Note: This transcript is AI-generated and may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for accurate information and meaning.
Sermon Summary
This sermon explores 1 John 2:3–11, focusing on how true Christian love is rooted in knowing God, obeying His commands, and reflecting His self-sacrificial love toward others. Rather than a self-serving or superficial emotion, Christian love is an unconditional commitment to the highest good of others, enabled by the Holy Spirit.
Key Points
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Defining True Love: Biblical love is an unconditional commitment to the highest good of another person, contrasting with society’s self-centered or consumeristic view of love.
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Knowing God Through Obedience: True knowledge of God naturally leads to obeying His commandments, which reflect His loving and righteous character.
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The Goal of Obedience: Obedience is not a way to earn salvation, but the means through which God’s love is made complete and expressed in a believer’s life.
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The Old and New Commandment: Loving God and neighbor is an established Old Testament principle that Jesus renewed and expanded through His own radical, self-sacrificial example.
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Love as a River, Not a Pond: God’s love is intended to flow through believers to others—especially within the church community—rather than being self-contained or kept private.
Transcript
As we continue in worship, let’s turn our attention to the Word of God. We’ll be looking at 1 John chapter 2, verses 3 to 11 this morning, continuing a series through the epistle of 1 John.
This is a great book in the New Testament that focuses on classic Christian themes of love and that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness. It also touches on important Christian themes of obedience and what that looks like for the believer who has been bought with the blood of Jesus, who has full forgiveness of sins through the work of Christ. What then? What does life look like?
As the author transitions from the previous section—where we recognize our need for forgiveness, that we are sinners, that we can confess our sins freely because of Jesus, and that we have a mighty advocate in our Lord Jesus Christ, the righteous one—he shifts to the great commandment: to love God and to love neighbor. The focus of the sermon this morning is: we can love one another.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the passage in front of us. Again, that’s 1 John chapter 2, verses 3 down to verse 11.
Let’s give ourselves to the reading of God’s Word:
“We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.”
This is the Word of God. Let’s pray.
Father, we thank You for Your grace and that You love us. We pray that You would open our hearts and minds to You, so that we can love You and love one another through the power of the Spirit who indwells us because of the work of Jesus on our behalf. May we look to Him in all things. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Defining True Love
As we consider this topic of love in our society, we are often drawn to depictions of it that are not entirely accurate. When we think about love, we might picture a Hallmark story about a rugged lumberjack in a New England town who convinces a high-powered lawyer to abandon her practice and open a bakery in the woods. We think that is the idea of what love really is.
The lyrics of a well-known song include the line: “I don’t know you, but I want you all the more for that. Words fall through me and always fool me, and I can’t react.” That depicts what we often think about love, especially in those adolescent years where there is a yearning desire for somebody. But often, as that songwriter points out, we have a yearning for someone we don’t actually know. We have a desire for something that is really just a fantasy.
When we are disappointed by romance in our relationships—whether with a boyfriend, a girlfriend, or a spouse—it is often because our expectations and definition of love are skewed.
A solid definition of love is: an unconditional commitment to the highest good of another person.
If we square that definition with how society views love, society often sees love as self-expression or self-gratification: What can I get from that other person? How can that person feed this yearning or emptiness I feel inside? That view is more consumeristic than it is loving.
God’s Love as the Standard
Love ultimately finds its definition in the person of God. How does God love? Does God need love from you and me?
In ancient mythologies, gods relied on human sacrifice and worship to remain powerful, and as worship faded, their power waned. Is our God like that?
When God corrects His people in the Scriptures, He reminds them that He doesn’t need anything from them. He is self-sufficient. He created everything by the word of His power. He uses the imagery of owning the cattle on a thousand hills to make the point: you couldn’t offer enough to give Him something He doesn’t already have. You couldn’t worship Him enough to add anything to His existence.
When God enters into a relationship with us, He is not looking to get something from us. He doesn’t have a “glory meter” that needs to be filled by our worship. Instead, God gives. He enters into relationship because He wants to give Himself, to provide for us, and to care for us. God sets the standard: love is an unconditional commitment to the highest good of another person.
Loving God Through Obedience
We start with the first part: we love God. We know that we have come to know Him—entering into a relationship and knowing His love—if we keep His commands.
John writes to ensure that believers do not sin. He is concerned with the reality of sin and desires that we turn from it. As Jesus tells us in the Gospels, those who love Him keep His commands.
That statement can be unsettling, especially when we ask ourselves in quiet moments: Do I know God? Does God know me? When you look at your life, you might feel like you fail to keep His commands and mess up often.
John addresses this directly:
“Whoever says ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them.”
This calls for self-reflection: Who am I compared to the perfect standard of God’s righteousness? Our own righteousness doesn’t even make it onto the scale; the bar is so high that our efforts cannot scratch the surface of God’s righteousness.
