190 - How to Understand That Only Those Who Practice Righteousness Are Righteous (2)#
190 - How to Understand That Only Those Who Practice Righteousness Are Righteous (2)
(JP Text Group - Organized by the Life of Eagles)
The topic of sharing is called: "How to Understand That Only Those Who Practice Righteousness Are Righteous" Lecture Two
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we especially thank and praise You! It is Your love that gathers us before You, and it is Your grace that leads us to live a new life every day. We entrust this time into the hands of the Holy Spirit, personally helping each person, allowing us to receive grace here, to live with strength, to receive Your love, and with that love, to love those around us. Lord, help me, renew me, and through Your words, give me strength again. Hallelujah! We pray in the name of Lord Jesus, Amen!
1 John 3:13-24
Brothers! Do not be surprised if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
Anyone who hates a brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence. If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Last time we talked about two brothers: Cain and Abel. They were supposed to love each other as they were siblings. However, something happened later, and Cain killed his brother Abel.
Abel was accepted by God because he offered a correct sacrifice, which made Cain very hate him. Isn’t it surprising? As Christians, we think that Christians should be a group of people who love each other, yet there are some who hate each other, which seems strange to us, but the original text expresses a common habitual state.
As we read in verse 13: Brothers! Do not be surprised if the world hates you.
We might think this is a rare occurrence, but the original text expresses that this is a very common thing, because it is a fact that the children of God are hated by people. Some people may not have encountered this and might find it surprising, but in reality, it is very normal, because many people do not understand what it means to believe in Jesus. Just like Cain, he did not understand why God favored his brother Abel and not him. He did not look for the problem within himself but blamed all responsibility on Abel and God.
Verse 14 says: We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers...
Verse 14 refers to those who have been reborn and saved. In 1 John, there is a commonly used Greek term called "vocative." For example, "Brothers!" This is addressed to believers. The following says, "We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers," referring to those who are already reborn and saved. Therefore, we who are reborn and saved must understand one thing: we have passed from death to life. We have already entered into life from sin and death; this is our identity.
No matter how the world is, we must know that we are people who have passed from death to life. When a person knows that he has passed from death to life, he will continuously live out this life of passing from death to life. What kind of life is this? It is a life that continuously loves others. "We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers." A true Christian who understands that he is saved will live a righteous life, and this is first expressed in loving his brothers. Just think, if in the church we cannot even love our brothers, how can we expect to love others outside? Because here we often teach with God's words. If you cannot love your brothers here, you will definitely not love the world when you go out.
When a person knows that he has passed from death to life, he will exhibit a righteous way of living, which is that he will first love his brothers, "Anyone who does not love remains in death."
Brothers and sisters, where does our love for others come from today? It comes from God. We love our brothers with the love of Jesus; otherwise, we cannot love at all. Although people in the world say to love others, it is conditional. The most basic condition is that I love you, and you cannot oppose me. If I say I want to help you, you must say "thank you." If you kindly help him, but he scolds you, you will immediately be unable to tolerate it. This is the conditional love of the world; in fact, people are expecting a return.
But God's love is unconditional, a love that does not seek a return. If a person knows that he has passed from death to life, we were all in death and sin before; how did we come out? We were saved by Jesus Christ. Jesus washed away our sins with His precious blood and gave us His life. Today we love others with this love.
If he does not understand this love of Jesus, does it mean he is not saved? "Anyone who does not love remains in death," we just mentioned refers to brothers. Indeed, there are some Christians who cannot live out a life of love; such people are also saved.
In fact, people always have a choice: either to live in God's love or to live in hatred; either to live in God's righteousness or to live in self-righteousness. This is our own choice. Everyone has a choice. For those who do not believe in the Lord, they live in self-righteousness. On Friday, when talking about Philippians, Paul indeed knew that he was in Christ, that he was one with Christ. He knew that he could only be one with Christ when he was in Christ, while the world does not know that he is in Christ, so he cannot be one with Christ.
