The Greatest Commandment: Love One Another

The Source of Love

Love is a topic often discussed on Valentine's Day, but Scripture treats it far more seriously than popular culture. The Apostle John, one of Jesus's closest disciples and first cousin, wrote extensively about love in both his Gospel and his letters. Tonight we explore his teaching on love in 1 John, written to believers to expose false teaching and give them assurance of their salvation.

John's purpose is clear: to show that true believers display evidence of their faith through godly living. Throughout the New Testament, we find a repeated insistence that our profession of faith in Christ must be accompanied by godly living. True love originates in the mind and heart of God Himself and must be reflected in the lives of His people.

Our passage divides naturally into three sections. First, let us examine the source of love found in verses 7-8.

John writes plainly: "Let us love one another, for love comes from God." This seemingly simple idea is actually a founding principle of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. God is a God of love, seeking friendship and fellowship with His people. The family of God is built on the foundation of God's love.

As God's sons and daughters, we are expected to display His likeness in our everyday lives. John tells us in verse 8 that if we do not show love for one another, we act as though we do not know God. This is serious: not to love one another as Jesus Himself called us to do is to act like those in the world who do not know God, because God is love.

Children everywhere reflect the appearance and characteristics of their parents. So too are we expected to be like our heavenly Father in this essential characteristic of showing love to others. Let me ask: Am I in the family of God? If so, am I displaying to others in all my interactions with them that God-like characteristic of love?

The Demonstration of Love

If God the Father is the source of love, then in verses 9-10 we see God the Son, the Lord Jesus, as the demonstration of love.

Jesus left heaven's glory to take a humble position among ordinary men and women, then died the cruelest death in our place to atone for the sins of the world. In verse 9, we discover that this great act was God demonstrating His love among us. We hear echoes of the most famous New Testament verse:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Why did He do this? That we might live through Him—that we might have new life in Christ, a whole new order of living where we progressively take on the family likeness and live as God intends, living a life of love for one another.

The Apostle Paul writes similarly to the church at Ephesus:

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Note the divine initiative in verse 10: Did we love Him first? No. He loved us from the beginning, so much as to send His only Son to die for us. The love that Jesus demonstrated in dying for us is not only the means of our salvation but an example of the way in which we are to live in our interaction with others.

Can I ask you personally this evening: Do you know for sure that you have eternal life? Have you personally encountered this demonstration of love in the person of the Lord Jesus? If you have never submitted to Him, accepting His sacrifice on the cross as the only acceptable payment for sin, please hear again these words of John: God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes on Him should not perish but have eternal life.

The Pattern of Love

In verses 11-12, we find our third and final point: the pattern of love. This is a call to our discipleship, and here John makes his strongest appeal.

Sadly, we encounter situations—yes, even in churches—where God's people are not always in agreement with each other. As a result, love is no longer shown between them. Over the years, I have witnessed such disagreements in both England and Scotland. The saddest part is that relationships among God's people break down, and most tragically, the public witness to a watching world is damaged.

John appeals to us most directly: "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." Listen to Jesus's own words:

"A new command I give you: Love one another as I have loved you. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35)

How can we demonstrate our love for one another as a church family? This is not some fine point of doctrine—this is practical, foundational to our faith in Christ. The quality of our love for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ is nothing short of a litmus test of our sincerity and credibility.

We are purveyors of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. As His followers, we must follow His example in this key component of our stewardship of the Gospel and our witness to His presence in our lives. Nowhere is this better seen and understood by a watching world than in the Church, His body on earth.

In verse 12, John's point is clear: The invisible God will be seen in our world if we reflect His nature in our dealings with one another.

Love as the Greatest Gift

It is clear from this passage that love is no optional extra for the believer. When Paul writes of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, love tops the list. In his famous chapter on love in 1 Corinthians 13, love comes out on top: "Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

God has graciously given to each of us the capacity to love one another. As we reflect on how we can demonstrate our love for one another as a church family, let us hear the final word from the Apostle John:

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God."