Good evening, I am Robin Harris one of the elders of Verse by Verse Fellowship. Tonight we will continue the study of 1 John. The book theme is love one another. We are going to studying 1 John 4:7-12, which will be an exclamation point on the theme of this book. The title of the message is “A Believer’s DNA”. Next week this exclamation point will continue with verses 13-21

Back when Pastor Tony preached on 1 John 2:12-17, he mentioned that John is “very conscientious in his letter about giving us tests. And these tests are used to determine the authenticity of a believer’s faith. These are tests to determine whether or not a person who espouses Christian faith is the genuine article or a counterfeit.”

Well, tonight we have this testing brought up again as it was last week. Last week in 1 John 4:1-3 we saw one test to determine the spirit of truth versus the spirit of lies:

1 John 4:1-3 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for 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 from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.”

The test was to determine who is of God and who is not of God. A person that believes Jesus is the Christ and is God in the flesh is of God. A person that does not believe this is not of God. Pretty black and white, right? God does not allow for shades of grey regarding Jesus. If you say you believe in God, but you’re not sure about Jesus, then you are not of God. If you are a Jew and you believe you are one of God’s chosen people, but you do not believe that Jesus is the Christ and that he is God in the flesh, you are not of God. 

As Pastor Tony said, John was warning his readers about false prophets that denied Jesus Christ’s humanity. The Bible flatly states that they are not of God. 

Tonight the Apostle John will continue on this theme of “who is of God”, but John will direct his attention on a very practical and observable indicator of who is of God. He will direct his attention back to the theme of the book, love for one another. He will address you and me, and all others that say they are of God. It is for everyone that says they are a Christian. His compelling argument is not just for the purpose of examining our faith, but to put into focus the very DNA of a believer and why it is that way. It is one of the most compelling reasons to love one another and stands alongside of John 13:35.

John 13:35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Also this is the 3rd time he uses love as a test for Christian authenticity. The first time was in 1 John 2:12-17 and the next time was 1 John 3:10-18. Now we have it again for the third time. I believe God is making a point, right?

So let’s get started……Point 1

God is the originator of love. 

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

John starts this chapter and our text with a very significant word, “beloved “. This word is used throughout this book. Other places that this word is used in 1 John are 2:7, 3:2, 3:21, 4:1, 4:11, 

2:7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning.

3:2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

3:21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Before entering into the topic at hand, John lets his audience know the heart of God toward them. You could think it was John’s own term for his relationship with them, which it could be, but I believe, in the bigger picture, it relates to God’s love for us. The Greek word for beloved is derived from agape or sacrificial love. The greatest demonstration of this is from God.

John 3:16 says it the best 16 “For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

And when was that ordained? Before the creation of anything!

1 Peter 1:18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Believer, you were beloved before the universe even existed! God is the originator of love. Love is from God. It was demonstrated in a sense before humanity existed. It is not humanly derived. Love came from God. 

Not only did God love us before we even existed, demonstrating that He is the originator of love, but more importantly verse 8 says that God is love. 

The DNA of God is love. It is not just an expression of character it is the makeup of His substance. God is not saturated with love, love is who He is. Though it is impossible to express perfectly in human terms, it can be expressed like this. I was born a male. My material make up shows that this is true. It is not an expression of my character, it is the makeup of my substance. 

Because God is love, all of what He does is derived from that as much as the other aspects of who He is, such as

God is holy

So God is the originator of love because 

1 He loved before the universe existed 

2 God is love. Love is the substance of who He is and He has always existed 

God holds the patent on love!

Point 2

Being born of God love is now our DNA. 

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 

Why love one another? We are born of God. Now the statement being “being born of God” does not mean at the time of our conception. It means when you received Jesus as your Lord and savior. At that moment we were spiritually changed.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[b] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 

John MacArthur puts it this way, “The verb rendered born is perfect passive form of gennao and could be literally translated “has been begotten.”

