The Pattern for Impersonal Love; 1 John
2:7-11
The subjective verses 7-11
is the subject of impersonal love, that kind of love that kind of love that is
to characterise the believer. But it doesn’t come automatically,
it doesn’t happen to the immature believer, it is the result of Bible study, of
concentration on the Word, of extended time in fellowship with the Lord and abiding
in Christ, of the filling ministry of God the Holy Spirit as He produces fruit
in our lives, as He brings us to spiritual maturity.
1 John 2:8 NASB
“On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him
and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already
shining.” It is “true in Him,” it is grounded in Him; that is the
starting point. Because it is true in Him it is true in believers who have
advanced to spiritual maturity so that they can exhibit this kind of love. Darkness
references the impact of the world system, the cosmic system, the human viewpoint thinking that dominates this age. Who is
the true Light? The true Light is Jesus Christ, and this “true Light is already
shining” references the first coming of Jesus Christ. It was there that the
second person of the Trinity became flesh and dwelt among us, as John says in
his opening chapter of his Gospel. He was referred to as Light in John 1:4. It
is only in relationship to Him and thinking like Him that we understand what
life really is and develop capacity for life. It is the eternal life of God
that illuminates man as to what truth is. The Light shines in the darkness and
is continuously reaching out into the darkness. This is the outreach of God
promoted by His impersonal love to all mankind, to save man, and it starts at
the cross. John 3:19 NASB “This
is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the
darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. [20] For everyone
who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his
deeds will be exposed. [21] But he who practices the truth comes to the Light,
so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” Then Jesus
said in John 8:12 NASB “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of
life.”
1 John 2:9 NASB
“The one who says he is in the Light and {yet} hates his brother is in the
darkness until now.” This is not saying that this person is not
saved. The only verb in that verse is the verb “is.” But there is something
left out, and this is typical of John and the Lord Jesus Christ did the same
thing in John 15. In 1 John 2:10
we read NASB “The one who loves his brother abides in the Light…” The
verb in v. 10 is “abide.” If we look back at verse 9 it doesn’t mention abide,
it just uses the word “is.” So when he says “the one who says he is in the Light,”
which John is talking about, is abiding in the Light. If we claim to be in
fellowship, if we claim to be walking in the Light, and yet our life
demonstrates antagonism, hatred, hostility, anger towards another believer,
then we are out of fellowship and in carnality, we are operating on our sin
nature and do not have an operative relationship with the Lord in our life. In
contrast, verse 10, the one who loves his brother, applies doctrine, and is
advancing to spiritual maturity, “brother abides in the Light [continues in
fellowship] and there is no cause for stumbling in him.” It is
only if he is abiding in the Light and there is no sin. We have to go back and
understand what Paul says in Galatians 5:16 NASB “But I say, walk by
the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” What Paul is
saying is that when we are walking by means of God the Holy Spirit—which means
we are in fellowship, walking in the Light, abiding in Christ—it is impossible
to sin. That means we have to do something before we sin. We have to stop
walking. Somewhere along the line we make a decision to stop walking in
dependence upon God the Holy Spirit by applying His Word and we choose to live
our life the way we want to. Then we are out of fellowship and under the
control of the sin nature, and then we sin. That is what John is saying: when
we are abiding in the Light there is no cause for stumbling. We have to make a
decision to quit abiding, quit walking by means of the Holy Spirit in order for
the sin nature to resume control.
1 John 2:11 NASB “But the one who
hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not
know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” John contrasts back; he teaches by contrast: the one
who claims to walk but hates, the one who walks but loves, and now the one who
hates. The one who hates in walking in the darkness.
The concepts of walking and abiding are synonymous, they emphasise that
continuing, ongoing fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and with the Holy
Spirit as we advance to spiritual maturity. Being in darkness means being out
of fellowship and liable for divine discipline. Without the illumination of
doctrine and application of doctrine in the soul then any person, believer or
unbeliever—but in this case the believer who is in carnality—cannot look at his
life objectively, cannot make good decisions, cannot understand what the real
issues in life are, because he is operating in darkness, on false thinking,
false systems of thinking; he has excluded God’s revelation from his thinking. He
is viewed as blind and in darkness and he has no capacity for life, for
happiness, and he is on the path of self-destruction.
