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Dr. Ron Hall, professor and pastor, and Peter Englert, pastor, help you delve into 1 John. Understand the context and background while applying this practical book of the Bible to your life.
1 John - 3-11-18.mov
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Peter Englert
00:00 - 00:09
Welcome to the Reading First John podcast. I am here with Pastor and Professor Ron Hall. I almost called you John. That would have been bad, Ron.
Peter Englert
00:09 - 00:19
But I'm Peter Englert. I'm a pastor and I'm one of the co-hosts of this show. Today we're picking up with First John. 3, 11 through 18.
Peter Englert
00:19 - 00:43
So I'm gonna read that and then Ron's gonna share a few thoughts and we'll have an interaction to help you read and study the Bible. So I'd encourage you to get the Bible right now, whether it's on your phone or you have a physical Bible in front of you, but to follow along with us. So what it says in 1 John 3, 11 to 18, For this is the message you heard from the beginning. We should love one another.
Peter Englert
00:43 - 00:56
Do not be like Cain who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
Peter Englert
00:57 - 01:10
We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer. and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
Peter Englert
01:11 - 01:28
This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possession and sees a brother or sister in need, but has no pity on them. How can the love of God be that be in that person?
Peter Englert
01:29 - 01:46
Dear children, let us love with words or speech. Let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and truth. Well, as always, I, you know, surface level reading. I think some people think that they might understand it.
Peter Englert
01:46 - 01:55
But then when you start digging below the surface, there's a lot there. So, Ron, where do you want to start? Well, let's capture the big picture theme, and that's about love.
Ron Hall
01:56 - 02:15
And it's the gospel of John that communicates to us love. And here is John reinforcing that theme in verse after verse. He does it in chapter 3, he carries on in chapter 4. So that's the power of this passage, of the exhortation to love.
Ron Hall
02:16 - 02:42
Now that's easier said than done, and I think we need to lay the groundwork right now that love, when it ends in first John, is love in action. It's not about romantic love, it's not about mushy-gushy, it's about love in action. It's actually putting your foot to the pedal. It's the gospel, I mean, the letter to James, don't be hearers of the word, but be doers, doing something with it.
Peter Englert
02:45 - 03:08
Well, let's let's kind of zero in probably where people I think are going to get the most stuck, not stuck, but just let's talk about Kane for a moment, because I think that that's it's a powerful illustration. You and I talk all the time. It's very important to read the Old Testament. The New Testament writers write about the Old Testament.
Peter Englert
03:09 - 03:26
And something that's really fascinating is when you have a writer of the New Testament interpreting an Old Testament story. So first of all, why don't you share that story and then share a little bit of why you think John places it here?
Ron Hall
03:27 - 03:45
Well, You know, the audience isn't just Jewish that John is writing to. And we know that for several reasons, because the language he's using, it's an inclusive audience. So there will be lots of Gentiles. But they must have been exposed somewhere along the line to the Old Testament teaching.
Ron Hall
03:45 - 03:59
And so the story of Cain and Abel is a famous one from Genesis 4. And Cain brought an offering to God. from the labor of the ground, and Abel brought an offering that was an animal sacrifice.
Peter Englert
04:00 - 04:14
And so it turned out that... Back in the day, we used to say amen when the preacher grabbed some water, so that's where we are, my friend. Amen.
Ron Hall
04:14 - 04:44
And so back then, the sacrifices that were brought, and Abel brought an animal sacrifice, and God has to come to Cain, and he has to deal with setting him straight. And he tells him, sin is crouching at your door and desires to master you, but you must master it. It's interesting, because that word about mastering is the same one that's used back in Genesis 3 with the fall. And so it's picked up again.
Ron Hall
04:44 - 05:05
And so Cain, rather than going ahead and heeding the word of God and making it right, takes it into his own hands out of raging jealousy to kill Abel, his own brother. And the consequences that come out of that result in the first murder that's found within the Old Testament.
Peter Englert
05:06 - 05:39
So I think something that's powerful about this is we read a lot of the Bible as 21st century Christians or 21st century people. And, you know, just the ancient writers recorded things, they wrote things. The way I like to talk about it is more literary style. And so even this idea of apocalyptic literature, we know that people get apocalyptic literature wrong when they're like, Oh, those locusts, those are Apache helicopters.
Peter Englert
05:39 - 06:05
And there's a lot of details about Cain and Abel that we don't quite understand for different reasons. But I think that the whole point of what you're saying that I think is helpful is let the text talk. And what what John is doing here is he's saying, hey, in verse 11, I'm going to tell you the same thing that I told you in the gospel. I'm going to tell you the same thing that I've already told you.
