FollowA Letter to the Children (Part 8)
© 2025 C. O. Bishop
1st John 3:7-16
Examining The “Other Side” of John 13:34, 35
Remember that Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples….” Well, the word, “ALL” includes us, as believers. Jesus gave the World three means by which to judge the church…meaning us! They are to “critique” us…we who “claim the name of Jesus.” Jesus gave those three criteria to the World. He invites them to look at our lives and judge whether what we say is true, and whether our lives reflect the truth of God’s Word.
- The Agapé Love: John 13:34, 35
- The Unity of the Spirit: John 17:21; Ephesians 4:3
- The Good Works that God has ordained for us to do. Matthew 5:15, 16; Ephesians 2:10
We can use those same three ways (and others,) to look within the church and recognize potential trouble before it grows too big to deal with. Paul warned the Ephesians elders, in Acts 20:28-31, that predators (“grievous wolves”) would arise from within the church, even from among the leadership, trying to lead away people to follow them instead of Christ: They try to persuade people to believe their doctrine instead of believing the sound teaching of the Word of God.
And those elders in Acts 20 were to guard against such predators. So, how can we recognize the counterfeits? Primarily by becoming so familiar with the “genuine article” that fakes are obvious.
There are Different Sources of Wisdom
In James 3:13-18, God warns all the believers, as to how to distinguish the difference between Godly Wisdom and counterfeit “wisdom” from other sources. He names three “other sources:” The world, the flesh, and the devil (He used the words, “earthly, sensual, devilish.”) But He gives a nine-fold “checklist” as to how to recognize God’s Wisdom. If any of those attributes of Godly Wisdom are clearly missing, especially in a continuing, repeating pattern, then we can safely conclude that the source is not the Lord.
Self-Will-Sourced “Wisdom”
Some people claim their “own wisdom.” But it is rooted in the flesh: Self-will. Self-proclaimed wisdom. (Romans 1:22 “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”)
Crowd-Sourced “Wisdom“
Some may say, “Well, Everybody knows that…” but if whatever it is that “everybody knows” is not in full agreement with the Word of God, then they are simply tapping into the “pooled error,” and “pooled folly” of the World. Romans 3:10-12 says, regarding the human race, “10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together [collectively] become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Paul was quoting Psalm 14.)
And some will go so far as to teach counter to the Bible: They imply that the Bible is just “out of date,” or “obsolete,” or they claim that parts of it are “mythological” in nature. This practice is directly from the pit, as Satan said, in Genesis 3:4, “Thou sssshalt not ssssurely die…!” (Hear the hiss of the Serpent!)
You see, one of Satan’s “sharpest weapons” is Denying the truth of God’s Word. First, He convinces us that “We are pretty sharp characters! We are really wise!”
Then he convinces us that collectively, we are obviously wiser than any one of us acting alone could be. (Many times, in history, ONE person alone has stood for what was right. Others persecuted and often killed them for their faithfulness to the truth. But history proved that the ones who stood alone were correct, and that their persecutors were simply murderers!)
The teaching, here in 1st John 3:7-16 corroborates all the other passages about “false brethren.” (Compare 2nd Corinthians 11:26 “…perils among false brethren.”
Also, Galatians 2:4 “…false brethren unawares brought in.” Unbelievers infiltrated the church, and were corrupting the teaching.)
False Brethren
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. [Remember that the verbs here are continuous, not intermittent. This is a lifestyle issue, and a “common practice” issue, not a question of “sinless perfection.”]
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
It is possible that this verse is in direct reference to the New Nature of the born-again believer. It would fit, as it refers to “His Seed:” the new nature of a born-again believer is created in the likeness of God in righteousness and true holiness (see Ephesians 4:24.) that new nature truly cannot sin. But our problem is that we still have our old sinful nature, which cannot be repaired so as to practice righteousness. So there is a constant war in progress.
10 In this the children [tekna] of God are manifest, and the children [tekna] of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
Origin of All Humans
Please remember that all of us began life as the “spiritual offspring” of the Evil One. (Ephesians 2:1-3 says, “1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
No human (apart from Jesus,) is exempt from this fact: Jesus confirmed it in John 8:44. He told His accusers that they were the children of their father the Devil. But the Ephesians passage tells us that we all started there, too! (Paul included himself in that “we.”)
In What Way is the Church Different?
