“For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain…” (1 John 3:11-12a) What a curious statement. Cain murdered his brother Abel because he allowed jealousy and hate rule him. The same could happen to us if we allow hate to dominate our thoughts. Perhaps not a physical slaying, but potentially a “character assassination” through malicious gossip, slander, deceit and lies. When we allow ourselves to participate in the schemes of the world we “abide in death.” (1 John 3:14) “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15)
So what does Biblical love look like? “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” (1 John 3:18) Previously in verse 17, John explains that if we love our brother in need, we help them. We don’t turn our back and look away, but help them with their need. This doesn’t mean that we “enable,” but we assist according to our ability in “deed and truth.”
So when we love our brother and obey God’s commands, we are able to abide with the Father and may successfully fellowship with other disciples in the body of Christ. If not, we risk being cast into the fire. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” (John 15:6)
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