Peter Englert
06:06 - 06:17
Love one another. Here is an example. And you you said it so clearly, which is sin is crouching at your door. So Cain sins crouching at his door and he ends up killing his brother.
Peter Englert
06:18 - 06:35
This this is the clearest deeper truth from the story. You can argue a lot of details, but what the biblical writers are doing is a sin enters the world. We no longer see people in the image of God. Cain kills his brother.
Peter Englert
06:35 - 06:54
In essence, when we don't love our brothers and sisters, this is who we are. That's kind of the example and the big theme, and that's why understanding John is carrying this story to the Old Testament saying, hey, this is what it was pointing to in the New Testament, which is something really powerful.
Ron Hall
06:55 - 07:07
Yeah, and Cain had a way out. God offered him a way out. Just like 1 Corinthians 10, 13, there's no temptation that is taking you, but such as is common to man. God is faithful.
Ron Hall
07:07 - 07:23
He won't allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able, but will with the temptation. What? Make a way of escape that you can bear up under it. So what's interesting, Peter, is when we go into verse 12, John comes right out and says that Cain belonged to the devil.
Ron Hall
07:25 - 07:49
So he made the decision to surrender, let jealousy eat him alive, because he wanted that full attention of God doing it his way. And then John says he was up the devil. He was doing the bidding of the devil. And that shouldn't be strange to us, because Jesus in the Gospel of John said that Satan is the father of lies.
Ron Hall
07:49 - 08:04
And those who do his bidding are actually associated with him. They belong to the devil himself. And think about that he rises up and commits the first murder. It shows you the depth of wickedness that can be in the heart.
Ron Hall
08:06 - 08:27
It's forbidden within the Ten Commandments, of course, and the choices that are made are just deadly. I find it interesting, and for all of us listening, that Cain literally cut his brother in the throat. And that's the language that is there within the Greek. So he butchered him.
Ron Hall
08:27 - 08:47
He slayed him. It's very, very graphic. And it's an issue of evil on his side, but yet Abel chose the righteous thing to do. And so what an image for us now, for John to say to us, so what I want you to do if you're going to love God, I want you to love your brother.
Ron Hall
08:48 - 08:55
And in chapter 4, he's going to deal with, how can you say you love God whom you have not seen if you can't love your brother whom you have seen?
Peter Englert
08:56 - 09:32
So that's so powerful because I think people are probably wondering, what's the connection between Cain and the world hating you? And I think that this is really practical because as we jump into verses 13 and 14, we live in a world full of hate and Jesus equates hate to murdering. If you hate your brother, it's as if you're murdering them. And what's so powerful about this, whether you're a follower of Jesus or not, listen to what John's saying.
Peter Englert
09:32 - 09:53
John's saying when there is sin, and especially jealousy, which is there, especially gossip, it kills community. And you can argue literal or figurative. It's both like no one, no one murders someone cause they're happy there. There's some, there's some power in that.
Peter Englert
09:53 - 10:20
And so what John is even saying is within this community, we love one another. We don't let jealousy and sin run rampant. And we know that the world hates you because of Jesus, because you've passed from death to life now live in that way. And so I think that there's this internal focus of not letting jealousy and sin run rampant, but it also affects how we look at an antagonistic, chaotic world.
Ron Hall
10:20 - 10:42
Yeah, and we're bombarded with it. As I've been processing, thinking about our being together today, and for all of us, there's such a bombardment of hate. And you turn on the news and Everyone's looking to hate someone politically. And being against somebody, it's a violent, cruel world.
Ron Hall
10:42 - 11:04
And boy, for people who don't believe in the devil, he sure is leaving his footprints all over because of the antagonism that's there. And so for the one who wants to do what's right, John is saying, the believer. And in this case, the illustration with Cain and Abel, Abel wants to do what's right. there's going to be consequences that come.
Ron Hall
11:04 - 11:20
And so John said, don't be surprised in that verse 13, if the world hates you. And we need to anticipate that. So the bottom line is, love one another. And I know we try to cover that up in all different ways.
Ron Hall
11:22 - 11:44
One of my key life verses is Jesus, that greater love has no one than this, that a man lays down his life for his friends. Or in John 13, by this will all men know you're my disciples, if you have love one for another. And he said, love one another as I have loved you. So you can't do it in and of yourself, it's only through him.
Ron Hall
11:44 - 11:48
And this is the charge of where John is heading. And it's a challenging one for us, Peter.
Peter Englert
11:50 - 12:21
I want to come back to some of those verses, but I also, I think going down the progression of 1 John 3.16-18 is helpful because we quote 1 John 3.16 way out of context. You know, we're like, oh, this is how we know, love, that Jesus Christ laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for brothers and sisters, which is what you talked about in John 15. But there's a huge contrast. Cain murders.
