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson CXLVII) 08/25/22

^4:20If anyone says, “I love God,” but keeps hating their spiritual brothers or sister, they are lying; for if they don’t love their fellow believers right in front of their eyes, how can they love God whom they have never seen?

Frederick B. Meyer (1847-1929) offers the test of our love. He says, if we are willing to be channeled through which God’s agápē flows to others, there need be no limit to the fullness of that holy current. In humbleness, selflessness, and gentleness, it will become perfect. The vessel placed beneath the waterfall is filled to overflowing. Through our Savior, we know the Father who sent Him.[1] We first venture on God’s agápē by faith; afterward, we know it. We’re not afraid to affirm that God’s agápē is in us. Love is the floating fragrance of Paradise. If you love, heaven and earth will answer you in terms of love. With strong, patient, selfless love, you will remain in unbroken touch with all pure and loving souls. Where love was crucified, there was a garden. Where there is love, lonely places blossom as the rose. Don’t be afraid! Love is on! Love is constant! He is the true God and eternal life! But to allow one thought of hatred or ill-will to muddy our minds will cause your happy experience to vanish.[2]

William Sinclair (1850-1917) notes that these last three verses are a restatement, in vivid form, of the truth and the duty contained in verses ten and eleven. God made it possible for us to love Him, and the first result of our feeling this power within us and allowing it to put itself into force will be seen in pure and devout compassion for all whom we can help. As usual, hating and not loving are interchangeable members of the class of meanness. The Apostle John argues that it is much easier for human nature to be interested in what comes before its eyes than in which it has to think. Sinclair tells us that Gregory the Great said, “In love the eyes are guides,” and Œcumenius, “Sight leads on to love.”[3] However, this may be, there is a still stronger position: the simple command of God in the Anointed One.[4] [5]

James B. Morgan (1850-1942) states that it is universally admitted that the duty of loving God and our fellow believers is at once. If we met someone who denied any obligation to keep a promise, we would count them as a hypocrite and have no cause to reason with them. The perfections of God are such as to constitute a claim which cannot be refused. All graces and virtues are centered in Him. Nothing is lacking, nothing redundant, nothing out of place. “God is Spirit.” “God is Light.” “God is Love.” He deserves to be loved for His supernatural excellence. On us, however, His claims are firm. He made us, called us, chose us, redeemed us, and preserved us. So far as we know, our obligations are greater than those of angels. Every day they increase. And we ought to say with the most unreserved sincerity and earnestness, “we love Him because He loved us first.”

Everyone should be ready to own their responsibility to speak and act out of love every time. These verses are intended to test us. The test proposed is the love for one another. It is established that we cannot love God if this is missing. The Apostle John’s words are loud and clear: “If we say we love God but hate any of our spiritual brothers or sisters in His family, we are liars. If we don’t love someone we have seen, how can we love God? We have never even seen Him. Therefore, God gave us this command: If we love God, we must also love each other as spiritual brothers and sisters.”[6]

Charles Gore (1853-1932) takes note that at the close of this Epistle, we’ve passed from the thought of a Church and world conflict, or the Anointed One and the antichrist, and are now occupied with the consideration of what Christianity, the true religion, essentially is. And the point of this section is that since religion is fellowship with God, and in the Anointed One, God has revealed His essential character as love, so love – a love like the Anointed One’s – is the essence and test of true faith. Where love is, God is; and where love is not, God is not.

For the Apostle John says, Gore, it’s all about loving one another for us to love God. And since God is Love, our love for others reflects His agápē for us. It was the Father’s purpose for which He sent His only-begotten Son into the world. John lays this out in three phases: (1) that we might live through Him; (2) to be the conciliation for our sins; (3) to be the savior of the world. Each phrase has its characteristics. But God did not plan to have His Son do all these things without involving humanity. And for those who respond to His call to reconcile and be part of Him so He can be in us, and we in Him.

But above and beyond this is that we are to complete the circle of God’s agápē to us so that we can love Him back through our Christian spiritual brothers and sisters (this does not shut out nonbelievers). But for some, this became a complicated matter because of having difficulty loving those around them. So, John asks, “How can you love God whom you have not seen when you can’t bring yourself to love those you see?” This may be true for some but not all. 

Then Gore tells us that he remembers a brilliant young man more than forty years earlier who questioned John’s argument because he found no difficulty in loving people until he saw them. It was the sight that caused the problem. Gore thinks this is John’s point. It is “sight,” that is, experience, which brings our love to the test. The pragmatic trial is that we have “to love the people we don’t like.” If we fail when this practice test is applied, we prove that we do not have genuine agápē – only our natural liking with its correlated disliking. And our profession of loving God, where our love has been put to no such test, is disproven. “If we do not love our brother and sister who we can see, we cannot love God whom we have not seen.”[7]

Alonzo R. Cocke closes his commentary on this chapter by telling us that the initial text, “Beloved, let us love one another,” shines like a golden thread through this string of pearls. Beginning with “For love is of God,” it runs through every verse until John’s injunction, “They who love God love their spiritual brothers and sisters also,” which closes the precious splendid love necklace. May God’s Spirit, with a pen of light, engrave these celestial sentences upon the loving heart of the church! “God is love.”

It brings to remembrance the stirring words of the old Methodist hymn:

“‘Tis love, ‘tis love, thou diedst for me,

I hear thy whisper in my heart;

The morning breaks; the shadows flee;

Pure universal love thou art.

