one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

1 John 4 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. ⁴ You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. ¹³ By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. ¹⁹ We love, because He first loved us. ²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.    Fear expresses itself in many ways. Doubt, stress and anxiety are all rooted in fear. Fear is also the root of prejudice. We fear things which are different, things we don’t understand and so we view them negatively. We judge them without knowing them. So fear can also express itself in judgment and condemnation, but as the verse says not in love. Perfect love casts out fear. Fear is also the opposite of faith. It is believing more in the things we don’t want than in the things we do want. Perfect love casts our fear because perfect love is found only in and through faith in God and Jesus. The text says: We love, because He first loved us.     True love, perfect love is only possible in response to the fact that He, God first loved us.

What was the result of God’s love for us?     “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Our response to the love of God, even before we can respond with love, is to believe in His Son. In today’s text, John says:  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.    It is important that we do more than confess and believe that Jesus is the Son of God. We also need to believe why He came, so that we would not perish. Romans 6:23 says:  The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.     Jesus paid the price for sin, He conquered sin and death. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 says:   O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.       Jesus didn’t conquer sin and death merely by coming and being with us. It’s not enough to believe that Jesus, the Son of God came and lived among us.  Jesus conquered sin and death on the cross. The love of God, His perfect love was demonstrated when Jesus the perfect sacrifice died for our sins. Romans 5:8 says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.      Our love, perfect love which casts out all fear is based on our believing that Christ died for our sins. Our love is a response to the demonstration of God’s love in the cross of Christ.  

God is love.  Many people actually try to use those three words to nullify the truth that sin separates people from God. They say God is love and a loving God would not judge or condemn sinners. Believing that misses what the love of God and the God of love did because of His love.  Today’s text began saying:   Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;  and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist.       The confession of Jesus Christ is that He is Savior and Redeemer. John says:   If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.        This is of course true. We are commanded to love our brother, our neighbor and even our enemy. God is love and if we abide in God then love must abide in us. While it is true:   The one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.   It is also true that we cannot love our brother, our neighbor, our enemy, all those we see, if we have not seen Jesus, the Son of God, crucified on the cross, died for our sins and raised from the grave to conquer sin and death. The love of God and the God of love cannot be separated from the cross of Christ. That is the demonstration of perfect love. That is the love we are to abide in.

Heavenly Father thank You that You are the God of love. Thank You that You demonstrated Your perfect love, even while we were sinners, separated from You, Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross. Holy Spirit thank You for abiding with us and in us, that through faith we confess and believe that Jesus is the Christ. Thank You that we have nothing to fear because of Your perfect love, demonstrated on the cross. May my life and my love for others point to Your perfect demonstration of love; The inseparable love of God and the cross of Christ.   Amen