In the winter, when family members have been outside in the cold, my wife will sometimes prepare hot cocoa for them. Personally, I like to eat chocolate-soaked mini-marshmallows from the top of the cup, but the drink is good, too! If you think about hot cocoa, though, its components aren’t nearly as good by themselves. Drinking plain hot water might warm me up, but it would be tasteless without something in it. Similarly, trying to eat the hot cocoa powder with a spoon just seems weird. While I might eat the mini-marshmallows by themselves, a good cup of hot cocoa is best when all of the parts are combined.
Hold that thought as we continue a study in the third chapter of the book of 1 John in the Bible. Verse 23 seems like a good summary statement, so let’s take a look.
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
1 John 3:23 NIV
God commands us to do 2 key things:
Believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. Although Jesus’ name encompasses all of who He is, the literal translation of the name “Jesus” itself is something like, “The LORD Saves”, which is certainly an important thing to believe. And, “Christ” is the same as “Messiah”: “The Anointed One” who God had promised to His people. As a result, believing in the name of Jesus includes accepting that God saves us through Jesus, and that Jesus was exactly who God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit said that He was (and is).
- This belief honors God as sovereign over right and wrong, by acknowledging that we have sinned and need a savior.
- This belief suggests that being with God is where we want to spend our lives, both now and eternity.
- This belief recognizes God for His faithfulness in keeping His promises in sending the Messiah (Christ).
- This belief acknowledges that we accept God’s word to us as truth.
And, the second command (discussed further in previous articles) is that we must love one another. This isn’t just a matter of words, either. It involves loving other people like Jesus did, “with actions and in truth” (see verse 18].
By themselves, most followers of Jesus would agree that both of these commandments from God are important to follow. However, a commentator [Womack, p.94] pointed out that, “It would appear from John’s statement that you can’t have one without the other.” And, that makes sense:
- Love for others might sound good, but can’t save you. [Ref. Womack, p.94]
- Faith without works is dead. (See James 1:14-26)
- And, without Jesus’ help, I think we’re too weak to love each other like He did. In fact, without Jesus, we wouldn’t have brothers and sisters in God’s family to love in the first place.
So, we must both, 1) believe in Jesus’ name and, 2) love one another. Trying to have one without the other might appear to “check a box”, but the two are so closely related that we can only truly follow God’s commands when we manifest both of these behaviors at the same time.
So, if you’ve been focused on your faith and beliefs, but you haven’t been living them out, I suggest that you read through the gospels (the Bible books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) to see how Jesus’ ministry illustrated love in action, and then ask for God’s help in doing the same yourself.
Or, if you’ve been focused on what to “do” as a follower of Jesus, but you worry about your salvation or whether you’re “good” with God, turn to Jesus and remember His promises. Consider God the Father’s testimony about the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross when God the Father raised God the Son from the dead. Believe Jesus when He said that He is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6), and when He said that He is “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25-26).
In either case, I think that you will find that you – and I – will be even better at following either one of these commands when we complement it with obedience to the other!
From Sunday School lesson prepared for March 2, 2025
References:
- 1717 Bible Studies, 1, 2, and 3 John, © 2025 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 1, 2 & 3 John, by Morris M. Womack. © 1998 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 