To me do all thy bowels move:

Thy nature and thy name is love.”[8]

Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951) leaves us with these words: Think of this the next time you feel righteous indignation against somebody. Ask, “I have often grieved the Holy Spirit; does God still love me? I have often disobeyed the Lord, yet He keeps on loving me. I have often dishonored the Father; will He give up loving me? Here’s my prayer, says Ironside, Blessed God, by Your Holy Spirit, let that same divine all-conquering agápē flood my heart, that I may never think of myself but of others for whom the Anointed One died, and be ready to give myself in devotion and loving service for their blessing, Amen. This is Christianity in action![9]

Paul E. Kretzmann (1883-1965) feels that the beauty of God’s agápē in us has an additional effect: This agápē is perfected in us, and we will have boldness on Judgment Day because just as He is, we also are in this world. Moreover, if we have embraced God’s agápē by faith, then this agápē will work in us day after day, constantly gaining in power and enthusiasm, always giving greater strength to our faith. Thus, the final result will be that, when the Day of Judgment comes, all fear will be removed from our hearts, and we shall calmly and cheerfully appear before the Throne of Judgment. We have such cheerful confidence because we rely upon God’s agápē in the Anointed One, Jesus.[10]

This trust is strengthened, notes Kretzmann, by the fact that even as the Anointed One conducted Himself, so we disciples are to behave in this world. As the Anointed One is now, as our exalted Champion, is in His glory, at the right hand of God, we, too, are with Him in spirit, even though, according to our body, we are still in this vale of sorrows. By faith, we are partakers of the glory, the life, the salvation that the Anointed One has earned for us. Our citizenship is in heaven. The Day of Judgment means for us only the entrance into our eternal inheritance.

At this point, Kretzmann says that John’s warning comes with peculiar force: Let us show love because He loved us first. We, who have experienced the great God’s agápē, who are remaining in His agápē, cannot but feel the obligation to return love for love, love toward all men. This feeling is prompted in us. After all, He loved us first because His incredible agápē in the Anointed One conquered our unwilling hearts and changed us from enemies to friends. Therefore, the more complete and perfect God’s agápē will be in our hearts, the more cheerfully our faith takes hold of it, and the more vital and vibrant our love toward God will be.[11] [12]

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[1] 1 John 4:14; See John 14:9-10

[2] Meyer, Frederick B: Through the Bible Day by Day, op. cit., StudyLight

[3] Cf. 1 John 2:4; 3:17; and 4:12, 21

[4] Cf. Luke 10:27; John 13:34, 35; 14:21; 15:9, 10, 12

[5] Sinclair, William: A New Testament Commentary for English Readers, op. cit., p. 490

[6] Morgan, James B., An Exposition of the First Epistle of John, op. cit., Lecture XXXVIII, p. 375

[7] Gore, Charles: The Epistles of St. John, op. cit., pp. 186-187

[8] “Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown” by Charles Wesley (1742)

[9] Ironside, Harry A., The Epistles of John and Jude, op. cit., pp. 181-182

[10] Cf. Romans 8:35-39

[11] Psalm 73:25-26

[12] Kretzmann, Paul E., Popular Commentary on the Bible, op. cit., Vol. II, pp. 574-575

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson CXLVI) 08/24/22

^4:20If anyone says, “I love God,” but keeps hating their spiritual brothers or sister, they are lying; for if they don’t love their fellow believers right in front of them, how can they love God whom they have never seen?

William Kelly (1822-1888) concludes that the Apostle John impressed believers that loving our brethren is not merely the instinct of the new nature but what God insists on as obedience to Him. What is there for us holier than obedience? What humbler? Is anything more becoming, more Christlike, than obedience? It is the place which the Anointed One fulfilled in all its perfection, even by giving up His life in His perfect love to us. “I received this commandment from my Father.”[1] Did it being the Father’s command make it annoying to the Anointed One? No, whatever it cost, this was an added and immense delight to our Lord Jesus. His perfect love and the commandment of His Father combined in it, and the same appeal comes to us in loving the children of God. Not only should our hearts go out in love, but we know that we are pleasing God and doing His will. Let us not forget that He joins us by loving Him and His other children and will not have the first without the last. If it is His agápē and honor, let it be our love and duty because He loves us each with the same perfect love.[2]

James Nisbet (1823-1874) states that it does not take a whole nation or an entire Church to turn from sin and set itself to serve Almighty God to attract His attention. There is joy in heaven for one sinner that repents.[3] Instead, let’s think of God’s agápē for each individual’s soul He revealed in His work and His teaching on earth. Again and again, it must impact us as we read the Gospels when we see how our Lord thought it worthwhile to give Himself wholly and concentrate His full attention for the time on one person. And so, though at times our Blessed Lord indeed preached to the great multitudes – that He would work His miracles before thousands – yet we know that the souls our Lord saved were saved one by one with infinite love, tender care, and incredible patience.

We learn that only one was saved of all those who stood around Calvary, and that was the confessing thief. Our Lord turned His thought, love, and care into a lost soul in His suffering. The text tells us that we will also love our Christian spiritual brothers and sisters if we love God. Let’s try to communicate with the individual, the solitary man or woman. They are all so different and need such different kinds of help.[4]

George MacDonald (1824-1905) was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister who wrote works on Christian theology, including several collections of sermons. On the subject of love for God produces love for others, MacDonald had this short but eye-catching comment: “When God comes to one person, they immediately look around for their neighbor to love.”[5]

Daniel Steele (1824-1914) comments that Bible scholars have found it difficult to determine in this verse and several other passages whether John is speaking of the Son or the Father. Both are authors of this command.[6] But this effort is not without doctrinal significance. It argues that the Apostle thoroughly believed in the supreme Godhead of the Incarnate Son of God, who shared His Father’s glory before the world existed. If John thought that the Son of God was a mere human creature and not a divine God-Man, he would not confuse the Son with His Father’s personality.^[7]

Brooke F. Westcott (1825-1901) confirms his view by saying that the context makes it probable that, though the Divine Person is not clearly defined, the reference is to the Father,[8] who, by sending His Son, showed the way of love. The Anointed One gave the commandment in substance,[9] but it came from the Father as its source.[10] (Contrast the use of the Greek preposition para, meaning “heard of,”[11] “received of,”[12] and “desired of.”)[13] Not only that, but the final particle “that” gives more than the simple contents of the commandment. It marks the command as directed to an aim; and implies that the effort to obtain it can never be relaxed.[14] [15] I find all this debate over whether Jesus was the author of this command or His heavenly Father clarified by the Anointed One Himself, “I did not speak on My own, but the Father who sent Me commanded Me to say all that I have spoken.”[16]

