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What does “passed from death to life” mean in 1 John 3:14?

By Jeremy Myers
13 Comments

What does “passed from death to life” mean in 1 John 3:14?
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/p/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/495199521-redeeminggod-126-what-does-1-john-314-mean.mp3

In 1 John 3:14, we read this:

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.

meaning of 1 John 3:14Is John saying that in order to receive eternal life, you need to love other Christians? Lots of other pastors and Bible scholars teach 1 John 3:14 in just this way, but is that really what John meant?

If so, then how can eternal life be received “by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone”?

If eternal life is also earned by making sure we love other people, then eternal life is partially earned by good works, and is no longer by grace alone through faith alone.

So what is the meaning of 1 John 3:14?

The Theme of Fellowship in 1 John

To understand 1 John 3:14, it is first of all important to understand why 1 John was written.

The first letter of John is written so that the readers may live a life of fellowship with God and with one another (1 John 1:3).

What is 1 John all about

With this as his primary theme, John provides instructions throughout his letter about how to have fellowship with God and with one another.

Note that fellowship is not the same thing as a relationship (see Fellowship). You can be related to someone while not having any fellowship with them. Children are often estranged from parents, so that while they are still related, they never gather together to enjoy each other’s company.

The same thing can happen to those who are related to God and to one another through Jesus Christ. We can be spiritually related while failing to be in daily fellowship.

John writes his letter to make sure that those who read it maintain their fellowship with God and with one another.

With this theme in mind, John paints many contrasts in his letter, comparing the life out of fellowship with darkness and death, while describing life within fellowship as light and life (cf. 1 John 1:5-7; 2:8-10; 3:14-16; 5:11-13).

And while eternal life is mentioned in this letter (cf. 1 John 2:25; 3:15; 5:11), this is not because John is equating eternal life and fellowship, but because ongoing fellowship with God and one another is based on the unchanging fact of eternal life from God.

While you can have relationship without fellowship, you cannot truly have fellowship without relationship.

John knows his readers have the relationship with God and writes so that they might maintain their fellowship as well (cf. 1 John 2:12-14). To live out of fellowship is not to lose our eternal life, but to live away from light and love and in the realm of death and darkness.

1 John 3:14 is about fellowship with God and others

So when John writes in 1 John 3:14 that we know we have passed from death to life because we love our brethren, he is not talking about how we know we have eternal life, but how we know we are in fellowship with God and one another.

One way to know you are in fellowship with God is because you are in fellowship with other believers, that is, because you love one another.

The opposite is also true. Anyone who does not love his brother “abides in death.” The word “abide” means “remain, or to continually dwell” (see Abide), and so the one who hates his brother is not living in the fellowship that God wants and desires for us, but is instead continuing to live in the realm of death, from which Jesus rescued and delivered us.

1 John 3:14 is about escaping the realm of death in which we live, and experiencing true life

As seen in my studies on the word “Death,” the world is controlled by death. We engage in rivalry and accusation which leads to the death of others, and we kill others in the attempt to avoid our own death. We also believe that the death of our enemies will bring peace, but violence against our enemies only results in an increase of their violence against us.

passed from death to life 1 John 3:14

Jesus came to rescue and deliver us from this never-ending cycle of escalating violence, but if we Christians continue to hate our brothers and live in rivalry against them, we have not escaped the control of death but continue to dwell in it and be ruled by it.

So, John invites his readers to love one another instead of hate, and in this way, escape the realm of death.

The context provides further evidence that physical violence against other human beings is what John has in mind when he writes about death. He is not talking about spiritual death or the loss of eternal life, or even that the one who hates his brother proves that he really wasn’t a Christian in the first place.

The context has nothing to do with such ideas.

Instead, John directs the reader to the first death in Scripture, when Cain murdered his brother Abel (1 John 3:12). John also goes on to describe death as “murder” (1 John 3:15).

While John does go on to say that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him (1 John 3:15), he does not mean that no murderer can be a Christian, or that no Christian can murder someone.

He means that when a Christian hates someone or murders someone (for this does happen), it is because they are continuing to follow the ways of this world, rather than the ways of God (see the discussion of 1 John 3:14-15 under Abide).

The meaning of 1 John 3:14

1 John 3:14 is not about gaining or keeping eternal life, or proving that you have it. Instead, it is about living in the way of life that God wants for His people, rather than the way of death that this world is accustomed to.

So, do you want to know that you are living in God’s way of life rather than the world’s way of death? You can know this if you have true and genuine love for other people.

Does this help you understand 1 John 3:14? Please ask any follow-up questions you might have in the comment section below.

The Gospel DictionaryUnderstanding the Gospel requires us to properly understand the key words and terms of the Gospel. Take my course, "The Gospel Dictionary" to learn about the 52 key words of the Gospel, and hundreds of Bible passages that use these words.

This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

God is Redeeming God, Redeeming Scripture, Redeeming Theology, z Bible & Theology Topics: 1 John 3:14, abide, Cain and Abel, death, fellowship, gospel dictionary, hate, love, sin

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Jonah 4:7 – Is God a God of Love AND Justice?

