Love One Another

As we continue our series on Biblical Community, this Sunday we’ll consider “Love One Another” from John’s first letter. The churches John was addressing had just recently passed through some hard times. A group teaching different things had departed from them, and those who remained were in some sense still reeling from the event. So John is shoring them up, bolstering their faith, declaring what identifies a genuine Christian. One of those things is love. He writes in 3:14 – “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.” John tells them three times in this passage: “love one another.” In fact, this is the third time John has returned to this theme of love in his letter. There’s an emphasis here we need to recognize. He grounds our love for one another in God’s very nature, for “God is love.” God’s love for us is supremely seen in the atoning work of the Son. John urges his readers to love in the same way, to seek the good of one another, even at great personal cost. When we do this, God’s love is perfected, or made complete, in us, for all the world to see.