1 John 3:16-18 Love in Deed and in Truth

1 John 3:16-18 Love in Deed and in Truth

Introduction

Do we have an affection for the body of Christ. Do we value the need for, and the involvement in, our local church. The Apostle John brings that question directly before the reader (1 John 3:16-18).

John is not only calling believers to be generally kind toward all people, though that matters because every person is made in the image of God. In this passage, he is pressing something more direct. He is showing that love for Christ will show up in how we treat Christ’s people (1 John 3:16-18).

This is one of the clearest places where love becomes measurable. Not measured by talk, not measured by intentions, but measured by what we do when we see a need in front of us (1 John 3:18).

If we belong to Christ, His love will show up in how we treat the local expression of His body. That is what John is pressing into view.

Love Is Revealed in the Works of Christ

John begins with definition. We learn love by looking at Jesus. Love is not first something we perform. Love is something we receive, something we come to understand as we look at what Christ has done for us (1 John 3:16).

We cannot forget that our greatest need has already been met, salvation before a holy and righteous God. To stand before Him, what is required is sinless perfection. We could not meet that standard then, and we cannot meet it now. Christ met it in our place through His own merit, and He laid down His life for us (1 John 3:16).

That is why the most significant work that could ever be done for us has already been completed and offered freely, because He loves us. He had the power to obtain what was needed, and He did. He did not keep His hand clenched in refusal. He finished the work, then opened His hand to anyone who would receive the life He offers.

Jesus said He is the good shepherd who gives His life for His sheep (John 10:11). He also taught that the greatest love is shown in laying down your life for others (John 15:13). John is building on that same truth. If you want to know what love is, you look at the cross.

Christ did not stumble into His death. He walked toward it on purpose. He told His disciples what would happen, suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection (Mark 10:33-34). Luke says He set His face toward Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). John records Him declaring the work finished (John 19:30).

This was not an accident in history. It was part of God’s plan from the beginning. The first promise of a coming deliverer and the defeat of the serpent points forward to Christ (Genesis 3:15). John wants believers to see love as something God accomplished before love becomes something we imitate (1 John 3:16).

Restricting the Fruit of Faith

John moves from love defined to love demanded. If Christ laid down His life for us, then we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers (1 John 3:16). Most believers will never be called to die for another Christian, but every believer is called to live for them. John is giving a pattern for normal Christian life. Love costs something.

Scripture gives examples of costly love for the sake of God’s people. Rahab risked her life to protect God’s people as they carried out God’s purposes (Joshua 2:2-6). Esther risked her life to intercede for her people (Esther 4:11, Esther 4:16). Paul endured suffering so others might obtain salvation in Christ (2 Timothy 2:8-10). These examples are not about perfect people. They show that love is proven when sacrifice is required.

I feel uneasy saying this because I do not want it to sound like I am above anyone else. But this part of the faith is often hidden or left unspoken, and I am still learning it myself. Expressing the love of God means giving sacrificially and freely to someone else in His body, even when they have not earned it (1 John 3:16).

Then John brings the test into ordinary life. If someone has the world’s goods and sees a brother in need, but closes his heart, John asks how God’s love can truly be abiding in him (1 John 3:17). The phrase “world’s goods” is simple. It refers to what we possess and have available to share.

What does need to be said is that this command is not a blank check for every relationship or every person we know. It is not a call to enable manipulation, deceit, or abuse. It is not aimed at the proverbial fool who repeatedly rejects wisdom and intentionally runs toward sin (Proverbs 5). Wisdom is not lovelessness, but wisdom does matter.

Scripture warns about supporting false teaching (2 John 1:10). Scripture also speaks about those who refuse to work and try to live off others (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12). Scripture even gives guidance for church discipline when someone refuses to obey and needs to feel the weight of correction, while still being warned as a brother (2 Thessalonians 3:13-15). Those cautions are real, but none of them should become excuses to ignore true need among faithful believers.

God’s Word has long taught His people not to harden their hearts or shut their hands when they see need in front of them (Deuteronomy 15:7-11). Paul explains that generosity toward the saints supplies needs and produces thanksgiving to God, and that this kind of service leads others to glorify God because of the confession of the gospel (2 Corinthians 9:10-14). John is pressing the same point. How can we withhold mercy when we have received mercy freely. How can we refuse to give when everything we have in Christ was given to us without earning it.

When the church drifts into a lowest common denominator mindset, Christ’s pattern is no longer the standard. But if Christ is our example, then sacrificial care for His people becomes part of normal discipleship. God often provides for His people through His people. We are not serving to manage appearances or to meet an imagined expectation. We are serving because Christ first served us, and God uses that love to strengthen His body.