Our spiritual DNA has changed! Love is now a part of our substance! This is what it means. For a believer neither to have the capacity nor to have the experiences of loving sacrificially is impossible! 

Whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Also the knowing is not some type of intellectual accent or facts about God, it is a spiritual confidence through God’s abiding presence and our relationship with him as our Father. 

Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

Now look at verse 12 of our text to build upon what he has said:

4:12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

No one has seen God, but we as believers experience God because He abides in us. The Holy Spirit indwells us. When did that happen? It happened at the very instant that you received Jesus as Lord and savior. 

Ephesians 1:13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee[d] of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,[e] to the praise of his glory.

Also verse 12 says love is perfected in us. Notice it doesn’t say “love is being perfected” it says “is perfected”. The phrase is past tense. So what does this mean, because I am not perfect in how I love or any other action as I grow in Christ? I believe the meaning of this phrase is that we have been made complete through the atoning work of Christ which was His love perfected. Though we are are being brought closure to the likeness of Christ day by day, we cannot become more His, we cannot be more begotten. We are fully His. Being fully His and having the Holy Spirit abiding, we love one another.

John MacArthur 

“We’re here not talking about then a love that is attached to mystical experience. That’s so important. We’re not talking about a love that is attached to emotional sentimentality. We’re talking about a love that’s connected directly to salvation and sanctification, a love that is connected directly to knowing Christ and obeying Christ. Knowing Christ grants us that love, obeying Christ allows us to enjoy the fullness of it. That’s what we’re talking about when we talk about perfect love.”

At Salvation…….we obtained God’s perfect love

Through Sanctification…..we enjoy the fullness of that perfect love by loving one another 

Basically, John puts it this way. Loving one another indicates that God abides and we are complete.

As you are well aware, loving one another is a fruit of the Spirit. It shows that the abiding Spirit is at work in us and through us.

Galatians 5:22 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

The Holy Spirit is at work in us and through us as we love. 

Let’s sum up this point. Being born of God, love is now our DNA. When you put your trust in Jesus as Lord in savior your DNA changes, not physically, but spiritually. You were

Begotten of God ie born of God

Through Jesus Christ you obtained God’s perfect love

Having his perfect love, you enjoy the fullness of that perfect love by loving one another

As you love your brothers and sisters in Christ, it is actually the working of the Holy Spirit that abides in you.

Now, if loving believers, on a regular basis, is not evident in our lives, then there is a real spiritual problem. It should be like a fire alarm going off! Look at what verse 8 says,

4:8 “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

Through our transformation and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we have the capacity to love sacrificially. If there is no evidence in our life of loving one another, then is the Spirit of God indwelling? And are we truly believers? 

John MacArthur made a very bold statement about this. He said

“Those who possess the life of God have the capacity and experience of loving. In contrast, the one who does not love does not know God. Those whose lives are not characterized by love for others are not Christians, no matter what they claim.”

Very strong words, right? Well, I am not going to question your faith, but I do believe everyone should examine their selves and ask the question, “Am I loving my brothers and sisters in Christ according to the capacity that I have? 

It is like this, does my life look like a Maserati going 20 mph on the Autobahn, when I have the capacity to easily go an 140 mph without even putting the peddle to the floor?  Verse 8 can be a wakeup call. 

Please understand loving your brothers and sisters in Christ is evidence of salvation, but is not the means for salvation. Salvation is by Christ alone. No work of our, no matter how impressive it may look has any value towards salvation. The Bible even says it is debt. 

Romans 4:4 says, “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted [a]as grace but as debt.” (NKJV)

So our new DNA is love, because we are born of God. We have the capacity and we should have evidence of loving believers that surround us. Lastly, let me show you that it is not according to your level of maturity in Christ ie you will love sacrificially when you become more spiritually mature. Look at what happened when over 3000 put their trust in Christ.

Acts 2:41-47 says, “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe[d] came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

We are talking here about baby Christians! What did these new converts do? They saw the needs of their brothers and sisters in Christ and they met the need by selling their possessions and belongings, and by giving the proceeds to those that needed the money! They definitely were not theologians, but they demonstrated the sum of the Christian faith by their actions.

