1-3 John - 1st John 3:13-15 Practice of Love vs. Hatred
John 3:13-15 · Bob Eckel · Jun 12, 2011
1, 2 & 3 John, No. 24
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926237362424

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

As we continue in First John, it's all black and white in John, right? There's not a lot of gray zone here. And we're going to kind of look at that again in a new way today. So let's see where a good place to start might be today. Maybe what we should do today, well I think we ought to go back and pick up a few verses because what we're going to deal with today really does reflect on where we were last week when Jeremy taught and also to some extent the week before. Let's start with verse 9 and read down through verse 17. And today's text is 13 through 15. So who'd like to read that, please? 9 through 17. Anyone, please. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remains in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, neither he that loveth not his brother.

For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that ye should love one another, not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and killed his brother. And why killed he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

By this perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. One more verse. But whosoever hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

Boy, black and white, isn't it? Either you're here or you're there. It's one place to do that. Tom? And the key point in all that text is the ETH person who keeps on doing these things is of the Lord. And so, whoever is doing anything that is of the Lord and keeps on doing it is among the saved. Whoever does not do it and keeps on not doing it is not saved. I agree mostly with that statement. I think the The only problem I have with that is who's applying the metric here?

We have a new life in Christ and that life speaks for itself by the power of the Spirit. We all have sin natures. And when we rely on the flesh, we don't measure up to the new nature. It's white or black. So in a sense, we can really, if we carry these verses too far, you question your salvation, don't you? Because you may not be doing it enough. And I think that's a fault of interpretation. I agree with you.

The one who is born again and has created anew in Christ Jesus does these things by the power of the Spirit in the new creation. And if you're not doing those things and have no care or knowledge or desire to do those new things, then you do question your salvation. But this is black and white. And remember, the theme of 1 John is fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And we really need to maintain that concept of what we're studying. All right, let's proceed. Our new nature is white, and our old nature is black, and there's no in-between.

Correct. And we're talking about fellowships of this book, God's salvation, so we need to be careful. Absolutely. This is not about, he's writing to the brethren. That's true of the verses today, it's been true of the verses that have preceded this, and true of the verses that will go forward. But these are harsh and frank statements. They're black and white. And I would contend that again, the sin nature exists in all of us and shows up at times. And when it does, ultimately we're existing in the black and lose that fellowship because we're there. But our salvation is never in question.

Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. So this is an imperative. Quit wondering if the world hates you. You're told to cease this. Marvel not. It's interesting that I found a verse that I thought was also appropriate to cite in reference to marvel not. The Lord Jesus Christ said, do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. Talking to Nicodemus. Quit wondering, Nicodemus. The truth is, you must be born again.

And to think about how frank and to the point the Lord was in saying this to Nicodemus, the same kind of imperative that we're being told, don't marvel if the world hates you. Now we're going to drill down a little deeper on what this means, the world hating us. But marvel not. Imperative present tense. Don't question. if the world hates you, as much as Christ said in Nicodemus, you must be born again, as he would to the entire world, would he not?

I am the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody cometh to the Father except by me. And then who's being addressed here? The verse is written to whom? Brethren. Okay, my brethren. Is this John's brother, James? No, all who are saved. Okay, so we're talking about the body of Christ, are we not?

Define hate. If the world hates us, what does that indicate? Tom? More than that funny high school Dumbo song that goes, nobody loves me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms. Okay, that's the comic relief. Can anyone top this? I don't think so. I don't want to give you the opportunity to take this. This speaks for itself. All right, this is my opinion only. Tom, it's good to have you. I wish you were in the front row here. Maybe others might not hear you as well. This is one of those terms.

I looked at all the Greek terms for hate. Nothing compares to hate. This is a term that I feel is so self-defining that there's no further description necessary. You can't find words to describe hate better than hate. I mean, if you're teaching second grade, I guess the second grade student, but how would you tell a second grader what hate means? I mean, the term is so self-proclaiming and self-defining.

So you could say detest and on and on, but I mean, the term hate really does speak for itself, doesn't it? Anybody have any better definition? They don't want to just be separate. Some groups, they want to destroy him, to annihilate, which seems like it's, call it a synonym or whatever, but it seems stronger than just being separate from.