What we find here in these
verses is the introduction of a category of doctrine that will become a major
theme in the epistle of John. It is not only a major theme in this epistle but
it is a summary of the entire Christian way of life. Sadly it is one of the most
confused and distorted doctrines in churches today, i.e. the concept of love. What
did Jesus mean when He said: “Love one another as I have loved you.” The verb here is agapao
[a)gapaw]. There
are four different words for love in Greek, two are found in the New Testament agapao and phileo [filew].
agapao usually emphasises
unconditional love and phileo
indicates a more intense intimate love. It, too, maybe unconditional but the
emphasis on phileo is on intimacy
and intensity. agapao and agape [a)gaph] the noun are found in 1st John; phileo and philos [filoj]
are not. agapao is used 28 times in
1st John, the noun agape
is used 18 times, a total of 46 references to love. That ought to say something
about what the emphasis, one of the major themes, is in this epistle.
Trying to understand a definition of love
1. Working definition: Love is a mental attitude, not an
emotion, which desires the absolute best for its object. There are several
things to note about that as a working definition. a) As a mental attitude we
are emphasising stability, not emotion which is instability. It is a decision,
not just something that happens to us, it is not based on circumstances. “Best”
is a value term. That means we have to have objectivity, something in the soul
that enables us to understand what is best and what is worst. Some people would
say that is awfully arrogant to think that somebody can determine what is best
for somebody else. But if we are operating on an external absolute that is
provided by the Word of God then we know what the best is. We know what the
good is, and only on the basis of God’s revelation of what is best is can we
make honest objective decisions towards anyone in our lives. b) Love unctions
in different ways and in different capacities. There is romantic love, sexual
love, parental love, the love of children for parents, sibling love, love
between friends, love for God. So when Jesus said we
ought to love one another, what kind of love is he talking about?
2. Love is notoriously difficult to define. Most of us
start with some kind of feeling, emotion, experience. Even
Scripture never gives us a definition of love; instead it describes its
characteristics, illustrates it through parables, and models it through the
examples of Christ. Therefore we can know what love is and what it isn’t, even
though it might be difficult to encapsulate it in one simple definition.
3. Webster’s Dictionary: “It emphasises the attraction,
desire or affection felt for a person who arouses delight or admiration, or
elicits tenderness, sympathetic interest or benevolence. Secondly, it means
warm attachment, enthusiasm or devotion. Third, the benevolence attributed to
God resembling a father’s affection for his children. (Notice, when it comes to
God even Webster’s falls short) Do these definitions fit with God’s love for
the world in John 3:16? No, they don’t.
4. What is the solution? There are two categories or
expressions of divine love that manifest themselves. Scripture talks about the
love of God and yet it expresses itself in different ways. The primary thing we
think about the love of God is God’s personal love. Personal love is the
expression or dedication or devotion to an object with whom
God has rapport, with whom God has something in common, something of affinity. God
has personal love for another person who is compatible with Him. That exists
only in the Trinity. God is eternal, He has always loved and been loved. This
is one of the things that sets Christianity apart from
every other religion in human history. Christianity is monotheistic but
Christianity is a Trinitarian monotheism. Islam is a Unitarian monotheism. There
can’t be love unless there is an object of love; that is the point. Only in a
Trinitarian God is there an eternal object of God’s love. The second dimension
of God’s love is His impersonal love. Impersonal means that there does not have
to be a personal relationship in order for this love to function. For example,
John 3:16 says that God so loved the world, but God did not
have a relationship with all those unbelievers in the world; yet God loved
them. That is why it is impersonal. It is also unconditional love. Impersonal
emphasises the fact that a personal relationship and personal knowledge is not
necessary for the function of the love. Unconditional emphasises the fact that
it doesn’t involve a condition. The greatest example of divine impersonal love
is the cross. God’s love is what motivated His action. Love is not an emotional
term.
5. It is His love, His personal love and His impersonal love, that is the pattern, the model, the prototype of the
new commandment. It is His love that we are to emulate in our lives. We are to love
one another as Christ loved us. John 13:34, 35 NASB “A new
commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you,
that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples,
if you have love for one another.” God does not mandate impossibilities; Jesus
mandate means that it is possible. But we can’t do it on our own, we can’t do
it from our sin nature, we can only do it if God also gives us the Holy Spirit
who is the one who produces that love in us. Galatians 5:21, 22. It is a unique
kind of love that cannot be manufactured on our own and can’t be something that
the unbeliever produces.
