16 Oct 2012
I John 4:7-8
I John 4:7: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
This goes back to what Jesus said was the second greatest commandment: to love one another.
Matthew 22:39: “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
This is another sign of a true Christian: people who are genuinely saved will have a great love for others. Those who hate other people, or abuse them for their own ends, or take advantage of them for personal gain, do not know God. You can’t be a psychopath and a Christian at the same time. It just doesn’t work that way.
This should be obvious, but I’m afraid that it’s not. Genuine love is very hard to come by these days – especially in churches. You’re far more likely to find hatred, bitterness, selfishness, and people trying to take advantage of one another. What does this mean? It means that churches aren’t full of Christians; they’re full of pagans who are pretending to be Christians. If churches were actually full of Christians then they would be characterized by love – which is the point of this passage.
“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” If your life motto is “how can I selfishly abuse and take advantage of other people for my own gain, while giving back as little as I possibly can?”, then you are not saved. As the apostle John points out, real Christians do not think that way.