I John 5:1-3
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God;
and everyone who loves the Father loves the child born of Him.
2 By this we know that we love the children of God,
when we love God and keep His commandments.
3 For this is the love for God,
namely that we obey His commandments;
and His commandments are not burdensome.
Introduction
Our text this morning continues our study of John’s first Epistle
Now remember, the false teachers who are troubling John’s flock are doing so by both their teaching and their living. That is, they not only deny Christ, they also claim that it does not matter how you treat others. Instead, for them salvation is a purely inward, spiritual matter and they alone know how to obtain it.
Therefore, John responds by giving his readers the two definitive marks by which we can distinguish with certainty that which is truly from God and that which is not. John says that any teaching which says the same thing about Jesus as God does is from God. In turn, that which loves God and the things that God loves is from God.
However, what exactly does God say about Jesus? Not only that, what is love and how do you know that you are actually acting in love?
In our text this morning John turns to define/describe each of the two distinguishing marks of faith, beginning this week with love.
Verse 5:1
Notice at once John opens this portion of the epistle with a review. That is, John opens by restating the two distinguishing marks of true faith. Notice then the first mark: John says that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. In other words, they believe (they have received) what God says about His own Son. Notice then what they believe: they believe that Jesus (the man, the historical figure, fully human) is the eternal Son of God who God promised to send into the world as Messiah/savior. Not only that, notice what this first mark tells us: it tells us that everyone who so believes is born of God. That is, salvation, new life, and God’s ongoing presence irrevocably abide in them and define them. As such, God is their Father and they are God’s children forever. In turn, notice the protective contrast this first mark provides: John says that those who deny, alter, or dilute what God says about His Son are not from God and therefore they are not to be followed or imitated. FN#1
Next, notice John reviews/restates the second mark: John says that everyone (not some not most) who loves the Father loves the child begotten by Him. Why? Why is this true and necessary? First, those who love the Father will love His children because the Father loves them. In other words, their growing desire is to please God and to cherish what God cherishes. Second, children reflect their Father. That is, they reflect both His image/character as well as His unfolding grace and Salvation. Thus, to love the Father is to find the Father’s likeness in His children. Finally, a salvation born of love yields a like love in its recipients. In other words, love is what grace is doing in every believer. Thus, a central aspect of new life is to love what and as the Father loves. Simply put: John’s second mark is vertical love. As such, those who are from God will love God and all whom God loves FN#2. However, the question remains, what exactly is love? What does it look like to love; and how do we know that we are actually acting in love? FN#3 Listen.
Verse 2
Notice at once, John says by this we know that we love the children of God. That is, John points to something measurable and concrete by which we can know for certain what love is and that we are acting according to love. Notice then where John points: Johns says that we know we are acting in love when we love God and keep His commandments. Importance: the first thing that verse 2 tells about love is that vertical love is vertical because it always has reference to God FN#4. That is, the new heart indicative of salvation seeks to please God more and more and to not wander from His presence. The second thing that verse 2 tells about love is that one of the chief ways that vertical love seeks to please God is by loving what God loves in the way that God desires/commands us to love it. Now this makes sense. Think about it: remember back in 4:8 John told us that God is love. That is, everything that God does is motivated by and is an expression of His great love. Thus, to see God’s work or to hear His commands is to encounter the fullness of His love. Notice the result: God’s commands always have the very best for His creatures in mind. Therefore, to truly love is to seek for others the very things their Creator seeks for them. So do you want to know what true love is? Do you want to know what it looks like and what it involves? John says that true love/redemptive love means responding to others as God commands because God loves and values them.
Verse 3
Next, notice the flow of the passage: if verse 2 told us that we love the children of God when we love God, then verse 3 explains what loving God actually involves: John says this is the love for God FN#5. In other words, once again John points to something concrete by which we can know for certain that we are loving God. Notice then where John points: John says that we love God when we obey His commandments. Importance: at once verse 3 reminds me that God determines what God requires. That is, only God can reveal who God is, who man is, and what life is all about. Therefore, God’s Word (what God says) is the single standard/rule of any relationship with God (regardless of what the world and its false teachers claim). Not only that, just as with the children of God, vertical love/redemptive love will always seek to please God by following/honoring God as God desires. As such, John says that a love for God obeys God. Notice the result: for the second time in two short verses we see that love and commandment go hand in hand (a notion that stands in sharp contrast to the false dichotomy that the world sets between love and obedience/command). However, please note: John is not suggesting that love is a sterile, impersonal checklist of does and don’ts. Instead, verses 2-3 remind me that it is the commandments of an all loving God that provide the blueprint/description of what love really is. In other words, for John, love is neither a heartless checklist nor vague sentiment. Instead, for John love is knowable and specific.
