Testing Your Faith
1 John 4:7-12
Here in chapter 4 the phrase “love one another” is presented as: an exhortation in v. 7, a duty in v. 11 and a hypothesis in v. 12
“‘One another’s’ I can’t find in the New Testament: Humble one another, scrutinize one another, pressure one another, embarrass one another, corner one another, interrupt one another, defeat one another, disapprove of one another, run one another’s lives, confess one another’s sins, intensify one another’s sufferings, point out one another’s failings…”
Ray Ortlund, Jr.
v. 8 “God is love” = Yes, God IS love but that is not ALL God is. This is one of four succinct statements about the essence of God’s nature in the Bible. God is light (1 Jn 1.5), God is love (1 Jn. 4.8), God is spirit (Jn. 4.24), and God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12.29, quoting from Dt. 4.24) God has revealed many of His attributes throughout scripture and studying through books of the Bible is how we learn about God but can also come to know God Himself, His heart, His mind, His will and His ways.
“Christians love one another. They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If a man has something, he gives freely to the man who has nothing. If they see a stranger, Christians take him home and are happy, as though he were a real brother. They don’t consider themselves brothers in the usual sense, but brothers instead through the Spirit, in God. And if they hear that one of them is in jail, or persecuted for professing the name of their redeemer, they all give him what he needs — if it is possible, they bail him out. If one of them is poor and there isn’t enough food to go around, they fast several days to give him the food he needs… This is really a new kind of person. There is something divine in them.”
Aristides, a lawyer, before Roman Emperor Hadrian (reigned 117-138 AD)
“The Gospel deals, not just with our alienation from God, but the Gospel also deals with our sinful preoccupation with ourselves and our lack of loving concern for other people. And one of the marks of the Gospel is that Christians are united in their care for one each other.”
David Jackman