6. Divine impersonal love has its characteristics, but
human impersonal love has the following characteristics: a) Impersonal love is
impossible, but John doesn’t mandate the impossible without providing the means
of accomplishment; b) Impersonal love is the hallmark, the trademark of the
believer. It is more than anything else our visible testimony and is a summation
of the Christian way of life; c) Impersonal love is the basis for problem solving
in human relations. In a relationship there is always need for impersonal love;
d) Impersonal love is the ability to accept all people as they are, worts and all. It is both the absence of mental
attitude sins, the absence of prejudice, and the presence of genuine concern,
regard and solicitousness for even those who may be treating us poorly. It is
not just the absence of sin, it is the presence of doing something for that person
that is positive and beneficial and in their best regards; f) Impersonal love
will have no stability or strength without grace orientation and doctrinal
orientation. That is why those two elements are foundational; g) Impersonal
love develops the capacity for life, love and happiness.
Matthew 22:34-36 NASB
“But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him {a
question,} testing Him, ‘Teacher,
which is the great commandment in the Law?’” Notice, this lawyer
doesn’t know what the great commandment is. Then Jesus summarises the Law. [37]
“And He said to him, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE
LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND
WITH ALL YOUR MIND. [38] This is the
great and foremost commandment. [39] The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ [40] On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets’.”
In Luke we read of a
similar situation but there are some important differences. Luke 10:25 NASB “And a lawyer stood up and put Him to
the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’” This lawyer
already knows the summation of the two great commandments, so this is probably
after the Matthew 25 incident. [26] “And He said to him, ‘What is written in
the Law? How does it read to you?’ [27] And he answered, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART,
AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND
YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ [28] And He
said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; DO
THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.’ [29] But wishing
to justify himself, he said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’”
The motive is not to learn anything, it is self-justification. [30] “Jesus
replied and said, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and
beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. [31] And by chance
a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the
other side. [32] Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place
and saw him, passed by on the other side. [33] But a Samaritan,
who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
[34] and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on
{them;} and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took
care of him.” With the Samaritan, this is impersonal love. He shows compassion,
he is motivated to do something positive for this person. He doesn’t know him,
he hasn’t a clue who he is; in fact he represents a group of people who hate
him. It cost the Samaritan something, and he did it not on the basis of who and what the victim was but because of what is in his
own soul. [35] “On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the
innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I
return I will repay you.’ [36] Which of these three do you think proved to be a
neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’
{hands?} [37] And he said, ‘The one who showed mercy toward him.’ Then Jesus
said to him, ‘Go and do the same’.”
So there we see a parable
that illustrates what impersonal love is. It is not simply the absence of
mental attitude sins but it is the presence of something positive and
beneficial, doing something good that may even cost us something in the
process.
There is a command in
Leviticus 19:18 to reference here. NASB “You shall not take
vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall
love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.” That is
the Old testament version, but there is a higher New
Testament version which is John 13:34, 35. The Leviticus passage was addressed
to Israel, believer and unbeliever were expected to fulfil this
mandate. John 13 is addressed to the church only, believer only; not everyone,
but to love one another. It is directed primarily toward believers. The command
in both instances is to love. Leviticus 19:18
is to love your neighbour, i.e. anyone in your periphery, where as John 13:34, 35 is addressed to one another, every believer, even
those who are obnoxious. The point of comparison, in Leviticus the command is
to love your neighbour as yourself. Without the Holy Spirit, without the
example of Christ coming at the cross the highest example that every person
loves himself—Ephesians 5, no man hates his own flesh, etc. It is a general
principle: everybody takes care of himself. But this is saying don’t just put
yourself first, put somebody else first. That was the best that could be done
in the Old Testament without the indwelling and filling of God the Holy Spirit
and without the model of Jesus Christ. But they failed, they couldn’t even do
that. In the New Testament there is an even higher standard, we are to love one
another as Christ has loved us. None of us can do that,
it can only come through a supernatural encounter on the basis of God the Holy
Spirit. That is why loving one another with impersonal love is crucial to the
spiritual life, and it indicates the advance in spiritual maturity.