I John 3:17
16 By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoever has the world’s goods,
and beholds his brother in need
and closes his heart against him,
how does God’s love abide in him?
Introduction
Our text this morning continues our study of John’s first epistle.
Now remember throughout this section John has stressed that righteous living and love for one another are the two key components of what grace and salvation are doing in each believer.
Notice then the story thus far: in verses 10-15 John turned to focus on the centrality of love. Last week in verse 16 John pointed to Jesus in order to show us what true love really is.
That is, John pointed to Jesus in order to show us the essential nature and full extent of true love. Thus the nature of love (what makes love, love) is that it forgoes its own rights, comforts, and interests in order to seek the well-being of others.
In turn, the extent of love’s commitment is a total commitment of the whole self to its fullest extent (Jesus laid down His life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for one another).
In our text this morning John turns from the extensive nature of true love (how far it goes) to show us the intensive nature of true love (how much it includes).
Verse 17
Notice at once the corrective: while dying for another person is certainly a chief expression of love’s nature and extent, John does not allow us to relegate true love exclusively to such extreme/dramatic instances. Instead, the same selflessness and the same commitment to the well-being of others that would lead one to lay down his life are to define the whole of our everyday interactions. Notice then John begins by pointing to someone who has the world’s goods. However, please note: John does not tell us if the person is rich or if they are just getting by. Instead, all John tells us is that they have the ability to help.
Next, notice John says that this person to whom God has provided the means to help beholds his brother in need. In other words, he not only has the means to help, he also has the occasion to help. Notice then who this able person specifically beholds: John says that he beholds his brother in need. In other words, there is the proximity to help and with it a moral and relational obligation to help. Simply put, this is not an unknown person in some far off place. Instead, this is someone within the able person’s community or circle of interaction. Notice then, he sees the need firsthand and shares some manner of tie to the person (the one in need is described as his brother).
Importance: at once verse 17 suggests the idea of moral spheres of obligation. Thus you may send support to a foreign mission. You may also support a local ministry and then choose one of them with which to get involved. You may personally assist a member of your church, friend or neighbor. In turn, you daily engage with the needs of your family. Or like the Good Samaritan, you may simply be on the scene when sudden help is needed. Notice then the point: notice the principle at work here: love faithfully responds to the varying spheres of responsibility that God has given, with the means that God has provided, attending appropriately to each sphere without neglecting the others FN#1. Regardless, notice the picture that verse 17 presents: God has provided the person in verse 17 with the means, the occasion, and the relational proximity/obligation to help because God intends that person to be of help.
Next, notice the sad outcome of verse 17: instead of helping the brother in need, John says the person in verse 17 closes his heart against him. In other words, verse 17 alerts me that the able person’s indifference was not a matter of situation, finance, or ability. Instead, indifference is always a matter of the heart. Importance: Over and again John has shown us that even when love does not have the means or is limited in its ability, love never responds with disregard for another. Why? Disregard, indifference, and selfishness are always diametrically contrary to and utterly incompatible with love’s focus on the well-being of others.
Next, John asks a rhetorical question: John asks, in the face of such indifference, how does God’s love abide in such a person? In other words, how does the salvation and new life that God’s love secured, which in turn unfolds a like love in each believer remain/reside in such a person? Notice then, the understood answer is that God’s love does not abide/remain. Why? Such indifference and callousness are antithetical to the love that is a central aspect of what grace unfolds in every believer. However, please note: verse 17 points to both an ultimate condition as well as a proximate one. That is, indifference (especially a persistent indifference) may well indicate that the person is not saved (not a child of God). On the other hand, it may also indicate that a genuine believer is acting inconstantly with who he is and who God calls him to be. As such, God’s love has not remained/abided as the focus and deciding factor at the heart of his response. However, because we know what love is and because we know that we ought to love as Christ loved (v16), the believer is not to yield to, excuse, or persist in selfish behavior. Rather, he is to repent, bringing his selfishness to God for God to forgive and heal.
Bottom line: notice the point: verse 17 reminds me that the laying aside of the self in order to seek the well-being of others is not just relegated to extreme cases of a onetime sacrifice. Instead, love lays claim to every asset that is mine and is to define every aspect of my interactions with others. Importance: remember, in verse 16 John told us that the same nature and extent of love that we saw in Jesus is to define our own love. Notice then, Jesus not only died for us, He also lived every moment for us as well. By this we know love and know how we are called (how we are being transformed) to live.
Footnotes
1] Notice the intentional ambiguity: John does not tell us how much the able person has nor does he tell us the degree of his relation to the person in need. Instead, he simply tells us that he can help and that he ought to help. Importance: the open ended nature of verse 17 underscores the fact that love attends appropriately to each sphere of obligation as God desires with what God has provided