It is the same for us. If a person does not know that he has passed from death to life, he cannot love his brothers, because the love of the world is always conditional. Even the love of parents for their children is conditional. If there are no conditions, that is a great mother, but in the world, there are not many great mothers. As a mother, after raising her child with great effort, she expects at least that you listen to her, do not oppose her, and when she gets old, she has something to call you for, you must hurry over at her command.
If this child grows up and begins to rebel against his parents, the parents feel cold-hearted. This already shows that there are conditions. When we choose not to live in God's love, when we do not love others with God's love, you are definitely living in death, that is, living in hatred. Did Cain know about God? Yes, but he did not live out a life belonging to God.
Brothers and sisters, for us, knowing God and knowing Jesus does not mean you can live out the life of Jesus. John here says that those who do not understand that they have passed from death to life cannot love others and must live in hatred. Those who live in hatred have no love; they dwell in death. What does "dwell in death" mean? It means that spiritually, they dwell in darkness. Verse 14 is based on the story of Cain and Abel, and it immediately follows with "Anyone who does not love remains in hatred."
Verse 15 says: Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer...
According to God's law, have we ever hated anyone in this life? To hate someone is to murder. Many people use this verse to say: "Have you ever hated anyone? Yes! To hate someone is to murder! God will judge you, and you will not be saved."
Using this method, it seems that our salvation becomes so fragile. It starts by telling us that we are brothers; will brothers hate? Yes, they will hate. Do not be too spiritual; today we believe in Jesus, but there may still be hatred inside. This means that they have not been filled with God's love and have been replaced by hatred.
Cain hated Abel, which is why he killed him. We never encounter a problem where someone says: "I have never hated this person, and suddenly one day I killed him." Did Cain kill his brother Abel in this way? It is obvious that he hated his brother in his heart. This tells us that anyone who hates his brother is a murderer. Here, "murderer" refers to the devil, indicating that Cain was at that moment in darkness and was being used by the devil, resulting in death. Therefore, it says that anyone who murders does not have eternal life residing in him.
"Anyone who does not" is a Hebrew expression meaning "not one," but it does not mean that this person is not saved; it just means he willingly allows the devil to work in his heart. Christians can also be like this. Peter was used by the devil many times. What did Jesus say? "Get behind me, Satan!" Does that mean Peter became Satan at that moment? No, it just means that at that moment, when a person is willing to live according to his own way, serving God in a self-righteous manner, he can easily be used by the devil, and Cain was exactly in such a situation.
"Anyone who hates his brother does not have eternal life residing in him."
Brothers and sisters, do you remember what eternal life is? Eternal life does not refer to entering the kingdom of heaven. "Does not have eternal life residing in him," we have been emphasizing that this is addressed to believers and has nothing to do with entering the kingdom of heaven. Why do I keep asking everyone about this sensitive topic? It is to tell everyone a real situation: eternal life does not refer to the kingdom of heaven. If in the Bible Jesus said, "You will enter the kingdom of heaven if you believe," He would have used the term "kingdom of heaven." However, Jesus said, "Those who believe have eternal life." Eternal life is not the kingdom of heaven; what does eternal life refer to? Eternal life refers to the abundant life given by God.
In John 10, Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full."
This "to the full" can be understood as eternal life. It does not refer to eternal life, which is immortal life; that refers to the life of entering the kingdom of heaven. But later God says that not only does He want us to have the life of entering the kingdom of heaven, but He also wants us to have a more abundant life. The life of entering the kingdom of heaven is received the moment you believe.
Why do you still need to rely on Jesus while living in this world? If it is just to enter the kingdom of heaven, you only need to believe in Jesus, and you are already a person of the kingdom of heaven. But why do you still want to rely on Jesus in your life and live out a life of loving one another? The reason is simple: God not only wants you to have the identity (life) of entering the kingdom of heaven but also wants you to have His abundant life. God does not want you to wander in the wilderness like the Israelites and die in the end, even though you are also saved. God wants you to enter the land of Canaan, that abundant life.