By Jeremy Myers
4 Comments

Jonah 4:7 – Is God a God of Love AND Justice?
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/p/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/356796503-redeeminggod-96-jonah-47-is-god-a-god-of-love-and-justice.mp3

Jonah 4:7Have you ever heard someone say, “God is a God of love, but He is also a God of justice?” Usually this is said in the context of a discussion on hell. You might object to the idea of torturing people forever in hell as being not very loving, and the other person might say, “Well, you know, God is a God of love, but He is also a God of justice.”

In other words, God wants to forgive, but He must be just. He must punish sin. It this true? Must God punish people for their sin? Does God punish people for sin? While it is true that God is both merciful and just, both forgiving and just, the question is “How?”

This is what we discuss in this study of Jonah 4:7.

The Text of Jonah 4:7

But God prepared a worm at the rising of the dawn the next day to attack the vine so that it withered.

In this discussion of Jonah 4:7 we look at:

  • The worm that God sent to attack the plant
  • Why the rising of the sun hints at justice
  • Why Jonah wants justice
  • Why God does not want justice
  • Why God cannot both forgive AND give justice

Resources:

  • Buy The Atonement of God on Amazon
  • Redeeming God Discipleship Area
  • Subscribe and Leave a Review on iTunes

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Those who are part of my online discipleship group may download the MP3 audio file for this podcast and view the podcast transcript below.

You must join a discipleship group or login to download the MP3 and view the transcript.

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Do you like learning about the Bible online?

Do you like learning about Scripture and theology through my podcast? If so, then you will also love my online courses. They all have MP3 audio downloads, PDF transcripts, quizzes, and a comment section for questions and interaction with other students.

If you want to deepen your relationship with God and better understand Scripture, take one (or all) of these courses. They are great for personal study or for a small group Bible study.

You can see the list of available courses here, and if you join the Discipleship group, you can take all the courses at no additional cost. Go here to learn more and join now.

God is Redeeming God, Redeeming Scripture Bible & Theology Topics: forgiveness, grace, Jonah 4:7, justice, love, mercy, One Verse Podcast, restorative justice

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My Sin

By Jeremy Myers
13 Comments

My Sin

I remember as a child asking God to forgive me and accept me into His family, but afterward, every time I sinned, I would worry that maybe God had kicked me out of His family or that He didn’t love me anymore.

child praying for forgivenessI made it an almost daily habit to ask God back into my heart. I never really knew for sure where I stood with God, and so prayed daily to thank Him for loving me if He still did, but if He did not, then would He please forgive me and start loving me again.

I didn’t really have too many major sins to be worried about. It was just the normal kid stuff, such as talking back to my parents, getting mad at one of my sisters, or stealing a piece of penny candy from the glass bowl on the pastor’s desk at church.

Asking the Devil into My Heart

One time, though, I heard that a true Christian could never be possessed by the devil, so I decided to test whether or not I was a true Christian by praying to the devil and inviting him into my heart.

I remember feeling relieved afterward that I could still name the name of Jesus and pray to God, but for many years after that, I wondered if I had in fact been possessed by the devil and he was just deceiving me into thinking I had not.

So I prayed and begged for God’s forgiveness and that He would keep me in His family.

Getting Addicted to Porn

In Junior High and High School, I fell into a sin which I could never seem to beat. This was a sin which most males struggle with most of their lives, but which few Christians talk about. It was pornography. This cycle of sin led me into a cycle of shame, guilt, and fear, which then led to tearful confessions, repentance, and promises to never do it again, only to fall right back into it a few days or weeks later.

sin guilt and shameSimilar sorts of sins, problems, and fears followed me into college, adulthood, marriage, and even into my first years as a pastor.

Finding Freedom in God’s Love and Grace

It was during college that I first began to see some of the central truths of the gospel, and it was because of these truths that I first began to find the freedom, liberty, and joy in my relationship with God that I had often heard about but had rarely experienced.

These gospel truths liberated me from the fear of God’s rejection and the shame of my sin.

Later, during my years as a pastor, I came to understand the limitless freedom of God’s grace, and how to invite people into a relationship with God centered on grace instead of on our own performance.

In more recent years, these truths have continued to blossom, flourish, and grow into a certainty about the centrality of God’s unconditional love for everything in the life of the Christian. The fact that God’s love is unconditional means that there is nothing we need to do (or stop doing) to earn it, keep it, or prove it.

In my course, The Gospel According to Scripture, I share some of the truths with you that I have learned over the past couple decades which have helped and encouraged me.

freedom from sin and guiltI share with you what I have learned about God’s infinite love, grace, and forgiveness. I want you to begin to experience these truths in your own life, so that you not only come to a fuller understanding of the gospel, but so that you can actually begin to experience the promises and freedoms of the gospel in a real and tangible way.

