Hating My Brother in Faith Shows That I’m Away from Christ

Previously

The beginning of the epistle showed us the pre-existence, the divinity, the holiness, the transparency of Christ and, of course, His work in relation to our sin.

For those who have surrendered to it, we are invited as a goal of life to imitate Christ. Two areas are highlighted:

To flee the horror of sin, to have a life transparent to all (if we fall, we have an advocate with the Father who constantly shows His victorious work over sin). These dispositions reveal that we have understood the horror of the sin from which Christ has taken us out and the desire not to fall back into it (thus quitting all compromise) and that we have understood the greatness of what Christ has done for us;

Knowing, loving and living the commandments of God demonstrates that we love God because we seek to please Him by loving and living what He loves.

In the last passage of the first epistle of John in chapter 2, we see that
1) Living according to the Word of God demonstrates our devotion to Christ.
2) Whoever does not put God’s commandments into action in his life is a liar if he says he is His child and knows God.

In writing this, was the apostle thinking of a particular commandment?

Track/puzzles?

Verses 7 and 8 give us some clues:

1st Epistle of John, chapter 2, verses 3 to 8
3 If we keep the commandments of Christ, we know by that that we have known him.
4 Whoever claims to have known him when he does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But the love of God is truly perfect in him who keeps his word:
it is by this that we recognize that we are in him.
6 He who claims to abide in Christ must also live as he himself lived.
7 Brothers and sisters, it is not a new commandment that I am writing to you, but an old commandment, the one you have received from the beginning. This ancient commandment is the word which you have heard [from the beginning].
8 However, it is also a new commandment that I am writing to you;
his newness is verified in him and in you,
for the darkness is dissipating and the true light is already shining.

A riddle?

It looks like a puzzle:

Apostle John said it’s not a new commandment but an old commandment

this commandment was from the beginning (is it the law of Moses?),

it’s a message that readers of John have heard (reading from the law of Moses or, more recently from the time of the ministry of Jesus),

at the same time, it is new,

This is because it is first manifested in Jesus Christ, the darkness is dispelled, and the true light of the Kingdom of God with the coming of Jesus is already shining.

Comprehension

This isn’t a new message, this old commandment is the word of the apostolic message of salvation at the time they heard it.

Instead, what was beginning to happen in the church was that in knowing that one had no sin, knowledge without demonstration is enough.

It is for this reason that the apostle John invites them to remain firm.
But the announcement of the gospel is a reminder.

Do we stand firm on what we have heard, for example, the song:
This is the good old gospel,
This is the good old gospel,
It was enough for the prophets (or apostles),
It is good enough for me.
A lifetime…

L’Évangile is an Association of Biblical Action Churches, we exist to announce what we live: the good news of a new life in Jesus Christ. The gospel is the good news of what God has done in Jesus Christ, especially through His death and resurrection“.

Evangile 21

PREAMBLE:

We are a group of pastors and Christian leaders who are deeply committed to renewing their faith in the gospel of Christ and rethinking their practices and ministries to conform them fully to Scripture. We are deeply concerned about certain movements from the traditional evangelical environment, which currently seem to relativize the life of the Church and distance us from our historical beliefs and practices: on the one hand, these movements endorse the politicization of the faith and the idolatry that constitutes individual consumerism; on the other hand, theological and moral relativism is tacitly tolerated. These drifts have resulted in the abandonment of biblical truth and the transformed lifestyle that reflects our historic faith. Not only do we hear about these currents, but we see the effects on the evangelical movement. We are therefore committed, through these founding documents, to infusing our churches with new hope and contagious joy, based on the promises received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

We believe that there exists within many evangelical churches a deep and widely shared like-mindedness on the truths of the gospel. We note, however, that in many Churches, the celebration of our union with Christ is replaced by the age-old attraction of power and wealth or by a quasi-monastic retreat into attachment to rites, rituals, or sacraments. But what tends to replace the gospel in the churches will never foster a fiery mission-centred faith, solidly grounded in truth, manifested in unapologetic discipleship, a faith that endures the trials and sacrifices of vocation and ministry.

The main subject seems to be brotherly love.
1st Epistle of John, chapter 2, verses 9 to 11
 9 He who claims to be in the light
while hating his brother, is still in darkness.
10 Whoever loves his brother dwells in the light, and therefore he is in the light, no obstacle will cause him to fall.
11 But he who hates his brother is in the darkness: he walks in the darkness without knowing where he is going, because the darkness has made him blind.

