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“When We Love One Another - Part 2”
When We Love One Another - Part 2
Wade Webster
John wrote, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:7-11). In these verses, we will see three things that we show when we love one another. In the last installment of this study, we noticed that when we love one another we show that we are born of God. In this installment, we will notice that we show that we know God.
When we love one another, we show that we know God. Since God is love,, we declare that we know Him when we love one another. John wrote, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). If God is love, and the Bible says He is, then those who are born of God and know God should show His love in all that they say and do. To John and others, Jesus declared, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34.-35). When Jesus’ disciples loved each other the way that He loved them, then all men could know that they were His disciples because they knew His love and were practicing it. The disciples had received an invitation to be one of His disciples or students. They were following Him closely. They were day after day sitting at His feet as He taught. They were watching as He interacted with people. They were learning both by what they heard and by what they saw how to love. Mark records an occasion, when this is clearly seen. He wrote, ““Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (Mark 10:17-22). Did you notice what Mark recorded? Jesus, looking at him, loved him. Sadly, the rich young ruler didn’t love Jesus back. Jesus offered the young man the opportunity of a lifetime. He commanded the young man to sell all that he had, to give it to the poor, and then He invited him to come and follow Him. Jesus invited the young man to be a disciple, but the young man refused because he had such great possessions. This young man would never learn to love others as Jesus did. With the exception of Judas, the twelve disciples would learn to do so. Judas would talk about precious ointment being sold to give the money to the poor (John 12:1-8), but He didn’t really care about the poor. He was a thief and kept the bank bag. Some of the money might have eventually made it to the poor, some of it was going to be pilfered and end up in his pockets. In contrast, Peter and the others would genuinely learn to love like Jesus. In Galatians, we find Peter reminding Paul and Barnabas to remember the poor, which they were eager to do (Gal. 2:10). The disciples were covered in the dust of their teacher. People could see that they had been with Jesus. In the book of Acts, Luke records, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus”(Acts 4:13). Although this passage is dealing with boldness and not love, it shows that they were learning and living what they had heard and seen from Jesus. There is, by the way, a connection between love and boldness. Later, in the chapter that we are studying, John wrote, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (I John 4:18).