Henry A. Sawtelle (1832-1913) sees verse twenty-one as the capstone to this theme of God’s agápē as the source of our love. The Apostle John makes it clear that it is from God; it may be through the Anointed One and remembered by John as coming from his Master’s lips. It is not the commandment embraced in the summary of the law,[17] as claimed by Henry Alford (1810-1871), for that relates to our neighbor, our fellowman in general; the love-command of the Anointed One relates to the inner circle of regenerate men and women, our relatives in the Anointed One. The word “that” introduces the significance of the commandment and its goal. Those loving God must love their brother or sister from gratitude,[18] and the divine pattern and nature of love itself, from a common sense principle![19] and now from the strong command which directly expresses God’s will in the matter.[20]

John James Lias (1834-1923) says it is easy to say we love God, but it is often not proven because we cannot see Him. We do not know Him. We may persuade ourselves that we love Him, but we may be deceiving ourselves. Persuasion, in most cases, is but a form of words. The actual proof of our love for God is the possession of His agápē. We will render it back to Him through others if we possess it. If we own it, we will provide proof. And this can only be done by displaying it. Therefore, our life must be first a struggle with, then a victory over, all that is inconsistent with love. All selfishness, pride, prejudice, and littleness must be controlled. All so-called holiness isolation must, as far as possible, be overcome. Tenderness, thoughtfulness, willingness to yield, and care for the happiness of others rather than ourselves, such as the Anointed One showed, are the signs of His presence within. If we love God, we must use agápē, for God is agápē.[21]

Robert Cameron (1839-1904) wants us to remember that our love for our spiritual brothers and sisters is not naturally attained but a divine gift that tests our relationship with God. If we belong to God, we love with God’s agápē. This agápē will go out to persons and things, not as they are attractive to us, but as they are attractive to Him. Each person was so beloved by God that He gave His Son to die for His sake, so He could reconcile the world to Himself. That same agápē in us will lead to the same devotion and sacrifice. The law could not produce love in us by all its threats and thunder. But God put to death the old life of hatred for the Anointed One and conveyed a new life, and every fiber of its being inspires us to love as He did.[22]

Erich Haupt (1841-1910) says some may think that there is one way of loving God directly, that, namely, of keeping His commandments the way of obedience. But verse twenty-one explains that this method of loving God is not an alternative, for it is God s express commandment that we love our spiritual brothers and sisters. Indeed, the words do not indicate that this is the only commandment we have received, for if John says, “He [God] has given us this command.” that does not hinder us from supposing that, besides the one in question, we have many others. But yet, strictly speaking, the precept of brotherly and sisterly love is the fulfillment of the Law.[23]

Ernst Hermann von Dryander (1843-1922) points out that the previous seven verses permit us to consider the subject of love from a somewhat different point of view, for perfect love directed to God also comprises a fear lest we should fail to exercise devotion to other believers. Have you ever considered, says Dryander, that on Judgment Day, we must account not only for sins of commission but also for sins of omission? And what sin of omission can weigh more heavily and pain than unfulfilled love? Think of the small circle of your household – spouse, children, brothers, and sisters; perhaps it was during the saddest moment of your life, at a death-bed, by a grave-side, that the awful thought flashed upon you, “I never told them how much I loved them.” Who among us can say they are not lacking in deeds of love even towards those they love most?

Think, says Dryander, again, of that wider circle – the community in which you live – the careful observer will, without fail, notice one thing: the numberless cases of want and sorrow resulting from love being withheld. Every offense against a brother or sister is a poisonous seed from which the fruit of hate is grown. Couldn’t we have laid bare the roots from which anger and hatred draw power and strength? No matter how often we see these roots were developed in refusals to love, opportunities of loving disregarded, cries of pity unheeded, and acts of mercy left undone. Just like the rich man who saw the beggar Lazarus in Abraham’s arms, he was unconcerned and uncaring while poor Lazarus lay groaning at his gate![24] The time is short, our task is essential, and the thought of neglecting our present opportunity is terrible. Today, while we can, we must love; today we must forgive and give, in love; today let holy conviction seize us, for this will make love active, burning, and zealous; then our love is perfected today, then we will have boldness, on the Day of Judgment.[25]

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[1] John 10:18

[2] Kelly, William: An Exposition of the Epistle of John the Apostle, op. cit., Logos, loc. cit.

[3] Luke 15:7

[4] Nisbet, James: The Church Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., Vol. 12, pp. 310-311

[5] MacDonald, George: Biblical Illustrator, op. cit., Vol. 22, p. 186

[6] Leviticus 19:18; John 13:34

[7] Steele, Daniel, Half-Hour, 1 John 4, Sermons, op. cit., p. 420

[8] 1 John 4:19

[9] John 13:34

[10] Cf. 1 John 1:5; 2:27

[11] (“heard of”) see John 8:26 40, 43, 47

[12] See John 10:18; 1 John 3:22; Revelation 2:27

[13] 1 John 5:15

[14] Cf. John 13:34

[15] Westcott, Brooke F., The Epistles of St. John, p. 162

[16] John 12:49

[17] Matthew 22:37-39

[18] 1 John 4:11

[19] Ibid. 4:20

[20] Sawtelle, Henry A., An American Commentary, Alvah Hovey Ed., op. cit., p. 54

[21] The First Epistle of St. John with Exposition, op. cit., pp. 347-348

[22] Cameron, Robert: First Epistle of John, op., cit., loc. cit.

[23] Haupt, Erich: The First Epistle of John, op. cit., pp. 283-284

[24] Luke 16:19-31

[25] Dryander, Ernst Hermann von: Addresses on the First Epistle of John, op. cit., Lecture XIII, Logos

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson CXLV) 08/23/22

^4:20If anyone says, “I love God,” but keeps hating their spiritual brother or sister, they are lying; for if they don’t love their fellow believer right in front of them, how can they love God whom they have never seen?

