Mysterious

There is indeed something very mysterious in it, that so much good, and so much bad, should be mixed together in the church of God; as it is a mysterious thing, and what has puzzled and amazed many a good Christian, that there should be that which is so divine and precious, as the saving grace of God, and the new and divine nature dwelling in the same heart, with so much corruption, hypocrisy, and iniquity, in a particular saint.

Jonathan Edwards, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections: In Three Parts ... (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996), ix.

AGAPE

Finally, and perhaps above all, while friendship is properly used only of a relationship between equals, agapē links persons of different conditions: with rulers, benefactors, and fathers; it is a disinterested and generous love, full of thoughtfulness and concern. It is in this sense that God is agapē and loves the world.29 With those who are indebted, for inferiors, for subjects, this agapē, which is first of all consent, welcome, acceptance,30 is expressed in gratitude:31 it is the love inspired in turn by generous love—which is the meaning in 1 John 4:10—and it is translated into acclaim, applause, tokens of respect, congratulations, praises,32 and even veneration,33 so that Christian agapē is expressed in liturgy and worship: “To the one who loves us … to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever” (Tō agapōnti hēmas … autō hē doxa kai to kratos eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn, Rev 1:5–6).

Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 13–14.

Heresy and schism

And very admirably Nevin (Antichrist, or the Spirit of Sectarianism): ‘Heresy and schism are not indeed the same, but yet they constitute merely the different manifestations of one and the same disease. Heresy is theoretic schism; schism is practical heresy. They continually run into one another, and mutually complete each other. Every heresy is in principle schismatic; every schism is in its innermost constitution heretical’

Richard Chenevix Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament (London: Macmillan and Co., 1880), 391.

FOR FURTHER STUDY

FOR FURTHER STUDY

1. Read 1 John 2:9–11; 3:10–18; 4:7–8, 20. If we are not loving, what does that show us and others about ourselves?

2. Read Romans 13:8–10 and 1 Corinthians 13:4–8. How many negative definitions of love can you find? When these are all added together, what is the final outcome—still negative, or positive?

TO THINK ABOUT AND DISCUSS

1. If we must not judge one another, what should we do if we see another Christian going astray or leading others astray? Does saying that we do not believe a certain person to be a Christian mean that we are judging that person? Do you think Diotrephes was truly converted?

2. How would you deal with the situation if someone in your church started to behave like Diotrephes? Could it be nipped in the bud? Prevention is better than cure; how could such a situation be prevented from developing in the first place?

Terence Peter Crosby, Opening up 2 and 3 John, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2006), 38.

Consuming actions

Consuming actions

But there is a further stage in this downward spiral. Just as evil thoughts lead to evil words, so evil words lead to evil actions. The members of the church at Corinth had many problems, one of which was that when they had grievances against one another, they were not content with just thinking or speaking against one another. They were actually taking action, legal action, ‘against one another’ (1 Cor. 6:7), wronging and cheating their own brothers in Christ (v. 8). While they were consuming one another in this way, they were bringing disgrace upon God’s name in front of unbelievers. What a state Christians can get into when they neglect to ‘love one another’!

Terence Peter Crosby, Opening up 2 and 3 John, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2006), 36.

Charles Seet and Jeffrey sued one another in court!

Devouring words

Devouring words

In God’s sight our evil thoughts about others are bad enough, but thoughts have a habit of leading to words. For example, during Paul’s first missionary journey, when the Gentiles were beginning to show great interest in the gospel, the Jews ‘were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul’ (Acts 13:45). Evil thoughts will of course never lead to good words, only evil ones.

James has much to say about the damage that our tongues can do. ‘Do not speak evil of one another, brethren … Who are you to judge another?’ (James 4:11–12). How easily judging others in our thoughts leads to criticizing them with our tongues. He later puts it in a slightly different way and adds the same ominous warning already seen above: ‘Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!’ (James 5:9).

Self-appointed judges and grumblers place themselves in a very dangerous position before Almighty God. But these are not the only things to banish from our mouths. Paul says, ‘Put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another’ (Col. 3:8–9). Just as covetous thoughts about one another break the tenth commandment, so lying to one another breaks the ninth commandment.

Terence Peter Crosby, Opening up 2 and 3 John, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2006), 35–36.

