seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
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Here's the link to the commentary I read.
Beloved, let us love: The ancient Greek sentence begins in a striking way — agapetoi agapomen, “those who are loved, let us love.” We are not commanded to love one another to earn or become worthy of God’s love. We love one another because we are loved by God, and have received that love, and live in light of it.
And knows God: There are several different words in the ancient Greek language translated “know” into English. This specific word for knows (ginosko) is the word for a knowledge by experience. John is saying when we really experience God it will show by our love for one another.
Of course, this love is not perfected in the life of a Christian on this side of eternity. Though it may not be perfected, it must be present — and it should be growing. You can’t truly grow in your experience of God without also growing love for one another. John can boldly say, He who does not love does not know God. If there isn’t real love for God’s people in your life, then your claim to know God and experience God isn’t true.
Love is of God: The love John speaks of comes from the ancient Greek word agape; it is the concept of a self-giving love that gives without demanding or expecting re-payment — it is the God-kind of love.
Since this is God’s kind of love, it comes into our life through our relationship with Him. If we want to love one another more, we need to draw closer to God.
Every human relationship is like a triangle. The two people in the relationship are at the base of the triangle, and God is at the top. As the two people draw closer to the top of the triangle, closer to God, they will also draw closer to one another. Weak relationships are made strong when both people draw close to the Lord!
That God has sent His only begotten Son into the world: John is careful to call Jesus the only begotten Son. This special term means Jesus has a Sonship that is unique (only) and begotten indicates that Jesus and the Father are of the same substance, the same essential Being.
We use the term create to describe something that may come from someone, but isn’t of the same essential nature or being. A man can create a statue that looks just like him, but it will never be human. However, we use the term beget to describe something that is exactly the same as us in essential nature and being. We are adopted sons and daughters of God, but we are not of the same essential nature and being as God — we are human beings. But Jesus is the only begotten Son, meaning His Sonship is different than ours; He was and is of the same essential nature and being as God the Father. We are human beings; He is a “God-being” — who added humanity to His deity.
That we might live through Him: The love of the Father was not only in the sending of the Son, but also in what that sending accomplishes for us. It brings life to all who trust in Jesus and His work on their behalf, because He is the propitiation for our sins.
Propitiation has the idea of a sacrifice that turns away the wrath of God. God rightly regarded us, apart from Him, as worthy targets of His judgment. We were rebels and enemies of Him, even if we didn’t know it. But on the cross, Jesus took the punishment our sin deserved — His sacrifice turned away the judgment we would have received. We easily think how this shows the love of Jesus, but John wants us to understand it also shows the love of God the Father: He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
That we might live through Him: The greatness of God’s love is shown not only in saving us from the judgment we deserved, but also in wanting us to live through Him. Do we live through Him? This is a great way to define the Christian life, to live through Him.
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins: This shows the love of God. It might have shown enough love that the Father sent the Son, and not some lower-grade angel; but He sent the Son, not on a fact-finding mission or merely a mission of compassion — He sent the Son to die for our sins.
“If God had merely sent Jesus to teach us about Himself, that would have been wonderful enough. It would have been far more than we deserved. If God had sent Jesus simply to be our example, that would have been good too and would have had some value… But the wonderful thing is that God did not stop with these but rather sent His Son, not merely to teach or to be our example, but to die the death of a felon, that He might save us from sin.” (Boice)
No one has seen God at any time: John relates a basic principle about God the Father — that no one, no one, has seen God at any time. Anyone claiming to have seen God the Father is speaking — at best — from their own imagination, because as John plainly states, no one has seen God at any time.
We have seen and testify: The “we” who give testimony in this verse are those who saw Jesus originally, the eyewitnesses to His presence. They knew the Father sent the Son as Savior of the world.
And we have known and believed the love God has for us: This is the Christian’s proper response to who God is, and how He loves us. We are called to take the love and grace God gives, to know it by experience and to believe it. This is what fellowship with God is all about.
