Confessional Lutheran Ministerium

Jude 1:1-13 NKJV

Jude writes to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. Believers in Christ are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ (1). But men had crept into the church who turned God’s grace into license for lewdness. They mistook the forgiveness of sins as the freedom to continue to sin. But the gospel not only forgives sins. It also gives the Holy Spirit to transform believers into new men and women who die to sin every day and live to righteousness. To willfully continue in one’s sins after having received God’s grace is to believe in a different christ who is not the true Christ.

Jude reminds us that those who follow this course will be punished. He gives three examples. After being delivered from slavery to Pharaoh, many Israelites succumbed to this false belief and were destroyed. Although created holy, many angels rebelled against the Lord’s authority. Those who rebelled now await their eternal punishment. Although God revealed His will for human sexuality in nature, the men of Sodom and Gomorrah gave themselves over to sexual immorality and homosexuality and were punished, not only with physical destruction, but “the vengeance of eternal fire (7).  Like the idolaters of ancient Israel and the men of Sodom, the false teachers defiled the flesh by encouraging sexual immorality of all kinds. Like the rebellious angels, the false teachers reject authority and speak evil of earthly rulers. Even the example of the archangel Michael condemns them, for although an archangel, he refused to revile Satan himself, but implored the Lord to rebuke the devil. Those who change the gospel into license to sin are clouds without water, trees without fruit, and wandering stars that cannot guide others to everlasting life.

Only the gospel once delivered to the saints does that. The gospel brings the forgiveness of sins. It also brings the Holy Spirit so that we might forsake our sins and begin to live new lives and look forward to the next life in which the Spirit will perfect us in righteousness and holiness.

Let us pray: Give us Your Holy Spirit, O Lord, that we may live in repentance for our sins, joyful confidence in Your forgiveness, and good works according to Your will. Amen.

3 John 1:1-14 NKJV

The Elder,

To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth:

² Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. ³ For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

⁵ Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, ⁶ who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, ⁷ because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. ⁸ We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth.

⁹ I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. ¹⁰ Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.

¹¹ Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.

¹² Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true.

¹³ I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink; ¹⁴ but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face.

Peace to you. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.

John writes this brief epistle to a certain Gaius. John can address him as “beloved” because Gaius’ actions toward the brethren and strangers bears witness to his Christian love. The brethren and strangers were Christian ministers, some of whom Gaius had not previously met. Yet, his Christian love for the truth of the gospel compelled him to receive them into his home, showing them hospitality, and then sending them on their way “in a manner worthy of God” (6). His hospitality also made Gaius a fellow worker for the truth (7). Gaius’ example encourages Christians to show hospitality to those sent by God as God gives opportunity.

Then there is Diotrephes. He rejects John’s apostolic authority and speaks maliciously of the apostle. He does not welcome the brethren. In fact, he forbids those who wish to welcome the brethren, and puts them out of the church (10). Diotrephes behaves this way because he loves preeminence in the church. He loves to be first in honor and in authority, imagining that his opinion is the law. He exercises authority in the church in the same dictatorial manner as civil authorities.

This is not how ministers in the church rule. Ministers have authority as stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Cor 4:1). But they are not to love preeminence. Jesus tells the apostles, “He who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves” (Luke 22:26). Ministers must insist that the doctrine taught in the church be Christ’s doctrine. But they are not to insist on their own way in matters which Christ leaves free. To do so is to place the yoke of the law—the law of the preacher’s opinions—upon the neck of his hearers. Ministers must refuse to receive false teachers in the church (Rom 16:17; Ti 3:10-11). But they are not to refuse brethren who walk in the truth of the apostles’ doctrine for egotistical reasons. The example of Diotrephes warns ministers—and all Christians— against loving their own honor more than the truth and the brethren.

Let us pray: Give us grace, O God, to humble ourselves under Your almighty power, that we may walk in the truth and love and serve our neighbors in our callings. Amen.

2 John 1:1-13 NKJV

¹ The Elder,

To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, ² because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever:

³ Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

⁴ I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. ⁵ And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. ⁶ This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

⁷ For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. ⁸ Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.

⁹ Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; ¹¹ for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

¹² Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.

¹³ The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen.

“And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another” (5). The apostle reminds the church—the elect lady and her children—to love one another. Because Christians still have the sinful flesh, the exhortation to love one another always needs to be heard. And lest the saints think of love as the world thinks of it, the apostle adds, “This is love, that we walk according to His commandments” (6). God’s commandments show us how we love God and how we love our neighbor. We love our neighbor by obeying lawful ordinances, protecting our neighbor in his body, his marriage, possessions, and his reputation. We love God by looking to Him for every good thing, fleeing to Him for refuge in distress, using His name to pray, praise, and give thanks to Him. We love Him by hearing His word and abiding in the doctrine of Jesus Christ.