So, how does the church differ from the rest of the human race? 1st Peter 1:16-23 says,
“6 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: 18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But [you were redeemed] with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. 22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
Those are all “Positional Truths.” They are true of all believers, because of their “position” in Christ, without regard to “how they are doing” right now. But, if those things are not true of a person, he or she is not a believer at all. Can I “see into another person’s heart?” (No, I can’t!) But God does give us certain clues, and He expects us to use them for the protection of ourselves and of the flock.
So, What is the Primary Command in Question?
11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. [John 13:34, 35]
12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
John draws a sharp contrast, here, between Righteous behavior and Evil. The evil will always desire to destroy the righteous: It will not seek peace and reconciliation.
13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
Remember that Jesus warned us about this: In John 15:18, 19, He said, “18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
Believers can Fail in this, too!
We don’t want to be too quick to point a finger and declare that someone else is not a believer. But it does remain a possibility. How people respond to the Word of God is a good predictor to how they will respond to Jesus Himself: He is the Word!
14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
I can at least apply this test to my own heart: Do I love the brethren (with the Agapé love?) Or do I see them primarily as a “bother,” and an irritation, as opposed to a “brother,” and a blessing? Do I wish for restoration of full fellowship, or do I just wish they would all “just straighten up and fly right?”
Remember that, in Revelation 12:10, Satan is called “the accuser of the brethren.” I do not want to be a “junior accuser,” and join him in that evil work. I want to be careful not to become critical of others.
However, if we can easily see a continuing practice of accusations, gossip, harsh criticism, etc., a total lack of regard for God’s Word, and if we can observe a general discomfort around other believers, it might be a cause for suspicion that the person may not be saved. We need to be careful, though: A believer who is out of fellowship can behave exactly like an unbeliever. (In similar manner, a person in a deep coma looks pretty much like a dead corpse…but we don’t bury them…because they aren’t really dead! They just look that way!)
The Love of the Brethren as a “Litmus Test”
15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
It is interesting to see that the teaching Jesus gave (Matthew 5:21, 22) in the Sermon on the Mount, regarding “hatred vs. murder” is reiterated in very clear terms, here in 1st John. Jesus expanded upon His Law, and pointed out that the root cause of murder was unreasoning anger and hatred. He said that the motive itself made you guilty before God.
But here, we see a contrast laid out for us!
16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Notice Two things:
First,
It does not say, “We perceive the love of Christ.” It says, “We perceive the love of GOD, because HE laid down His life for us!” It (again) highlights the Deity of Christ! He is truly “God in the Flesh,” and He (as GOD) has laid down His life for us! (Ponder that one for a while!)
And,
Second:
The opposite of Murder is “laying down one’s life” for others. It usually does not mean “losing one’s life.” But it always means “laying down” one’s own life, with its plans, privileges and priorities, to meet the actual need of the brother or sister in question.
It means setting aside what seems good for me, in favor of what the real need in the other person’s life is. And what they need may not even be what they want: A brother whose sin is about to destroy his marriage (or in some other way is having serious consequences) probably will not “truly appreciate your pointing it out to him.”
Jesus Commands us to Go!
But Agapé love requires that you do so, anyway. Jesus taught that responsibility in John 13:6-16, in the washing of the disciple’s feet. Galatians 6:1-5 spells out that responsibility, and makes it clear what the real issue is: Restoration is the only acceptable motive. If you think you are there to “straighten ‘em out,” please don’t go.
Am I “comfortable” with coming to a brother and “washing his feet” by alerting him to the danger of the sin in which he is entangled? NO! I am not! But it has to be done. And, in truth, it may “blow up in my face!” He may mark me as his enemy, for my attempting to help. That is a risk we take. But if someone who is calls himself a brother continually rejects all admonition, God tells us to understand that he may not be a believer. (Matthew 18:15-17)
In that case, we approach him as we would approach a non-Christian, and we offer forgiveness and eternal life on the basis of the Blood of Jesus. We do not malign them, nor do we reject them, but rather, we consider them a “mission field.”
It is entirely possible for an unbeliever to “infiltrate” a local church. We don’t have to be blind to that possibility, nor need we be alarmed when it happens. We have been warned in advance!
Lord Jesus, help us to see the World through Your eyes, and to Love the Brethren in sincerity! Give us the Wisdom from Your Word to discern reality and meet their needs appropriately in the Love of Christ.