Well, we're going to see in verse 15 that one who hates, in fact, would be called a murderer, right? So in a sense, we saw that played out last week when we looked at Cain, right? I mean, Cain's hatred for his brother was manifested by murder. So in a sense, the term hatred would be strong enough really to indicate exactly what you've said. It's to extend to being in a position to wanting someone destroyed. Boy, that's a strong term, isn't it, in terms of the world hating us. Is this something that they hate us? I'm just trying to figure out my mind. the message that we relay to them through grace. Be patient for a few minutes.

So in verse 12 it says, not as Cain who was of that wicked one and killed his brother. And why killed he him? Because his own works were evil and his brothers were righteous. So you know Cain is the perfect example of a manifestation of this hate. So that means To think of the world hating us would mean that the world would have us be destroyed, ultimately, or killed. The world would be murderers of the believing church.

Alright, world is cosmos. I like Schofield here and I've put it down in your handout. So Schofield says, this world system or cosmos is imposing and powerful with armies and fleets. It's often outwardly religious, scientific, cultured and elegant. but seething with national and commercial rivalries and ambitions, is upheld in any real crisis only by armed force, and is dominated by satanic principles." And I put in parenthesis what those are. Force, greed, selfishness, ambition, and pleasure.

That's the world system we live in. Can anybody find fault with Schofield's definition here? So the world is the world system. You know, we have Christ on one end and we've got three things working against us. What are those three things? The world system. Okay, that's one. Sin nature. Satan.

Okay, so we have these three, if you will, antagonists of our new birth and ultimately the Gospel message. I always said I don't need the world system or Satan. My sinful nature is good enough in its own right. I don't need those other two things working too. Think about it. The world system is a manifestation of our nature. And of Satan's power, right? And our nature we got because of the fall of man buying the principles of Satan and greed and so forth. All wrapped up into one, isn't it? It's like a three-way mirror. Each one reflects the other, which ultimately reflects hate. Good metaphor. Good. Other thoughts?

So the very best the world can offer is, let's control that fallen nature. And if you think about the way the world operates, I mean, you don't have any trouble buying into what Scopus says. He's kind of summarized everything that the world stands for, right? And by the way, I think it's important to note armies and fleets. War, in fact, is of the world system. But it's sometimes outwardly religious and cultured and elegant. I mean it's the shadow, if you will, of Satan. Isn't it interesting that God is the one who raises up the rulers in this world? And we're asked to pray for those rulers, right?

Yeah, I mean it's something. All right, so, if the world hates you, so this, the best of my Greek, Roy, and I thought about you yesterday as preparing this, this I think is a first class condition and used in the present tense. So that implies that, it assumes the reality of the premise. So ultimately, the world does hate us. This is reality. It's happening. Since is not a good term ever, I guess, to use. Although this would be maybe one of the best areas to interpret the if as since. It's kind of reality testing.

The world does hate us, if we're really who we say we are, which I know we are. There's kind of an interesting contrast here too in Proverbs 6. What we just read says, don't be surprised if the world hates us. But in Proverbs it points out what the Lord hates.

It's like a dividing line. Proud look, lying tongue. hands that shed endless blood, heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift at running to evil, false witness, one who sows discord with my brother. Kind of an interesting contrast that divides the line. Good, that's nice.

I think sometimes Proverbs is a book sometimes we, I mean, there's a lot of wisdom in Proverbs for sure, but it's rare that we reference that when we're studying the New Testament, but that's highly appropriate for this particular area for sure. I mean, Proverbs is equally true as every other section of the Bible is, but you know, it's not, if you look at the New Testament and Tom, Roy, others can maybe say that I'm incorrect here, but you don't see Proverbs very often referenced in the New Testament. You see the Psalms referenced frequently. because there's so much prophecy in Psalms.

But this is good. I like that. Tom, yeah. But when I research individually, and it doesn't turn out to be a homework assignment, it's just as you go along, it happened to do that. Proverbs is not entirely law-based. It reflects the true innermost character of God. That's true. I mean it's the providence of God if you will. I mean it's manifested in Proverbs. I'm studying a book of Esther right now in my E series and God is not mentioned in that book but the providence of God is clearly demonstrated. Proverbs is that way too but God is frequently mentioned in Proverbs. We're getting on a rabbit track here. Let's come on back.

