Question 1

What does John mean by the message "from the beginning" to love one another?

Accepted Answer

When John talks about the message “from the beginning,” he is reminding his readers of what they heard when they first heard the gospel. From the start, the call to trust in Jesus and the call to love other believers have gone together. Love is not a new idea or an optional extra. It has always been part of what it means to follow Christ. So John is pulling them back to the basic truth: real faith shows itself in steady, practical love for one another.

Question 2

Why does John bring up Cain in a teaching about loving one another?

Accepted Answer

John uses Cain as a sharp warning about what love is not. Cain belonged to the evil one and killed his brother because Cain’s own works were evil and his brother’s were righteous. His hatred grew out of a heart that refused God. By reminding believers of Cain, John says, “Do not be like that.” If the world hates them for following Christ, they should not be shocked, because this same spirit of hatred toward righteousness has been there from the beginning.

Question 3

What does it mean that whoever hates his brother is a murderer?

Accepted Answer

When John says that whoever hates his brother is a murderer, he is showing that God looks at the heart, not just outward actions. Hatred is the root that leads to murder. A person who keeps hatred in their heart shows that they are still in spiritual death, far from God’s life. John is not saying every angry thought is the same as a crime in human courts, but he is warning that a heart that chooses hatred has the same spirit as murder and cannot at the same time hold eternal life.

Question 4

How does Jesus laying down his life show us what real love is?

Accepted Answer

John says we know what love is because Jesus laid down his life for us. Real love is not vague feeling, it is costly action for the good of others. Jesus willingly died for people who did not deserve it, to bring them to God. This becomes the pattern for Christians. They may not all be called to die for each other, but they are called to be ready to sacrifice comfort, time, money, and safety to care for other believers, following the self-giving love they see in Christ.

Question 5

What does it mean to love not in word only, but in deed and in truth?

Accepted Answer

To love “not in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth” means that saying the right things is not enough. A person can talk warmly and call others “brother,” yet close their heart and hands when they see real need. John says that when someone has this world’s goods and sees a brother in need but refuses to help, it shows God’s love is not living in them. True love acts. It moves us to share what we have and to help in honest, concrete ways.

Question 6

How does this passage help us with doubts and a condemning heart?

Accepted Answer

John knows believers may feel their own failures and feel condemned inside. He says if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. God sees the whole picture, including the new life he has given, the presence of love, and the sacrifice of Christ. When our conscience is rightly at peace, we have confidence before God. Even when our heart troubles us, we can turn to God, who judges rightly, and let his truth correct both hardness and needless fear.

Question 7

What does it mean that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren?

Accepted Answer

John is not saying that loving others earns eternal life. Instead, he is saying that love for other believers is clear evidence that God has already brought someone from spiritual death into life. Before, a person lived for self and did not care about God’s people. After new birth, there is a new heart that begins to love those whom God loves. This love is not perfect, but its real presence shows that a deep change has happened and that God’s life is at work inside.

Question 8

How are believing in Jesus and loving one another one commandment here?

Accepted Answer

John sums up God’s command in two closely linked parts: believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another. Trust in Jesus is the root, and love for other believers is the fruit. They are not two separate paths to please God, but one joined way. Real faith in Christ leads to love, and true love flows out of faith. Keeping this command means resting on Jesus as God’s Son and Savior and then treating other believers with the same self-giving love he showed.

Question 9

What does this passage teach about prayer and keeping God’s commandments?

Accepted Answer

John says that when believers keep God’s commandments and do what pleases him, they can have confidence that God hears them, and they receive what they ask. This does not mean God gives anything we might selfishly desire. It means that as we walk in obedience and love, our hearts line up more with his will, and our prayers reflect that. A life of loving action and loyalty to Christ supports bold prayer, because we are seeking what God already delights to give.

Question 10

How do we know that God lives in us according to this passage?

Accepted Answer

John gives a clear answer: the one who keeps God’s commandments lives in God, and God in him, and we know he lives in us by the Spirit he has given. Obedience does not earn God’s presence, but it shows that his life is truly in us. The Spirit he gives produces faith in Jesus, love for other believers, and a desire to please God. When we see this pattern growing in our lives, even with weakness, it is a sign that God’s Spirit is at work and that he truly abides in us.

1 John 3:11

For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

Love One Another

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1 John 3:11

For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

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Love One Another

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