Peter Englert
12:21 - 12:37
We live in a world full of hatred. Jesus lays down his life for his brothers and sisters. And then, you know, John does something so practical. And he says, if anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need, has no pity.
Peter Englert
12:37 - 13:05
Where's the love? And that's where he closes with this powerful section that I butchered while we were ahead, which is, you know, let let us not just love with a word or speech, but in actions and truth. And so you see, rooted in the culture, the jealousy and the murder, but then he's also talking about giving material possessions, loving people. And it goes back to your first major point.
Peter Englert
13:06 - 13:09
Love is not just words, it's a way of life and the way to live.
Ron Hall
13:10 - 13:21
That's it. And if you don't get that down in First John, you miss the point of love. So you're just thinking, yeah, oh yeah, I love my brother, but I don't know how to get along with him. And John said, no, no, no.
Ron Hall
13:22 - 13:37
This is love in action in how we respond. So there's a continuity to the flow of the text. What are we going to do for one another so if you see someone in need? And there's so many passages that parallel this.
Ron Hall
13:38 - 14:02
In Acts chapter 4, they shared all things in common. Galatians 6, 9, as you therefore have opportunity do good unto all men, especially to those who are of the household of faith, except me, Galatians 6.10. And so it's how are we going to respond to care for one another, so genuine love has actions. And the same would apply with marriages.
Ron Hall
14:03 - 14:20
You say you love your wife, you say you love your husband, but if you're never responsive, you just say, oh, of course you know I love you, that's not enough. There's gotta be love in action, and it has to come in a tangible form. And that's what John is after. This is what genuine love looks like.
Ron Hall
14:21 - 14:34
And there's no greater example that he'll use than Christ himself. And again, it's back to what we were talking about. Greater love has no meaning than this, that a man lays down his life for his friends, as we go back to John 15.
Peter Englert
14:35 - 14:59
And I think it's important, too, because You know, I don't know if you and I have ever talked about this, but, you know, there's a lot of people that grow up and they say, my parents never said to me, I love you. You know, usually it's a father, but a mother could say it too. And, you know, I've just heard story after story. And I don't think what John is advocating for is.
Peter Englert
15:01 - 15:30
Don't say I love you. I think what he's advocating for is make sure your words match with your actions. And we we see in other places like our words matter, you know, whether it's Ephesians and different places, what Jesus says about our words, about tearing people down, calling people fools. And so I think what John is trying to do is match and align our words with how we live, which is pretty powerful.
Ron Hall
15:31 - 15:49
Yeah. It's the, uh, show me and then tell me or show me. So it's a living example. Uh, there's a quote that I don't agree with, you know, that, you know, preach the gospel if necessary, you know, you use words.
Ron Hall
15:50 - 16:08
I don't agree with that because the gospel is meant to be proclaimed. We have to be able to use those words to communicate it. But there is that whole sense within us that the gospel is action-oriented. It's carrying out, and that's what we need.
Ron Hall
16:08 - 16:16
So, you know, here's, what are we, are we gonna act upon it? Jesus didn't just talk about love, he put it into motion.
Peter Englert
16:17 - 16:41
And I also think that there's so much deeper here when it comes to Christian community. We tend to look at it as love coming from us, but it's also love receiving. And what I mean by that is John is painting a vision of a church that loves each other. So it's not just become a doormat, don't have boundaries.
Peter Englert
16:41 - 17:02
Sometimes the greatest way you love someone is by having boundaries. But the whole point is if you live with a church, with a small group, with a group of people that love Jesus and love other people, that is one of the most beautiful spaces to be. No one has these huge tangible needs. People are working together.
Peter Englert
17:03 - 17:14
That's the vision. It's not a vision of burnout. It's not a vision of pushing you to carry things you weren't meant to carry. It's a vision of how can we all do this together?
Ron Hall
17:15 - 17:37
Yeah. And let's take a moment here of a pause to reflect on that message being reinforced within the New Testament. There are around 50 one another passages within the New Testament. Yes, we're dealing with now love one another, but be kind one to another, we pray one for another, we forgive one another, we encourage one another.
Ron Hall
17:37 - 17:59
So there's around 50 of them in the New Testament. That is a reinforcement of Christianity is meant to be action-oriented. Again, we're back to don't be hearers of the word, but be doers, do something with it. So we can go to church and we can hear a wonderful message, but what do we do with those around us?
Ron Hall
17:59 - 18:11
How are we going to respond to the brokenness of needs that exist? And we need to keep that in mind. Okay, my love has to have action. What would it look like?
Ron Hall
18:11 - 18:27
You see someone in need, you have it within your means, John says, to respond to. By all means, then, go ahead and respond. Freely you've received, Jesus said, now freely give. It should be a natural outgrowth of our Christian life.
