And Now With Further Explanation

There is a phrase I sometimes here used: "and now without further explanation." I don't think the Apostle John ever heard that phrase. It must not have been a phrase used in koine Greek. You see, John is not adverse to repetition and to further explanation. Throughout his letter, John goes over the same themes again and again: love one another, be holy, watch out for false teachers. It is clear that John wants to get his point across. I think that this is one of the reasons that I have never preached through the whole book of 1 John. I have always felt like my hearers would think I was just preaching the same sermon over and over.

In 1 John 3, John picks up on two of his themes again. In verses 1-10, John reminds us of the need to be holy in living. He says that holiness gives us assurance of our faith. He also says that one who willfully, habitually sins cannot claim to be a believer. In verses 11-24, John reminds us of the need to love others, especially our fellow Christians. In verses 16-18, we get the motivation, the method, and the measure of love. Verse 16 gives us the motivation: we have been loved by Christ so we should love others. Verse 17 gives us the method: we need to share our possessions to meet others' needs. Verse 18 gives us the measure of love: love is measured by what we do not by what we say.

As I think about John, it reminds me of a great symphony where the same strands of music are played again and again being wrapped in different contexts and arrangements to create a beautiful work of art. John's work may be repetitive at points. But it is beautiful and powerful in its message.