Title: Look to Christ, Not Cain!
Text: I John 3:10-18
FCF: We often struggle to live out our love for our fellow Christians
Prop: Because of our identity in Christ and not this world, we must continue to love fellow Christians.
Scripture Intro: NET
[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I John 3. Let me briefly review the 2nd wave of teaching John has put forward to test whether or not we have genuine fellowship with God.
John begins this second test with some major doctrinal themes that pin up everything he is about to say.
[Slide ] He describes the people who left the church as antichrists because they have left the doctrine and practice of the church and denied that Jesus is the Messiah of God. But those in Christ, who have the anointing of the Spirit of Christ, will abide in Christ and in what they were taught. They will not be deceived. In fact, the one Spirit they share will point them all to the same truth flowing from the Word of God. And since they abide in Christ John tells them to live like it so that they can be ready for Christ’s return. To live like it means to practice righteousness, because all those born of God, truly one of God’s children, practice righteousness. He says to live like you abide in Christ is also to not practice sin, because sin has been taken away by Christ.
To live out your “abiding in Christ” status is to practice righteousness and to not practice sin. And now John turns his attention to a specific application of this teaching. And really it all comes full circle to where this entire discussion began. These antichrists had left them. They had separated from them. They had divorced them. And this proves that they are not abiding in Christ. Why? Because abiders in Christ unconditionally and selflessly love others who abide in Christ.
[Slide 3] I’m in verse 10 of chapter 3. I’ll be reading from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible on page 1374 or in whatever version you have. If you don’t have a bible of your own, please take a pew bible home with you.
Transition:
This is a VERY rich passage of scripture that shows not only the moral imperative that we should love one another, but also the theological certainty that we will love one another. It delicately straddles the line between that concept that we’ve seen. This is what you are and this is what you will be – so go and be what you are. Let’s look.
I.) People who are of the devil and practice sin hate God’s people, we must love our fellow Christians as Christ loves us. (10-14)
a. [Slide 4] 10 -By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice righteousness – the one who does not love his fellow Christian – is not of God.
i. We did not cover the last phrase of this verse last week.
ii. The NASB rendering of this verse says “Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother”
iii. The NET captures the force of John here by setting this phrase off in hyphens.
iv. John is drawing a direct application, that among other expressions of righteousness, one major expression is the love we ought to have for our brothers.
v. We have talked about the meaning of the term “brothers” before. The NET correctly puts this as “fellow Christians.”
vi. The meaning is that anyone in the visible church ought also to love those who are in the visible church. If they do not then they are not part of the invisible church.
vii. And so, John transitions to the next topic. He began all this by commanding his readers to abide in Christ. To live out what they are.
viii. So far, he has said to live a lifestyle of righteousness and not a lifestyle of sin.
ix. As a subpoint of that, he now shows us that to live a lifestyle of righteousness, and so live out our abiding in Christ, we must love our fellow Christians.
b. [Slide 5] 11 – For this is the gospel message that you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another,
i. The word gospel does not actually appear in the original text. But with John telling them that this is the same message that they had heard from the beginning, it seems like John’s meaning is clear. He is referring to a core truth of the gospel.
ii. This concept is so rooted to what the gospel is, that it truly is part of the gospel message.
iii. That we should love one another.
iv. John will go on to describe what that looks like and doesn’t look like.
c. [Slide 6] 12 – Not like Cain who was of the evil one and brutally murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.
i. This illustration seems to come out of nowhere.
ii. However, there are themes here both that John has already discussed, and that John will be discussing.
iii. First, John has said before, in so many words, that people sin because they are sinners. They practice what is in their hearts. They live according to who they are.
iv. So, Cain murdered his brother – but why? Because he belonged to the evil one. How do we know that? Because his deeds were evil. The word “were” could probably better be expressed as “had been.” Cain’s deeds had been evil. Meaning that Cain’s life was a lifestyle of opposition to God leading up to the point that he killed his brother.
v. [Slide 7] Indeed, if we go back to the Genesis account, we see that Cain’s offering was unacceptable to God. Abel’s was accepted. Why was that?
1. John tells us that Abel’s deeds were righteous.
2. [Slide 8] Hebrews 11 tells us that Abel’s offering was made by faith. Faith that believed what God said and obeyed Him.
