I John 3:11-13

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post summarized I John 3:9-10. Here is the summary:

We looked at two more verses today that contain A LOT of DOCTRINE.

Verse 9 stated that a person who has God abiding in him walks in the light and allows God to direct his actions...and it is NOT possible for these SPECIFIC actions to result in sin BECAUSE God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL.

Verse 10 BLATANTLY states that the children of God are KNOWN by two things:
1) Righteousness (Grace)
2) Loving believers

Everything we have read this week contrasts two groups of people: those walking in the light vs. those walking in darkness.

If a person does NOT have this foundational understanding from the beginning of John's letter, this portion of I John can put the person in condemnation. Worse, this misinterpretation could encourage the person to focus on works...to try to stop sinning by using their own strength...which is really trying to hide the effects of sin...but the sin would still remain.

We have seen that all we can do is kill our flesh and take direction from God through the Holy Spirit which is Biblical grace. We shouldn't focus on NOT sinning. We OUGHT to focus on what TO DO. We OUGHT to focus on allowing God's divine influence upon our heart (THROUGH the Holy Spirit) to be reflected in our life (BY the Holy Spirit). THIS is what it means to walk in the light according to the Spirit. The effect of this is that we would LOVE believers.

Today, we will see how John uses this conclusion to add to his model.


I JOHN 3:11-13
"11 For this is the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another:
12 not as Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
13 Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you."


The previous post ended with the conclusion that we OUGHT to love one another if we are believers. We even looked at John 13 to see that Jesus stated this to the disciples as a new commandment.

Let's look at another passage where Jesus explains the importance of abiding in God and love and His commandments. It is from (where else?) John...


John 15
"9 Even as the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you: abide ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
12 This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I command you.
15 No longer do I call you servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known unto you."


This small portion of the Gospel according to John is the PERFECT summary for EVERYTHING that we have covered so far in I John!

Jesus states in verse 11 that the REASON WHY Jesus speaks all of this is that so His joy may be in us AND that our joy may be made full.

John concludes the OPENING SENTENCE of I John with the REASON WHY he is writing this letter is "...and these things we write, that our joy may be made full."

Jesus states that even as God has loved Him, Jesus has loved the disciples. Jesus encourages the disciples to abide in His love. Then Jesus speaks about keeping God's Commandments, saying that if we keep His Commandments then it is PROOF we are abiding in His love. Then Jesus BLATANTLY states His Commandment is to love one another. Jesus concludes this passage stating that He calls people who do this "friends" BECAUSE they KNOW what their Lord DOES. Friends do NOT walk in OBSCURITY...they walk in the light.

Jesus stated all of this in seven verses. This is the Right WHAT with a Right HOW/WHY. This is Truth.

John is PROVING that WHAT Jesus said is TRUTH in I John. John's focus is NOT ONLY to help us KNOW the truth. John's letter is focused on helping us KNOW THAT we know the truth. John's letter is focused on presenting a PROOF...an explanation...a model.

John does this by adding to his model and drawing conclusions that AGREE with previously PROVEN conclusions. In fact, John takes this conclusion about loving others and applies it in the next verse...

"11 For this is the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another:
12 not as Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous."


John states that we should love one another AND THEN contrastively uses Cain as an example of NOT loving AND being of the evil one. John even goes one more step and asks WHY (wherefore) Cain slew his brother...AND THEN gives the answer: BECAUSE Cain's works were evil AND his brother's were Righteous!

John has PROVEN EVERYTHING he has added to his model by brining it back to an example of HOW a person who walks in darkness according to the evil one interacts with someone who walks in the light according to God (which is PROVEN by Righteous works).

We have covered SPECIFICALLY HOW Cain went from having NO SIN in him to creating the opportunity for the sin that is crouching at the door and desiring Cain to direct his actions. Here is the link that explains this in detail: The HOW of Old Testament Spiritual Warfare.

For our purposes, here is a summary of HOW Cain came to walk in the darkness viewed from the perspective of I John:

Cain was an in-between person. Cain was NOT walking in the light AND Cain was NOT walking in darkness. Cain brought a sacrifice to God. This was NOT walking in darkness. The sacrifice was not Righteous enough for God to respect it. This was NOT walking in the light.

However, when Cain saw that Abel's Righteous sacrifice was respected by God, Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell. AGAIN, this is NOT Cain walking in the light AND this is NOT Cain walking in darkness. The post goes in to specific detail showing WITH SCRIPTURE how people who preach that Cain did ANYTHING WRONG at this point in the story are false teachers.

God reaches out to Cain...which is PROOF that Cain is still under mercy. God asks Cain a series of Questions in order to help Cain realize that Cain could end up choosing to be led by the evil one and walk in darkness.

Then, the part of the story that it seems NOBODY teaches: Cain tells Abel about Cain's conversation with God! Cain PROVES that he has all the information and his decision will NOT be due to lack of knowledge.

LATER, Cain intentionally chooses to walk in (make progress towards) darkness...and kills Abel...or as John would say: does NOT love his brother.

The ROOT CAUSE for WHY Cain eventually chooses to walk in darkness is that Cain was COMPARATIVE. Cain compared himself to Abel...


John agrees with this in verse 12: "...And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous."

However, John is NOT done adding to his model. He takes this story and goes ONE MORE STEP...

"13 Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you."


We have seen in a previous post that the way to read this verse is: Marvel not, brethren, if the world does NOT love you...if the world takes a value from you. In that same link is the passage (I John 2:8-11)where John explains that those who do NOT love their brother are walking in darkness.

John used Cain and Abel to PROVE that what he added to his model was TRUTH...

AND THEN John used Cain and Abel to PROVE to us that the world will NOT LOVE us.

John warned us previously NOT TO LOVE the world...neither the things in the world. (I John 2:15)

John is building on foundational points that he has already proven...


SUMMARY
John has added to the summary from yesterday's post:

The children of God are KNOWN by THREE things:
1) Righteousness (Grace)
2) Loving believers
3) NOT being loved by the world and the people who are walking in darkness

Are you a believer?

Do you allow God to direct your actions through the Holy Spirit so that the result is Righteousness?

Do you love others?

Does the world and the people walking in darkness intentionally hurt you?

If not, WHY NOT?

This is a Friday post, so I highly suggest rereading the link above that gives the SPECIFICS on what happened to Cain. It is a PRACTICAL explanation for HOW people who are in the middle group end up walking in darkness and being led by the evil one.

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