Robert Smith Candlish (1806-1873) declares that the Apostle John has just announced the Law of Love.[1]  Nevertheless, he still has in His mind the twofold test of God’s giving us His Spirit and our belief in the name of His Son Jesus the Anointed One and loving one another.[2] The Spirit in us confesses, and our spirit agrees, that Jesus the Anointed One was manifested in the flesh; He is the Son of God. It is a confession implying the believing recognition of God’s agápē to us in Him. It means, therefore, also the perfecting of God’s agápē within us to exclude fear and ensure our loving as He loved us first. We respond to His agápē and return it; it reproduces itself in us. And it does so, as love going out to those we see, not those we cannot see; otherwise, it would not be our loving with God’s agápē to us; it would not be our loving because God first loved us.

When we read verse twenty, we find it to be a reasonable and beneficial redirection of John’s train of thought; it ushers in a new subject. It is a valuable closing caution. John laid much stress on loving our brother or sister; loving him or her as you see them; loving them because God commands you; loving them as born of God. But your love for a fellow believer needs to be carefully watched. It is love for them as members of God’s family. It may be on other grounds and for different reasons that you love them. It may be a love of mere natural sentiment and affection, merely human love, having little or nothing in common with the agápē with which God loved you first. But to be trustworthy at all, as a test of God’s giving you of His Spirit, and so dwelling in you, it must be agápē having in it the element of godliness; love having respect for God; love to them because God loves them, and you love God.[3]

Johann E. Huther (1807-1880) concludes that although brotherly love is the natural product and activity of love for God, at the same time, practicing should be a habitual project that they who love God perform as one appointed by God. It is doubtful whether we are to understand “He has given” as God or the Anointed One. But to insist the “He” be attributed to the Anointed One, it must read “from Him,” is unfounded; because “we love God” follows. In the context, there is no reference here at all to the Anointed One; it might be safer to understand by “from” God.[4]

Daniel D. Whedon (1808-1885) explains that this doctrine of love takes the form of a commandment. Not only may we, but we must. It is an invariable divine law that the lover of God be a lover of their brothers and sisters. It is our blessedness, our highest duty.[5]

Henry Alford (1810-1871) concludes that besides accepting as common sense this argument to love one another means to love God, another most powerful one exists, which the Apostle here adds. “And this commandment has we from Him, that they who love God must also love their brothers and sisters.” And where do we find this commandment? Our Lord’s excellent summary of the law is, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, Love your neighbor as yourself.”[6] [7]

William Graham (1810-1883) focuses on the final bell calling all believers to join in loving God by loving each other. That’s why the commandment we have received of Him is, “That they who love God, love their brother and sister also.” It is the new commandment given by the Anointed One to His disciples.[8] The meaning is, “We have received this commandment from the Anointed One, that they who love God must love their fellow Christian also.” Therefore, we are obliged to fulfill this duty of brotherly love, not only in relationships between fellow believers but also by the commandment and example of the Anointed One.

Keep in mind that the blessed Savior commands that we should love one another and that where this brotherly love is inadequate, there is no evidence that we love God. Graham confesses that our love for one another in the present generation is icy and distant, nor will the middle wall sin erected between God’s children be speedily broken down. These partitions will probably stand till the time of persecution comes upon us. In the meantime, we must punch holes through them and reach our hands out to them the best way we can.[9]

Graham closes with the first stanza of an old German poem, “Triumph der Liebe,” that reads:

“Blessed by love Gods

 – through love men are equal to gods!

Love makes heaven heavenly

– the earth into the kingdom of heaven

William E. Jelf (1811-1875) sees the Apostle John adding one more argument to those he already offered. It involves the nature of love and the relationship between the two, showing the necessary connection between God’s agápē and human love. These are essential elements of Christian character and conditions of salvation and God’s plan of redemption. He now speaks of it as a positive command from God, apart from any logical or moral necessity for viewing as implied and implying each other, that whoever pretends to God’s agápē should love their Christian brothers and sisters.[11]

Richard H. Tuck (1817-1868) senses that the Apostle John is summarizing, in a vivid form, the truth and the duty contained in verses ten and eleven. In Jesus’ view, neighborly love is inseparable from God’s agápē, a distinguishing and essential mark. Sight is the significant provocative of love. The difficulty of loving God as an unseen Divine Being is compensated for by God’s manifestation of His Son in the flesh. We find this commandment embedded in our Lord’s synopsis of genuine love for God and others.[12] John doesn’t want his readers to think you can fool God by making Him feel they love Him when they are disgusted with their neighbors.[13]

John Stock (1817-1884) summarizes this chapter’s cheerful summary. He says that Love’s sole component is in heaven. One day, only among redeemed sinners will it perfectly exist. But until then, amidst all the various hindrances to its growth, it lives in death, shines in the darkness, and surmounts inward corruption. The possessor of it exclaims with glad surprise, “Salvation belongs to the Lord,”[14] “I can do all things through the Anointed One, who gives me strength.”[15] “Although I start out feeling faint; though I’m knocked down, I’m not knocked out; but have a vitality that mocks death and sustained by my Lord, who is the Resurrection and the Life;”[16] Who else can say to His militant and oppressed people,  “Because I live, you will also live; be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”[17] [18]

George G. Findlay (1819-1919) points out that verses seven through twenty-one form the longest paragraph in the Apostle John’s First Epistle. There is no interruption in the current of thought, and our sectional division at this point is artificial. The mind of God is plainly shown in this all-important matter. The duty is not left to interpretation, nor does it stand barefoot on reason and politeness; it operates in a calculated and distinct order: “This commandment we have from Him, that those who love God should also love their brother and sister.” This is the sum of “the commandments” illustrated by Jesus’ perfect life,[19] the “old and new commandment”[20] which governs God’s whole will for mankind from first to last.

