1 John 5:1-5
The first five
verses of 1 John 5 can be a little confusing. You can get lost in the "by
this" and "for this" and "for whatever" and so on.
While at first it make look like John is creating a ladder of "ifs,"
I believe a better image would be a web. John isn't saying "if this then
this" (and least that's not the main point). He is showing how all the
things he mentioned are connected, part of one circuit to which the believer
should be connected.
The Love Web
"Whoever
believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." That much makes sense
so far. Jesus died to take away the punishment for our sins. We must put our
faith and hope and trust in that. So what's next?
"…and everyone
who loves Him who begot (God) also loves him who is begotten of Him
(Jesus)." Put simply, one cannot love the man Jesus — the peaceful,
miracle-working man of the early A.D. and not love God — the terrible, frightening, powerful I AM (these are two
generalizations of the "B.C." God and A.D. Jesus that I hear.)
To love Christ and
accept his gift of salvation is to understand the entire Story in its fullness.
Our story of salvation (Jew or Gentile) does not begin with the birth of Jesus.
It begins with the birth (or creation) of Adam. It's one connected story of how
mankind rejected its God, but God never gave up.
As much as I love
the New Testament and tend to spend most of my efforts in it, I must never
forget the importance of the Old Testament, and the things that I learn about
God in it, as well as the things I learn about Christ. To love Jesus is the
love the story of God, who He is and what He has done throughout our earth's
history.
Now bear with me,
because John's wording is about to get goofy in verse two.
"By this (the loving of God and Christ as one) we
know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His
commandments."
I told you it was goofy. It helps me when I
keep another verse in mind. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
soul, mind and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself." That is
basically the gist of what John is saying here.
People have summed
up the Christian life in many different ways, but I can't think of a better way
than those words of Jesus, and that is what John is saying here. When we love
God, we will love fellow believers well. And we will know our love is genuine
because of our love for God and His commandments.
Don't let me confuse
you any further. This isn't circular reasoning.
- God loved us. 2. We loved Him. 3. We did something about our love for Him.
It is a progression,
but what John is showing us here is how it's all connected.
Like a spider begins
a web at a certain point, our faith begins in steps, but when as we mature in
our faith, and the web gets closer and closer to completion, you see the
oneness of it. Our love for Christ is connected to our love for others. Our
love for others is connected to our desire to obey the commandments of God. We
obey God's commandments, because we love Him. But connected to our love for Him
is a love for others.
Our faith becomes
less and less like ladder, taking one step at a time, because "that's what
we're supposed to do," and it becomes more like a web — a life of
connected love. We love God and others. We even love God's commandments, not
out of some sense of guilt or requirement, but because it's who we are. It's
what we love. It's a life woven together with love.
Another part of the
web of life and love is obeying God's commandments. Why? Because God is a
tyrant and is insistent on humans obeying His every whim?
Of course not.
God's commands are
for the purpose of bringing humans back to who we were created to be — image
bearers. God's commands are not that difficult. His commandments are about
love. Love one another. Love your family and don't give up on them. Love your
wife and love her relentlessly. Don't mistreat people, even if you don't like
them or you think they deserve it.
These are the commands of God. Some call them outrageous
rules. I call them guidelines to a beautiful life.
However, the
unbelieving world cannot understand this. They cannot comprehend the beauty.
And so, God has made us a promise in verse four. "Whatever is born of God
overcomes the world."
Therefore, as
children of God through faith in the
work of Christ Jesus, we need not fear the temptations of this world. We need
not bother wondering if our life would be better if we got a divorce, if we
sought just a little revenge, if we had the kind of money our friends have.
Note: Overcoming the
world does not mean voting in a
Republican president, abolishing abortion or banning homosexual marriage.
It simply means
living your life with love, and never allowing any persecution to change that.