If a Christian is filled with hatred, thinking about hatred, jealousy, injustice, and grievances every day, then eternal life does not dwell in his heart, meaning that at that moment, his heart does not have God's abundant life. When a person is filled with hatred, unable to sleep at night, God does not want him to be like this. God wants our lives to be filled with joy and love every day, so that we can sleep soundly at night.
However, he chooses not to forgive and to hate. This situation is our own choice. But if you say, "I will hate him, then I am not a Christian; when I love him, then I am a Christian," where is such a Christian? Regardless of whether you love or hate this person, as long as you believe in Jesus, you are a saved person. But when you choose to hate, there is no abundant life remaining in you, so we hope that brothers and sisters can live out the life of eternal life. Why does this person choose to hate? The reason is simple: because he does not understand what God's love is.
Verse 16 tells us: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
Many churches teach: "You should love one another and lay down your lives for your brothers," but do not tell them where the strength comes from. If today we only shout this slogan, can we love? Without strength, we cannot love. The Bible tells us, "Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to know what love is." This is the definition of love.
Many times we treat "love" as a noun. In God's view, "love" is a verb. Do you know the difference between a noun and a verb? I am a person; that is a noun. I am preaching; that is a verb. If you say, "I love you," there must be actions following. You see, the Bible says, "Jesus laid down his life for us." Is this static or dynamic? Jesus Christ came from heaven to the world, healed many people, helped many people, and sacrificed His blood for all of us. This series of actions proves what? God loves us. We should not interpret the cross from other angles; it is entirely because of God's love for us.
Many people ask: Why did God create this world? The reason is simple: because He loves you, He created this world for you. Why did He create so many things? Because God loves you so much that He not only gave you a house but even the entire world for you to live in, all because of God's love for you. When we know today that the Lord Jesus laid down His life for us, we understand God's love, and then we can lay down our lives for our brothers!
Many churches do not emphasize the previous point; they only say you must lay down your lives for your brothers, you must love one another. They do not realize that without that strength, they cannot love. Let us think about it: how many people today are willing to lay down their lives for their brothers? Because they do not have that strength.
So the scripture says, for a righteous person, someone might dare to die; this person is great, and I am willing to die for him; this might be something someone does. But who is willing to die for a sinner? To die in place of that wicked person, probably not many people can do that, but Jesus did.
When Jesus loved us, we were all sinners. When Jesus loved us, we did not want His love; we even rejected His love, saying we would rather live in hatred. But Jesus came to give us His abundant life. When we understand everything Jesus did for us on the cross, through the Lord Jesus who laid down His life for us, we understand one thing: He loves us this much.
This is a historical event, but it is also real, referring to Jesus dying for our sins on the cross and resurrecting three days later. The Lord Jesus laid down His life for us; it was the Lord Jesus willingly giving up His life. Let us think about another question: Why did Jesus have to die to love us? Many people say that they talk about grace but do not talk about God's righteousness, which is actually incorrect.
Jesus Christ died for us, precisely satisfying God's righteousness. Jesus did not trample the law; He fulfilled God's righteousness and the law. Because in God's law, the wages of sin is death; it must die, and there is no room for negotiation. That is why Jesus died for my sins. When we believe that Jesus died for our sins, our sin debt is paid. We truly do not deserve such love, but God says, "I am willing to give you love, my love is unconditional, and I do not need you to return it." This is God's love.
If you understand this love, the more you understand how much Jesus loves you, the more strength you will have to love that unlovable person. The following says, "We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." It is only when you understand how much Jesus loves you that you can live out this love. In other words, how can you perform the "righteous deeds" of a righteous person?
You must understand where your righteousness comes from in order to live out a righteous life. Laying down our lives for our brothers is the responsibility and obligation of every believer, but how can we achieve this? By taking Jesus as our example, you can lay down your life for your brothers. Here it uses a continuous action of love; it does not mean you do it once in a lifetime and that is enough. No, it means you continuously and constantly love.