Alright, so what does this really mean and look like, this idea that the world hates us? Well, I've got a series of questions for you. Do you feel like you're being hated by the world? Not yet! But it could happen at any given moment. I think certainly we see beliefs that we have being attacked in the press. in the world system, for sure. I don't feel personally attacked. But remember, John's writing to you as much as he was those at his time. But I think depending on where you work, depending on what kind of flexibility you have in your workplace, you could begin to feel this. I think, even now.

The manifestation of hate can take a lot of forms. It can be called politically correct or incorrect as well. And it can be called you're living out in rural America and you don't understand reality as it is currently being broadcast in the news media and you're a Christian. I mean they lump that all together in their thinking and the capstone of the statement is and you're a Christian. That's the worst of the worst.

Remember what we've said already about hate, it's a very strong feeling as if the world would view us as best destroyed. or not here. You don't fit. We'll see how the world deals with the rapture, won't we? We probably won't, although maybe the Lord's coming today. But the world will see what the absence of the church looks like. I wonder if that hatred will be manifested during that time.

All right, so a theoretical question, but I don't know that I feel that the world hates me. Maybe that's because I'm not walking above enough. Let's not get into this metric kind of thing. what I was just thinking, maybe it's because we don't display our beliefs, they're kind of hidden, so we're not on the radar to be hated.

Well, let's keep in mind it's the Holy Spirit here at work restraining evil that brings on the hate, and you know when we're taken out of here then the It's his organization that dominates this worldly organization. Isn't that neat? Alright, good. Second question. Does the world hate us and or the cross? And or both plus. Okay, well, let me paint a couple of scenarios. Christ said, we're going to look at a couple of verses here, Christ said the cross will offend, right? But I would contend that we may offend in our fleshly nature.

Is that not possible? And the world would hate that, would they not? So is the cross being hated? Or is it our behavior in the power of the flesh that's being hated? Even though we may be standing on truth, if you will. Yeah, we need to be sure it's really the cross and not us.

Yeah. Tom? I know there's this phrase in the New Testament that says Submit to every ordinance of man that you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. And if that's not followed, then that just gives them normal men. I'm talking about ordinances, not liberty in Christ. Okay, good. Other thoughts here?

When you say us for the cross, are you talking about Yeah, that's what I'm implying. I think that when we are walking in the new man, and by the way, our Christian life shouldn't be this schizophrenic kind of mindset. The point is that the Christ life is a life led by the power of the Spirit. When we're being led by that, The cross through us is what offends in the new nature, not in fact some selfish, very purposeful act for our benefit.

Righteous anger may in fact be Adam's anger. Again, we can't offend in the absence of the cross offending in us. I'm just saying that the world can't stand the truth. The truth of that. To me that kind of symbolizes the cross and the way the cross is truth. So let's look at a couple of verses.

In John chapter 7 it says, the world cannot hate you but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil. So Christ said, you know, basically it's me and who I am and what I represent. John 15, 18, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. Okay?

When we're engaged by The Holy Spirit, when we move in his domain, ultimately it's ultimately Christ himself that is being hated. And finally, 2 Timothy speaks of this persecution. You and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, implying that that hatred is really directed to the life and the person who exists in each and every one of us. And again, this concept of metrics being applied to every individual circumstance can drive you crazy.

I mean, when we walk by the power of the Spirit in the new man, we don't question our behavior. We're lifted up and we move forward by faith. We're second-guessing already, we're questioning the source and the motive, and we may in fact have offended ourselves rather than having the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ be offended. Tom?

It's interesting you use that phrase, that we are lifted up and carried trusting, resting, and living in Him. It kind of reminds me of principles of flight. We know there's more than one pilot in this gathering. He or she would probably dig this too. You know, as in aviation. Other thoughts here about these verses? All right, let's turn to verse 14 now.

We know that we've passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who loves not, by the way, his isn't necessarily present brother. In fact, brother is not even present in a lot of the text. Abides in death. Now, again, black and white? I think so. This is really an important verse to dissect and appropriately interpret. By the way, a very emphatic statement, if you pass from death to life, you've loved the brethren.

