Let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

1 John 3:7-24 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; ⁸ the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. ¹⁰ By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

¹¹ For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; ¹² not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

¹³ Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. ¹⁵ Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. ¹⁶ We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷ But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. ¹⁹ We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him ²⁰ in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. ²¹ Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; ²² and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

²³ This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

John’s message echo’s the theme of love taught and demonstrated by Jesus. He even says: We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.   Jesus sacrifice on the cross is the greatest demonstration of love the world has ever known. John says:  This is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.  Again this is what Jesus taught. In Mark 12:29-31 He said:  “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”    John 3:16 says:  “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”     Love was the motivation for Jesus coming. That we could have eternal life was the result. In the text John says:    Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.   John continues with what our love should look like. He says:  Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.   Probably the greatest criticism, from the world, against the church is that it does not do as it says. The church is criticized and called hypocrites because it does not do enough for the needy people of the world. Certainly every individual believer and every individual church body should be aware of this important aspect of our faith, recognizing that any other message we share will be lost and rejected if we do not have love and compassion. If the truth is told though, the Christian church, individual believers and Christian ministries and organizations around the world do more for the poor and needy than anyone else. Those who criticize the generosity and compassion of Christians should look carefully before they speak.

What is often lost by the world, by critics and unbelievers is what John also says in today’s text:  The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.    Love was indeed the motivation behind Christ’s coming and eternal life the result for those who believe. But Jesus coming, His sacrifice and death was for more than just to forgive sin. It was to destroy the works of the devil.  John says:  Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.    So, both love and righteousness are important demonstrations or evidence of faith. This is not just John’s own words, but again he is echoing the words of Jesus. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says:  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”    In Matthew 5:16-20 Jesus says:   “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”    Our good works are more than service and compassion. The good works that the world needs to see are also our acts of righteousness.   It is important that it speaks of those who practice sin. We all will stumble and even fall at times, but to practice sin is to willfully choose to continue in sin. Both John and Jesus Himself are clear that to practice lawlessness, to choose unrighteousness over righteousness causes exclusion from God.

In the text John says:  Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.   Truth is also important. The world though will often reject truth.  John says:  Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.  Again, this echoes Jesus own words. In John 15:18-25 Jesus says:  “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’”    Surely as we look at our society and culture, we can see that the world will indeed, hate without cause, those who stand for righteousness. Whether in sports, entertainment, politics or any other social cultural setting, when we look at the things and the people that the world embraces and those that they reject, it is clear that righteousness is hated.  

In closing John says:  Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.   As believers we should demonstrate the love of God to the world. We should not though concern ourselves with the opinion of the world. We should concern ourselves with doing what is pleasing in God’s sight, not the worlds. We should concern ourselves with truth.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for Your love and Your truth. May I daily live as a demonstration of Your love and Your righteousness. May I not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.     Amen.