There are three reasons why Christians are to love one another: first, because God is love and we are of God; second, because God loved us in Christ and so revealed His love to us; and third, because God is at work in us by His Spirit to bring that love to completion.
The third lesson is that it was the creation of this double love in us for both God and man that was the object of Christ’s coming. At all events, this is what John seems to speak about in the opening verses of the letter when he says, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1:3). That is, the coming of Christ is proclaimed so that those who hear of His incarnation and death might believe in Him and thereby learn to love both God and one another.
The devil is the one who disrupts. The Lord Jesus Christ is the One who draws together. In the drawing together into fellowship love is the key factor. Little surprise, then, that we have this commandment from Him “that he who loveth God love his brother also.”
At the beginning of this study the question was asked, “Which is the most important of John’s three tests: righteousness, love, or truth?” We answered that love was the most important. These verses have helped us to see why.
For one thing, they have helped us to see that we need love greatly, particularly in the so-called evangelical churches. These have sound doctrine, at least to a point. There is a measure of righteousness. But often sadly there is very little love. Without it, however, there is no true demonstration of the life of Christ within or true worship of the Father. Second, we can hardly have overlooked the fact that Jesus Himself made love the first and second of the commandments. The first commandment is love for God (Deut. 6:4). The second is love for one another (Lev. 19:18). The two properly belong together.