Hate and death contrasted with love and life ( 1 John 3:13-15 ); generous love, which has its pattern in the self-sacrifice of Christ ( 1 John 3:16 , 1 John 3:17 ); sincere love, which is the ground of our boldness toward God, who has commanded us to love ( 1 John 3:18-24 ). read more
The sign of brotherly love. I. LOVE TO BE TRACED TO A SAVING CHANGE . 1 . Not to be expected in the world. "Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you." Cain hated Abel; after the same fashion the world hates Christ's people. Our Lord, whom John here echoes, points to the fact of his being hated before his people, and then adds, "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore... read more
We know that we have passed over out of death into life ( John 5:24 ), because, etc. "We" is emphatic; whatever the world may feel about us, we have certain knowledge (not γινώσκομεν , but ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν ). The love of the brethren is the cause, not of the passing over, but of our knowing it. It proves that we have passed. And this test every one can apply to himself; "Do I, or do I not, find the love of the brethren within me?" A Christian can no more live without love than a... read more
Love the evidence of life. "We know that we have passed from death unto life," etc. To know our true character and condition in the sight of God is of the greatest importance. An earnest consideration of our text will help us to attain such knowledge. Notice— I. THE GREAT CHANGE HERE SPOKEN OF . "We have passed out of death into life." Consider: 1 . The state from which the Christian has passed. It is here spoken of as "death." The death is not physical, or... read more
As in 1 John 4:20 , St. John passes at once from not loving to hating, treating the two as equivalent. He takes no account of the neutral ground of indifference. He that is not for his brother is against him. Indifference is hate quiescent, there being nothing to excite it. Love is the only security against hate. And as every one who does not love is potentially a hater, so every hater is potentially a murderer. A murderer is a hater who expresses his hatred in the most emphatic way. A hater... read more
We know that we have passed from death unto life - From spiritual death (Notes, Ephesians 2:1) to spiritual life; that is, that we are true Christians.Because we love the brethren - The sentiment here is, that it is an infallible evidence of true piety if we love the followers of Christ as such. See this sentiment illustrated in the notes at John 13:35. But how easy it would seem to be to apply such a test of piety as this! Who cannot judge accurately of his own feelings, and determine whether... read more
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer ... - That is, he has the spirit of a murderer; he has that which, if it were acted out, would lead him to commit murder, as it did Cain. The private malice, the secret grudge, the envy which is cherished in the heart, is murderous in its tendency, and were it not for the outward restraints of human laws, and the dread of punishment, it would often lead to the act of murder. The apostle does not say that he who hates his brother, though he does not in... read more
1 John 3:11-14. For, &c. As if he had said, I have just declared that the want of brotherly love is a proof that a man is not of God, and a little consideration may convince you of the truth of the assertion: for this is the message that ye heard of us The apostles and ministers of Christ; from the beginning Of our ministry among you; that we should love one another A doctrine frequently inculcated by our Lord Jesus in person: not as Cain, (see the margin,) who was of the... read more
1 John 3:15. He, I have just said, who loveth not his brother, abideth in death; is void of the life of God: for whosoever hateth his brother And there is no medium between loving and hating him; is In God’s account; a murderer Every degree of hatred being a degree of the same temper which moved Cain to murder his brother. And no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him But every loving believer hath. For love is the beginning of eternal life. It is the same in substance with... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 3:13-15
The world's hatred of Christians. Connecting link: In setting forth the broad contrast between sin and righteousness, the apostle had taken occasion to refer to Cain as the earliest illustration of the wide gulf between the two. The violent contrast between him and his brother generated as violent an antipathy on his part towards him. And even now the contrast between sin and righteousness is just as wide as ever. From the very nature of the case they are an immeasurable distance... read more