The term “love” has been recorded several times in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. For instance, in Genesis, “Love ” is used to illustrate the interaction of God, Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden, the people of Israel. However, in Revelation, it shows how love will either save people from the earth or make the sinners languish in pain as Christ comes back to take the righteous. In other words, it is the main determiner in how people will be judged during the end times. However, in all the Bible usage, 1 John demonstrates in-depth use of the word “Love” on several occasions. John establishes an objective standard against which to understand the letter. In 1 John, the author uses the concept of love to illustrate human connection with God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Christians, the world, and salvation.
The word “love” has been used on several occasion in 1 John to illustrate the connection between humans and God. 1 John 3:17-18 states that “Whoever has this world’s goods and beholds a brother in need, and closes up his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?…let us not love with word or tongue, but indeed and in truth”.1 In most cases, people believe that love is usually a feeling that individuals express towards others. However, the verse illustrates that it is an action that should connect society. It demonstrates good deeds that people should accord to those in dire need, but it also reveals that God Himself will reward those who express love to others by sticking with them in whatever situation. Therefore, love originates from God first before it flows down to human beings. In short, God is happy when individuals share whatever earthly possessions they have with others.
Also, the verse uses “love” to show a connection to God through obedience. In 1 John 5:3, the author illustrates that “For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments”.2 Through this, it is evident that God requires people to follow his commandants that he gave to Israel’s people in Mount Sinai. The commandments were given to guide the Israelites by God, who had delivered them from the Egyptians’ bondage.3 John, therefore, reminds the audience that God requires obedient people who respect his commandments. This is further emphasized in 1 John 2:5, which illustrates that persons who chose to keep God’s commandments provide more space for the love of God to dwell in them. In other words, “love” shows a connection to God through obedience.
The book of 1 John also uses the word “love” to illustrate the connection with Jesus Christ, God’s son. In Mathew 22:39-40, Jesus explained the meaning of love by telling the disciples to accord their neighbours the same love they give themselves.4 In short, he gave a new standard of expressing love. 1 John 2;7-8 further shows the in-depth relationship with Christ when it states that love is a long-standing commandment that extended ever since the earth was created; however, it is a new commandment in the essence that Jesus summarized the ten commandments.5 Additionally, when individuals claim to love God, they will obey the Creator by abiding by his commandments. Jesus came to earth to save the lost, and he could only do this by making the work of the believers easy. Many believers found it difficult to obey every law that God gave, and therefore Jesus had to find a way of simplifying the laws; hence, he used the term love to make the laws simpler.
Additionally, the gospel of 1 John illustrates the connection of “love” with the Holy Spirit. 1 John 4 illustrates that every spirit that comes from God accepts that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and was sent by the Lord Himself in the form of flesh to save humankind. Therefore, the term “love:” is used to appeal to the believers who acknowledged that God is the Supreme Being. People cannot claim that they love the Lord, yet they reject his only begotten son.6 The spirit can also not be touched but can be illustrated by the actions of an individual. Therefore, an individual has to believe that the spirit of God dwells in him. Therefore, the book of 1 John demonstrates the love of God dwells on those who believe in Jesus Christ as a true son of God. But to accept this notion, one has to have the Holy Spirit that God gives.
Christians are the believers in the second coming of Jesus Christ, and they are the main group of people who John addresses. The book of 1 john illustrates what is expected of a person who is regarded as a Christian. In most cases, the believers claim to know God, yet God is invisible and cannot be seen nor touched. It is, therefore, through love that this kind of people experiences the presence of the Lord.7 1 John 4:12 states that “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”8 Love is used in this context to act as a connection between God and his followers. This implies that God’s love imparted to Christians when they believe in God is manifested through other fellows’ love.9 Since Christians regard God as love, they should exhibit the same traits as God since they were made in God’s image and likeness, and they regard themselves as the children of God. However, they can show their love to fellow humans whom they can physically see their presence.
Moreover, John uses the word “love” to demonstrate a connection with the world. In 1 John 2:15, the bible states that “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.”10 This implies that the author instructs the believers not to concentrate on the valuables that the world offers. Christ-followers should only love fellow humans and God and not the possessions that they interact with daily. The phrase ‘world’ is not used in this context to demonstrate the planet, but instead, it refers to an individual who is controlled by society’s systems. 11 The term “love” in this setting is therefore used to show a sharp contrast between the love of God and the world since it claims that believers who love God cannot cherish the earthly materials because they are vanity.
Finally, “love” is used to illustrate the connection between people, God, and salvation. Love is essentially the origin of the gospel that was used to save perishing humanity. If it were not for the love of Christ that made him descend from heaven to ear, then the offspring of man would have been doomed to death after Adam and Eve had sinned in the garden of Eden.12 Moreover, it all originates from the word “love”, which encompasses everything to do with becoming holy.1 John 3:11 states that “this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another”.13 This clarifies that every preacher must always show love as the first step of preaching the gospel of Christ.
In conclusion, John’s use of the concept of love in 1 John effectively unmasks the heretical nature of the secessionists’ teaching by demonstrating that the word “love” is holy. For instance, Love refers to God, who is regarded as the Supreme Being that reigns over the world and heaven. Therefore, believers should not claim to be holy when they don’t love their neighbors, yet, God is love. Additionally, it shows the contrast between the desire for worldly possessions and the universe’s creator. Therefore, the term is widely used in 1 John to illustrate many issues that Christians value.
Bibliography
Brandin, Evgeny. “Human Evangeliyezation and Diaconic Service of Believers to Neighbors in Unity of Liberty According Law of Love.” International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies, 7 (4) (2020): 1-8.
Crammer, Kevin D. “The Extent of God’s Love as Based on the Greek Word Kosmos in the Johannine Corpus.” Diligence: Journal of the Liberty University Online Religion Capstone in Research and Scholarship 1, no. 1 (2016): 14. Web.
Hansen, Serena Michal. “Permit Me to Hope: The Deconstruction of an Eternal Torment with Love.”
Stovell, Beth M. “Love One Another and Love the World: The Love Command and Jewish Ethics in the Johannine Community.” In Christian Origins and the Establishment of the Early Jesus Movement, pp. 426-458. Brill, 2018. Web.
Van Der Merwe, Dirk G. “‘Lived experiences’ of the love of God according to 1 John 4: A spirituality of love.”In die Skriflig 51, no. 3 (2017): 1-8.
Footnotes
- John 3:17-18 (KJV)
- John 5:3 (King James Version)
- Crammer, Kevin D. “The Extent of God’s Love as Based on the Greek Word Kosmos in the Johannine Corpus.” Diligence: Journal of the Liberty University Online Religion Capstone in Research and Scholarship 1, no. 1 (2016): 14.
- Mathew 22:39-40 (King James Version)
- John 2;7-8 (King James Version)
- Stovell, Beth M. “Love One Another and Love the World: The Love Command and Jewish Ethics in the Johannine Community.” In Christian Origins and the Establishment of the Early Jesus Movement, pp. 426-458. Brill, 2018.
- Van Der Merwe, Dirk G. “‘Lived experiences’ of the love of God according to 1 John 4: A spirituality of love.” In die Skriflig 51, no. 3 (2017): 1-8.
- John 4:12 (King James Version)
- Brandin, Evgeny. “Human Evangeliyezation and Diaconic Service of Believers to Neighbors in Unity of Liberty According Law of Love.” International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies, 7 (4) (2020): 1-8.
- John 2:15 (King James version)
- Hansen, Serena Michal. “Permit Me to Hope: The Deconstruction of an Eternal Torment with Love.”
- Ibid., 1
- John 3:11 (King James Version)