3. By contrast Cain, did not act in faith, did not obey God, and offered what he wanted and not what God wanted.
4. So we see that Cain’s deeds were already evil before he slew his brother.
vi. [Slide 9] And back in the Genesis account, God even addresses Cain’s sin. He tells Cain that his offering would be accepted if he would do what was right.
vii. [Slide 10] And so why did he kill his brother? Two reasons.
1. He was simply being himself.
a. Jewish commentators had long assumed that Cain had fallen under the direct control of Satan.
b. But John, in this context is not talking about possession. Rather – identity. Cain was a seed of the serpent. He practiced sin because that is who he was.
2. But beyond that, as a direct result of him living out his lineage, Cain was envious of his brother’s righteous ways and benevolent treatment from God. He despised that God was so particular and that Abel was faithful.
viii. [Slide 11] And in the Genesis account we see God intervene. He warns Cain that sin desires to dominate him. We know from a New Testament perspective that this doesn’t mean that Cain was innocent or without original sin or not yet a slave to sin. Rather, God is referring to a particular sin in this context. His anger and hatred. That will continue to consume him if he is not careful.
ix. God says – you should subdue it. Not meaning that Cain is able to master sin. But rather, that Cain is able to prevent murdering his own brother. Even godless people do not commit murder right? They hate yet do not murder. Depravity does not mean that we commit every sin, but rather we are unable to change our nature of sin and pursue God.
x. God is not telling Cain to master sin – but rather to restrain it in this particular case.
xi. But he went from the presence of God and slew his brother.
xii. Why? Because he despised that God accepted Abel and not him. Raw jealousy and envy, which led to hate, which led to murder.
xiii. And that is why John says…
d. [Slide 12] 13 – Therefore do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
i. Do you see the argument John is making?
ii. Cain hated his brother. But less obvious perhaps, is that Cain hated God.
iii. Cain could not kill God – but he could certainly kill the one God showed favor to.
iv. The world hates God too. And they may try to thwart, kill, or undermine God – but when that fails, ultimately, they will resort to killing His children.
v. John’s point then, is that the world will hate us for being little representatives of a God they hate and do not wish to obey.
e. [Slide 13] 14 – We know that we have crossed over from death to life because we love our fellow Christians.
i. The we here is emphatic. Opposed to the world’s hatred, WE know that we are different. How?
ii. There is nothing but love for other Christians from true Christians.
iii. Now we have to understand this in the context of Cain and Abel. Abel was given favor of God which produced obedience. Obedience that Cain did not want to produce. And so Cain hated God for giving favor to his brother, and envied his brother for having favor.
iv. So how can we know that we have the same favor from God?
v. Those who have passed from death to life – again a status that has been granted – produces an evidence or result. What is that evidence or result?
vi. That we love other Christians.
vii. You see – we obey the command of Christ to love one another as He loved us. That is not possible without God’s favor.
viii. In that way – we are like Abel. We, by the faith given by Christ, love one another and so prove that we have passed from death to life.
ix. But what about the one who offers no love to other believers?
f. [Slide 14] The one who does not love remains in death.
i. The one who does not love their fellow Christians, are they more like Cain or Abel?
ii. Cain of course!
iii. So they remain in death. They have not been brought to life.
g. [Slide 15] Passage Truth: John’s message to his little children is fairly simple. It is drawn up from the same sort of absolutes he has been working with for his entire letter. If you practice righteousness you are righteous as Christ is righteous. If you practice sin you do not know Christ. All John does is translate that to a specific example. If you practice love toward fellow Christians, then you have passed from death to life. If you hate Christians, you are still dead in your sin.
h. Passage Application: So John’s exhortation to his little children is to love their fellow Christians. He will expand on this in the next few verses and even throughout the rest of the letter – but for now, it is enough to say that John wants his readers to unconditionally, selflessly, endure in their love for one another.
