Righteousness is Expressed in Loving Others
3:11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
3:12 We should not love like Cain. He was an offspring of the Evil One, and violently killed his brother. Why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous. 3:13 So, fellow believers, don’t be surprised if the world hates you.
3:14 Because we love fellow believers, we know that we have passed out of death into life. The one who does not love abides in death. 3:15 Everyone who hates his fellow believer is a murderer, and you know that absolutely no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
3:16 This is how we know what love is: ˹Christ˺ laid down His life for us. So, we also ought to lay down our lives for fellow believers. 3:17 But whoever has a means of living, and sees his fellow believer in need, and closes his heart to him, how can God’s kind of love abide in that person?
3:18 Little children, let us not love by merely talking about it, rather let us love through actions consistent with the truth.
Translation by the author from the SBL Greek New Testament.
Summary of Verses 3:11-18
In this unit, John focuses on the specific action of love. The authentication of a righteous life is love for others, and specifically love for fellow believers as demonstrated by actions consistent with the truth, and not merely through words. What love is not, is seen in the negative example of Cain (3:12-15). What love is, is seen in the positive example of Christ (3:16-18).
Click here for a full outline of First John.
Structure of Verses 3:11-18
This unit (3:11-18) is closely linked to the previous unit (3:1-10) by the word “love”. John ended the previous unit by summarizing, “Everyone who does not practice righteousness is not God’s offspring, to be specific, the one who does not love his fellow believer.” For John, love is the true test of living righteously. In this unit, John illustrates the nature of love for fellow believers with a negative example and a positive example.
The structure of verses 3:11-18 is as follows:
1. Connecting theme statement: “we should love one another” (3:11).
2. Cain, the negative example of love (3:12).
> Implications (3:13-15).
3. Christ, the positive example of love. (3:16).
> Implications (3:17-18).
Verse 3:11
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
This is a theme statement that connects this unit (3:11-18) to the previous unit (3:1-10).
What John is writing is not something new to the readers. Rather, it is something they “have heard from the beginning“. “Beginning” here probably refers to the beginning of their Christian experience when they heard the Gospel message. However, the message is older than their Christian experience, going back to the very beginning, as illustrated by the negative example of Cain that follows in the next verse.
“that we should love one another” is not simply the content of the message, but also the goal of the message.
This is the first of five occurrence of the words “love one another” in First John (3:11; 3.23; 4:7; 4:11; 4:12; also see 2 John 1:5). But as I. Howard Marshall notes in his commentary, “Although he speaks of ‘one another,’ it is primarily love of one’s Christian brothers which he has in mind; this is where Christian love must start. The command to do this goes back to the teaching of Jesus himself (John 13:34f.; 15:12), and hence belongs to the foundation of Christian teaching.” [MARSHALL p. 189]
What this means is explained negatively in verses 3:12-15 and positively in verses 3:16-18 which follow.
It is not surprising that John emphasizes love, in light of the problems that had torn the church apart. At such times there are feelings of hatred and people focus on right theology rather than right actions.
Verse 3:12
We should not love like Cain.
Cain is presented as the negative example that believers should not imitate. His hatred and murder of his brother Abel epitomizes failure to love one another and shows what it can lead to. You can read the full account of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. See also Hebrews 11:4.
There are several reason why John uses the illustration of Cain and Abel:
- Cain was a traditional example of those who oppose God.
- It emphasizes that the issue of love and hate goes back to the beginning.
- They were brothers, just like the disruptors and faithful church members were “brothers”. And just like Cain and Abel, they did not have the same character.
He was an offspring of the Evil One, and violently killed his brother.
Cain’s behavior revealed his evil character and showed that he hated his brother. John’s progression of thought is important. As Glenn Barker explains in his commentary: “It is not that Cain by murdering his brother became the child of the devil; but, being a child of the devil, his actions were evil and culminated in the murder of his brother.” [BARKER p. 335]
This is the point John made in the previous unit that practicing righteousness or practicing sin is a result of paternity and clearly shows which spiritual family a person belongs to. This family likeness is inevitably demonstrated in one’s deeds.
