Verse 9
This verse contains a concrete example of what John had been talking about. It is another claim to intimate fellowship with God that behavior shows is spurious (1 John 1:6; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 1:10; 1 John 2:4; 1 John 2:6). Hatred of other Christians is a sure sign that one is not walking with God in close fellowship.
"Hate is the absence of the deeds of love. . . . Love unexpressed is not love at all. Love has no neutral capabilities. When it is absent, hate is present." [Note: Barker, p. 317.]
Obviously genuine Christians have hated other Christians. It is naive to claim, as some expositors have, that the one hating must be an unbeliever. Moreover John regarded the hater and the one hated as brothers. In this letter the community of Christians is in view, so John meant a "brother" Christian rather than an unsaved neighbor. [Note: Ibid.; Hodges, The Epistles . . ., p. 86.]
"If the Bible taught that feelings of hatred were a sure sign of an unsaved condition, then virtually no one in the whole church would be saved! But the Bible does not teach this." [Note: Ibid., p. 87.]
However it is likely that John was speaking of hatred in a comparative sense, as Jesus sometimes did (Matthew 6:24; Matthew 24:10; Luke 14:26; Luke 16:13). Hyperbolically, to fail to show love is to demonstrate hate.
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