i. [Slide 16] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out from I John – we see that this has always been true of God’s people. We look at the laws that God set up for Israel and in civil dealings with each other the prevailing theme is an abiding care and love for each other. The last 6 commands of the decalogue describe how God’s people are to interact with people from various contexts. From parents to neighbors, and even the non-Jews who lived in Jewish communities were addressed in the law itself. In this, as God’s people, the Jews were to be different than everyone else around them. Jesus, of course, describes the love of others as the second greatest command. But to His disciples he gave a new command. He said that people will know that they are His disciples – because they love each other. They love other disciples with the love He loved them with. That is truly something special and unique to those who are genuinely brought from death to life in Him.
j. Broader Biblical Application: And so the application to God’s people endures. We must love other followers of Christ like Christ loved us. We treat everyone as we would want to be treated. But we treat others in the body of Christ as Christ has treated us. That mercy, that grace, must be present in our hearts toward those who are followers of Christ. Why? Because if we cannot display it - it means we are still dead in our sin. If we don’t have a lifestyle characterized by loving other Christians – than we are not a Christian at all.
Transition:
[Slide 17(blank)] So John began by expressing that identifying who is of God and who is of the devil is obvious. It is easy. Those who look like Satan are of Satan. Those who look like God are of God. Specifically – Cain looked like Satan. He hated God’s word and he hated those who followed it. That is not the example we are to follow. But what is our example? That is where John goes next.
II.) Jesus has revealed true love to us by laying down His life for us, so we must love other Christians as Christ loves us. (15-18)
a. [Slide 18] 15 – Everyone who hates his fellow Christian is a murderer
i. Another point of comparison between Cain and those who do not love their fellow Christian is one that Jesus Himself drew attention to in his sermon on the mount.
ii. Jesus said that if you hate your brother you would receive the same punishment due to a murderer. Murder is the flower and hatred the root. When sin conceives it brings death. And in the case of hatred, it brings death for both the one in whom sin is conceived and in another party.
iii. Hate=murder. So hating fellow Christians means that you are a murderer.
iv. And what does John say his readers know about murderers?
b. [Slide 19] And you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
i. Someone who is a murderer. Someone who is characterized by murder, hatred, does not have eternal life residing in him.
ii. Here is one more proof that reside or abide cannot mean a state of active choice or decision, or a work you continue to perform.
iii. For here, it would imply that a person who is a murderer had their eternal life leave them. Meaning they had lost their salvation. Eternal life stopped working in them.
iv. Again, remain must be speaking of status or state of being. Just like a person who does not love remains in death. So a person who is a murderer does not have eternal life remaining in them.
c. [Slide 20] 16 – We have come to know love by this: that Jesus laid down his life for us;
i. Why is it that John is so sure that true Christians love their fellow Christians?
ii. Because we have come to know what love is. We know what real love is. How?
iii. Jesus laid down His life for us! Jesus laid down his life for His friends. For His people! For His bride. For His church. Jesus was crucified so that we might live!
iv. Cain is AN example of one who is a son of Satan. His deeds were evil and his jealous and hateful heart murdered his own brother in cold blood.
v. But Christ – Christ is THE Son of God, therefore He is THE example of a Child of God. His deeds were righteous and laid down His life for His friends. He is the good shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep.
vi. Unlike the world, unlike Cain, unlike Satan, we truly understand what love is.
vii. And what does that produce in us?
d. [Slide 21] Thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians.
i. We ought to lay our lives down for fellow Christians too.
ii. We ought to love fellow Christians as Christ loved us. And lay down our lives for our brothers.
iii. This is the level of love that we have for those who are of Christ! Universally and locally. We love – unto death.
e. [Slide 22] 17 – But whoever has the world’s possessions and sees his fellow Christian in need and shuts off his compassion against him, how can the love of God reside in such a person?
i. If we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christian, then what naturally follows is that we ought to do everything within our human power to help them when they are in need.
ii. Now there are two criteria here we ought to pay attention to. I will say this up front. The context, although not specific, seems to work best in a local church setting rather than a universal church setting. I will give my reasons for that as we look at each criterion.
1. [Slide 23] Whoever has the world’s possessions – This is the first criteria.
a. This limits the person in question to one who is financially able to support someone else.
b. Living on more than you need is not necessarily sin. The bible never discards the requirement to care for yourself and your family.
c. However, we should live sacrificially, and those who can live on less should do so in order to help someone in need. Not a vow of poverty, but a vow of joyous giving.
d. So when you have more than you need, not want, but need, that is what John means.
e. This criterion could be applied to the universal church as well, in the sense that some Christians globally will be more stable than others. We in America are certainly one of those.
f. But as I said before, this text makes much more sense in a local assembly setting. And the reasons for that become more apparent as we look at the other criteria.
