Throughout his first letter, John gives three tests of genuine faith that characterize the basics of the Christian life: 1) The test of belief - do we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was born in the flesh, fully God and fully man? 2) The test of obedience - do we seek to obey God’s commandments and practice righteousness? 3) The test of love - do we seek to love one another? In this morning’s passage, we will focus specifically on the test of love. In this passage, John speaks of “loving one another” three separate times. The kind of love John is talking about isn’t a ‘convenient’ love, but rather an ‘agape’ love - unselfish, sacrificial, ‘get your hands dirty’ kinda love. However, this kind of love doesn’t come naturally for us - so join us as we look at why this standard of love is difficult for us, and how John models this kind of love for us to enact in our lives. (ft. Chad Donohoe, Pastor of Community Life at Deer Creek Church).