Love for neighbor also means setting boundaries against those who transgresses God’s word and refuse to abide in Christ’s doctrine. John writes, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds” (10-11). This boundary—like all godly boundaries—is established out of love. If a Christian transgresses, then defends his sin and continues to live in it, he denies the doctrine of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and the new life. Excommunication shows him the severity of his impenitence so that he hopefully repents of it, amends his ways, and is restored by the forgiveness of sins.

 This boundary also protects others from being influenced by the impenitence of the excommunicated, lest they fall to the temptation to tolerate sin. That only weakens their own faith in God’s Word and their love for the neighbor according to God’s commandments. Supporting those who excuse and defend their sin is not loving. Love desires the sinner’s repentance and restoration by their return to the doctrine of Christ and the forgiveness of sins.

Let us pray: Grant, O Lord, that we abide in the doctrine of Christ and increase our love for You and the brethren. Amen.

  1 John 5:11-21 NKJV

¹¹ And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹² He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. ¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

¹⁴ Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. ¹⁷ All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.

¹⁸ We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.

¹⁹ We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

²¹ Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

To know God’s Son—to believe in His name, His teaching, and His death for our sins—is to have eternal life. Having eternal life produces two things in us. The first is confidence toward God. Those who know God’s Son approach God the Father confidently in prayer. We know “that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (14). What is God’s will? Scripture teaches us God’s will is our repentance, salvation, and sanctification. When we pray for these things each day, we pray boldly, knowing that He will give us these things.

These are God’s will for all Christians, which is why we pray for our brother—our fellow Christian—whom we see committing sin not leading to death. Since “all unrighteousness is sin” (17), we pray for our fellow Christian who falls into sin, asking that God would give him repentance, renewed faith, and the Holy Spirit to fight that sin in the future. It is only when we see someone committing “sin leading to death” that John says, “I do not say that he should pray about that” (16). What is the sin leading to death? It is malicious apostasy—rejecting the truth of the gospel—which attacks the truth with blasphemy. This is the one whom St. Paul calls “a divisive man” in Titus 3:10-11 who refuses repentance after being admonished. Blaspheming the truth he previously confessed, he is “warped and sinning, being self-condemned.”

Besides confidence in prayer, knowing God’s Son and having eternal life produces sanctification in us. “Whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him” (18). The believer is “of God.” As such, he lives in love toward God and neighbor, looking for opportunities to praise God and serve his neighbor. When he is tempted, he counters temptation with God’s word, just as Christ Jesus did when tempted by the devil. And if he falls to sin, he has an advocate with the Father, the same Jesus Christ, who is the atoning sacrifice for all sins (2:1).

Let us pray: Increase in us, O God, confidence to approach You boldly in prayer for those things You have promised in the gospel, especially that we continue to know Your Son and live in holiness as those who have received eternal life. Amen.

  Psalm 149:1-9 NKJV

149 Praise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord a new song,
And His praise in the assembly of saints.

² Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
³ Let them praise His name with the dance;
Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
⁴ For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation.

⁵ Let the saints be joyful in glory;
Let them sing aloud on their beds.
⁶ Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
⁷ To execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishments on the peoples;
⁸ To bind their kings with chains,
And their nobles with fetters of iron;
⁹ To execute on them the written judgment—
This honor have all His saints.

Praise the Lord!

“Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand” (6). The saints of God praise Him continually because the Lord takes pleasure in them. The Lord is pleased with the saints because they love His Son, as Jesus says in John 14:21, “He who loves Me will be loved by My Father.” God loves those who humble themselves before Him and love His only begotten Son. He beautifies them with salvation. This is the chief reason the saints praise the Lord. He saves them from sin, eternal death, and the power of the devil.

The saints also have a two-edged sword in their hand “to execute vengeance on the nations, And punishments on the peoples” (7). This is not a call to worldly warfare and physical violence against God’s enemies as some have imagined. The sword in the hand of the saints is not a literal sword, but what St. Paul calls “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph 6:17). Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s word is “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb 4:12). One edge of the sword is the law which reveals and condemns all that is sin and contrary to God. The other is the gospel which reveals the salvation earned by Christ and received by faith.

Christians use the sword of the Spirit to cast down anything that sets itself against the knowledge of God. The law reveals the world’s sin and judges it so that the Christian avoids the world’s sins. The gospel reveals God’s salvation for the humble penitent and strikes down everything contrary to it as false and misleading so that we remain in the gospel with a pure conscience. In times of temptation and persecution, the saints use the double-edged sword of God’s word to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:5) so that we do not fall to temptation or yield to the world’s pressure. With the praise of God on our lips for our salvation and the double-edged sword of God’s word in hand against our enemies, the saints will be victorious, not by their own strength, but by the strength of God who works in them through His Word.