2. [Slide 24] Sees his fellow Christian in need – This is the second criteria.
a. Here the Christian has means to help and is aware of the need.
b. A fellow Christian cannot chastise another for not helping them when their need was not apparent. The humble action is to express need, not hide it.
c. If your need is obvious, like a bleeding arm, coming to the church for food because you don’t have enough, then it is the responsibility of the one with means to provide.
d. We must also see this as not simply financial aid. Why is the person in need? Why are they living paycheck to paycheck? Are they giving to others also? There are actually several cases in the New Testament where the church is told not to give people financial help but counsel instead. It is up to the brother in Christ to help in the fullest and best possible way.
e. This is where a local church context makes more sense. In our day of telecommunication, we may “see” needs for hurting Christians around the world every single day. Are we required to give every time we see it? If we did, one thing is for sure, we would probably not be a person with the world’s possessions for very much longer.
f. It makes more sense that within a local assembly, as often as you see a need and are able to meet it – meet it. This does not preclude helping with global church causes, but it gives priority on the local assembly.
iii. [Slide 25] So if these two criteria are true, and a claimed believer shuts off his compassion against the brother in need… what is true?
iv. John does not outright say. Instead he puts it in a question form. “How can the love of God reside in such a person?” So we have to wonder – is John asking?
v. Actually this is a question that is actually a statement. Paul does this all the time. Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? Absolutely not!
vi. How can the love of God reside in such a person? It can’t!
vii. That is John’s point.
viii. So what is John’s conclusion?
f. [Slide 26] 18 – Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth
i. My little ones. My friends…
ii. Don’t let your love stop with words, with cards, with Facebook messages and tweets.
iii. But in deed and in truth.
iv. Let us show our love through actions.
v. And interpretationally, we could say John means let us love others in deed and genuineness. However, I think John means something else.
vi. If loving in deed means loving with actions, then loving in truth means loving with truth.
vii. The love of a believer to a believer is not simply financial aid or help. It is offering truth to them. That could be simply the truth of the gospel and His love in us, and it could even be truth of correction and instruction.
g. [Slide 27] Passage Truth: And so John’s message to his readers is that they know what love is. They know because they have experienced the reality of Christ laying down His life for them! That is the very definition of love. There is no greater love than to lay your life down for your friend. That is the beginning. We look to Christ, not Cain as our example.
h. Passage Application: And so his application is spelled out even more plainly in this second half. He tells them to love other believers, but how specifically? In word, in action, and in truth. That we meet, on every level, the needs of those who are in the body of Christ.
i. [Slide 28] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out to the whole bible – we see this vividly. The Old Testament is a collection of stories about men and women who failed to be Christ. It is a long history of people who needed a provider, a protector, a friend, a shepherd, An everlasting drink of water, an everlasting morsel of bread, A Savior, a Substitute, a Priest, A Prophet, and a King. Christ is that, and one day that will be fully realized.
j. Broader Biblical Application: And so, by being brought to life with Him, we know what love is. We know it on an intimate level. We don’t just know of it – we know it like we know ourselves. Better even. It has been woven to our souls. Planted in our hearts. And it grows by the grace and power of God. Does God love His Son? “Behold my beloved Son in whom I am supremely and completely pleased” If God loves His Son, and God’s Spirit is in us, and we are the body of Christ, the only option is that we love one another.
Transition:
[Slide 29(end)] We have seen what God said and what He meant by it – but now our task is to understand how then should we live?
Conclusion:
Before we move to that answer, I think it would be good to quickly summarize the text we have just discussed. John Stott does this so much better than I could in his commentary on I John.
“Hatred characterizes the world, whose prototype is Cain. It originates in the devil, issues in murder and is evidence of spiritual death. Love characterizes the church, whose prototype is Christ. It originates in God, issues in self-sacrifice, and is evidence of eternal life.”