Think about the human body. When an internal organ fails to do what it was made to do, the whole body suffers. If the heart does not pump blood where it needs to go, complications spread everywhere. Some know the fear and grief of feeling your own body fail you. If we can speak carefully here, how much more is the Lord grieved when His body acts the same way, when believers withhold love, care, and help from one another.

Faith Is Demonstrated in Action

John ends with a simple command. Love must not remain in words. It must be shown in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18).

Faith is shown by what we do. Actions are the visible evidence of what we claim to believe. Scripture consistently describes a fruitful life as the normal result of true faith. It is not the requirement for salvation. It is the evidence that salvation has already taken root.

James makes the same point when he describes the emptiness of seeing need and offering only religious talk without real help (James 2:14-17). Jesus also taught that repentance and faith produce fruit, and that fruit reveals what kind of tree a person is (Matthew 3:8, Matthew 3:10, Matthew 7:16-20). He described good soil as the one who hears the Word and bears fruit (Matthew 13:23). John records Jesus saying that bearing fruit glorifies the Father and confirms discipleship (John 15:8).

What I am putting before you is this. Make it your aim to bear the fruit of righteousness in your life. One clear expression of that fruit is sacrificial love that resembles the works of Christ. This is meant to be a distinctive mark of the household of faith.

If we do not have, or do not work toward having, a deep doctrine of the church, the body of Christ, it becomes easier to close our hearts to fellow believers. We stop seeing them as fellow citizens of heaven, and we start treating them like outsiders.

This is a hard teaching because it demands something from us that runs against the flesh. Yet providing for the body of Christ is one of the fruits God intends to produce in us. Not to earn salvation, but to glorify the work Christ has already completed.

Conclusion

The person of Christ is our example. Love is not defined by our preferences, our personality, or what feels natural to us. Love is defined by what Jesus did when He laid down His life for us (1 John 3:16). That is where love is proven, and that is where love is learned.

John then presses a hard question. If we see a brother in need and close our heart, what does that say about God’s love abiding in us (1 John 3:17). John is not allowing us to claim Christ while living with clenched fists. The gospel opens the hand. The gospel opens the heart.

And John ends with the command that removes all excuses. Do not love in word only. Do not love in talk only. Love in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18). Real faith produces real fruit. Not to earn salvation, but because salvation has already taken root.

So ask yourself often, and do not answer with general feelings. Make it specific. Make it local. Make it honest. How am I loving the local expression of the body of Christ, in deed and in truth.

Scripture References

John 10:11 Jesus identifies Himself as the good shepherd, and true love is seen in His willingness to give His life for His sheep.

John 15:13 Jesus teaches that the highest expression of love is sacrificial, love that gives itself for others.

Mark 10:33-34 Jesus foretells His suffering, death, and resurrection, showing that His sacrifice was intentional and certain.

Luke 9:51 Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem, showing purposeful obedience as He moved toward the cross.

John 19:30 Jesus declared His work finished, reminding believers that salvation rests on what He completed.

Genesis 3:15 God’s early promise of a coming deliverer points forward to Christ’s victory over the serpent.

Joshua 2:2-6 Rahab risked herself to protect God’s people, showing that love can require courage and cost.

Esther 4:11 Esther faced real danger in approaching the king, showing the seriousness of her situation.

Esther 4:16 Esther resolved to act even if it cost her life, showing costly love expressed through action.

2 Timothy 2:8-10 Paul endured suffering so others might obtain salvation, showing love that bears hardship for the good of others.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 God commands His people not to harden their hearts or shut their hands when they see need.

2 Corinthians 9:10-14 Paul teaches that generosity supplies needs, produces thanksgiving, and leads others to glorify God because of the gospel.

2 John 1:10 Christians are warned not to support or partner with those who reject true teaching about Christ.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 Scripture warns against rewarding idleness and calls people to live responsibly and quietly.

2 Thessalonians 3:13-15 Believers are told not to grow weary in doing good, and correction may be necessary while still treating the person as a brother to be warned.

James 2:14-17 James warns that faith without works is dead, and empty words are not love when real needs remain unmet.

Matthew 3:8 True repentance produces visible fruit, showing that inward change leads to outward change.

Matthew 3:10 Jesus warns that fruitlessness reveals a serious spiritual condition and leads to judgment.

Matthew 7:16-20 Jesus teaches that a person is known by fruit, and the tree is revealed by what it produces.

Matthew 13:23 Good soil receives the Word and bears fruit, showing the expected outcome of true hearing and believing.

John 15:8 Bearing much fruit glorifies the Father and confirms that a person is truly Christ’s disciple.

Proverbs 5 Wisdom warns against pursuing seductive sin, reminding believers that love must not become an excuse to enable rebellion.