Exploring 1 John: We Love Because He First Loved Us
1 John 4:19-21; Luke 22:54-62; Matthew 5:21-24; Matthew 5:43-48; Matthew 5:38-42 - Do not be a liar and hate your brother but claim to love God.
“We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”
1 John 4:19-21 NASB1995
Verse 19 of 1 John chapter four is one of those frequently marked verses in the Bible. Apparently, Charles Spurgeon did five separate sermons on this short, but beautiful statement. However, it is imperative that the next two verses are also committed to memory or at least taken into consideration. I know that some of this seems repetitive, but John is hammering home the points of God’s love and eternal assurance for the believers.
“We love because He first loved us”. God’s love comes before anything else; our ability to love others cannot happen without this love. This lengthy commentary excerpt from Enduring Word explores some of the key points from those Spurgeon sermons, plus a couple of other commentators:
Charles Spurgeon was a man who preached the whole counsel of God’s word, and was careful to not excessively repeat himself in any one area. Yet, he preached five remarkable sermons on these eight words alone. The following comments draw much from Spurgeon’s work on this single verse.
We love Him: In this great statement, John begins by declaring the heart of every true follower of Jesus Christ. Simply and boldly put, we love Him.
This is a fact for every true follower of Jesus. “There is no exception to this rule; if a man loves not God, neither is he born of God. Show me a fire without heat, then show me regeneration that does not produce love to God.” (Spurgeon)
It is something that every Christian should be unafraid to proclaim: “I love Him; I love Jesus.” Can you say that? Are you embarrassed to say it? Can you say, “I love Jesus”?
“I cannot imagine a true man saying, ‘I love Christ, but I do not want others to know that I love him, lest they should laugh at me.’ That is a reason to be laughed at, or rather, to be wept over. Afraid of being laughed at? Oh sir, this is indeed a cowardly fear!” (Spurgeon)
“Look through all the pages of history, and put to the noblest men and women, who seem to still live, this question, ‘Who loves Christ?’ and, at once, up from dark dungeons and cruel racks there rises the confessors’ cry, ‘We love him;’ and from the fiery stake, where they clapped their hands as they were being burned to death, the same answer comes, ‘We love him.’ If you could walk through the miles of catacombs at Rome, and if the holy dead, whose dust lies there, could suddenly wake up, they would all shout, ‘We love him.’ The best and the bravest of men, the noblest and purest of women, have all been in this glorious company; so, surely, you are not ashamed to come forward and say, ‘Put my name down among them.’” (Spurgeon)
“Be out-and-out for him; unfurl your colours, never hide them, but nail them to the mast, and say to all who ridicule the saints, ‘If you have any ill words for the followers of Christ, pour them out upon me… but know this – ye shall hear it whether you like it or not, – “I love Christ.”’” (Spurgeon)
He first loved us: This verse not only declares our love for Jesus, it also tells us when He loved us. Some people imagine that Jesus loved us because He knew we would love Him and come to faith in Him. But He loved us before that, and even before the worlds were created, when our only existence was in the mind and heart of God, Jesus loved us.
He loved us when we were still sinners: “Every man that ever was saved had to come to God not as a lover of God, but as a sinner, and then believe in God’s love to him as a sinner.” (Spurgeon)
“Jesus loved you when you lived carelessly, when you neglected his Word, when the knee was unbent in prayer. Ah! He loved some of you when you were in the dancing saloon, when you were in the playhouse, ay, even when you were in the brothel. He loved you when you were at hell’s gate, and drank damnation at every draught. He loved you when you could not have been worse or further from him than you were. Marvellous, O Christ, is thy strange love!” (Spurgeon)
We love Him because He first loved us: This verse tells us where our love for Jesus comes from. It comes from Him. Our love for God is always in response to His love for us; He initiates, and we respond. We never have to draw God to us; instead, He draws us to Himself.
“1. We love him because we find he has loved us. 2. We love him from a sense of obligation and gratitude. 3. We love him from the influence of his own love; from his love shed abroad in our hearts our love to him proceeds. It is the seed whence our love springs.” (Adam Clarke)
“His is the fountain love, ours but the stream: his love the inducement, the pattern, and the effective cause of ours. He that is first in love, loves freely; the other therefore loves under obligation.” (Matthew Poole)
“I have sometimes noticed that, in addressing Sunday-school children, it is not uncommon to tell them that the way to be saved is to love Jesus, which is not true. The way to be saved for man, woman, or child is to trust Jesus for the pardon of sin, and then, trusting Jesus, love comes as a fruit. Love is by no means the root. Faith alone occupies that place.” (Spurgeon)
We love Him because He first loved us: This verse tells us why we love Jesus, and how we can love Him more.
“Love believed is the mother of love returned.” (Spurgeon)
“Yet we must not try to make ourselves love our Lord, but look to Christ’s love first, for his love to us will beget in us love to him. I know that some of you are greatly distressed because you cannot love Christ as much as you would like to do, and you keep on fretting because it is so. Now, just forget your own love to him, and think of his great love to you; and then, immediately, your love will come to something more like that which you would desire it to be.” (Spurgeon)
“Now remember, we never make ourselves love Christ more by flogging ourselves for not loving him more. We come to love those better whom we love by knowing them better… If you want to love Christ more, think more of him, think more of what you have received from him.” (Spurgeon)
He first loved us: This means that it is true that He loves us now. Do you believe it? “Oh, if you do really believe that he has loved you so, sit down, and turn the subject over in your mind, and say to yourself, ‘Jesus loves me; Jesus chose me; Jesus redeemed me; Jesus called me; Jesus has pardoned me; Jesus has taken me into union with himself.’” (Spurgeon)
Are you embarrassed to say you love Jesus? Are you despairing because you are not sure you love Him enough? Do you trust in Him and believe in Him? Do you believe Him?