Biting thoughts

Biting thoughts

Love begins to be lost when we think wrongly about one another. This can happen in two ways, one of which is ‘envying one another’ (Gal. 5:26). It is in our nature to dislike others being better or better off than we are. We don’t take kindly to having to look up to others and we tend to be covetous; we want what other people have got and in the process we become envious and jealous of them. Paul was telling professing Christians to avoid this danger. After all, ‘love does not envy’ (1 Cor. 13:4).

On the other hand, the strange thing is that, while we dislike looking up to others, we rather enjoy looking down at them! How easy it is to see the faults of others and to become their judges! Paul asked, ‘Who are you to judge another’s servant?’ (Rom. 14:4). Who am I? Why, just another miserable, wretched sinner like the person I am judging. In judging that person I am condemning myself as well (Rom. 2:1—see also Matt. 7:3–5). Paul goes on to ask, ‘But why do you judge your brother?’ (Rom. 14:10) and this time I have no answer. So he sums up by saying, ‘Therefore let us not judge one another anymore’ (Rom. 14:13).

Terence Peter Crosby, Opening up 2 and 3 John, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2006), 34–35.

What does love exclude?

What does love exclude?

If we love one another, there are certain things which are totally out of place. Already in the Old Testament law God had told his people, ‘You shall not oppress one another’ (Lev. 25:14, 17). ‘Love does no harm to a neighbour’ (Rom. 13:10). This was what the young Moses felt very strongly when he caught two Israelites fighting in Egypt. We can understand his logic when he said to them, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ (Acts 7:26).

A good starting point is what Paul told one church: ‘through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!’ (Gal. 5:13–15).

Paul seems to be speaking generally here, just as in verse 26 where he says, ‘Let us not become conceited, provoking one another’, but his words indicate a clear progression. The trouble commences with taking bites at one another, continues with devouring one another and concludes with utterly consuming one another. Paul may be tracing the way in which thoughts lead to words and words to actions. Looking at these three stages affords a good background and insight to what went wrong with the unloving Diotrephes, one of the main actors on the stage of 3 John.

Terence Peter Crosby, Opening up 2 and 3 John, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2006), 33–34.

What does loving one another involve?

What does loving one another involve?

There are many general references to Christian love in the New Testament. But the key to answering this specific question is to concentrate on the words ‘one another’. We will get a good idea of what loving one another involves if we look at God’s commandments about our behaviour towards one another. There are always two sides to questions like this: a negative side and a positive side. There are things that love excludes and other things that love includes. Before seeing what love involves it will be useful to clear the ground of the negative aspects.

Terence Peter Crosby, Opening up 2 and 3 John, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2006), 33.

BECAUSE WE LOVE GOD

BECAUSE WE LOVE GOD

Loving one another is not only an imitation of God’s love to us; it is also an outward expression of our inward love for God. In his first letter John refers to another commandment from God: ‘This commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also’ (1 John 4:21). If we claim to love the invisible God while we hate God’s visible children, we are liars and hypocrites (1 John 4:20). Loving the children of God is the natural result of our love for their and our Father in heaven (1 John 5:1–2); we sometimes have to remind ourselves that other Christians are our brothers and sisters in Christ, members of the same family. If we love God, we will keep his commandments (1 John 5:3). John repeats this in 2 John 6 and ends up by coming back to where he started: God’s commandment is that we should walk in love. If we love God, we will obey his commandments and, therefore, love one another.


Terence Peter Crosby, Opening up 2 and 3 John, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2006), 32–33.

Why should we love one another?

Why should we love one another?

BECAUSE GOD LOVES US

John was not the first one who could claim to love in truth. God himself has given us grace, mercy, and peace ‘in truth and love’ (2 John 3). We are to love one another because God loves us. Jesus gave his apostles a new commandment—‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’ (John 13:34–35—see also 15:12). John had already taken up this theme in his first letter—‘Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another’ (1 John 4:11). So, in the words of the apostle Paul, we are to ‘walk in love, as Christ also has loved us’ (Eph. 5:2).

Terence Peter Crosby, Opening up 2 and 3 John, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2006), 32.

BPC are you love one another?

For many years I cry in tears for Bible Presbyterian Church in Singapore, how long o Lord?

I also cried for unity in all the Reformed Churches.....I cried for them, so that they may love one another.

Isaiah 40:31 King James Version (KJV)

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.