Believers, we have no excuse, right?

So how do we know what God’s love looks like and how can we demonstrate it?

Point 3

Jesus is the manifestation of God’s love. 4:9-10, 3:16

4:9-10 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Growing up I really didn’t understand what love was in any meaningful way. Our family life was not ideal at times though there was love, especially from my grandmother. I came from a broken home and was a very angry teenager. My stepdad really tried to love me by teaching me all kinds of useful trades. Even though I learned them and worked hard, there were barriers I created. At almost 21 years old I received Christ and things began to change. God gave me the capacity to love and over time I understood what love truly was. I have said it many times, if it was not for the love Jesus showed, I would still be clueless of what love is and how to demonstrate it.

Jesus is the manifestation of God’s love, therefore we know what love looks like and we know how to demonstrate it. 

Though there are many things that we do not completely understand about how God’s plan works, one thing we know for certain is that God loves us. Also, we know His love for us was not a reciprocation of our love for him. We did not even seek him, Romans 3:11. We were absolutely separated from Him in our own sin. No ability at all to come to Him. And without a doubt, we did not love Him. We did not have the capacity or the desire to love Him. We loved ourselves.

Jesus manifested His love by

coming to a world that would reject Him for the most part

coming with a primary purpose… to seek and save that which was lost…so that we might have life through him

coming to appease God’s pending judgement because of our sins. The pinnacle of this love was the cross, where He bore our sins.

So John brings this out so that the reader has no doubt what the love of God looks like. As believers, we cannot say, “I really do not know how to love people” or “I just don’t know what love looks like, because of my past life” Believer you know love and you know how to demonstrated love. Jesus has shown you!

This sets up His next statement …….What is our motivation?

Point 4

Our motivation to love is Jesus. 4:11, 3:16-24

4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

After basically saying

God’s DNA is love.

Our DNA as believers is love.

Jesus is the manifestation of God’s love

John brings us back to the word beloved. Beloved in verse 1, beloved in verse 7, and now in verse 11. John is not letting his us miss this. Everything that God says to His people is from the context of His love. Every command, every exhortation, every correction, every instruction, and every rebuke comes from the position that we have been and are continually being loved by God.

Then John draws us to the motivation to love one another. Because of the love demonstrated by Jesus “we also ought to love one another”. The motivation is Jesus. Just think about this, without the love shown by Jesus we would still be enemies of God destined for eternal torment.

 Romans 5:10 says, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

Look at what awaits all that do not believe in Jesus

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from[b] the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

Church, hell is real and eternal punishment to appease the wrath of God concerning sin is real. We were rescued by the blood of Jesus from this eternal punishment. And more over, we deserved His judgement, but He showed mercy and grace. God loved us!

Listen church, we love Him because He first loved us. 

Our motivation to love one another is reflective of the complete work of Christ.

Now what happens when the Spirit moves you to sacrificially love other believers?

Example: The Goldens

Where are you at tonight?

Have you put your trust in Jesus as Lord and savior? If not please make a decision tonight. You are not guaranteed another second of breathe. Togo, today is the day of salvation.

If you have put your trust in Jesus, are you loving your Verse By Verse brothers and sisters in Christ? If not make a commitment tonight to do so, you have the spiritual capacity. If you are, praised God! You are a light to the world!

So practically how do we love one another in our church family? Here are some general guidelines:

1 get to know each other

2 be open which other

3 commit to each other…..make available time & resources 

4 follow through…do not put off the prompting of the Holy Spirit

Example: The Holy Spirit Prompting……Markieth

Other opportunities to love………College students away from home 

                            Young singles

                            Older singles

                            Discipleship

                            Families struggling

In summary 

1 God is the originator of love. 

2 Being born of God love is now our DNA. 

3 Jesus is the manifestation of God’s love. 

4 Our motivation to love is Jesus.