Let us pray: Keep us ever mindful of Your Word, O God, that we always have Your praise on our lips and the sword of the Spirit in hand against all our foes. Amen.

Psalm 148:1-14 NKJV

148 

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
² Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!
³ Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all you stars of light!
⁴ Praise Him, you heavens of heavens,
And you waters above the heavens!

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For He commanded and they were created.
⁶ He also established them forever and ever;
He made a decree which shall not pass away.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
You great sea creatures and all the depths;
⁸ Fire and hail, snow and clouds;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
⁹ Mountains and all hills;
Fruitful trees and all cedars;
¹⁰ Beasts and all cattle;
Creeping things and flying fowl;
¹¹ Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
¹² Both young men and maidens;
Old men and children.

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted;
His glory is above the earth and heaven.
¹⁴ And He has exalted the horn of His people,
The praise of all His saints—
Of the children of Israel,
A people near to Him.

Praise the Lord!

Twelve times in this Psalm the Psalmist calls upon God’s people to praise Him. Twelve—one for each of the tribes of Israel, one for each of the apostles whom the Lord would call. Twelve is the number associated with the whole Church of God. The whole Church is encouraged to praise.

Actually, the praise is to come from even beyond the bounds of the Church. The Psalmist focuses first on the heavens, both the spiritual realm where the saints and angels dwell and the physical realm where the heavenly bodies hang. Saints and angels are called upon to praise their God. Even the voiceless heavenly bodies are to praise the Lord who hung them in space, who gave them their being and their purpose. Indeed, the fulfillment of their purpose is their praise as they declare the glory of God by their very existence.

The “waters above the heavens” are a reference to Genesis 1:7, when God stretched out the heavens to divide the waters left behind on the earth from the waters that He placed “above the heavens,” forming what sounds like a watery boundary at the edges of the universe. The fact that such waters have not yet been discovered by man is merely another reason for us to praise the Lord, whose understanding of the universe far surpasses man’s understanding, and who is to be praised all the way out to the edges of the creation.

The Psalmist then calls upon the earth and everything in it to praise the Lord, from the various kinds of living creatures, to the various wonders of nature, to the various classes of men. All, all, all owe the Lord their wonder, awe, thanks and praise, most of all because of how He raised up the people of Israel, and through them Christ the Redeemer, and through Christ the whole Church in heaven and on earth, so that we may outlast even the heavens and the earth and dwell with Him forever in glory everlasting.

Let us pray: We join all creation and the whole Church in praising Your name, O Lord, our God, for You alone—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are worthy to be praised. Amen.

1 John 5:1-10 NKJV

John expresses in today’s reading something he also wrote about in the first chapter of his Gospel: “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (Jn. 1:12). Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh to make atonement for our sins, is born of God. And those who are born of God not only love God. They also love all the others who are born of God. That’s the way it has to be in our Father’s house. But this love isn’t so much a feeling as it is a heartfelt devotion to God and to our brothers, a devotion that’s defined by God’s commandments. How do we love God and our brothers? By keeping God’s commandments, which we only truly begin to keep from the heart when we are born of God, when we are brought to faith in Jesus.

There are some significant differences in the Greek manuscripts of vv. 6-10, so that the (N)KJV reads very differently from the ESV/NIV. Nevertheless, they all agree that Jesus came by water and blood, and that the testimony of the Spirit, the water, and the blood agree that Jesus is indeed the Son of God in whom we should believe.

The water seems to refer to Jesus’ Baptism, when He stepped forth to fulfill all righteousness for us and when the Father gave His testimony about Jesus as His well-pleasing Son in whom we should believe. The blood seems to refer to Jesus’ death for our sins, after which the Father raised Him up, testifying again that Jesus is His well-pleasing Son in whom we should believe. The Spirit foretold Jesus’ Baptism (e.g. Is. 61:1) and His suffering, death, and resurrection and tells us the significance of it all (e.g. Is. 53:6-10). Those events themselves, combined with the Spirit’s testimony, are God’s reliable witnesses that Jesus is the Christ in whom we should most definitely believe, lest we make God out to be a liar. Let us pray: Father, You have given us ample testimony about Your beloved Son and have drawn us to Him by Your Gospel. For this we give You praise and thanks. Grant us Your Spirit, that we may always keep Your commandments. Amen.

1 John 4:11-21 NKJV

¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

¹² No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. ¹³ By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. ¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. ¹⁹ We love Him because He first loved us.

²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? ²¹ And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

When we first heard and believed the Gospel and were baptized into the name of Jesus, we sprang forth from Jesus as branches from a vine. In John’s Gospel, we heard Jesus say to His disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). How do we know we still abide (that is, remain) in God and God in us? We continue to believe and confess that Jesus is the Son of God, along with all the other articles of the Christian faith. We know what and in whom we believe. We abide in the faith.