Love has been perfected: For perfected, John doesn’t just use the Greek word teleioo (which has the idea of “maturity” and “completeness); he writes teleioo teleioo — speaking of love that is “perfectly perfected” or “completely complete.”
In the day of judgment: This is when the completeness of love’s work in us will be demonstrated. As much as we can know the completeness of God’s love now, we will know it all the more in the day of judgment.
That we may have boldness in the day of judgment: This shows the greatness of God’s work in us. We might be satisfied to merely survive the day of judgment, but God wants to so fill our lives with His love and His truth that we have boldness in the day of judgment.
We love Him: In this great statement, John begins by declaring the heart of every true follower of Jesus Christ. Simply and boldly put, we love Him.
We love Him because He first loved us: This verse tells us where our love for Jesus comes from. It comes from Him. Our love for God is always in response to His love for us; He initiates, and we respond. We never have to draw God to us; instead, He draws us to Himself.
If someone says, “I love God”: It is often easier for someone to proclaim his love for God, because that regards a private relationship with an invisible God. But John rightly insists that our claim of loving God is false if we do not also love our brother, and that this love must be seen.
And this commandment we have from Him: We have a commandment to love. Though love springs forth from our abiding relationship with God and comes from our being born of Him, there is also an essential aspect of our will involved. We are therefore commanded to love our brother in Christ.
Being born of God and abiding with Him give us the ability to love; but it is a choice of our will to draw upon that resource and give it out to others. Therefore we are given a command to love, that he who loves God must love his brother also.
Because of this, the excuse “I just can’t love that person” (or other such excuses) is invalid. If we are born of Him and are abiding in Him then the resources for love are there. It is up to us to respond to His command with our will and whole being.
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I am reading from the Book of Daniel, through John's Gospel and the letters John wrote, and on to the Book of Revelation. I want to see what John, Jesus' best human friend, tells us without the clutter of the other earthlings.
John says we must love our brother. But... Who is our brother?
I'm the oldest of five kids. They are my earthly brother and sisters.
I'm an adopted child of God. All those who have been "Born Again" are my adopted brothers and sisters.
I found this explanation at "Topical Bible"
In the biblical context, the terms "neighbor" and "brother" hold significant theological and ethical implications, reflecting the relational dynamics expected among individuals within the community of faith and beyond.
The term "brother" in Scripture often refers to a fellow member of the faith community, though it can also denote biological kinship. The Hebrew word "ach" and the Greek "adelphos" are used to describe both familial and spiritual relationships.
It's easy to love the dear sister or brother sitting beside you in a prayer meeting. It's a little harder to love a sister or brother who is really just a Pew Warmer. It's harder still to love someone who would bludgeon a baby. People claim to be Christians and then hate someone who had a sex change before they were "born again". If you met a person in church that had a sex change, would you love and accept them? They are your brother or sister in Christ. Would your hate for those who have sex changes cause you to run them out of church?
I have two sisters who haven't talked to me since my dad died. They don't like me because I don't abide abortion or stem cell harvesting. They don't like that I call both actions murder. I love my sisters, and would do anything I could for them, but we don't "like" everything our brother or sisters do. While I respect their "reasoning" for abortion and stem cell harvesting, and I know they really believe they are right, I still call it murder.... and they don't want anything to do with me because I am "one of those narrow-minded holier than thou bitches".
So... The question is... Are all the people on earth my brothers and sisters?
CPUSA called me out for hating Trump. I don't hate Trump.... I just hate how he acts. Am I required to love him? Is he really my "brother"? I promise to work on that... look at the sunny side of what he says and does... maybe that will help.... but CPUSA, do you hate the actions of any politicians?
Did Jesus love all the Pharisees and the Sadducees?
I don't hate anyone... really. I hate what some people do....
I hate that my sisters don't talk to me.... but I love my sisters.
John says "Love your Brothers and Sisters" because Jesus loved us first.
Jesus showed us how to Love.
