John began today's text making certain that his emphasis in 1:5-10 did not produce an undesired conclusion (remember that men added verses and chapters for human study convenience long after the text was written). The fact that God's forgiveness of humans defies human comprehension does not mean God's forgiveness is to be abused. God forgives, but God's forgiveness does not give anyone an excuse to keep on doing evil deliberately. John declared God's forgiveness gives us motivation to resist evil within ourselves rather than giving us an excuse to continue in evil (knowingly, willingly).
God's solution for our sin problem includes providing the Christian with a righteous Advocate. Our Advocate constantly represents us before God the Father. Remember two things: (a) Sin is extremely offensive to God--it is the opposite of righteousness. Sin is not in God's being or character. (b) God the Father has never been flesh. Jesus understands what it means to be flesh and to be divine. We are represented before God by the only righteous one who knows through experience the difficulty of being human in an existence torn by the conflict between good and evil. Because Jesus Christ is righteous, he can appear before God. Because he has been human, he can perfectly represent our struggles.
Not only is Jesus our Advocate before God, but he is also the propitiation for our sins. He is the one who satisfied justice and provided God the right to forgive (see Romans 3:21-26). We can be forgiven because of Jesus' death. We can be favorably represented before God because of the righteous life Jesus lived.
What is the human response to the facts that Jesus can be our Advocate and propitiation? We respond by committing ourselves to keeping God's commandments. Here is one of the places we need to be extremely careful. If we Christians are not quite careful we reduce keeping the commandments to keeping the rules. Then the rules become a primary expression of our desires/expectations instead of God's values. If we do not exercise caution, if a person keeps our rules, he/she is "in," but if he/she does not he/she is "out." Too seldom are our rules focused on God's values. Too often, we emotionally react instead of studying the Word.
To say that we as Christians have come to know God while we give no attention to accepting God's guidance by yielding to His teachings is to lie. Knowing God involves listening to God. To claim to know Him while refusing to listen to Him is to lie. To refuse to listen to Him means we do not know Him.
A keeping of His Word means learning to love as He loves. He both defines what it means to love and shows us how to love. (If we are a recipient of His forgiveness, we become an avenue of His forgiveness. Without love one cannot forgive.) Belonging to God means letting God teach us how to live and how to behave.
John's emphasis in verses 7-11 illustrate the emphasis on making certain that God's values are a central part of our expectations. We rarely think of the responsibility to love in the form of a command or a rule. We tend to think of commands or rules as being external regulators which govern the acts of an individual. We tend to consider love as an internal feeling or emotion. It is unpredictable, and it is not subject to rules, to regulations, or to commands.
In today's typical thinking, how can a person be ordered to feel a particular way? Is not love beyond the scope of regulation? In our world, some of the most wicked acts are justified on the basis of love. Some of the most exploitive behaviors are defended in the name of love. The thought that love can be restricted or focused in its behavior is a novel idea to many.
How could the responsibility to love be both an old and new commandment? God's expectations and intentions for Israel were that they exist as a people devoted to God's ownership (see Exodus 19:3-6). To these people God gave the responsibility to love rather than seeking vengeance (see Leviticus 19:18). Generations later, to the descendants of these people, Jesus said the two greatest commands God ever gave Israel were based on love--the first is to love God with all one's being; the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Paul said later to Gentile Christians who were confused about their responsibility to the Jewish Law, "For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Galatians 5:13, 14).
The responsibility to show love if you belonged to God was an old emphasis.
However, the responsibility to love others reached new heights and concepts in Jesus Christ. The full light of God's intentions is made evident in Jesus' life and death. Those who are Jesus' disciples are committed to expressing love as Jesus expressed love. It is a new commandment because in Jesus love reached its fullest dimension. In this new expression it actually had (has) the power to destroy the darkness evil inflicts on people.
The primary expression of this responsibility to love is seen in loving those who love Jesus. Faith in Jesus, not culture or lineage, makes people brothers. Hatred of those who commit themselves to Jesus was not (is not) an option. Hatred of those who commit to Jesus was (is) certain evidence that the hater remains in darkness and does not know God.
Loving people who significantly differ from us is and always has been a difficult challenge. The fact that those who are different commit to Jesus does not make the challenge much easier. When we, as people committed to Jesus, exist in the same culture at the same place, it may not make it any easier. Racism, stereotyping, social divisions, clans, economic gaps, differing traditions, and arguments about the meaning or application of divine directives commonly remain even when people are committed to discipleship in Jesus.
The enormous commitment of God to us is reflected in the fact He loves all of us even when we struggle to love each other.
For Thought and Discussion
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 3