Findlay goes on to say that the command attends the movements of faith at every step.[21] It is enforced by every obligation we owe to God and every relationship that associates us with our brethren in the congregation of the Anointed One. God forbids us to love Him unless we love our brethren: all narrower love He rejects as fake and ineffective. The Father will not give His agápē to the unbrotherly any more than to non-members of God’s family. The Head of the Church rejects the affection that pretends to focus on others when it is on oneself. To offer God a restricted love is to attribute our selfishness to Him and to make Him a monopoly within His universe – the Father whose name is Love and whose nature it is to “give generously to all without finding fault.”[22] The person who proposes this reverence to their Maker “has neither seen Him nor known Him.”[23] [24]

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[1] 1 John 4:21

[2] Ibid 3:23

[3] Candlish, Robert S., First Epistle of John, op. cit., pp. 162-163;171-172

[4] Huther, Johann E., Critical and Exegetical Handbook, op. cit., p. 596

[5] Whedon, Daniel D., Commentary of the Bible, op. cit., p. 278

[6] Matthew 22:37-39

[7] Alford, Henry: Critical and Exegetical Commentary, op. cit., p. 406

[8] 1 John 2:8; 3:11; John 13:34; 15:12

[9] Graham, William, A Practical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 297

[10] “Der Triumph der Liebe,” Poem by Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805), Anthology (collection of poems) for the Year 1762. Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, physician, historian, and playwright.

[11] Jelf, William E., First Epistle of St. John, op. cit., p. 68

[12] Matthew 22:37-39

[13] Tuck, Richard H., Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary, op. cit., p. 310

[14] Psalm 3:8

[15] Philippians 4:13

[16] John 11:25

[17] Ibid. 14:19; 16:33

[18] Stock, John: Exposition of the First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 395

[19] 1 John 2:4-6

[20] Ibid. 2:7-11

[21] Ibid. 3:23-24

[22] James 1:5

[23] 1 John 3:6

[24] Findlay, George G., An Exposition of the Epistles of St. John, op. cit., Chap. XXII, p, 358

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson CXLIV) 08/22/22

^4:20If anyone says, “I love God,” but keeps hating their brother or sister, they are lying; for if they don’t love their brother or sister who is right in front of them, how can they love God whom they have never seen?

Henry goes on. We must distinguish between reverence for God and being afraid of Him. High regard for God sparks awe and worship. Obedience and good works, done from the principle of love, are not like the submissive labor of one who unwillingly labors from dread of a master’s anger. They are like a dutiful child who willingly and gladly follows their beloved father’s instructions. It is a sign that our love is far from perfect when our doubts, fears, and apprehensions about God are many.

Let heaven and earth stand amazed at His agápē. He sent His Word to invite sinners to partake of this great salvation. Let them take comfort in the happy change He brought about while they give Him the glory. God’s agápē in the Anointed One, in the hearts of Christians from the Spirit of adoption, is tested by its effects on their temperament and conduct with other believers to prove that their conversion took place. If a person professes to love God and yet harbors anger, revenge, or a selfish disposition, they make their profession of being saved a lie. But if their natural hostility is transformed into affection and gratitude, that is a good sign. So, says Henry, let us bless the name of the Lord our God for this seal of approval and promise of eternal happiness. When we do that, then we differ from the false professors, who pretend to love God, whom they have not seen, yet hate their brethren whom they have seen.[1]

Thomas Pyle (1674-1756) encourages us to remember that we must affirm our respect for God by kindness and compassion for our fellow believers. Not only is this the spoken command of the Anointed One, but the very reason we’re Christians requires it. If we don’t love them, whose situations and needs impact and affect our physical senses, we can hardly claim to have much affection for God.[2]

James Macknight (1721-1800) concludes that love for humanity is inseparable from love for God. Therefore, this commandment we received from the Anointed One[3] says that everyone who loves God must love their brother and sister also with the love of compassion, whether they are a sinner or even an enemy.

Robert Finlayson (1793-1861) points to one outstanding feature of the Divine love – very mysterious, if we stop and think about it, but still very offensive to all our preconceptions – that God still loves those who are so fanatically opposed to Him. There is something about this that startles us; there is something that quite overwhelms us. The truth is, we seldom wonder enough about it; we give such wondering to lesser things. We often don’t go that far; all we have is a vacant look on our faces as His work of grace before our eyes, and we might say to other believers that His grace and mercy are never-ending. But, Finlayson asks, have you ever seen anything like this in your experience, anything so remarkable as God’s agápē to sinners?

Finlayson states that if we breathe the forgiving atmosphere of the cross and feel with God in His agápē to sinners, we would love them even as He does. Although it is challenging to develop any interest in an unrepentant sinner, a hard thing to retain when all the soul-saving feeling is gone, and a tough thing to create any successful procedure for their redemption, that is the Divine arrangement of grace Calvary’s cross offers.

That forms the next dilemma for the Apostle John, notes Finlayson. He asks the believers if you can’t love the people you see in need of help or salvation, how can you say you love the God you can’t see? John is implying that it is by loving the seen that we are to learn to love the unseen. If we do not know the courage and patience it takes to try and win sinners, how can we understand the Divine tolerance and patience exercised toward us? Remember that love for our Godly Father is a strategic motivation for our attachment to fellow believers, and if we are not fed from on high, our love will soon wither and die. He who commands here spoke from Mt. Sinai; He now says from Mt. Calvary. His first word to the sinner is not “Love your brother,” but “Believe in me.” Should not ordinary gratitude prompt us to instantaneous show obedience to these commands?[4]