Moses
•Moses had already commanded you to love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18)

Jesus
•With Jesus, this command took on its full value:
He fulfilled it in his own life, ministry and ( 1 John 3. 16 ), leaving us an example to imitate (John 13. 34 ).

The Spirit of Christ
• Through His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ reproducing His life of love in us, we can give the old commandment a new dimension.

A ray of light in the darkness
What this text is telling us is that in the darkness of this world of sin and hatred, a ray of light has sprung up, this light continues to shine through the Christians who obey the new commandment.

Old, yes, but now three times
The commandment of love is not new, but in another sense, it is new in three ways:

• by His authority, Jesus made it the commandment of the new era which He established;

• it is so by its norm, Jesus made a model of his love that which He asked of His disciples (John 13. 34 ), He, therefore, gave it a new meaning;
• it is new in practice and application.

Jesus fulfils the law

Jesus fulfils the law, it is the demonstration.

The old has been realized in a whole new way “in Him and in you” verse 8
• Jesus accomplished it differently than the men of the old covenant,
• thanks to His Spirit in us, He can also be in Us.

Love astonishes
The contemporaries of the apostles were astonished and pondered over this love in them: “See how they love each other”. This is what convinced a large number of people, much more than the logic, the strategies, or the techniques of evangelization.

Darkness is fading, light is shining in the face of Christ’s ministry.
With the coming of Jesus Christ, the new era dawned with his new covenant, where God puts His laws in our minds and the writings in our hearts (Hebrews 8:10 & Jeremiah 31:33).

Darkness Passes Away; Light Shines in Believers’ Lives
By the Spirit of Christ dwelling in believers, they can reproduce this new quality of love in their lives:
life of those who put it into practice),
• “and the true light is already shining” (the light of this new love shines in the life of Christians towards those who are the object of this love).

Visible if you obey
This quality of love can be seen in those who obey God’s commandments and who are His true disciples.
• Already the darkness is dispersing, and this process will continue until God’s purpose is completely accomplished, then the darkness is eradicated, and perfect light reigns.

Blind

Consequences:
Mole syndrome: This depicts great difficulty seeing and being blind even in bright light. It’s like all animals living in caves that go blind.
It’s the same thing that John reminds us of here: if we are not benefiting from divine illumination, we are in the shadow of darkness, and we cannot claim that our choices are those of God.

From the time of John
John reminds his readers of this so that the thoughts and philosophies of life of the time are not big clouds that hide the divine light; and that, over time, people no longer support the divine light nor the commandments of God.

Today

For us today: if we have things to say about the divine instructions, it’s certainly because we haven’t been walking under His light for a long time.

One who hates his brother shows a characteristic of the kingdom of darkness: •sin,

•blindness,

• lack of discernment.

He who loves his brother
demonstrates his living link with God, true Light:
• transparency,
• coherence.

Consequences: benefits that flow from it
• There is nothing in him to cause him to stumble
• Nothing in him that is likely to cause him to fall
• No obstacle is likely to cause him to fall
• In the light, there is no ‘there’s no trap
• He doesn’t put obstacles in anyone’s way

Sticks in the wheels:
• falling yourself,
• causing others to fall.

In John’s time

At the time of the writing of the apostle John, those who were insensitive and impenetrable to the philosophical ideas of the time preserved themselves from going down tortuous paths and losing those they might lead there.
Obviously, those who had great theories had lost brotherly regard.
John, like a doctor, discerns that their lack of brotherly love is a sign of a deeper evil: their estrangement from the source of light, God.

Fraternal relations are not only those we see on Sunday before and after worship but also during the week in our family environment: sisters, brothers/children/mother, father / young people/aunts, uncles / all those who are in the geographical environment/groups of houses, etc.

Application for the Conclusion
In short, we have learned nothing new, the new was old. Although Christian doctrine is always old, Christian experience is always new and daily.

Romans 13/8-10
8 Don’t be indebted to anyone except to love one another. For he who loves the other has satisfied all the requirements of the Law.
  
9 For such commandments as Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not commit murder, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not covet, and all the others, are found summed up in this one word: Love thy neighbour as yourself.
  
10 He who loves does no harm to his neighbour. To love one’s neighbour is therefore to fulfill the whole Law.

Should I resolve a fraternal situation, should I express one more clearly, get out of theory and take action?

Two characteristics of the disciple (one who follows the Master) have been identified.
They live by the commandments of God.

John 15:8
8 If you produce fruit in abundance and thus prove that you are truly my disciples, the glory of my Father will appear in the eyes of all.

John 13:35
By this all will know that you are my disciples: by the love, you will have for one another.