Love One Another (Revised 07/29/2011)

Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15ff

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!  Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.  And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.  1 John 3:1-3

Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.  We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren.  He who does not love his brother abides in death.  Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.  1 John 3:13-15

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.  And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  1 John 3:16

... whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing to His sight.  And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.  1 John 3:22-23

... every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.  And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.  You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.  They are of the world.  Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.  We are of God.  He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us.  By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.  1 John 4:3-6

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  1 John 4:7-11

Little children, keep yourselves from idols...  1 John 5:21

It probably seems simple-minded to many nowadays that the New Commandment, and virtually the Final Admonition to the Christians from Our Lord himself (and John) is to "Love One Another."  We take it for granted that we do, but don't understand the context in which this is said.

Close examination of the contexts of John and 1 John shows that the context of "loving one another" is the evil context of the "world."  The unremitting and lethal envy of the world, now more hidden, and then again exposing itself, is obviously one main reason for this exhortation.  The experience of Our Lord in the world is and will be our experience in the world, until the Day of Glory when we are revealed to the cosmos as the Sons of God.  This is a good reason to "hang together, lest we hang separately."

This comment may seem to you to be extreme in our current situation.  After all, we are going forth into the world, boldly by our influence and quality activities increasing the Lord's dominion over all his enemies.  But, let me put forth a caution.  Even though it seems so plain to us that we are not deceived by the world's evil, we need to look more closely at this question.

We are exhorted by Our Lord to love one another.  So, think about what will it look like to love.  Remember Jesus' description of eternal life -- it is to know the Father and the one whom he has sent (Jesus Christ).  This knowledge, of course, is not a bare external knowledge, but an intimate knowledge.  In fact, it is hard to discern the qualitative difference between knowledge and love.  In a relationship these two go hand-in-hand.  So, we might say that for us to "love one another" is much the same as for us also to "know one another."

But, knowing and loving one another cannot be based on mere acquaintance.  It takes time spent with one another in all the vicissitudes of life -- the pains and joys, ups and downs, sins and graces.  We must see our fellow believers as the true spiritual friends and family members that we can rely on in the midst of our enemies.  We must know and love one another, and help and pray for one another, in order to reap the fruit of Our Lord's commandment!

You have to see that institutional, routine acquaintance, and friendship by "Sunday-howdy's" and slaps on the back does not manifest the degree or kind of love which is the fulfillment of Our Lord's New Commandment.  We all have our friends, to one degree or another, but how much time and effort is expended on becoming acquainted with and actually coming to know our fellow believers with whom we are bound together in this church?

Nor is fulfillment of Our Lord's commandment found in the vision of the church as a smoothly running institution, maintaining membership lists, listing prayer requests, working the mercy ministry, and tending the budget.  The necessary formal side of institutional life is not the inner life of the church.  Without that inner life with one another, developed in corporate worship and private spiritual fellowship, the best run church institution is a mere husk.  One can be caught up participating in the institutional life of the church and have no time left to experience the spiritual fellowship called for in the New Commandment to love one another.

Do we even have a desire for the real thing?  Is there even any kind of cognizance of what the real thing is in the souls of many?  It's hard to say.  The eternal, time-kept business of our lives truly belies the Christian profession that we hold.  The Word may be in us, as the parable says, but the thistles and thorns of worldly busy-ness are choking out its fruit.  There is no time for spiritual fellowship!

Why do we think that the "cares of the world" which strangle the Word are bad things!  Bad things would drive us to God!  The "cares of the world" in that parable, at least the kind of "cares" that can infect us, are likely to be "good things," such as the business of the world, making a living, getting educated, traveling, being excellent in our professions, being good citizens, training our children, engaging in acts of charity, etc.  But, these things become idols when the fruit of the Spirit and the spiritual intimacy of our relationship to one another as believers are sacrificed to them.

Is it even possible that we could change?  It will obviously take a miracle.  But, all I know to do is to pray, and not give up.

Paraphrasing John: "Little children, love one another -- and keep yourselves from idols"!  These two thoughts are intimately related in John's thought, and ought to be in ours! It is precisely the idolatry of "good things" that seduces us and subverts our love for one another!  Moloch sometimes wears a pretty face, and he is then all the more dangerous!

Participation in all the "good things" takes away from us the short time we have to spend on the thing that really counts -- to love one another (sacrificially) as Our Lord loved us.  Only then, seeing this in us, can the world know that Christ has come (John 17:20-23.