“Do right!” John harped on that time and time again. Love others? Of course, and while he had connected doing right to loving others he had not placed as full an emphasis upon it. Verse 10 coupled these two themes, and as we traipse into verse 11, we see John jump into love for others with both feet.
11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. (1 John 3:11-12–ESV)
“Love one another.” John had emphasized the importance of behavior. The best example of that was loving others, and that message of Christianity was taught by the apostles as they entered community after community. Being entry level Christianity it was on the curriculum from the beginning. By loving others, they walked as Jesus walked. That was righteous living. John mentioned this in chapter 2 verse 7 1 and link here if you want to delve further into the lesson on that passage. [Read more…] about 1 John 3:11-18. Behavior matters: God loves. Cain does not.