Next, notice the final portion of verse 3 confirms our reading: John says that a true love for God not only obeys God but God’s commandments are not burdensome. That is, true love keeps God’s commandments from the heart. It is true love’s growing desire/delight to follow God. As such, true love does not obey God begrudgingly, out of fear, or only when it serves our advantage. Instead, even when following God is difficult/hard, the prevailing desire of the new heart is to please God and walk with Him. Notice then the connection between love and commandment: God’s commands show us how to truly love. That is, keeping God’s commandments is how true love finds its proper and concrete expression FN#6.
Bottom line: in verses 1-3 John defines/describes what true love is (be it a love for God or a love for others). In both cases, John reminds me that love and commandment are inseparably bound. As such, love (not fear or self-preservation) is always the motive of true obedience. In turn, the commands of an all loving God are always the content of true love. So how do I know that I am loving others? When I respond to them as their heavenly Father desires/commands them to be treated.
Footnotes
1] One final point before we move on: notice the salvific order in the verb tenses: the verb “believes” (everyone who believes) is a stative present tense verb. As such, it points to a current underlying state/condition. In other words, belief defines these people’s standing before God today and onward. However, the verb “is born” (is born of God) is a resultative perfect. As such, it points to a past event which has brought about the current state/condition. Simply put: according to John, it is not our belief or our choice that has brought about salvation and new birth. Rather, it is God’s prior choice/grace that has resulted in our new life and with it a new disposition of faith/belief. In other words, once again John reminds me that God’s love and grace always go first. Not only that they are a love and grace that always bring about real change in the life of the believer (thus we truly love, call, and believe because we have first been loved, called, and pursued). Such then is a great comfort: our salvation and security do not rest in our hands or on our performance. Instead, from start to finish, they rest in God’s hands and on what God has done. All this is simply to point out what Scripture says everywhere: God alone is Savior.
2] Notice at once that John’s focus here is specific: that is, John is not talking about a generic love for just anybody. Rather, John is talking about a specific love for other believers. Why? Is John condoning a self-centered disregard for the world? No. Instead, it is this specific vertical love for all that God loves, for all that glorifies God’s name, and for all that furthers His mission that distinguishes those who are from God and those who are not. As such, it is this love that serves as the second mark of true Faith. Not only that, remember 4:7 has already taught us that it is this very redemptive love and community that are displayed before the world and offered to them. However, John’s focus here is on the specific vertical love possible only to believers and a distinguishing mark of their redemption (regardless of how much it is displayed and offered to the world)
That said, the principle here in verses 1-3 applies to all we meet. We are to love them because God loves them and in the way that God desires them to be treated (especially to the end that they might come to know God and the salvation that He offers in His Son Jesus).
3] From the dawn of time philosophers, writers, and poets have tried to define true love. Thus the poets tell us that love is a rose. Modern philosophers tell us that love is a non-causal epiphenomenal side note of material/chemical life. Pop culture conflates love and lust. Finally, theologians often tell us that love is a commitment (which is true as far as it goes. But still is woefully incomplete).
However, throughout his epistle John has shown us that love is a commitment based on genuine adoration. That is, love sees the immense value, beauty, and worth that God has given another and thus it seeks the other’s well-being.
4] Notice this theocentric (God-centered) nature of vertical love is what makes it a distinguishing mark of redemption. In turn, it is this fundamental God-centered orientation that stands vertical love in direct contrast to the truncated horizontal love of the world, which loves with no thought of or reference to God.
5] Note the question here is how do we understand the genitive “love of God”? Is God the subject of the love (i.e. the one doing the loving)? If so, we would we translate the genitive as a Subjective Genitive, “love from God”? Or is God the object of the love (i.e. the one being loved)? In this case we would translate the genitive as an Objective Genitive, “love for God”? In reality the genitive is both (we call this a Plenary Genitive). That is, we understand it as referring to a love that is from God, (which results in salvation and new life) and then in turn is reflected back to God in the believer’s love for God.
However, that said, the objective side of the genitive is certainly at the forefront here (thus I have translated it as an Objective Genitive- love for God). Notice then, verse 2 was expressly talking about the believer’s love for God. Verse 3 then goes on to further describe the true nature of this love. The result is that the believer’s love for God is certainly in focus here. However, we can’t forget that immediately before this, verse 1 talks of those who are born of God and thus have a new heart that reflects God’s own. In turn, the point of this entire section of the epistle has been to describe the two marks by which we can distinguish those who are from God and those who are not. As such, the notion of grace, love, and salvation that are from God serves as the foundation of this passage. The result is that verses 1-3 are describing what a true love for God looks like, a love that is born from God in the new hearts of the redeemed.
6] It should be added that along with this obedience born out of true love is a contrast with the false teachers’ harsh treatment and manipulation by fear of their followers. Thus while false religion is man/performance based, leads to rigor and/or insecurity, and is often oppressive, following God is not despotic. Instead, it is liberating, leads to joy, and proceeds from love (both from God and for God).