What Greek no do you think is used here? Remember we've got iota, we've got kenosis, kenoska, and we've got epikenoska. Which no do you think is here? What's the definitions of these various no forms? Okay, iota, I'm not sure I'm pronouncing that correctly, would be factual knowledge, head knowledge.

Ganoska? Experiential knowledge. Okay, and epi? Ganoska? Experience confirmed. Alright, so we're looking at various Greek terms to use for no. This is iota, which is factual knowledge. This is an experiential, knowing you've passed from death to life. This is true. You pass from death to life.

And what's the evidence of that? Because we love the brethren. Isn't that interesting? And what is the source of such love? We've been over this already. You can't have that love without So again, let's really make sure that we appropriately interpret this verse. We know that we pass from death to life because we love the brethren. What's the source of that love? Is it working harder at it? It's the Lord in us.

Margaret and I were at a 40th wedding anniversary party last night for some dear friends. In fact, Donna the Loves, Carol and Phil Love, there was a party at Laurie Lindgren's house last night for their 40th wedding anniversary. These are people who really just are so beautifully reflective of Christ living through them. Very humble people, very loving people.

They've reached out to our family so many times. But at the dinner table last night, This issue came up and it was interesting that it had an opportunity to come up in terms of love, the godly love, versus our own human love and the inadequacy of it. It says here, we know we've passed from death to life because we love the brethren. This is Christ's love for the brethren.

This is not us generating that love, working harder at being loving. I love Steve. because I have Christ's nature in him. I might like him also in the flesh, but I'm probably never going to unequivocally love him under all circumstances in the flesh. There's no capability to do that. But John says we know we've passed from death to life because we love the brethren. Wow. Period.

And it doesn't say, how are you doing loving the brethren? It's not what it says. I mean, Gary, this is just by faith you love the brother. It's by nothing other than your faith empowered by the Spirit through the new creation to love your brother. It's not anything that we have to be checking on to see how we're doing. Now, the question is, are you living by faith for this to be exemplified in your life?

We can always not live by faith and step back into our own power and fail this left and right, right? The old nature's still there. And again, Christianity is a life. It's not a works. And if you know who you are, what you do is an evidence of who you are. As we discussed last week and previous, there's a new commandment for love, and that's through Christ. In the Old Testament, you love yourself You love your neighbor as yourself. The new commandment is that the source is Christ. And when you plug into that, it's not I but Christ. And He lives through you. It's not you trying to perfect that love. The love is perfected through Christ. Perfect. And the standard is loving our neighbor as He has loved us, correct? And that's of a different nature entirely. Notice the contrary.

1 John 2.9. He who says he's in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he that does not love his brother whom he's seen, how can he love God whom he's not seen? Those two verses, I mean, this is the contrary.

Again, forgive me, but black and white. But we know we've passed from death to life because we love the brother. Passed from death to life. John 5, 24. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. fits, doesn't it?

Colossians 1.13, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Death, darkness, kingdom of love, light.

His brother, again as I mentioned a few minutes ago, this phrase is often omitted in many translations, it's not there. So if we read it without that, the verse reads, we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love. He that loves, quote, not his brother, he that loves abides, who loveth not abides in death. So the brethren can be questionably present based on which translation we have.

Which zeroes perfectly in on that precise Greek word for love, agapeo. There's no equivalent love that only has not a source in ourselves but is of God. Right, but remember we as brethren are told to love not the world and things in the world, right? That's the same agape. So I guess the Adam nature, if you will, the old man has the capability of devoting that same kind of love to the world system, right? and not from the heart.

But you know, you passed over, and I understand why, but I'm always haunted by that love, by the son of Islam. And that's a very, very precious term. Didn't mean to shortchange that, Jack. Thank you. He's got that little pamphlet on the side. There you go. The son of Islam. Okay, good. All right, let's proceed here.

Abides in death unsaved? I think we said this first. No, not unsaved. This is written to the brethren, right? And we've been told that the brethren love their brother, right? I mean, that again has already been stated. Talk about fellowship here. When we in fact are not loving our brother by the power of the Spirit, which energizes the Christ nature in each one of us, then in fact that fellowship is separated, temporarily. And death is separation and life is harmony and union. Correct. Sometimes we forget that. We're not annihilated in death, we are separated in death. Right. Separated is the term. And we're rapidly restored as we recognize and confess. All right.

