What is the meaning of 1 John 3:11? This is the message • John writes with the same authoritative clarity he used earlier: “This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you” (1 John 1:5). The wording signals a non-negotiable truth straight from God, not a passing opinion. • By calling it “the message,” John reminds believers that love is central, not optional; it sums up God’s heart just as “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16) sums up the gospel itself. You have heard from the beginning • The command to love is not a late addition; it was embedded in Jesus’ first teaching to His disciples: “A new commandment I give you: that you love one another” (John 13:34). • John ties his readers back to the origins of their faith, echoing 1 John 2:7—“I am not writing you a new commandment, but an old one that you have had from the beginning.” • Even earlier, the Law declared, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Christ’s ministry reaffirmed and deepened that timeless call (Mark 12:29-31). We should love one another • The verb “should” conveys moral obligation rooted in new life. “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). • Love is visible evidence of genuine faith: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). • Practical dimensions of this love include: – Self-sacrifice, modeled by Christ who “laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). – Active service: “Through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). – Heartfelt sincerity: “Love one another deeply, from a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22). • Love within the church family guards unity and bears witness to an unbelieving world, fulfilling Jesus’ prayer for oneness (John 17:23). summary 1 John 3:11 anchors believers to an unchanging, God-given message heard from the earliest days of the faith: authentic Christianity is inseparable from loving one another. This love is commanded, modeled by Christ, empowered by the new birth, and displayed through self-giving actions that confirm to the world—and to our own hearts—that we truly belong to Him. |
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