If you take the course, you will see that God is pure love, that God’s love for you is unconditional and unadulterated. Once you see this, your fear and shame will fade away, because there is no fear in love (1 John 4:18). You will come to recognize that since God loves you completely and unconditionally, there is nothing you need to do to earn or keep God’s love for you.

The Gospel According to ScriptureWant to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

grace gives freedom

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: forgiveness, gospel, gospel according to Scripture, grace, guilt, love, shame, sin

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What is Love? (Baby, Don’t Hurt Me…)

By Jeremy Myers
48 Comments

What is Love? (Baby, Don’t Hurt Me…)

Sorry for the song reference to Haddaway in the post title there … Although it was a really good song.

A reader recently sent me an email which I was unable to answer. (GASP! Yes … there are numerous such questions!) So, with his permission, I am putting it up here on the blog for you to weigh in on. His basic question is this:

We have all been told that true, biblical love (agape love) is not a feeling. But in 1 Corinthians 13 where Paul describes and defines agape love, he basically says that it is not actions either. Even if you do all the good and loving works described in 1 Cor 13:1-3, none of it matters if you don’t have love. So love seems to be something more than just loving actions as well. Therefore, what is love?

Here is an example: Do you love the poor and homeless? Well, probably very few of us feel a whole lot of love for the homeless. But many of us are involved in loving actions toward the poor and homeless as we give them food and clothing and try to help them obtain a better life. But taking care of the poor is one of the specific actions that Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 13:3 as not meaning anything without love.

So again, I ask, “What is love?”

what is love

Here is the email I received from the blog reader (the email has been slightly edited for the purposes of this blog):

I was told countless times that love (Christian true love) is not a feeling but a decision.

And of course, we have 1 Cor 13, whatever you do without love is worth nothing. Even if you give your life to the poor, if you don’t love, it won’t do you any good.

Let us suppose someone has a chronically mentally ill spouse whom they have spent the last 30 years caring for, and will probably continue caring for them for another 30 years, unless death comes first.

The healthy spouse often feels like running away. They sometimes wish they had never gotten married. Sometimes they wish their spouse would just die. But the healthy spouse promised to be faithful in good and bad days, in sickness and in health. So far, the healthy spouse has stayed with the mentally ill spouse, but often does not feel any love, even though the constant care and companionship are loving actions. So is it love?

If the actions of love are present, but the feelings of love are not, is it love?

love 1 corinthians 13What should such a person do? Should they try to redeem their thoughts? Should they try to brainwash themselves into feeling love? Or is it enough to just keep the promises, stay faithful, and serve with ongoing love, support, and care, despite the absence of all feelings?

Maybe people don’t face this exact situation, but maybe they care for the poor, look after refugees, help support persecuted Christians, or work to protect orphans. These are all loving actions, but if they do not actually feel any love, is it really love? Does it really matter? Love is not a feeling, we are all told, but it seems that without the feeling, the actions of love are also worthless.

So, if love is not a feeling, and if according to 1 Cor 13 deeds do not suffice to prove love … what is love?

What thinkest thou, O wise one? Let us know in the comment section below!

God is Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: 1 Corinthians 13, love

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[#43] Genesis 3:8-10 – Do Not be Afraid

By Jeremy Myers
4 Comments

[#43] Genesis 3:8-10 – Do Not be Afraid
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/p/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/271311337-redeeminggod-43-genesis-38-10-do-not-be-afraid.mp3

If you have ever been afraid of God, or have thought that God is out to get you, to punish you for some sin, if you think that the bad things which happen to you in life are because God hates you or is making you pay for something you did, this podcast episode is for you.

We look at Genesis 3:8-10 and see that there is nothing to fear from God.

Genesis 3:8-10 God walking in the Garden

The Text of Genesis 3:8-10

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

In this discussion of Genesis 3:8-10 we look at:

  • How some Christians read Genesis 3:8-10 to make God appear angry
  • Why God was not angry.
  • How to know what God think about us and our sin.
  • How God responds do your sin.

Resources:

  • Atonement of God on Amazon
  • Genesis 1:2
  • Genesis 2:25
  • God does not Punish Sin
  • Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
  • Subscribe and Leave a Review on iTunes

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Those who are part of my online discipleship group may download the MP3 audio file for this podcast and view the podcast transcript below.

You must join a discipleship group or login to download the MP3 and view the transcript.

Membership-become-a-member

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Membership-become-a-member


Do you like learning about the Bible online?

Do you like learning about Scripture and theology through my podcast? If so, then you will also love my online courses. They all have MP3 audio downloads, PDF transcripts, quizzes, and a comment section for questions and interaction with other students.

If you want to deepen your relationship with God and better understand Scripture, take one (or all) of these courses. They are great for personal study or for a small group Bible study.

You can see the list of available courses here, and if you join the Discipleship group, you can take all the courses at no additional cost. Go here to learn more and join now.

God is Redeeming God Bible & Theology Topics: Adam, Eve, fear of God, forgiveness, Garden of Eden, Genesis 3:8-10, Jesus, love, sin

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