Of course, it does not mean that we, like Jesus, lay down our lives for your sins; that is completely incorrect; we do not have that ability. But aside from that, we can help others, tolerate others, and love others. What does this refer to? It refers to the latter part of verse 17. Let us take a look; the context of the Bible is very rigorous, and we cannot interpret it casually.
Verse 17: If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
You see, "we ought to love our brothers and lay down our lives for our brothers." The following tells us how to love our brothers. How can we love God? In a very simple way that we can all do, God does not ask us to lay down our lives for our brothers or to atone for sins; that is not what God asks us to do; that is what Jesus did.
But God says, if you have wealth and see your brother in need but shut up your heart of compassion, in the original text, it is a very interesting phrase: "shut the door." Seeing your brother in need and hungry, you shut the door; this is shutting up your heart of compassion. In this case, how can the love of God exist in you?
So verse 18 tells us: Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
This is demonstrating God's love in life. Seeing a brother in need and shutting the door, such a person, even if he claims to love God, no one will believe him. Because he is not genuine; it is fake. Loving one another is indeed the righteousness that a righteous person practices. But how does a person have the power to love? It is when you understand how much Jesus loves you, you understand how much God loves you.
Brothers and sisters, let us review how to understand that only those who practice righteousness are righteous? Why can God pour all His love upon you, and you can receive it? By believing correctly.
Do not stray from the story of Cain and Abel. How was Abel accepted by God? Why did God accept Abel? Because he believed correctly, which produced a correct action. If you believe incorrectly, just like Cain believed incorrectly, thinking that offering potatoes is fine. Because he believed incorrectly, what he did was not righteous.
So today, it is very important that we believe correctly. What Abel offered was a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ's blood sacrifice on the cross. Today we need to know how we can be accepted by God. It is simple: you believe that Jesus bled and sacrificed for your sins on the cross, so God is willing to freely give you His love, freely give you His grace, and freely give you His abundance. These are all freely given by God.
Many people do not understand this truth; they think that everything they have today, their wealth, their status, their health, is all maintained by their efforts. They think they are rich because they earned it through their cleverness and wisdom in business, but that is not true. There are many clever people in the world, many who can make money, but it does not mean they can keep it. The world does not lack clever people; many can earn money. Some people are indeed very calculating, using various methods to evade the law, always managing to make a large sum of money. But one day, when the truth comes out, everything belongs to others. What is the meaning of that?
But what God wants to give you is: I have given it to you, and no one can take it away, including health. We can strive to maintain our health and fitness; that is good. But the Bible says that physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things. If you have a godly heart, it is not about being godly towards people but being godly towards God, and you will naturally live a different life.
Today, many women hope to remain youthful and maintain their appearance. What is the method? Some say to eat more health products or do beauty treatments, but that is not the correct method. The correct method is simple: let you always have a joyful heart. When you know how much God loves you, you can have a life that remains youthful. Otherwise, even if you eat health products every day and worry yourself to sleepless nights, do you think that is healthy? So for us, understanding how much God loves us enables you to love others. When you understand how willing God is to bless you, you will be willing to bless others.
So dear children, let us love one another, not just in words or tongue. The righteousness that a righteous person practices is definitely not just in words or tongue. But one thing we must start from here: if you cannot even change your tongue, do not mention other places. If you truly want to forgive this person but cannot forgive him in your heart, can you start from your tongue? Here it says, "Let us not love with words or tongue only," indicating that words and tongue are also very important, but actions are even more important.
Let me give you an example. In two months, it will be Valentine's Day, a day that young people like. A young man says to his beautiful girlfriend, "I love you." He says it several times a day without feeling annoyed; that is a good thing. But if on Valentine's Day, he says, "I love you so much!" and the girl says, "You liar." Where is your action? Even if you order discounted roses in advance, that would be fine. If you just say it casually, on that day, do you not know to express it? Suppose this girl just got up in the morning, and someone knocks on the door. When she opens the door, she sees the man holding 99 roses. Do you think this girl would need to say anything else? Isn’t this action already proving that he loves her?
