“Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:9-11 ESV).
Whoever says (professes, claims) that he is in the light (in Christ, living in holiness and in righteousness, in obedience to the Lord, in practice, and no longer living in sin) and yet hates (detests, despises, denounces, and/or renounces in favor of another) his brother (i.e. a brother or sister in Christ or a biological family member or spouse), he is still in the darkness (still dead in his trespasses and sins without God and without hope).
And what does it look like to hate someone? And the reason that I ask this is that there are people who hate other people but to the person’s face will act as though all is well. So it is like it speaks of in Proverbs 27 about hidden love and the kisses of an enemy and a man who strays from his home. For a person could literally be in an adulterous relationship with another, lying to his/her spouse, while acting (performing) as though this is not the case.
So hate isn’t always something that is shown outwardly to where it can be seen. But it comes out in how people treat other people, some of which may be hidden, such as in a secretive adulterous relationship. Or as in a situation where someone is all smiles when with a person in person, but behind his/her back will lie and slander the person and say all sorts of evil against that person with the full intention to get others hating that person, too.
But then it says that whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. So, what does that look like? Well the word translated as “love” means to prefer, which for the believer in Christ it means preferring to live through Christ, embracing God’s will, and choosing his choices, and obeying them in His power. And what does God prefer? Holiness, righteousness, moral purity, obedience to God, faithfulness, godliness, honesty, and surrender of our lives to him to do his will.
So, if we love others with this kind of love, we will not commit adultery against them. We will not cheat on them and lie to them or about them (slander them). We will not plot evil against them and then carry out that evil in order to get revenge or out of bitterness, resentment, pride, and unforgiveness. But we will do good to them and say kind things to them and about them to others, and we will not deliberately or habitually keep sinning against them without compassion, conscience, and remorse.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17 ESV).
And this goes right along with this same theme as above. For if we love the world, and love means to prefer, this will mean that we prefer the world and the things in the world, which includes the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of life. It means we take pleasure in and we long for what is worldly and of the flesh and what is sinful rather than taking pleasure in our Lord, but instead renouncing our Lord in favor of what is of this sinful world.
And this is obvious by what we choose to do each day. For if we are choosing the world and its choices, instead of God and his choices, this will be seen in our actions and in our practices. What are we filling our minds with? What are we viewing and listening to? How are we spending our time? Who gets top priority in our lives? Is God truly Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives? Or are we still being mastered by sin and by the flesh?
When we aren’t working a job or taking care of children or taking care of a home and doing household chores, including grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, and doing dishes, etc., how are we spending our time? Is our time being spent in doing what is honoring to God and not on what is dishonoring to him? Are we serving him with our lives, doing his will, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his power? Or are we making our own way?
For we need to take to heart what this is teaching here. If this sinful world and the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes, and the pride of life are what we are preferring and choosing to spend our time and energies and passion on instead of on what is holy, righteous, morally pure, honest, upright and faithful and obedient to our Lord, then the love of the Father is not in us, and we are not in him. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness and obedience to our Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
But whoever is doing (practicing) the will of God abides forever. So, please be one who is doing (practicing) obedience to the Lord and to doing his will for our lives, and please don’t be one who is making sin his/her practice.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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