When hate and division enters the church it does more damage than we realise and it really is not worth it!
John has been clear about the sin he is seeing and it comes from the ‘AntiChrists’ who are deceiving the Church to not see Jesus as the Christ, not to hold on to his teaching and also they were demonstrating a lack of love to others.
“Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.” (1 John 3:7-10)
The failure to love:
- Will lead you astray (from abiding in Christ). V7
- Moves the one who perhaps thinks others are the sinner to actually be the one in sin. V7
- Means the work of the devil is being done. V8
- Belittles the work of Christ. V8
- Exposes your Christian status. V9
- Grieves the seed (the Spirit) within. V9
- Reveals whether the spiritual birth was truly of God. V10
Missions Paul 