“violently killed” is a translation of the Greek word σφάζω / sphazō (Strong’s 4969). It is a strong word that means to butcher, slaughter, or put to death in a violent or merciless manner. Its use by John “highlights the heinous nature of Cain’s crime”. [CULY p. 81]
Why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.
In the account of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, we learn that Cain presented an unacceptable offering to God, while Abel presented an acceptable offering. Cain had every opportunity to change his offering, but instead was envious of God’s approval of Abel’s offering. Because Cain was “an offspring of the Evil One” he hated and murdered his brother.
Cain murdered Abel because his brother’s deeds were righteous in contrast to his own, and so he hated him. Because Cain was an evil person, he hated Abel, a good person.
Verse 3:13
So, fellow believers, don’t be surprised if the world hates you.
John does not say that the world always hates believers. However, Believers should not be surprised if they are hated by people like Cain. “But whenever the community of faith acts so as to expose the greed, the avarice, the hatred, and the wickedness of the world, it must expect rejection; and if it should go so far as to interfere with its evil practices, as Jesus did in the temple, it may expect suffering and brutal death.” [BARKER p. 335]
Here “the world” means unbelievers who are opposed to God and under the power of the Evil One (Satan). “It is natural that the world should hate those whose lives contradict its maxims and condemn its practices.” [SMITH p.186]
Verse 3:14
Because we love fellow believers, we know that we have passed out of death into life. The one who does not love abides in death.
Just as murderous hatred is a sign that one is an offspring of the Evil One, brotherly love is a sign that one has “passed out of death into life“, or as John says in verse 3:1, is one of God’s children. John would also say that this person is walking in the light or abides in the light (see 2:10).
The one who does not love abides in death. John would also say that this person is walking in the darkness (see 2:11).
“life” here refers to eternal life.
Brotherly love is evidence that one has eternal life, but not a means to eternal life. The person who does not love will most likely not have assurance of their salvation. They display no evidence that they have passed from death to life. Love is the expression of eternal life.
Greek Note: we have passed out of
The phrase “we have passed out of” is a translation of the Greek word μεταβεβήκαμεν / metabebēkamen, which is Perfect Active Indicative form of the verb μεταβαίνω / metabainō. It means to make a transfer from one place to another, or in this case, to transition from one condition to another [see DANKER p. 229]. The Perfect tense expresses the idea that believers have already transitioned from death to life and so already possess or experience eternal life.
Verse 3:15
Everyone who hates his fellow believer is a murderer, and you know that absolutely no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
This verse heightens what was written in verse 3:14. It implies that the one who hates is like Cain, and thus shares the nature of the Evil One. Hatred is the seed that ultimately bears the fruit of murder.
Perhaps John uses hyperbole to express his argument in this unit, which is:
not loving = hate = murder = abiding in death
Although John is stating a general principle about anyone who hates his fellow believer, he also likely has the disruptors in mind because false teaching leads a person away from God, the source of life, and so has “murderous” results.
Go back to Verses 3:9-10
Go forward to Verses 3:16-18
Your Personal Study
Read First John 3:16-18 below and answer the questions.
3:16 This is how we know what love is: ˹Christ˺ laid down His life for us. So, we also ought to lay down our lives for fellow believers. 3:17 But whoever has a means of living, and sees his fellow believer in need, and closes his heart to him, how can God’s kind of love abide in that person?
3:18 Little children, let us not love by merely talking about it, rather let us love through actions consistent with the truth.
1. According to verse 3:16, what is the supreme example of love?
2. According to verse 3:16, how are believers to love as Christ loved?
3. How does a person lay down his life for others?
4. According to verse 3:17, how do we practically lay down our lives for others?
5. Is John’s statement in verse 3:17 addressed to wealthy people or to people with average income and possessions?
6. Do you talk about love or do acts of love?
7. Do you know people who have life-sustaining needs? What can you share with them?
First John Translation.
First John Translation with Outline and Notes.
Bibliography of source information used for this series of posts.
Title Slide Image Credit: First John in Codex Alexandrinus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Unless otherwise noted, English translations of Bible verses are by the author from the Greek text and are not quotations from any copyrighted Bible version or translation.
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