In fact, the Lord Jesus is much more romantic than this. Do you know how much the Lord Jesus loves you? The love of Jesus for us is not just in words. Although He says He loves us, He loves us with an everlasting love, and He loves us to the end. He has said these words, but do you know how He acts?
In the Old Testament, there is a book called the Song of Songs. Have you read it? There are two people in it, one is the Shulammite woman, and the other is Solomon, or the master. The beloved has a very peculiar action; he knocks on the door outside, and the Shulammite woman lies in bed saying, "I have already perfumed my bed, and my feet are already washed; I cannot go down and defile my feet." In fact, she despises receiving the love of Jesus.
As a result, she lies in bed, and the person outside says, "The dew has wet my head." Do you know what this means? He has been standing outside all night. This is Jesus' love for us. Many times we do not understand that Jesus loves us this much; you cannot love others at all. If that girl says, "Why are you bothering me so early?" The man says, "I have been standing outside all night!" If you understand this, wouldn’t you not care about being disturbed? Unless one day you understand how much Jesus loves you, you cannot love others. This love is not just in words and tongue; it will also be manifested in actions.
The following says, verse 19: This is how we know that we belong to the truth...
When one day you live out a life of love, you should confidently believe that you belong to Jesus Christ. Originally, we might not be able to love this person; thinking of this person brings only harm to ourselves. When you can praise him in words and tongue, it proves that you have recognized Jesus' love in the truth.
Of course, we say that words and tongue must also be from the heart. It is not to say, "I love you, I love you, but in my heart, I wish I could kick you!" It cannot be like that; it must truly come from the heart. You find that you can actually say, "I love him." As Chinese people, we really need to learn from Westerners in this regard. Westerners greet each other with hugs; we may not hug, but can we compliment each other? Many Chinese couples, especially after five or ten years of marriage, stop saying these words.
A man says "I love you" the most during the dating period. At that time, he might send a text saying, "I love you, I miss you." Think about it; after many years of marriage, when was the last time you sent such a message? The most asked question is, "Is the child asleep?" It is all about daily life, but you neglect the most important part of daily life: to love this person from the heart and express it not only in words and tongue but also in actions.
The holiday is coming soon. Gentlemen or sisters, if you have a heart, you can prepare a gift for your other half. Especially during the holidays, there was a time when I prepared a gift for my wife. That day she said, "Why did you buy such an expensive thing?" She said a lot. I said, "Think about what day it is today." She immediately said, "Thank you." The most implicit expression is this.
If your husband suddenly gives you a gift, and you say, "Honey, I love you so much!" What do you think your husband will think? It is sweeter in his heart than just saying "thank you!" Saying "thank you" might leave him a little disappointed, you know? But you see, in foreign couples, even a small gift, she says, "Honey, you are great! I love you so much!"
So words and tongue are very important, but actions are even more important. Amen! Jesus did not just say it; Jesus truly acted. Therefore, the more you read the Bible, the more you understand how much Jesus loves you, the more strength you will have to love others. Hallelujah!
Our actions will change because of the love of Jesus Christ. Thank and praise the Lord! So when we love others, we first help them practically and care for them. You will be surprised at how you can do such things; it seems like it is not you. You should have a certainty in your heart: you have been renewed by Jesus.
Verse 20: If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
What does "heart" refer to? In Greek, it belongs to a present tense subjunctive mood. Do you know what a subjunctive is? If... how... If this problem arises, how should you solve it? In 1 John, there are many such words like "if we...," which is a subjunctive mood. When you continuously love others, but your conscience is condemned, what should you do?
For example, today, we all help a certain sister, and then someone says, "You must have some ulterior motive; do you have your eyes on something of hers?" In this case, our hearts are immediately condemned, even if you are not like that. If others say it too much, you will definitely accept the condemnation from others, and then our hearts begin to accuse us.