Richard Rothe (1799-1867) concludes that from every legitimate concept of God, belief follows when our neighbor enjoys our love; it is as though God was doing it. Our love cannot remain idle; it requires action on our part to prove its existence. This agápē for God merely with our understanding and lips is a desecration of His nature rather than an honor and a sacrifice we owe Him. Simply because God is love, He will not be loved to the prejudice of others. In other words, you cannot tell God; I love you more than anyone else. Sound’s flattering, but it is frustrating to Him. He urges all our love for Him to be shared with those around us. It is only in appearance, however, if there is any dividing of one’s agápē.[5]

But some might open their Bibles and read: “You cannot be My disciple unless you love Me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come with Me unless you love me more than your life.”[6] Jesus is not teaching a new commandment of betrayal but the cost of following Him. The clue is in what Jesus says later: “Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people and kiss them goodbye, you can’t be My disciple.”[7]

So, Jesus is not asking those who follow Him to break God’s Law of Love and put their families and friends below Him on the love chart. Instead, He is telling them that their commitment to following Him is a matter of setting priorities. When I received my first call to mission work, I had to decide whether to go back to the USA and be with my family, whom I loved dearly, or work far from home, reaching people who had never heard about God’s agápē. In the same way, Jesus did not leave His father to come to earth to be our Savior because He hated being with God all the time. No, it was God’s agápē who sent Him, and His agápē for His Father that convinced Him to go and become our sacrifice for sin.

Alfred Plummer (1841-1926) says that now the Apostle John drives home his arguments for the practice of brotherly love because God commanded all who love Him to love their brethren. Some take “from him” to mean the Anointed One. But this is unlikely, as the Anointed One has not been mentioned for several verses: although it must be admitted that John is so full of the truth that “My Father and I are one,” that He makes the transition from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the Father almost unconsciously.

Where has God given this commandment? The whole Law is summed up in loving God with all one’s heart and one’s neighbor as oneself.[8] The Apostle thus anticipates a possible objection. Can someone say, “I can love God without loving my brother, or can I prove my love by keeping His commandments?”[9] “No!” says John; “your argument shows your error: you cannot keep His commandments without loving your brother.”[10]

Augustus Neander (1789-1850) feels that it should be clear that our fountain of love is God, who is Love. Yet, to connect to this invisible source, more is required than the impression made by His visible humanity. How can the invisible object of love influence us when the visual doesn’t? With this being the necessary connection between these two relations of love, the Apostle adds that we have a commandment from Him that they who love God must also love their brother and sister. That becomes the springboard for what John says in the first verse of chapter five. Thus, we have two revelations of God: Our brother, who is in His image, and His commandment. Not to love our brother is a flagrant violation of both.[11]

Gottfried C. F. Lücke (1791-1855) the Apostle John now produces the most durable argument: The Anointed One’s distinct command, or God’s commandment given through Him,[12] that whoever loves God must also love their brother and sister. In other words, our genuine love for God shows itself in brotherly love.[13] So then, in 1 John 5:1,[14] the substance of the mandate here in verse twenty-one – the permanent connection between God’s agápē and brotherly and sisterly love, is to be displayed from another point of view and enforced, illustrated by new motives. Since the unconverted can believe that Jesus is the Anointed One, whoever has this faith is born of God. Now, as in family life, children naturally love their parents, but for their love to be recognized, they must direct it toward their siblings. In the same way, in God’s family, love for their mutual Father in heaven is the primary feeling they all share with all God’s children. The more we read about this mandate, the more we realize you cannot have one without the other.

Genuine God’s agápē and brotherly love are inseparably connected; they serve each other as a mutual basis and condition. And as in a Christian family, love is the indispensable manifestation of the love for God, so God’s agápē is the basis for brotherly love. Accordingly, God’s supernatural love for others is grounded on their natural love for family. However, our love for God consists of faithful keeping divine commandments. This is what the Apostle John implies in verse two. He does not speak as much here about the outward principles of genuine brotherly love as he does on the internal consciousness and inner recognition and foundation of the one expression of love on the other. Instead of further demonstrating this proposition, John addresses his readers’ conscience and experience.[15]

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[1] Henry, Matthew: op. cit., loc. cit.

[2] Pyle, Thomas: Paraphrase, op. cit., p. 398

[3] John 13:34; 15:12; 1 John 3:11

[4] Finlayson, Robert: The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 22, op. cit., p. 139

[5] Rothe, Richard: The Expository Times, op. cit., November 1894, p. 88

[6] Luke 14:25-27 – Contemporary English Version (CEV)

[7] Ibid. 14:33 – The Message Version (MSG)

[8] Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18; Luke 10:27

[9] John 14:15

[10] Plummer, Alfred: Cambridge Commentary, op. cit., p. 154

[11] Neander, Augustus: First Epistle of John, op. cit., Chapters IV, V, pp. 274-275

[12] Cf. 1 John 3:23

[13] Ibid. 3:11; John 13:34

[14] Cf. 3:23; 4:15, 16

[15] Lücke, Gottfried: Commentary on 1^st John, op. cit., Eight Section, verse twenty-one

Today in the news and on social media, we hear more and more about equality. Equality between men and women, between blacks and whites, salaries, appointments to government positions, etc. They are not talking about justice equality “under the law,” which already seems forgotten in politics. Psychology describes inequality as an obvious or hidden disparity between individuals for various reasons.

Psychologist Christopher Dwyer, a lecturer at the Technological University of the Shannon in Athlone, Ireland, says, despite the American Constitution, that “No one is created equal.” For example, some people are more intelligent than others; some are more attractive, some are healthier and happier, some are more conscientious and kinder, some make more money, etc. If we can quantify differences among people, then we can readily observe that people are not equal.

So, is that to say that some people are more important than others? A politically correct answer would be “no,” and everyone is equally important. But I also would argue, says Dwyer, not because people are equally important, but rather because of how hard it would be to decipher what is “important.” For example, if facing an ethical dilemma or philosophical puzzle in which you must choose between two people as to who lives and who dies, wouldn’t the decision boil down to who you viewed as more important? But, what is “important?’ For example, person X is more competent than Person Y, but Person Y makes more money (and pays more taxes) and is healthier than X, but then Person X has a family and is more crucial than Person Y. This could go on forever.

