John, the beloved apostle, teaching about love, shows that tolerance has limits. In this lesson, the fourth chapter of I John through half of the fifth chapter, he shows us that although tolerance is a wonderful virtue, when it comes to salvation, Jesus is the only Way. He is the ultimate answer!
Some people call this fourth chapter the Valentine chapter, since the word “love” is used 32 times! Previously, John told us that God showed us that he loves us. Now, He wants us to love Him! A positive response to God’s love and showing love to fellow believers proves we are in God’s family and pass the faith test, but not everyone does.
John says that we should “test the spirits,” be cautious about the essence of what others teach us about Jesus. Not every preacher is preaching for the cause of Christ. To test them, we must understand what their background is, what their perspective is, and who their audience is.
False teachers are not born of God, but are of the world. Their perspective is that Jesus is not real, not the Son of God. Their audience is the world, and they go after them. And they go after believers also.
True teachers are from God, born again, with a background of grace, forgiven and loved. Their perspective is that Jesus is the Son of God and God loves the people of the world. The world is their audience, people they are trying to lead to Jesus.
John continues to hammer in that “God is Love.” God defines love and Christian love is special. This kind of love gets into the heart of a believer and gives him a personal experience with God.
God’s love is an active love. Giving His son was the greatest expression of His love and He did that because He loves us, not because we love Him! Jesus died so we can live through Him. It was a divine appointment.
Celebrating Jesus’ sacrifice involves my mind, heart, and will. When taking the Lord’s Supper, I hum in my mind the words from Galatians 2:20, “I’ve been crucified with Christ…,” trying to understand the spiritual truth about this ritual. With my heart, I love and appreciate the significance of it, and with my will I pledge to have concern for others enough that I will share the good news of it. God shows himself to people now through our lives, so we have to grow, love and serve. We can only do that if we abide in Him.
As we mature, we love God first and most, then our neighbors. Our love for others grows from a command to a privilege and finally to something we want to do.
Also, as we mature, we grow in our confidence so that we do not fear death or judgment afterwards. We live an honest life with integrity every day. We obey God’s Word joyfully without whining. God’s Word is a love letter to us, so there is no room for comparing or rationalizing. Maturing means we have victory, overcoming obstacles with God’s help.
Maturing takes time and effort. We must look to Jesus who is the perfect example, then cultivate friendship with Jesus until it draws us closer to Him. That leads to a deeper love and permanent devotion that begins to change us until finally, we will be molded to His image! When we begin to transform, we will know it! And others will know it also!
In the second half of the fifth chapter to the end of the letter, John emphasizes things we can know. As one of his themes, he uses the word “know” 39 times in this letter.
In the first four chapters, John focused on the tests of true fellowship and how to know that we belong to the family of God, to know God is light, know how to love more like God does, and know that we can overcome sin. Now, here are five more things he tells us we can know for certain.
We can know that Jesus is God, which is the foundation of our faith. The water, blood, and Spirit give proof, along with the Godhead.
We can know we have eternal life, a gift! Christians are marked by practicing righteousness, loving the brethren and one another, and overcoming the world.
We can know that God answers prayer, because He cares, and we can have confidence because we know he hears and answers us if conditions are met. Our hearts must not condemn us; sins must be confessed; we must abide in Jesus; our attitude and words must be fixed on Jesus; and we must pray in God’s will.
We can know that we do not practice sin if we claim to be Christian. We stumble at times, but it is not habitual. To keep from sinning, we must depend on Jesus, have faith and courage, keep the Word in us, endure chastening when needed, and remember that we will not be tested above our strength,.
If we see a brother sinning, we should pray for him. As we intercede, God will take care of him if he repents. Sin weakens our relationship with God, but some sins do not kill that relationship. That is where grace abounds. Enemies that want to make us sin include Satan, our flesh, and the world.
We should not judge others, but we can talk to God about anyone who needs to repent and be restored, including ourselves. Telling anyone else so they can pray also is a very thin cover for gossip! We should keep it to ourselves or ask for prayer without giving details. The sinning person is ultimately responsible to turn from his sin and repent. A deliberate rejection of God’s grace is serious sin.
We pray for each other so long as we are alive, and it is important to have a spirit of welcome to any returning prodigal. They sense the atmosphere, whether it is loving or rejection. God accepts them, so we must also.
Finally, John insists that we can know for sure that the Christian life is the real life. Jesus is authentic and everything else is an imitation. He must be our Lord first, then He can be our Savior. It has to be a lifetime decision, with Christ as the center. He reorients us, impacts us, and gives us a mission to bring others to Him, every day of our lives. That’s our mission now, to go and teach! We must not sit still!
John closes his love letter with a warning that we become like what we worship. An idol is anything that takes the place of Jesus being first in our lives. If Jesus is not in first place, He will not remain in second place either. Idols are dead and false while Jesus is alive and true! Worship is imitating what we love most, so love Jesus and imitate Him! We must watch out, guard ourselves, and be real! Amen? Amen!
Joyce Smith Broyles is a retired High School Librarian and lives in Jennings, LA.