Stott, John. The Letters of John. Edited by Leon Morris, InterVarsity Press, 2009. Tyndale New Testament Commentary Series, Volume 19.
In order to apply this, I think we need to consider both the kind of love we offer and the object of that love.
First, the kind. Selfless and self-sacrificing love is what is in view. A love that while not neglecting the duties and responsibilities it has to family, does personally wound itself for the better of another.
To understand this love we need look no further than Christ’s love for us. For that is what we are giving to one another. We are more than mere family. We are one. Nothing should separate us. Not even sin will separate members of the body from one another if they are both truly in Christ. The promise we have in church discipline is that they will either return or be judged. Meaning they will either repent because they are Christians or they won’t because they aren’t.
This kind of love we are to have for one another, is martial. In a purely unsexual way, it is the same love shared between a husband and wife. We are woven together. Bonded together in the Spirit to Christ. There is no relationship on earth that is like the relationship of the church to one another. We give, share, correct, instruct, guide, provide, protect, and nurture one another because that is what Christ has done for us.
Understanding the kind of love we are expressing helps us to understand why the object of that love is directed toward fellow Christians and not just any person. Such a love is not really possible with unbelievers. Of course we don’t hate them or revile them. We don’t snub our noses at them. But what fellowship has light with darkness? The intimacy we share with our brothers cannot be expressed to the world. In fact, we are told in I John not to love the world.
There are many people in our society who volunteer often, give time to various causes, and frequently help those who are helpless in society, yet they hate the church. They mock the holiness of God’s people, attempting to shame us for our disdain of sin.
We live in a society where 70% claim to be Christian. Many of whom spend a great amount of time fighting for the rights of children, refugees, the sick, the hurting, the disenfranchised and the discriminated… but while doing all this and claiming to be of Christ they also commit adultery against their wives, gossip about their church leadership, forsake the assembling together to worship for silly reasons, and dismiss counsel and correction from godly brothers and sisters.
Friends – this is why God gave us this test. Even the unregenerate can show some measure of compassion toward those who have not been given justice. Even the godless can sense that the world is not quite right. But it is only those who abide in Christ that can show compassion AND love to other Christians.
So since we cannot expect the world to love Christians – we ought to love Christians. It isn’t the federal government’s job to care for our elderly. It is our job. It isn’t the government’s job to care for our sick, it is our job! It isn’t the government’s job to educate our children, it is our job!
And this is why church membership exists by the way. How is the church to know that you should be cared for if you have not affirmed our statement of faith? If you have not submitted yourself to the leadership. If you have not committed yourself to this local body – how are we to know that you too are one deserving of this one another kind of love? Church membership is nothing more than a covenant whereby you sign your name and say – I am a follower of Christ and I expect you to treat me like one with all the rights and responsibilities therewith. I can tell you the very first question the deacons and I ask when someone asks for material assistance is… are they connected to this church in any way? If the answer is no – then the next question is – are we aware of any needs in our body that are present or may come up in the near future where this money could be used instead? Why do we ask such questions? It is probably because we are running a club and only want insiders to have the benefits right? WRONG! It is because we LOVE our fellow Christians. Those whom we know by observable fruit that they are Christians. Those who have covenanted with us. Those ones are those whom we must care for – why? Because no one else will.
This is what we are on earth for. To be ambassadors of Christ to a dying world and to care for one another. And they are connected. The world will know we are disciples by our love for each other, and our brothers and sisters will disciple us to be more like Christ to display for the world! It is one call – not two.
We are closer than blood. Closer than family. We are one. And since all of us are one with Him, then all of us are one in Him.
And I think we need to be careful that we don’t hide from this command of Christ. It can be so easy to hide behind our family, our jobs, our busyness, and all our other excuses. The bottom line is no need in Christ’s true church goes unmet. We ought to provide for our families – but how much is providing and how much is excess? We must not busy ourselves with busyness – but rather with the work of the ministry. So that all may be grown to the full stature of Christ.
Remember our lesson from our child dedication! We have some desperate needs in this church and most of them are not financial. They are needs of time, wisdom, energy, and counsel. So how can you show the love of Christ?
And beyond that… we ought to all leave here praising the Lord or this marvelous mystery that He has created in His Son. His Church.