It is beyond comprehension to know that while I was an arrogant sinner who mocked Christians and gave money to organizations that were doing their best to censor, silence and condemn Christian belief that HE LOVED ME first. It is humbling beyond words to know that when I shamelessly tried every sin that I could imagine to throw at Him in derision that HE LOVED ME first. It is with gratitude that I know that HE LOVED ME first when I put earthly pleasures and a middling career before becoming a mother to children made in His image. The opinions of others often come before affirming belief, sadly - Just ask Peter:
“Having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance. After they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, “This man was with Him too.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” A little later, another saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” After about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean too.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.”
Luke 22:54-62 NASB1995
And you KNOW that the look that Jesus gave Peter was one of unfathomable love, even while He was being interrogated and abused and knew that His disciple had denied Him. Peter is, of course, fully restored by Jesus at the end of the Gospel of John. I have often wondered if Judas had gone to Jesus begging forgiveness for his betrayal instead of killing himself if he would have been restored, too. NO sinner is beyond redemption in this life! But here’s another point: Some denominations have taken this understanding of His love too far, believing that God’s unconditional love does not also require repentance for sins and a move towards holiness. Jesus came to fulfill the law and He was holy, righteous and loving.
Now John once again emphasizes that someone who claims to love God, whom he cannot see, and yet hates his brother who he does see is a liar and truly doesn’t love God. Let’s look at the words from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount - John appears to have taken good notes that day (so did Matthew):
““You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”
Matthew 5:21-24 NASB1995
So when we belittle, curse and have anger against others it is the same to our Lord as committing murder. How often have I cursed or yelled at another driver who cut me off? Can I count the times I walked out of a staff meeting at work simmering with anger over something that someone else said or did (or didn’t do)? Did I get into a nasty argument or two with complete strangers because they cut into a long line I was in? Did I sit in church and stew in resentment over the fact that the greeters ignored me when I came into the sanctuary? Did I slam the phone down and curse at my dear late Mother because she was nagging me about something? GUILTY!
What else did Jesus say?
““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:43-48 NASB1995
Have I ridiculed and cursed at others on social media because they voted differently than I did? Have I wished for painful death and destruction for those who would attack and destroy this country? Am I now mocking those who are non-believers, just like I used to mock believers? Am I wishing, with a touch of schadenfreude, for the collapse of heretical churches like the ELCA? GUILTY!
There was a scene in season 4 of the Chosen series that has remained in my memory since we saw the episodes in the theater in February. Jesus and the disciples are walking between towns and a group of Romans come along and force them to carry their weapons and armor and mercilessly mock them. Some of the disciples are immediately angry, but Jesus cautions them and walks calmly and serenely with the burden and He even has the group “go the extra mile”. By the end of the scene, most of the Romans were ashamed of their behavior and they spent some time gazing at this Son of God who is full of love before they leave.
““You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.”
Matthew 5:38-42 NASB1995
This is a commandment from God that the one who loves God should love his brother also. The greatest commandments cannot be separated. We are to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, minds, soul and strength. And we are to love others as ourselves. More commentary from Enduring Word:
If someone says, “I love God”: It is often easier for someone to proclaim his love for God, because that regards a private relationship with an invisible God. But John rightly insists that our claim of loving God is false if we do not also love our brother, and that this love must be seen.
One may be a spiritual dwarf because one lacks love. One may know the Word, may never miss a service, may pray fervently, and may demonstrate gifts of the Spirit. Yet in it all, that one may be like Cain, offering to God the fruit of his hands and not the fruit of the Spirit.
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar: By this crucial measure, Jesus said the world could measure our status as disciples by the measure of our love for one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35).
There is a difference between the love of man, and divine love. “These verses are the equivalent of saying that a person cannot practice agape-love unless he can first practice philia-love.” (James Montgomery Boice)
And this commandment we have from Him: We have a commandment to love. Though love springs forth from our abiding relationship with God and comes from our being born of Him, there is also an essential aspect of our will involved. We are therefore commanded to love our brother in Christ.
Being born of God and abiding with Him give us the ability to love; but it is a choice of our will to draw upon that resource and give it out to others. Therefore we are given a command to love, that he who loves God must love his brother also.
Because of this, the excuse “I just can’t love that person” (or other such excuses) is invalid. If we are born of Him and are abiding in Him then the resources for love are there. It is up to us to respond to His command with our will and whole being.
I have thought and prayed many times about my lack of love that I have had for others. It all comes down to my vain individualistic desire to be left alone and not be bothered to care and love others. When I was growing up as an only child I felt my irritation grow when I was asked to do something; when I was working I resented having to lots of tasks that took many hours of overtime, although I would do them and do them well. I didn’t like bossy bosses, bossy mothers, or having to give of myself. I was truly unloving. I would think the worst of people and not trust them (and in this day and age of fraud and identity theft trust is a real issue). Knowing that God loved me first through all of these sinful behaviors is still hard to believe, but we must believe it, respond to His commands and have that confidence in Him!
My next devotional examines 1 John 5:1-4 - Being born of God
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - We love because You first loved us!! Fill me with Your love and open my eyes to those made in Your image and love them! Open my closed mind and heart! Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.