1 JOHN: DISCERNING TRUE FROM FALSE SPIRITUALITY

Part XII: True Spirituality's True Godly Love, 1 John 4:7-5:3

A. True Godly Love's Self-Sacrificing Expression To Disciple Others

(1 John 4:7-11)

I. Introduction

A. Jesus said that the world would know believers were His disciples by their love for one another, John 13:35.

B. However, the love that the godly believer must author, rising from righteousness, differs from that of the lost world's love, and the expression of such a godly love is taught in 1 John 4:7-11 (as follows):

II. True Godly Love's Self-Sacrificing Expression To Disciple Others, 1 John 4:7-11.

A. The Apostle John taught his believing readers to love one another, for (1) love comes from God, and (2) every person who expresses godly love is not only born of God, but he also "knows" God in the sense that he is in experiential spiritual fellowship with the Lord, 1 John 4:7a,b; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 888.

B. In contrast, he who does not love does not "know" God, he does not fellowship with God (Ibid.), for God is love, 1 John 4:8. John did not mean that love itself is God, but that "love is intrinsic to the character and nature of God," Ibid., p. 899: if one were figuratively to "peel back the onion skins of God he would find at the very core of His being a heart of infinite love"!

C. However, the NATURE of the love of the righteous God with whom the believer is in relationship produced the infinitely self-sacrificing expression of discipling sinful men as John described in 1 John 4:9-10:

1. The love of God that was manifested to us who believe was evidenced by God's sending His unique (not "begotton" as in the KJV, monogenes, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 821; see our Part VI lesson on John's Gospel in "Thru the Bible Exposition) Son into the world that we might live through Him, 1 John 4:9.

2. Thus, the love of God manifested toward us was expressed in His seeking to disciple us out of sin.

3. However, that love manifested toward us by God was infinitely self-sacrificing, 1 John 4:10:

a. God's love toward us was expressed when we were at enmity with Him, indicating the great grace or unmerited favor involved in His expression of love, 1 John 4:10a,b with Romans 5:10.

b. In this set of circumstances, God sent His Son to be the "propitiation" for the sins of us who were then at enmity with Him (1 John 4:10c), an astounding act: (1) the word "propitiation" (KJV) here translates hilasmos in the Greek text (Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, 1972, p. 125), and it means the turning away of God's wrath by way of substitutionary atonement, Ibid., p. 140-141. (2) In other words, God's love for us believers was expressed in His sending His Son to be our Savior when we were at enmity with Him, and in doing so, He poured out His wrath on our sin that was laid on His own Beloved, Unique Son in our place to remove His wrath from us that God might be reconciled toward us, and then turn around and reconcile us to Himself in the discipling process, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.

D. John then directed that if God loved us "in this manner" (houtos, Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T.; Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 602), we also are "indebted" (opheilo, Ibid., p. 603) by God's grace to us to love one another, implying that we should express love in the same manner as God did, John 4:11.

E. An application of this directive is illustrated in Christ's call to Peter in John 21:15-19 as follows:

1. After His resurrection, Jesus three times asked Peter if he loved Him (John 21:15-17), graciously giving Peter the opportunity to offset his three denials of Christ, Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, 1978, ftn. to John 21:15-17.

2. Following each of His questions to Peter, Jesus indicated that Peter was to demonstrate his love for Christ by feeding and shepherding His sheep, His people and Peter's brothers in Christ, John 21:15, 16, 17.

3. However, this shepherding ministry was to occur at a graciously, highly self-sacrificing cost to Peter who would suffer martyrdom by the terrible death of crucifixion for such a ministry of the Word, John 21:18.

4. Yet, as it cost Christ His death on the cross to disciple Peter, and Christ graciously forgave Peter his three denials, Peter was in turn called of God as a debtor to sacrifice himself by martyrdom to disciple others!

Lesson: True spiritual love, evidenced in God's love toward us, is self-sacrificing for the sake of discipling others from sin unto righteousness. We believers who are recipients of God's love are thus indebted by God's grace unto us to sacrifice of ourselves whatever is needed for the discipling of others, especially fellow brethren in Christ.

Application: May we express God's love unto fellow brethren in Christ by self-sacrificially giving of ourselves for their discipleship out of sin unto righteousness. If this involves even seeking to disciple those who are at enmity with us as we once were with God, may we still self-sacrificially heed God's leading to fulfill our calling from Him!