But there is an additional way to know that we abide in God and God in us. “He who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” That love is first for God. Standing on His promises of forgiveness and acceptance through Christ, we no longer cower in fear before our Father. We love Him, because we know for certain that He loves us and that all punishment and condemnation has been removed from us for the sake of Christ, who made atonement for all our sins.

But we’re fooling ourselves, John says, if we think we can love God while hating a child of God, a brother or sister in Christ, one of our fellow Christians. We claim to love a God whom we have never seen with our eyes or heard with our ears. But we do see our fellow Christians in the world. It should be easier to love the one we can actually see and interact with. But seeing our brothers also means seeing their weaknesses and their flaws and their needs that require our attention. The sin that still dwells in us makes it harder to love the ones we can see.

So if you find that you lack genuine love for your brothers here, don’t make excuses for it. Admit it. Repent of it. See in Christ God’s love for you and for your brother, and then return to your daily task of overcoming your natural lovelessness and replacing it with the love of your Father. When we love our brothers, that love then becomes a piece of evidence assuring us that we do, in fact, abide in God and God in us. Let us pray: Heavenly Father, abide in us with Your love, and, by Your Spirit, help us to abide in You always. Amen.

1 John 4:1-10 NKJV

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

⁴ You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. ⁶ We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Today’s reading continues the focus on faith and love. Knowing our Father rightly, having the right faith, is essential. But there are many spirits, many spiritual teachings about God, that do not come from God. They come from the evil one. They are destructive lies, being spread by false teachers.

So John urges us to “test the spirits.” The only way to test them is with the Holy Spirit’s own inspired words and teachings, given through the prophets and apostles. The example John gives in these verses is the true humanity of Jesus. Anyone who denies this is spreading the teaching, not of Christ, but of the Antichrist. Later, John will give other examples concerning the true divinity of Jesus (4:15) and about Jesus being the Christ (5:1). It is not love for God to simply accept every nice-sounding teaching about God. It is not love for God to minimize the importance of doctrine. No, love for Christ compels us to make sure that nothing but the true teaching of Christ is accepted among us.

And when we adhere faithfully to the apostles’ teachings, we can be sure that we have overcome the world and all the lying spirits of the world, because the Spirit of God is greater than the devil and his false teachers, who are his antichristian representatives. The world gladly listens to lies, but “My sheep hear My voice,” Jesus said. The children of God will be able to see through the lies, if we listen carefully to God’s Word.

After tending to the faith God has given, we return again to the love of God as the source and pattern of our love. “God is love,” John says. God’s character faces outward, with genuine care, showing goodness to all, not because of anything good in us, but because that’s who He is. He demonstrated His love by sending His only-begotten Son into the world and causing Him to suffer and die for us, not because we deserved it, but because that’s who He is. If this is how God is, then let us strive, with the help of His Spirit, to become like Him.

Let us pray: Father, grant us discernment that we may distinguish between truth and lies. And, knowing You rightly, help us to become people who truly love as You love; through Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

1 John 3:11-24 NKJV

¹¹ For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, ¹² not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

¹³ Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. ¹⁵ Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

¹⁶ By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷ But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

¹⁸ My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. ¹⁹ And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. ²⁰ For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. ²¹ Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. ²² And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. ²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

²⁴ Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

John summarizes the whole Christian life at the end of today’s reading: “This is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another.” Faith toward God and love, specifically, toward “one another,” that is, toward our fellow Christians. This love for “one another” does not exclude love for our unbelieving neighbor. But there is a special kind and degree of love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, a first priority.

John reminds us of the hatred that Cain had for his biological brother Abel, because, spiritually, unbelieving Cain was not believing Abel’s brother at all. It should be no surprise, then, if the world hates believers. What would be surprising, what would be truly horrifying, is if Christians started hating—or failing to love—their fellow Christians.

This obviously applies most directly to those Christians with whom we interact on a regular basis, those with whom we gather together and receive Holy Communion together. But the command necessarily goes beyond that. If we recognize Christians in many of the Christian denominations around the world, then we must also love them.

What does love look like? St. Paul tells us to “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). Loving our fellow Christians includes telling them the truth, honestly and humbly, if they have fallen into sin or been deceived by false teachings. Yes, love even includes not gathering around the Lord’s Table with brothers who hold to some false teaching, as a witness and as a warning.

Love is shown through words. But it must also be shown through actions. Jesus showed us that most clearly by laying down His life for those whom He loved, setting a pattern for us. We should be ready to die for our brothers and sisters in Christ, too. And if we are ready to die for them, why wouldn’t we also be willing to do something far less drastic, like being kind to them or sharing material goods with them?

Our Father commands His children to believe in the name of Jesus and to love one another. Let us do our Father’s bidding! Let us pray: Father in heaven, stir up true love in our hearts, that we may also show it with our actions. Amen.