Over time, you will think, "Am I after something from her?" You start to doubt yourself. When our hearts begin to accuse us, it tells us that God is greater than our hearts. It does not mean that we should do evil.
Many people misunderstand this verse, saying: "If our hearts condemn us, God's heart is greater than ours." The meaning is: today you accuse me, and I will not accept it because God is greater than my heart! I can sin without worry. This is a complete misinterpretation of the Bible. What it refers to is: When you love this person, but this person does not understand and condemns you. For example, when you preach the gospel to others, and they say that there is no good person among those who believe in Jesus, you must have some ulterior motive! You are condemned. Although you truly love this person, it does not mean that this person will necessarily understand your love. What should you do in this situation? You should remember that "God is greater than your heart," meaning that God is greater than your conscience. What you do today, even if people do not understand, God knows. Amen! Because God knows everything.
If you are indeed doing things for God, and others hurt you, you should remember that God knows this matter, and you will not be constantly condemned and accused by your conscience. For us today, loving those around us, whether it is a husband, a child, a mother-in-law, or those who have wronged us, if you continuously love them, even if they start to doubt you, condemn you, or accuse you, remember one thing: our God knows our hearts. If you are doing this for the Lord, one day you will see the fruits of your labor.
The Bible says that if you cast your bread upon the waters, after many days you will find it. Today, when we love others, this person does not understand at all. Even until this person dies, he still does not understand. One day, you will receive all the rewards before God because he has not given you anything. God will compensate you for what he lacks from you. This is the true meaning of using God's love to love our brothers.
Verse 21 says: Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God.
This is also an active subjunctive mood. If your heart no longer accepts condemnation, it does not mean you claim to be innocent. Do not say, "I am innocent; I do not sin at all." Do not say that. When our hearts no longer accept condemnation, it means you have an intimate relationship with God. You dwell in the light of God, and you can be confident before Him.
When you love a person, no matter how this person treats you today, you know that God is with you, and you can be confident before Him. You do not need to fear this person. Many people, after being rejected, feel condemned, and after condemnation, fear arises from that condemnation.
For example, we always try to love a certain person, but he says, "I see you must have some purpose!" If it is like this, the next time we truly want to help him, we think: "Let’s wait a bit!" What causes this thought? It is fear because you are afraid that this time you help him, he will immediately guess your negative intentions. We are most afraid of meeting such people. The worldly way of dealing with such people is to say, "I will not help him; I will keep my distance from him to avoid his suspicion."
In fact, this is the meaning: if our hearts do not condemn us, we can be confident before God, which means today you are a righteous person; you have already lived out the life of a righteous person. Before God, you are confident. Do you know what results being confident before God will bring you?
The content in verse 22 is something all Christians long for. What is it? Let us read together: And we receive from him anything we ask...
Christians are very willing to hear this sentence. No matter what you ask, as long as it is everything you ask, you can receive from Him. Is this not a gift from God? Some people always take such sentences from the Bible: The Bible says that we can receive everything we ask from God.
Why can we receive? The following says, because "we keep his commands and do what pleases him." Is it true that everything we ask as Christians can be received from God? If we stop here, many people will return to the law, saying: "You see, God gives you everything you ask because you keep His commandments and do what pleases Him." This goes back to the law. Let us think about it: Is God's blessing upon us like this? Does God answer your prayers because you keep His commandments and obey His laws? No, it is because you believe that God loves you, so God gives to you.
So how should we understand this passage? Many people see this verse and say: "See, we cannot just throw the Mosaic law aside; here it says to keep His commandments, which refers to the Ten Commandments." Does God's command refer to the Ten Commandments? Let us look further down; the context is very important. What exactly is God's command?
Verse 23: And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
Now do you understand? God's command refers to believing in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. Do not interpret God's command as referring to the Ten Commandments. The Bible clearly tells us, God's command is... so do not interpret it as anything else. God's command is: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.