That is why John points us to the work of Jesus. We have an advocate in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who went to the cross for our salvation so that we might be cleansed and forgiven. If anyone does sin, we have that advocate before the Father. Furthermore, anyone who claims to be entirely without sin is mistaken. John is not demanding absolute perfection, but pointing to an experiential reality for believers: a growing desire to love as God loves and to obey His commands.
The Purpose of God’s Law
When you look at the Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount, the requirements can feel overwhelming. Jesus explains that harbored anger is like murder in the heart, and lustful desire is like adultery in the heart. Those are high standards.
God’s laws are not given merely to display His perfection and highlight our shortcomings. Rather, His laws reflect His love for His creation. The law of God reflects His character and how He interacts with us.
God does not interact with you out of hatred, lust, or greed. He does not seek to destroy your life. Instead, He approaches us with humility, kindness, grace, mercy, love, and faithfulness.
When we look at the prohibitions in scripture, the goal of avoiding wrong behavior is to make room for the good that results. To know God is to be transformed by a relationship with Him, walking in the light and obeying what He has revealed.
The purpose of obedience is not to earn salvation—the work of Christ on the cross has already accomplished that. The purpose of obedience is for the love of God to be made complete in us. As we obey, God’s love is expressed through our lives as we choose truth, treat others with respect, restrain anger, and act with gentleness.
Through the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we grow more into the likeness of Jesus:
“Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
The End Goal Shaping the Present
Considering the ultimate end helps guide how we move forward in the present. When working on a project, you design the final structure first and then work backward through the necessary materials, dimensions, and steps.
In the Christian life, looking ahead to the ultimate promise—a restored creation where believers behold Jesus face to face, free from sin, death, and evil—gives us direction. That is our final destination.
We don’t have to wait entirely for the future to experience the fruits of eternity. Scripture continually reminds us that we can grow right now. Through the Holy Spirit, we experience early tastes of that future transformation. At the resurrection, believers will be transformed into the likeness of Jesus, but that imaging begins today as we walk together.
An Old and New Commandment
John writes:
“Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.”
This command goes back to the Old Testament call to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. From the beginning, God’s people have been called to know Him, love Him, and reflect His character.
Yet, it is also a new command. In the Gospel of John, chapter 13, Jesus says:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Jesus expanded our understanding of love. Just as He deepened the understanding of commandments regarding murder or lust, He broadened the understanding of who receives our love. God does not love us solely for our benefit; He fills us with His love so that we can extend it to those around us.
A River, Not a Pond
God’s love is meant to be vertical and horizontal. It was never intended to be limited to “me and Jesus”—receiving forgiveness and then ignoring everyone else.
God’s grace is meant to be a river, not a pond. Sometimes we treat God’s love like a pond, focusing only on our personal devotions, music, and church attendance to feel filled up, leaving it at that. But God’s love is meant to flow through us to reach others.
We see this throughout history. Major efforts to care for the sick, orphanages, and foster care systems were established because Christians experienced God’s love personally, recognized needs in their communities, and went out to meet those needs.
Love Expressed in Community
We must begin with loving God, because by nature, human hearts can be self-centered. Through the Holy Spirit, the hard exterior of the heart is softened, replacing self-interest with a heart that loves and gives. This is the ongoing work of the Spirit in our lives.
John continues:
“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.”
John emphasizes that loving God and loving others are inseparable. If someone claims to love God and checks off religious activities, yet neglects to love a brother or sister, they remain in darkness and self-deception.
When we truly grasp who God is and yield to the Spirit’s work, horizontal love naturally follows. Light and darkness cannot coexist in the same space; when light enters, darkness recedes.
While we all experience moments of fatigue or frustration where loving others feels difficult, John describes a persistent pattern of walking in darkness. A growing faith produces visible fruit. As noted in 2 Peter 1, adding virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and brotherly affection to faith keeps a believer effective and fruitful.
Jesus demonstrated love by giving freely—healing, teaching, and serving without demanding payment or status. His love was a outward-focused. If we are to live as He lived, our love for others should reflect that same spirit.
This love is especially vital within the family of believers. Jesus died to bring individuals into a connected community unified by His sacrifice. To harbor hatred toward a fellow believer disregards the very sacrifice Christ made for them. Instead, we are called to build genuine, self-sacrificial relationships within the body of Christ.
Conclusion
We are capable of loving one another because Christ first loved us. We can live with a commitment to the good of others, pointing them to Jesus, caring for their needs, and building intentional relationships.
This life begins by knowing and loving God, being transformed by His Spirit, and allowing His love to flow through us to the world around us.
Let’s pray.
Father, we thank You for Your grace, shown so clearly in the Scriptures. You are a loving God who gives us Your love and calls us to love one another. Continue to move our hearts, shaping us more into the image of Christ day by day. We ask all these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.