Bible Study: 1 John 3:11-15: The Key Question is Whether We Love Each Other

Believers carry within them two seeds, one of death and destruction – the seed of Cain, the other of life and peace – the seed of Jesus Christ. At any moment we can choose which one we will cultivate.

Discussion Questions

1. Read the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:1-9. What was the question Cain asked that showed his callous disregard for his brother Abel?
2. What does our passage in 1 John 3:11-15 imply God’s answer to Cain’s question is?
3. Have you experienced hatred from the world as a result of your faith in Christ? Were you surprised?
4. Why do you think the world is so uncomfortable with Christians?
5. Is there anyone you hate? What do you need to do about it?

Translation

11 ??? ???? ????? ? ??????? ?? ???????? ?? ????? ??? ???????? ???????? 12 ?? ????? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ?? ??? ??????? ??? ??????? ????? ??? ????? ????? ??????? ????? ??? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ?? ?? ??? ??????? ????? ?????? 13 ?? ????????? ??????? ??? ?? ????? ???? ? ?????? 14 ????? ??????? ??? ????????????? ?? ??? ??????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ???????? ???? ???????? ? ?? ?????? ??? ??????? ????? ?? ?? ?????? 15 ??? ? ????? ??? ??????? ????? ????????????? ????? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ????????????? ??? ???? ???? ??????? ?? ????? ????????

Verse 11

This is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we must love each other,

Verse 12

not like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own works were evil and his brothers were righteous.

Verse 13

Do not be shocked, brothers, if the world hates you.

Verse 14

We know that we have crossed over from death to life, because we love the brothers. The one who does not love remains in death.

Verse 15

Everyone who hates his brother is guilty of manslaughter. And you know that everyone who is guilty of manslaughter does not have eternal life abiding in him.

Observation: What Does the Text Say?

Verse 12

? ??????? – “he angelia” “The message, the announcement.” Combined with “eu” the message becomes “good news” or the gospel.

???????? – “ekousate,” “We have heard”

?? ????? – “ap arxes,” “from the beginning,” i.e., the beginning of the church that started at the resurrection. Or from the beginning of the universe, making this a reference to Genesis 1:1. But probably the beginning in the Upper Room where Christ gave the following command.

???????? ???????? – “agapomen allelous,” “we must love each other, one another”. One of the critical “one another” passages in the New Testament that proliferate after John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you, that you must love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know your are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Verse 13

???? – “cain,” proper name, “Cain.” Son of Adam who killed his brother, Abel, in Genesis 4.

?? ??? ??????? – “ek tou ponerou,” “worthless, degenerate.” Satan is worthless, degenerate.

??????? – “esphatzen,” “slay, murder.” Killing someone by violence (BAG).

????? – “karin,” “for what reason?” “why?”

?? ???? – “ta erga,” “deeds.”

?????? – “ponera,” “wicked, degenerate, evil.”

?????? – “dikaia,” “upright, just, righteous.”

????????? – “thaumatzete,” “to marvel, wonder, be astonished.”

? ?????? – “ho kosmos,” “the world” as comprised of human society.

??????? – “oidamen,” “we know.”

?????????????- “metabebekamen,” “pass over, withdraw, depart.” Has the idea of changing one’s place of abode. We were living in death, so to speak, and now we are living in life.

??????? – “thanatou,” “death.” Spiritual death.

???????? ???? ??????? “agapomen tous adelphou,” “we love the brothers.” The primary indication that one is alive spiritually is that he loves his brothers in Christ.

????? “menei,” “remain.” Stay in a place even though one has the option of leaving.

? ????? – “ho misoun,” “the one hating,” just as the key indication that one is alive spiritual is love for fellow believers, so the key indication that one is dead spiritually is hatred of believers.

????????????? – “anthropoktonos,” “to have seen or perceived, hence, to know.” We know from experience that no murderer has eternal life in him.

???? ??????? – “zoen aionion,” “eternal life, life unending” the ultimate destination of every believer.

???????? – “menousan,” “abiding, remaining.”s

Interpretation: What Did the Text Mean to it’s Original Audience?

The early church took Christ’s command to love “one another” seriously. This command cut the mooring lines for believers from dead Jewish ritual. No longer were believers linked to a specific race or nation. Nor were they required to worship in a temple and observe endless religious practices. They were simply to love “one another.” This command referred not just to them loving?their wives or husbands and children. They were to love each other, i.e., the broader congregation of believers were to have a deep and profound love between them.

This love was to be their distinguishing mark that separated them from all other people in “the world,” a world marked by competition, conflict, hatred and even murder.

Application: What Does the Text?Mean for us In our Context?

One of the most important questions any Christian man can ask himself is what does it mean to love fellow believers with the love of Christ. To live out the answer to this question is to obey Christ’s central command to us. Loving our fellow believers is what distinguishes us as believers from the world and makes us noxious to the world.

Teach: How Do We Communicate These Truths in a Way that our Audience Understands?Them, Remembers Them and Applies?Them?

Applying the command to love each other means we need to communicate to our congregation a clear idea of what the love of Christ means in practice, who we are to show this love to, what the outcome is intended to be. We must also contrast this love with what the world means when it loves as well as deal with the possibility of opposition and even persecution.

A development of the concept of the love of Christ will demonstrate how it is unique to Christians and give specific examples, both from the Word of God and from life.

The phrase, “one another” is the class of people we are specifically commanded to love. The body of believers as a whole is to be marked by the practice of this love.

The results of this love, as John will show later in his epistle, is that there should be no needy person among us.

Christian love is unique because it is based on the love that God, in Christ, has for us. All worldly love is essentially selfish, while Christian love is self-sacrificing.

These two types of love cannot coexist with each other. Cain and Abel were of two different origins, one righteous and one evil.