Do you remember that loving one another is the fruit? How is this fruit produced? By believing in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. Now you all say to each other: God's command is to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. Amen! Many times we get sidetracked, saying: "Yes, indeed, the command of Jesus Christ is to love one another," but where does the power to love one another come from? It comes from believing in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. Amen! Because if you do not believe in Jesus, you do not know what love is. You see how Jesus loves you, and then you can love one another. Hallelujah! This is a very important part of the content.
John 13:34: Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
"What does the 'new command' signify? Is there an old one? Otherwise, it would not be called new. I give you a new command, so what is the old command? The old command is the Ten Commandments. The new command is to believe in the name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and after understanding this, to love one another. The old command is the Ten Commandments, and the Ten Commandments ultimately also lead people to love one another; Jesus tells us a new command, which is to believe in the name of Jesus Christ, and then let you love one another. What is the old command? It is to believe in the Ten Commandments, letting you love one another; it is the same.
Matthew 22:34-40
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees gathered together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
In other words, if we summarize the Ten Commandments, the first four commandments urge you to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, while the last six commandments urge you to love your neighbor as yourself. To what extent should you love your neighbor? Love your neighbor as yourself. The new command of Jesus ultimately also leads us to love one another. However, you find that under the Ten Commandments, you cannot fulfill "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind," nor can you fulfill "love your neighbor as yourself." You simply cannot do it because you do not have the strength.
Let me remind you that Jesus Christ gave us a new command, which actually also stems from the old command. Amen! Jesus only gave us a higher command. In the past, you believed in the Ten Commandments, which urged you to love one another; now you are urged to believe in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, so you can love one another. Therefore, when Jesus answered, He said that the essence of the Law and the Prophets is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
Today, many people still preach the Ten Commandments, urging brothers and sisters to love one another, but they find that they cannot do it. Those people will say: "I will try my best to love God; I will try my best to love others." Let us first discuss the first commandment. Under the command of the Ten Commandments, who dares to say, "I have done my best to love God"? No one, right? If you cannot do it, you violate the commandment. If you do not reach the standard of the law, the standard of the Ten Commandments, you have sinned. The result of sin is: curses will come upon you, and you will die.
At this point, you say to God, "I have done my best," and God says, "Oh, you have done your best? Even though you still hate people and still lie, you have done your best? I can overlook your sins." Is it like this? You find that it is impossible. You say, "Lord, I have done my best to love you, but I find I cannot love; I have done my best to love this person, but I cannot love." God says, "Alright, then I will let you go!" That is not right!
If you do not meet God's standard, curses will come upon you, and death will come upon you. This is what the old command requires. No matter what, you must love others. In the end, people cannot do it, so they try to love. In the end, these people are completely two-faced, both inside and outside. That is why Jesus said, "You honor me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me." They cannot do it in their hearts but still pretend to be righteous in front of others, which is wrong.
Under the old command, God requires you to love one another. If you pray to God and are on your way to offer a gift to God, and you remember that you have not forgiven someone, you should go back and reconcile with him before you come back to offer your gift; otherwise, I will not accept it. Most people will say: "The command Jesus gave me is to love one another." But do you know that love is a verb? In other words, loving one another is a visible result, but where does the power to love one another come from?
So, in 1 John chapter 3, it tells us what God's command is: God's command is to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.
When you believe in Jesus Christ, the name of the Son of God, you can love one another because loving one another is a fruit. So here it mentions two commands. In this passage, the command is mentioned four times. We know that in the Old Testament law, the Ten Commandments were summarized by Jesus: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself.
In the New Testament, Jesus said, "I give you a new command: Love one another as I have loved you." For us, this is very important. Under the Ten Commandments, God ultimately hopes that people can live out a life of loving their neighbors as themselves. In the New Testament, Jesus also hopes that we can live out a life of loving one another. From this perspective, the law and the grace of the New Testament do not conflict at all! Even if you are under the Ten Commandments, God also hopes that you can live out a life of loving your neighbor as yourself because you love God. How can this be expressed? It is in loving others. Hallelujah!
