1 John 3:16

John, in fact, exhorts us to lay down our lives even for our brethren, affirming that there is no fear in love: "For perfect love casteth out fear, since fear has punishment; and he who fears is not perfect in love.

John tells us that we must be ready to lay down our lives for our friends. If that is true, how much more should we be ready to lay them down for Christ?

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how …

Nothing more instructs a person toward virtue than the example of enduring death for the sake of justice and divine obedience—death, I say, not of just any kind, but of the most painful sort. Nothing indeed more invites than such great kindness, by which for …

In this, we have known the love of God, etc. What kind of perfect love ought to be in us, we have learned from the example of the Lord's passion. For no one has greater love than this, that one lays down his life for …

Having finished about Cain and about evil deeds similar to his deed, he again turns to love, and says that love inclined the Lord to lay down His soul for us, and that following His example we too must lay down our souls for the …

The word God is not in the original. It was omitted by the apostle just as the particular name is omitted by Mary, when she says to the gardener, "Sir, if thou hast born him hence;" and by the church, when she says, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth," So i, 2; in both which places there is a language, a very emphatical language, even in silence.

The great God has given his Son to the death for us. But since this apostle has declared that the Word was God, and that he became flesh for us, I see not why we may not interpret this of God the Word. Here is the love of God himself, of him who in his own person is God, though not the Father, that he assumed a life, that he might lay it down for us!

), either in our ministrations and services to them ( yea, and if I be offered upon the service and sacrifice of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all --I shall congratulate your felicity, Phil. ii.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation

Hereby perceive we the love of God - This sixteenth verse of this third chapter of John’s first epistle is, in the main, an exact counterpart of the sixteenth verse of the third chapter of St. John’s gospel: God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, etc. Here the apostle says, We perceive, εγνωκαμεν, we have known, the love of God, because he laid down his life for us.

What true love to the brethren is, illustrated by the love of Christ to us. Hereby--Greek, "Herein." the love of God--The words "of God" are not in the original.

Come, Believer, and contemplate this sublime Truth of God, thus proclaimed to you in simple monosyllables—"He laid down His life for us." There is not one long word in the sentence—it is all as simple as it can be—and it is simple because it is sublime. Sublimity in thought always needs simplicity in words to express itself. Little thoughts require great words to explain them. Little preachers need Latin words to convey their feeble ideas, but great thoughts and great expressers of those thoughts are content with little words. "He laid down His life for us."

Come, Believer, and contemplate this sublime Truth of God, thus proclaimed to you in simple monosyllables—"He laid down His life for us." There is not one long word in the sentence—it is all as simple as it can be—and it is simple because it is sublime. Sublimity in thought always needs simplicity in words to express itself. Little thoughts require great words to explain them. Little preachers need Latin words to convey their feeble ideas, but great thoughts and great expressers of those thoughts are content with little words. "He laid down His life for us." Here there is not much upon which any man can display his eloquence. Here is little room for metaphysical discussion or for deep thought—the text sets before us a simple yet sublime Doctrine of God. What, then, shall I do with it? If I would speak of it profitably to myself, since I need not employ my wit to dissect it, nor my oratory to proclaim it, let me exercise my adoration to worship it! Let me prostrate all my powers before the Throne of God and, like an angel when his work is done and he has nowhere else to fly at his Lord's command, let me fold the wings of my contemplation and stand before the Throne of this great Truth and meekly bow and worship Him who Was, and Is, and is to come—the great and glorious One who "laid down His life for us." It will be well for me, in commencing my discourse, to remind you that there is no understanding the death of Christ unless we understand the Person of Christ. If I were to tell you that God died for us, although I might be telling you the truth and you might possibly not misunderstand what I meant, yet I would be, at the same time, uttering an error. God cannot die! It is, of course, impossible, from His very Nature, that He could even for a moment cease to exist! God is incapable of suffering.

[Also see Sermon No. 2958, Volume 51— "The Saints' Love to God"] TRUE love cannot long be dormant. It is like fire of an active nature—it must be at work. Love longs for expression—it cannot be dumb. Command it to be without expression and you command it not to live. And true love is not satisfied with expressing itself in words. It does use words, but it is painfully conscious of their feebleness, for the full meaning of love is not to be conveyed in any human language.

[Also see Sermon No. 2958, Volume 51— "The Saints' Love to God"] TRUE love cannot long be dormant. It is like fire of an active nature—it must be at work. Love longs for expression—it cannot be dumb. Command it to be without expression and you command it not to live. And true love is not satisfied with expressing itself in words. It does use words, but it is painfully conscious of their feebleness, for the full meaning of love is not to be conveyed in any human language. It breaks the backs of words and crushes them to atoms when it lays upon them all that it means. Love must express itself in deeds, as our old proverb says, "Actions speak more loudly than words." Love delights, too, in sacrifices. She rejoices in self-denials and the more costly the sacrifice, the better is love pleased to make it. She will not offer that which costs her nothing—she loves to endure pain, losses and crosses—and thus she expresses herself best. This is a general principle which is not only applicable to men, but it reaches even up to God, Himself, for, "God is Love," and being love, He must display love, nor can He rest with merely speaking of His love. His love must manifest itself in action. More than that, God could not rest until He had made the greatest sacrifice that He could make and had given up His only-begotten Son to die in the place of sinners. When He had done that, then He could rest in His love. God does not come to us and say, "Men and women, I love you and you must believe that I love you although I do nothing for you to prove My love." He does ask us to believe in His love and He has given us abundant proofs of it. Therefore He has a right to claim our belief in it.

Hereby perceive we the love of God - The words “of God” are not in the original, and should not have been introduced into the translation, though they are found in the Latin Vulgate, and in the Genevan versions, and in one manuscript. They would naturally convey the idea that “God” laid down his life for us; or that God himself, in his divine nature, suffered. But this idea is not expressed in this passage as it is in the original, and of course no argument can be derived from it either to prove that Christ is God, or that the divine nature is capable of suffering. The original is much more expressive and emphatic than it is with this addition: “By this we know love;” that is, we know what true love is; we see a most affecting and striking illustration of its nature. “Love itself” - its real nature, its power, its sacrifices, its influences - was seen in its highest form, when the Son of God gave himself to die on a cross. For an illustration of the sentiment, see the notes at Joh 3:16; Joh 15:13. Because he laid down his life for us - There can be no doubt that the Saviour is here referred to, though his name is not mentioned particularly. There are several instances in the New Testament where he is mentioned under the general appellation “he,” as one who was well known, and about whom the writers were accustomed to speak. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren - For the good of our fellow Christians, if it be necessary. That is, circumstances may occur where it would be proper to do it, and we ought always to be ready to do it. The spirit which led the Saviour to sacrifice his life for the good of the church, should lead us to do the same thing for our brethren if circumstances should require it. […]