1 Jn 3:10-13

The Test of Love:
Cain and Abel
1 John 3:10-13
Gen 4:1-8

Introductory Thoughts

· Context
* The Character Test—1 John 3:6-9
* In particular: 3:10—1 John 3:10 "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother."
· The character test has been stated in a negative way, now it is stated positively. In other words, we have seen that not loving the brethren is not of God, now we see the contrast, that love is of God.

1. The Negative Character Test—1 John 3:10 "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother."

a. Language: By this manifest—the Children of God and the Children of the Devil

(1) “Are” – the verb “are” is in the present tense
(2) The Children of God and the children of the devil
(3) “All the not the ones practicing righteousness are not of God, and the not the one loving the brother of him…”
(4) Continuity and habitual practice are in view
(5) Love is agape—self sacrificing love, love as action, not feelings, not friendliness. Agape is about doing the right thing toward someone even if they don’t like it.

b. The Children of God, the Children of the Devil

(1) Not very politically correct, old John
(2) A blatant and straightforward statement
(3) Manifest—brought out into the open
(4) This is how we know who belongs to God and who belongs to the devil!

c. The two categories Stated personally

(1) These are participles, Greek words which combine the effects of a verb and a noun
(2) The stress is on the ONES not practicing righteousness, the ONE not loving his brother.

d. The two categories stated negatively—

(1) Not Practice Righteousness—again, salvation is evidenced by the habit of the life, and if the habit is to not practice righteousness, then the person is of the devil

(2) Not love the brother—this concentrates on love for the family of God. If you don’t love your brother and sister in Christ, how can you be considered to be a believer?

e. What is rightousness?

(1) It is rightness, equity of character, doing the right thing.
(2) God, in His person, is all righteous. There is no shadow of turning in Him, He is ever, always, consistently, perfectly righteous
(3) When considered as what is required for a right relationship with God, we think of Imputed Righteousness, the perfect righteousness of Christ placed on our account by faith—Rom 3:22-28, 4:1-8
(4) But when applied to the life, righteousness is the growth and development of Christian character in the life of the individual.
(5) The test here is negative—whoever does NOT practice this righteousness is a child of the devil.

2. The Test stated positively—another way of stating the Gospel—in the Love the Brethren have for one another—1 John 3:11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,

a. This is the message…

(1) “is” is in the present tense, indicating that the message is continually the same…
(2) “heard” is aorist, indicating a one-time hearing—so “from the beginning” in this context is not from the beginning of the world, nor from the beginning of the church, but from the time of salvation of the readers. This is the message they heard from the time they were saved—love one another.

b. First, what love is NOT

(1) Agape Love is not an emotion, though emotions can be and often are involved.

(2) Agape Love is not kind compassionate expressions, unless those expressions are (a) appropriate and (b) genuine.

(a) Appropriate—sometimes the situation does not call for kind and compassionate expressions—two examples: Christ cleansing the temple, and the entire spoken ministry of John the Baptist!
(b) Genuine—trying to sound compassionate without being for real is a cruel hoax

(3) Agape love is not demonstrated by one who is always speaking in pleasant platitudes instead of plain truth—Nothing is more unloving than a lie!

c. Let’s review again the Biblical meaning of love.

(1) Agape love is action, not feelings—Examples:
John 3:16 ""For God so loved the world that He gave …”
John 13:34-35 ""A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, …”

(2) Agape love is doing the right thing because it is the right thing—it is doing what is right toward others whether they appreciate it or agree with it or not
(3) Agape love is doing the right thing regardless of reciprocation or not.
(4) Agape Love is action taken because of Christlike character developed within the believer by the Holy Spirit. Agape love does the right thing, and it does the right thing for the right reasons.

(5) Love (Christlike character):

suffers long and is kind;
does not envy;
does not parade itself,
is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely,
does not seek its own,
is not provoked,
thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity
but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
never fails.


(6) None of us exhibits these character traits to perfection—only One has lived that way, and we follow Him.

John 15:12 ""This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."
John 15:17 ""These things I command you, that you love one another."
John 17:26 ""And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.""

Rom 13:8 "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law."

1 Th 4:9 "But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;"

1 Pet 1:22 "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,"

1 John 3:11 "For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,"

1 John 3:23 "And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment."

1 John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."

1 John 4:11-12 "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us."

2 John 1:5 "And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another."

3. Another version of the negative test—The Mark of Cain—1 John 3:12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.

a. Language:
(1) “...not as Cain who was of the wicked one...” “was” is ƒí, Cain was of the wicked one continually in the past, “already was…”
(2) “...And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous....” “were” is ƒí, again, Cain’s works were continually evil in the past. What Cain was, he was from the beginning—

Psa 58:3 "The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies."

Psa 51:5 "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."

Eph 2:1-3 "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."

Rom 3:10-12 "As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.""

b. Cain’s Spiritual Heritage—“... Cain who was of the wicked one ...”

(1) Lost people are the children of the devil

Mat 13:38 ""The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one."

Acts 13:10 "and said, "O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?"

Eph 2:3 "among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."

Eph 5:6 "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience."

Col 3:6 "Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,"

c. —“... and murdered his brother ...”Cain’s act of hatred demonstrated his true character, and his actions and attitudes subsequent to the murder’s revelation by God confirm this as Cain’s character coming out.

(1) By way of contrast, what was David’s attitude?
(2) Inwardly, David’s bones groaned.
(3) When God revealed David’s sin, David did not dissemble, he repented. David’s concern, seen plainly in Psalms 51 and 32, was for the restoration of his fellowship with God and for a restoration of his ministry. David was concerned also for the honor of God.

Psa 32:3-5 "When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah"

Psa 51:1-4 "Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight; That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge."

(4) What was Cain’s reaction? He is concerned with his own well-being, and he whines about his punishment.

Gen 4:13-14 "And Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 "Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.""

d. What is the mark of Cain?

(1) Religious Jealousy, Sin, Envy—enough to do violence—the root of persecution
(2) The Pharisees had this—Mat 23:29-35 ""Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 "and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' 31 "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. 33 "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? 34 "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 "that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar."

(3) Though he was of the Evil One, Cain resented the fact that Abel was close to God! Again, this was exhibited by the Pharisees—Mat 23:13 ""But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."

(4) Why do we know that Abel was close to God? Because He obeyed God in the matter of worship— Heb 11:4 "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks."

(5) Yes, this argument was over the doctrine of salvation, and over worship. Abel knew that God required blood sacrifice, Cain wanted to worship his own way.

4. The Spirit of Cain Lives—1 John 3:13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.

“Don’t be amazed...” Imperative
the World’s hate for the true believer:

Mat 24:9 ""Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake."

Luke 6:22 "Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake."

Luke 21:17 ""And you will be hated by all for My name's sake."

John 3:19-20 ""And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed."

John 7:7 ""The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil."

John 8:23 "And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world."

John 12:31 ""Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out."

John 14:17 ""the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."

John 14:30 ""I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me."

John 15:18-19 ""If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

John 15:23 ""He who hates Me hates My Father also."

John 17:14 ""I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."