1 John 3.15, Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Very strong verse. Again, Cain is a good example, isn't he? The manifestation of his hatred for his brother and his gift to the Lord, in fact, was murder. Esau is also a pretty good example, isn't he?

Genesis 27.41, so Esau hated Jacob. because of the blessing which Jacob had received, my parent, with which it further blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, the days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob. And much of the rest of his life was spent attempting to do so, was it not? So Esau and Cain are both examples of an earthly hatred that's manifested by murder ultimately. Esau never accomplished that, but Cain did. Now, whosoever hates is a murderer, present at the participle.

That means something that is ongoing as we consider it. So think of hate here as an absence of love, and we defined hate earlier, but it really does ultimately relate, as has been shared, with destruction. And this usually falls far short of murder, doesn't it? I mean, when, you know, hatred shows up, it's ultimately somebody might, the world system doesn't really understand that their hatred for the body of Christ is in fact one that they would be destroyed. I mean, in scripture that's what it implies, but I think this falls far short, and that this concept of hatred really relates to its source in terms of where it comes from, and that's really ingrained in the atom's nature. In other words, they have those who hate and would be called murderers, have the germs from which murder springs lurking in their hearts. This is the People's New Testament, you know, kind of a very colloquial description of what this indicates.

John 8.44, you are of the father of the devil and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there's no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. So again, devil, world system, inner man, old man, sinful nature, all manifest this theme of hatred and murder.

In my own research we use a lot of petri dishes and the goal is to keep it sterile and it doesn't take but just one bacteria to start multiplying the whole experiments run because we've got all these unwelcome bugs that are part of the experiment, right? Alright. And you know that no murder has eternal life abiding in him. No again is iota factual.

We know scripturally, factually, that someone who hates his brother and manifests that continued behavior ultimately is not one who is born again. Now again, be careful in this kind of overly zealous interpretation of this. Again, should this make us question our own salvation? No. Now we're talking to the brethren and we've already been told we love the brethren so we don't fall into this domain.

But be honest now, have you ever been in a position to want someone dead, albeit transiently, as a believer? Margaret says no. I can't think of any time I've ever said I wish someone was dead, even if I didn't like them. I can't ever think that I can't remember a time when I thought that. Gary? Somebody just who was killed that people were hoping would be killed for years. Who is that? Bin Laden. How many people wanted him dead? One of the toughest things is to pray for that kind of an enemy. True. Gail?

I haven't noticed lately that I'm having any problem at all with my salivation. Your salivation? Salivation, yeah. I know I was not going to... I'm glad you pointed it out. Your salivation. Yeah, that's the problem with spell check, isn't it? They would check it by turn. That leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

All right, I don't know, I can perhaps think sometimes I've been so emotionally charged and maybe there's a transient thought. But the point is, it's all out of source, right? I mean, is the believer capable of of lusting after a woman or being overly proud and vain. The point is that we all have an old nature.

And I think that's not what John's talking about here. He's talking about someone who's ingrained in this hatred and murderous mindset that ultimately is an unsaved person. For the believer to translate fall into this and the power of the old man, I think, is a forgiven sin. What do you think of this one? Are you back in Proverbs again? It's okay if you are. I'm in 8th grade driving down the road. One of my trumpet buddy's mom is driving us down the road to church.

And he's talking about some guy that he hates, my buddy. And his mother says, Christians don't hate Dave. So he pauses a minute and he says, well okay, I dislike him very much. What do you think of that one? I know a lot of people I dislike. I think you need to take that to a Christian counselor, honestly.

I remember my mother saying that though, not to use the word hate. That hate was such a strong word. Yeah, me too. We didn't really understand what hate The word hate meant, I mean of course she was a teacher, and so she was focused in on what the word hate really meant. So she said, don't ever use that word, hate. A four letter word, right? Yeah, she sort of treated it that way.

Like your friend's mother. And Bob? Yes. You know, I don't, one thing, it seems odd that they'd call out murder, but I mean, why not just call out, you know, every sin? And anyone that sins, That's right. I'm sensing that Christ is life and light and Satan is really sin and death. I mean, I think it's the, you know, what he represents is separation from God now and eternally, Satan. And so the murder seems like a strong term, hate seems like a strong term, but that in fact is what is represented scripturally as to who Satan is and what his power is over us in the world system. Again, a lot of contrast in John.