If a person says, "I love God very much," but when a brother stands in front of you, you cannot love him, then you cannot love the invisible God! For us, the ultimate command of the Ten Commandments is to believe that God loves you, and then you go and love others. It is just that under the Ten Commandments, you must rely on your own strength to love others. People find that they cannot do it. Especially when they see the shortcomings of others, or when they feel they have given without return, they cannot love their neighbors as themselves anymore.
So in the New Testament, Jesus tells us, "As I have loved you..." Do you believe it? So it says here that God's command is to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. When you believe in the name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, you can love one another because loving one another is a fruit. Therefore, it is mentioned that God's command is to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and then you can love one another.
When you believe in Jesus Christ, you will have the power to love others. This is the love that we speak of, the good deeds that the righteous live out.
In other words, why was Cain able to kill Abel? Because he did not understand God's love at all. God is not biased; it is just that Abel offered the correct sacrifice, and God accepted him and his offering. When we understand this, we know that God did not directly kill Cain for making a mistake; instead, He told him: "You can also be accepted by me in this way."
This morning, a sister asked me a question: Once Abraham went to meet King Abimelech, and Abimelech took a liking to his wife, but he lied first, saying, "This is my sister," and the woman also said, "He is my brother." Abimelech then took Sarah to marry her as a concubine. At this moment, God stopped King Abimelech, saying, "You are a dead man! Do you know that she is someone else's wife? If you dare touch her, you must know that you and your servants must die!"
Many people ask why God is so biased. What did Abimelech do wrong? In this matter, how do we understand God's love? Is it because God is biased? You must know that God can love you, protect you, and provide for you, not because your behavior is good enough, but because you understand His love.
Perhaps Abraham's behavior was indeed not very good; he did lie. But because he believed in God, God gave him protection. God prevented this matter from happening; He did not allow His child to suffer such humiliation. So God said, "Abimelech, what have you done? Return this man's wife, and let him pray for you; he is a prophet."
I believe that during that process, Abraham must have been praying, saying, "Lord, I know I did wrong, but I cannot change these things anymore; please help me." This is what it means to be loved by God. As long as we are willing to call upon Him, God is willing to help us, simply because we believe in Him. If you understand that God loves you, you will never hate others like Cain, or even say to kill. When we understand God's love, you will pray to God, no matter what you ask for.
Verse 22 tells us: And we receive from Him anything we ask.
Whatever we ask, if today you are truly willing to use your wealth to help others, God will greatly bless you with wealth. If you say, "Lord, I am willing to love this person," God will first give you His love. If you say, "I need this gift to serve others," He will first give you the gift, giving you the strength to serve others. Because we understand that God's command is to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, you know that in Jesus Christ, we already have everything: material, gifts, and honor. God is willing to give us all of this in Christ. But if a person does not understand God's love, if God gives it to him, it will instead harm him because he will become self-inflated and ultimately indulge himself.
In the Old Testament, there was a King Saul. In fact, God treated him very kindly. At first, he said, "I am a very small figure from the tribe of Benjamin; what am I? You actually want me to be the king of Israel? I am afraid I cannot do it." But God did not look at his ability; He used this person to manage the nation of Israel with God's power.
Later, King Saul became increasingly proud. Every time he won a victory, he would set up a monument there, saying he had defeated a certain enemy. Gradually, his pride increased, and he indulged himself and inflated himself. Is this gift good? The gift is good; the power is good. But if you use it to love others, to help others, to glorify God, then God is willing to give you more. Amen! No matter what you ask for, if it is to help others and build others up, you will receive it from God.
So verse 24 is easy to understand. It means to let God be your home, and you also become God's home. You dwell in God, and God dwells in you. Through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, we know that God dwells in us. When we see Christians exhibiting such righteous behavior or good deeds, these good deeds are because they believe in God's command. The power to practice righteousness and to love comes from God, and these are all fruits produced from God's love. When we correctly believe in Jesus' love and believe in the Father's love for us, we can live out such righteousness and give glory to God. Hallelujah!