What is the meaning of 1 John 3:15? Everyone John begins with an all-inclusive word: “Everyone.” No one is outside the scope of this statement. Scripture consistently teaches that God’s moral standards apply to every person (Romans 3:23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”; 2 Corinthians 5:10 reminds us that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ”). By opening with “Everyone,” the apostle removes any wiggle room; what follows is universally true. who hates his brother Hatred is more than a passing irritation—it is a settled hostility of the heart. Jesus linked such inward animosity to outward violence in Matthew 5:21-22, where anger with a brother puts one “in danger of the fire of hell.” Leviticus 19:17 commands, “You must not hate your brother in your heart,” showing that this standard reaches back to the Law. In 1 John 2:9-11, John has already said that whoever “hates his brother is in the darkness.” Hatred violates the new commandment Jesus gave in John 13:34 to “love one another,” which marks genuine discipleship. is a murderer John states the consequence bluntly: hatred places a person in the same moral category as a murderer. This echoes Jesus’ teaching that the seed of murder lies in the heart (Matthew 5:21-22). Cain’s story in Genesis 4 shows how unchecked resentment blossomed into the first murder—hatred is the soil in which violence grows. Proverbs 24:17 warns against rejoicing over an enemy’s downfall, underscoring that malicious desires already transgress God’s law. By God’s measure, the inward disposition and the outward act share the same moral guilt. and you know John appeals to the readers’ settled knowledge. Believers are not left guessing about God’s view; the Spirit and the Word have made it clear (1 John 3:14, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers”). Jesus affirmed that His disciples would “know the truth” (John 8:31-32), and Paul adds that Scripture makes us “wise for salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15). John expects the church to recognize the incompatibility between hatred and eternal life. that eternal life does not reside in a murderer The verb “reside” (abide) pictures a permanent home. Eternal life cannot settle down in a heart harboring murderous hatred. Galatians 5:19-21 says that those who practice the works of the flesh, including “hatred” and “fits of rage,” “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Revelation 21:8 lists “murderers” among those consigned to the lake of fire. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that willful sinners “will not inherit the kingdom.” Eternal life is Christ’s life within us (John 17:3), and it bears the fruit of love, not hate (1 John 4:7-8). summary 1 John 3:15 teaches that hatred toward a fellow believer is no trivial matter; it places the hater in the same moral standing as a murderer and exposes a heart devoid of eternal life. Because God’s standard reaches beyond outward actions to inner attitudes, genuine faith is proven by love. Where Christ’s life abides, love will increasingly replace hostility, confirming that we have truly passed from death to life. |
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