So, let's turn to the Sermon on the Mount here for a second. And, you know, Vern's going to be going through this systematically, and I'm really kind of excited about that teaching from Vern in the next month or two. I think the Sermon on the Mount is sometimes summarily dismissed as Kingdom H only, but I think, as Vern mentioned last week, there's some Sermon on the Mount that relates to the Christ life in terms of what he reflects in the sermon. We don't live under that legal system. And that's not Christ forcing to put that in our heart in the kingdom age. But in fact, there's a lot in the sermon that I think we can reflect on as being biblical truth.

In Matthew 5, 21, 22, it says, You've heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council, but whosoever says, you fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. So it's kind of the same kind of analogy. When we're angry with our brother, in fact, you know, we are equated with a murderer.

I mean, it's kind of like, again, lusting after a woman in your heart is like you're committed to a girl. I mean, these principles are still part of the old nature and what it represents. And so this hatred that ultimately, that we don't have as believers, ultimately is sourced from the Adam nature. And is that kind of hatred occasionally possible in the believer? I think so, but forgiven.

I mean, it's just like any other sin. Remember, how do we define sin? What's sin? Anything that's not of God is sin. Anybody want to add to that? In kind of terminology, you frequently use sins of commission, sins of omission, either way falling short of the glory of God, right?

So again, I use the sermon only to indicate that Christ had pretty strong words about this, and I think that they reflect everything that stems out of the old nature. We still have that. And again, you know, don't think that I want people murdered. I mean, I don't live there, but I'm just saying the believer at times could be so strongly empowered by the old man to really feel this way. And I'm sure throughout history, there have been Christians who have murdered. I mean, but is their salvation lost because they murdered? No, and we don't need to use those as a case in point to say that we have the... Anyway, don't misinterpret this. I'm just saying the old nature is capable of anything at any time.

We are called to love the brethren and we're told here we love the brethren. And because we do, we're considered among the brethren. Fellowship, fellowship, fellowship. If we fall in these transient periods where we have hatred, which again according to the sermon that hatred could be being angry with our brother, ultimately we've extended our relationship past that act of fellowship.

We are restored immediately when we confess and recognize who we are in Christ. That's the beautiful thing about being a Christian that has right theology. We don't want to live there. We don't want to go there. We in fact have a new mind, a new spirit, and a faith that's active. And therefore, this should be minimized in our lives, if present at all.

And no murderer has eternal life abiding in him is identification truth before salvation. and conditional only in the believer. So this idea of no murderer has eternal life abiding in him is positional for the non-believer, but conditional for the believer if he or she falls into that trap transiently.

But we have been born again to abide in incorruptible seeds. And we're going to end today with this verse from 1 Peter, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible through the word of God, which which lives and abides forever. So we're of a different nature, part of a different kingdom, not to misuse the term, and we've been separated from these things that reflect hatred in our lives. And we are now sourced entirely in love, and that's where God sees us. So, tough verses in many ways, but because we pass from death to life, we love the brethren. And falling into these traps of the unsaved is really only transiently possible and shouldn't really be for existing.

Any other thoughts about today's lesson? You know, I'll note here in verse 15, that his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. And I read in the book there that eternal life abiding in him inscribes himself. Yes. Okay. So in fact someone who feels this way ultimately is one that could not in fact have that eternal life imposed within his heart and soul. Okay.

Well, next week we're going to take on a verse that Jack's hot on, and he's maybe the best one to teach this next week. He said he doesn't like the commentators on here. I've been there yet. I'll be looking at them between now and next week. So this is the idea of laying down your life for your friends, right? How you doing at that, by the way? How many experiences have we had there recently, right? All right, let's close in pro. Gary, could you close this please?

Father, we are so grateful that we can come and worship you and be able to identify with other believers who understand the grace of God and merit the unlimited blessings of God based on the totally adequate work of your precious and dear Son, Christ. We thank you that we can look at him and use that as a way to have Christ shine through our lives. and be ambassadors for you. And we thank you for your word that we can just relate it and thank you for all the attributes of you and that you've demonstrated them through your son and gave your son for us. We just are so thankful for that. In Christ's name. Amen.