Out of Death and Into Life

We Love the Brothers

(1 John 3:14-15, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 16, 2016)

[14] We know that we have passed out of death into life,

because we love the brothers.

Whoever 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.

Out of death into life

Don't miss opportunities for daily grace. They come in many ways—not only in Bible study and prayer, but in the opportunity that we have to listen to someone and to care. Ask yourself these important questions: What was I created for? What was I redeemed for? The Lord has made you and redeemed you to enjoy Him and to give your life away in service as an act of true worship. If you are too busy, you may be missing the fact that the people all around you in their hectic lives are your opportunities for receiving and giving daily grace.

God has gone to great lengths to rescue you out of death. You were once worse than comatose in sin. Dead people do not have daily opportunities for the kind of grace that only comes to the redeemed. Though they may be restrained from much evil, at the end of the day they are still spiritually dead. But you have “passed out of death” by the grace of the Almighty. Where are you headed now that you have left the old neighborhood of the dead? The same God who brought you out of death has brought you into life together with all who belong to Jesus.

But how can we know? Love is the proof, especially love for “the brothers.”

Do you have the life that John writes of? If so, it came to you by the Lord's mercy. You were delivered from spiritual blindness and have come to see that God is your only hope. Through the simple act of prayer, you have expressed your need to the One being who can bring life to the dead. As John Calvin wrote in his Brief Outline of the Christian Faith, “Man must turn to God in order to ask from him, by prayer, what he has learned to be in him.” This sincere petition for life is the first step of the new Christian.

A genuine work of saving grace is displayed in a life of love for the brothers and sisters in God's family. This obedience of perfect love was first and most supremely displayed in the cross of our Lord and Savior. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Jesus won us by His love. He came. He healed. He taught. He saved. This love of Christ for His disciples lives on right now through His disciples. It is the visible proof that you have passed from spiritual death to spiritual life.

Here's how this works: Love lived once. Love lives on today. Let love live through you.

Where? Let love live through you at home. Let love live through you among the “brothers” in the church. There is more for you (work, community, world), but you can start in these two spheres of family and church as proving grounds for any broader work as a Christian servant.

Of course, non-incarnational Christianity has its advantages. You don't have to be around people that are less than perfect in so many ways. To look at this another way: Incarnational living is annoying. But it is also very rewarding. As Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) [Example of Paul in Ephesus as recorded in Acts 20. Further example of modern life in a Presbytery. Living a life of spiritual friendship and common endeavor in the church is well worth it, and it is a sign that a person has moved from death to life.]

What about the person who “hates his brother?”

These verses contrast the condition of someone who loves the brothers in Christ with those who hate the brothers. Right away we might all object to what appears to be an exaggeration. We would say, “I don't hate them.” But the apostle John makes the connection between “not love” and “hate” taking away any supposed middle ground. How could this be? Remember this: Detachment is a soft hate. It turns another human being created in God's image into a person who does not even exist in our world. That kind of elimination of a person is truly hateful.

John goes on to make the connection between “hate” and “murder.” That may seem way over the top, but remember that Jesus made the connection between calling someone a fool and God's command that tells us, “You shall not kill.” Detachment is hatred. Hatred is man-killing. And a man-killer does not have eternal life abiding in him.

But we feel sure of much better things... (Hebrews 6:9-12)

But not you. By God's grace, the church is a resurrection community of true brotherly love. Of course, there is much room for us to grow in love toward one another, even in the best times and in the best churches. We are not in the best times or the best environment for Christian living. We are told by Jesus that the day will come (Is it already here?) when “the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12) What can Christians do to turn up the temperature of our love?

Just as we turn to God in prayer in our first motion of Christian faith, we can pray to Him for much improvement in love. We can ask for the daily grace of seeing every present annoyance as an opportunity for daily grace, rather than an unpleasantness to be avoided.

Why not cultivate a new habit of instant and constant prayer? Paul says, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Another quote from Calvin to the point: “To know that God is the Lord, to know that everything good comes from him, to know that he invites us to ask him for what we need, and yet not to call on him and pray to him, is like knowing of a treasure hidden in the earth and, through indifference, to leave it there, without taking the trouble to dig it up.”

The false pride of not admitting our need will do us no good. “Blessed are the meek.” We should humble ourselves, since spiritual arrogance only leads to the murderous spirit that John sees as a sign that the King of eternal life is not remaining in us. Grace is the only way to obtain a gift as precious as exemplary love. Ask and you will receive.

Augustine said this in a sermon on 1 John: “Love God and do what you want.” The more you actually love God, the more you will love the brothers. Jesus loved the Father supremely, and then He did what He wanted. He loved you. Paul loved God and then he did what he wanted. He loved the church in Ephesus.

You were created for this. You were redeemed for this. Admit your need for grace. Yes, you are the meek. And also admit this: that you (and not haters like Haman) shall inherit the earth.

Old Testament Reading—Esther 7 – The Death of Haman

Gospel Reading—Matthew 5:5 – Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.