As I reread this passage in 1 John 3, I realize I posted parts of it last week, but to tell you the truth, I’m not tired of it yet. Are you? I’m pretty sure I need to read it and ponder it over and over again. I am surprised by how much I forget and how quickly.
Here is 1 John 3:11-15 followed by the Tyndale commentary notes on this passage. Don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. But do not go out of your way to offend people. The gospel does that by challenging people to believe they are too weak to save themselves. Instead, go out of your way to love people. That will confuse folks and possibly offend them, but it is by this we know that we are Christians.
Love One Another
11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. 13 So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters,* if the world hates you.
14 If we love our Christian brothers and sisters,* it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister* is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
“John warned believers not to “be surprised” if the world’s hate is experienced (3:13). One who has an attitude of hatred toward Christ and Christians is potentially capable of murdering Christians (cf. Matt. 5:21–22). Such a person demonstrates that he is not a possessor of eternal life. The readers had a problem with being hated. It made them wonder if they were really recipients of God’s redemption. This explained why love of Christian brothers was so important to John. In a world controlled by the evil one’s power, anti-Christian teachings and acts are to be expected. Only the children of God can bring comfort and instruct in truth. John showed that the teachings of both God and the devil centered on the truth of God’s incarnation in Christ.” Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary, Logos
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