Peter Englert
18:28 - 18:53
The last thing I want to talk about before we close, I know that this is kind of a dotted line but indirect, but I feel like it's really important to the spirit of the text, is talking about forgiveness. And forgiveness, I just saw a report, forgiveness is at a low. I think a lot of people are confused about forgiveness. You know, forgiveness, I believe, is different than reconciliation.
Peter Englert
18:54 - 19:25
But I think the point of coming back to this is, you know, you think about what John is saying in this passage that we pass from death to life, that we love each other and we don't hate people. And it. In essence, I think the love of Jesus Christ who's forgiven us is a call to forgive other people. And it's not just the wretched, you know, hypothetical hate, but it's also how does God want to release us from that?
Peter Englert
19:25 - 19:37
That this verse is action-oriented, but it's also a reminder we don't want to live in darkness. We don't want to live in bondage. And that's why receiving Christ's forgiveness allows us to have the freedom of forgiveness.
Ron Hall
19:39 - 20:04
And that takes us back to chapter one of dealing with that we have fellowship one with another in the blood of Jesus. His son cleanses us from all sin. So you're weaving the thread there through the needle of just saying, okay, we have chapter one. We come into community and we relate with one another through Christ.
Ron Hall
20:04 - 20:19
and we live this out through Christ. Otherwise, we can't do it. And Peter, as you're bringing that up, I'm thinking about some people that are listening and processing, and they're saying, you don't know what I've been through. You don't know how wrongly I've been treated.
Ron Hall
20:19 - 20:33
And you're right. We all have things that we face that can be incredibly difficult to overcome. But nevertheless, this is God's truth. So we need to say, okay, Lord, how can you help me to love people that are unlovable?
Ron Hall
20:34 - 20:48
people that have done me wrong, what is my response? You're not responsible for the choices they make, but you're responsible for how you respond to God, and in this case, love them just the same. It's kind of one of those love regardless.
Peter Englert
20:49 - 21:15
Yeah, and I also think that part of this, I had a pastor that used to say, you know, unforgiveness is a is you drinking the poison while you wait for the other person to die. I think I butchered that. But then resentment is allowing someone to live rent free in your mind. You know, the gospel is freeing you from those spaces.
Peter Englert
21:15 - 21:53
And so even as you're talking about, it's it's a way of life. And I think that that is that's the powerful thing that our culture is missing is John is writing to people that you know, every story we read about the church, those individuals should never even be in the same room together. They're Jews, they're Gentiles, they're men and they're women, they're slave and they're free, they're Roman centurions. And so he's not writing this to this idyllic community, he's writing it to a community that there needed to be forgiveness, that there was possible natural hate.
Peter Englert
21:54 - 22:00
And so he's not writing it as just a cliche, like, this is a real way of life. Yeah.
Ron Hall
22:01 - 22:24
And again, thinking of our whole context, where we started back with Cain and Abel, you know, Abel didn't have vindictiveness against Cain, but Cain made those choices. So what choices will be made among us? John's calling us for to be a community that relates with one another and how we care for one another Last question.
Peter Englert
22:24 - 22:40
I think there's a lot to apply here Help people understand Why was Abel's sacrifice of animals? Better than Cain's sacrifice of vegetables. What what do you think the authors were trying to get at with that?
Ron Hall
22:41 - 23:15
Well, it's interesting because it's an early introduction to the idea of sacrifices being made. We don't have all the details of where that came from, but there was an idea that God put together for there to be sacrifice that eventually moved into what happened with Moses with the sacrificial system that ultimately climaxed in Christ, just as Isaiah 53 told us. So Cain, and this would be my take, he wanted to do that, which was with the labor of his own hands. his own doing.
Ron Hall
23:16 - 23:25
And Abel wanted to do that, which was produced, yeah, from the land, but it was the sacrifice of that animal compared to the labor of his hands.
Peter Englert
23:27 - 23:47
Hmm. So I think that that's even important as we close, because, you know, this is, you know, the story of Jesus, which is he lays down his life. And so even in that interpretation and understanding, it connects that, hey, one day a messiah, a savior will die. This is what we're calling you to give.
Ron Hall
23:47 - 24:09
So, yeah, reinforcing one more time. because of the parallels with the Gospel of John and 1 John, but in chapter 13 on how we love one another. By this will all men know you're my disciples if you have love one for another. We talk about wanting to evangelize the world.
Ron Hall
24:10 - 24:16
Well, that's one of the keys. What kind of love do they see Christians displaying towards one another?
Peter Englert
24:18 - 24:28
Well, my friend, that's a great place to start. We're going to pick up on the next section, but thank you so much for joining us in the Reading First John podcast.