So, where do we draw the line? It’s likely to come down to what the “decision-maker” values. The importance of persons X and Y’s significance will likely differ across perspectives. Of course, kinship issues will affect some decisions, but outside of kinship, each person is likely to judge according to their criteria of “importance.” So, this should never be left to one individual’s decision, but like in voting, to the majority.

Psychologist E. J. R. David, an associate professor of Psychology at the University of Alaska Anchorage, suggests that we may have seen the widespread problem of equality played out. Whether intentional or not, this image presents inequality as existing because of physical or biological differences between people. But in reality, the inequalities that exist in our world are not because of some inherent characteristic. Instead, we must remember that inequality results from hundreds of years of exploitation and oppression. The reality is that there are inequalities in our world. However, these inequalities are not because of some inherently inferior characteristics that some people have. Further, systems and institutions created and maintained these inequalities to benefit some people while keeping others down.

As we collectively attempt to address inequality, we must remember that equality is the goal, not the method. An equality approach may look good and project fairness, but it cannot lead to equality. On the contrary, an unequal system will only maintain (maybe even worsen) inequality in an unequal world. Instead, we need to use an equity approach to drive our solutions. An equity approach is risky and may not produce good “optics,” but it is what is necessary. To be a faithful ally and an accomplice in addressing inequality, we must take risks and do what is required. To address disparities, we need to be willing to take risks, have bad “optics,” and potentially get in trouble – we need to use our power and privileges – to do the right and necessary thing.

In the “Good Therapy Blog,” we read that Equality is a concept in law, politics, philosophy, sociology, psychology, and many other fields based upon the notions of equal treatment, equal access to resources, and similar concepts. Philosophers and political scientists have debated the meaning of equality for generations, and the definition of equality tends to change with each age. For example, the United States Declaration of Independence declared that all men are created equal when many could not vote, and slavery was a significant force. However, notions of equality in the United States are often based upon this original declaration of equality, though they have evolved significantly.

Equality is sometimes used synonymously with fair treatment, and popular notions of equality do not necessarily require equal outcomes. For example, the fact that one person is a manager while another is a CEO does not necessarily indicate unequal treatment but refusing to promote a manager due to their race, sex, or religion would be an example of inequality. Similarly, institutional policies that make it difficult for people who are members of historically oppressed groups to advance are commonly used as indicators of inequality.

Standard definitions of equality include:

• Presuming that all people are equal

• Treating people as equals

• Providing equal access to opportunities

• Combating inequality without stereotypical and prejudicial treatment

• Compensating for the losses associated with inequality – for example, by using affirmative action measures

The presumption of equality is of significance in contemporary mental health settings. Measures designed to increase cultural competence, for example, increase the likelihood that minority groups will be treated fairly and equally. Many mental health advocates have pushed for equal treatment of people diagnosed with mental conditions, including participation in treatment decisions and an end to discrimination against those with mental health circumstances. Some mental health professionals have worked to be aware of how subtle biases can affect treatment. For example, a therapist engaged in marriage counseling might be influenced by racial stereotypes when advising a mixed-race couple.

But what does the Bible say about equality? Moses tells us that God created humans in His image. He created them to be like Himself. He made males and females equal (Genesis 1:27). Again, Moses expressed that we must be fair in judgment. We must not show special favor to the poor. And we must not show special favor to well-known people. It would be best if you were equal when you judge your neighbor. Also, do not do bad things to foreigners living in your country. You must treat them equally as you treat your fellow citizens. Love them as you loved yourselves in Egypt [Leviticus (9:15, 33-34). King David has the same idea. He declared, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity” (Psalm 67:4). Then Solomon continued this theme when he said unequal weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 20:10).

Jesus went even further. “He instructed that when we give a feast, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:13-14). To this, our Lord adds: “Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13:16). This no doubt caused the Apostle Peter to preach to Gentiles, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who reverences Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him” (Acts of the Apostles 10:10:34-35).

The Apostle Paul takes up this same crusade for equality when he mentions that “God shows no partiality” (Romans 2:11). Consequently, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Further, says Paul, Jesus is our peacemaker. He also made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of inequality (Ephesians 2:14). For example, Paul reveals that “Though Jesus was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be held onto” (Philippians 2:6).

Then our Lord’s brother, the Apostle James, told everyone to “show no partiality as you practice faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place, while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He has promised to those who love Him?” (James 1, 26).

So, what is your standard for equality? Do you just equality based on what you see, how you feel, what you know, common morals and virtues, or on what God’s Word says about it? If we are all equal in God’s family, that is the norm for the Church. Since we were all created equal by our Creator, that is America’s standard. When God created men and women as equals, He settled the gender question. So, what’s left? Only our personal biases, prejudices, preconceptions, bigotries, racism, moral code, and popular thinking.

I remember a hit song called “What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love,” sung in 1966 by Dionne Warwick. Unfortunately, her plea has gone unnoticed in today’s world. However, the Bible has much to say about human love and God’s Love. The word love appears in the Bible as a noun, verb, or adjective between 310 times and 801 times. Within its pages, you will find cataloged comments on the full extent of human love: family love, friendly love, neighborly love, romantic love, sexual love, and dysfunctional love.

Perhaps the best way to understand what the Bible says about love is to study the various Hebrew and Greek words translated as love. Most of those are three words: two Hebrew and one Greek. But, first, of the two in Hebrew, one is ahavah, whose definition most closely matches the English word love. Ahavah generally refers to the affection or care one person shows another.

Ahavah can be used to describe a wide variety of loving human relationships. For instance: The King of Persia had ahavah for beautiful Esther. Abraham had ahavah for his son Isaac. Jonathan had ahavah for his friend David. The Israelites had ahavah for their King David. The foreign King of Tyre also had ahavah for King David, so he wanted to help David’s son Solomon build the temple.

