1 John 4:21 And we have this command from him, that the one who loves God should also love his brother.
καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐντολὴν ἔχομεν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν θεὸν ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ.
Some people see God as a rule giver. They read the Bible as a bunch of laws, do’s and don’ts. One reason for this is that they are living in the darkness and deceived by the world. Since the darkness does not understand or accept the light, these people reject anything that challenges their self-focused world of pleasure. They have missed the heart of the gospel. Even when people move from the world of darkness into the new life of light, they may carry this understanding with them. Sadly, there are immature believers who still live under the burden of the law.
God’s commands can be summarized in the simple command of love. Following Jesus is not complicated, although it will be challenging. There is a crucial link between loving God and loving others. We love God by obeying his commands. The primary command is to love others. Thus, loving God is shown by loving others. The Apostle John’s logic is simple yet life transforming. His words require us to look within and examine our motives and attitudes. He started his letter talking about confession in 1:9 for a reason. The reason is that honesty about our lack of love and obedience should convict us and lead us to confession. The good news is that there is forgiveness and cleansing. We do not need to live with hateful actions and attitudes but can live with love.
For older posts, click here.