Thus, ahavah is not just a term to describe our love for others; it’s also God’s ahavah for us! For example, Moses tells the Israelites: “Adonai didn’t set His ahavah on you or choose you because you numbered more than any other people.”[1] God’s ahavah isn’t a response to goodness; it originates from God’s character.

This is why the prophet Jeremiah says God’s love is “everlasting.”[2] God’s love is just an eternal fact of the universe. In the scriptures, we also discover God’s ahavah is more than an emotion. It’s something that God expresses through action. For instance, Moses says, “because of His ahavah for your ancestors, He brought you out of Egypt with great power.”[3] God’s love isn’t just a nice sentiment but expressed through action.

And how are we supposed to respond to God’s active, everlasting ahavah for us? With our ahavah towards God and others. That’s why Moses offers this famous command, “You are to ahavah Adonai your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your resources.”[4] God wants us to love others as He loves us! Similarly, we read, “He secures justice for the orphan and the widow; He has ahavah for foreigners, giving them food and clothing. Therefore, you are to ahavah foreigners since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.”[5] And so, at the end of the day, this whole web of loving relationships – God to us, us to God, us to each other – is rooted in God’s eternal, active ahavah.

The second Hebrew word translated as love in our English Bible is khesed. Unfortunately, this is one of those words that is difficult to translate because it combines several ideas into one: love, generosity, and enduring commitment. As the Bible Project translators explain it, “Khesed describes an act of promise-keeping loyalty motivated by deep personal care.” More succinctly, one could describe khesed as “loyal love.”

The Jewish Rabbis wrote in the Midrash and Talmud that the Book of Ruth is the Bible’s most profound illustration of human khesed. Naomi told Ruth that she should go back to her people. Ruth refused, promising to stay by Naomi’s side and take care of her. As people observed Ruth keep this promise through thick and thin, they called Ruth’s faithfulness an act of khesed – loyal love.

Khesed is more than just something humans can show each other. It’s also something that God reveals to us. The Book of Exodus recounted when Pharaoh enslaved the Israelites in Egypt. He made good on a promise to Abraham’s generations – as a contract with his family, God would restore his blessing to the nations – God raised Moses to liberate the Israelites and lead them into the promised land. And in the story, this is called an act of khesed because it was about God keeping his word.

The journey to the promised land was not easy. Enemies on every side beset the Israelites, and they grew weary of eating the mana God provided each day. Their anger eventually explodes, and they threaten to kill Moses and appoint a new leader to take them back to Egypt. God is understandably angry. But Moses steps in and says, “Please! Forgive the offense of this people according to the greatness of your khesed.”[6] Notice that Moses asks God to forgive not because the people deserve it but because it’s consistent with God’s character.

Last, we arrive at the Greek word most often translated as love in the New Testament: agápē. Fascinatingly, the earliest followers of Jesus who wrote in Greek didn’t learn the meaning of agape by looking it up in ancient dictionaries. Instead, they observed Jesus’ teachings and His life to redefine their concept of love! First, Jesus was asked about the foremost commandment in Torah. In response, Jesus quoted:[7] “You must agapaō the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”[8] Jesus then quickly appended another commandment, “Agapaō your neighbor as yourself.”[9] Which of these two commandments is the most important – loving God or loving your neighbor? For Jesus, they’re two sides of the same coin. Your love for God will be expressed by your love for people and vice versa. They are inseparable.

So, unlike ahavah, agápē is not a feeling; it’s an act of our will. It’s choosing to seek the well-being of others with no expectation of anything in return. According to Jesus, this kind of generous, self-give love reflects the very heartbeat of God: “Love your enemies and do good to them. Lend to people without expecting to get anything back. If you do this, you will have a great reward. You will be children of the Most-High God. Yes, because God is good even to the people full of sin and not thankful.”[10]

This is how Jesus lived. Jesus was constantly helping and serving the people around Him in practical and tangible ways. And He consistently moved towards poor and hurting people who couldn’t benefit Him in return. And when Jesus eventually marched into Jerusalem, He made Himself an enemy of the leaders of God’s people by accusing them of hypocrisy and corruption. But then, instead of attacking His enemies to overthrow them, He allowed them to kill Him. Jesus died for the selfishness and depravity of His enemies because He loved them.

Following Easter, Jesus and His followers claimed that God’s love for the world was revealed in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. As the Apostle Paul put it, “God showed His agápē to us. While we were still sinners, the Anointed One [Messiah] died for us.”[11] Or, in the words of the Apostle John, “God so agapaō the world that He did not send His only begotten Son into the world to find everyone guilty but to save the world from sin’s punishment.”[12] And for John then, this naturally leads to the conclusion, “That is how much God loved us, dear friends! So, we also must love each other.”[13]

Thus, Christian faith involves trusting that at the center of the universe is a Divine Being overflowing with love for His creation, which means that the purpose of human existence is to receive this agápē that has come to us in Jesus and then to give it out to others, creating an ecosystem of others-focused, self-giving agápē. (Courtesy of a sermon preached at Hillside Community Church Enumclaw. WA)

So, the next time you say you “love” God or someone else in its Hebrew or Greek meaning, think twice about whether that’s exactly how you love them or Him. Remember what the Apostle John said, “If you say something you know is not true, it makes you a liar.”[14]

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[1] Deuteronomy 7:7 – Complete Jewish Version

[2] Jeremiah 31:3

[3] Deuteronomy 4:37

[4] Ibid. 6:5 – Complete Jewish Bible

[5] Ibid. 10:18-19 – Complete Jewish Bible

[6] Numbers 14:19 – Complete Jewish Bible

[7] Mark 12:30-31

[8] Cf. Deuteronomy 6:5 – New Life Version [NLV]

[9] Leviticus 18:19

[10] Luke 6:35 – Easy to Read Version [ERV]

[11] Romans 5:8

[12] John 3:16a-17 – Seyda Paraphrase

[13] 1 John 4:11

[14] Ibid. 4:20