Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
Whoever hates his brother is a murderer,
The word “whoever” here refers to Christians, carnal Christians. A Christian can murder and even a fellow Christian at that, according to this verse. Note John’s use of “brother” in this phrase.
1 Pe 4:15, “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters.”
The word “murderer” is literally manslayer. Murder is the full expression of hatred (Mt 5:21-22). The only other occurrence of this word is in John 8:44, where Jesus used it of the Devil.
Hatred is the mental equivalent of murder. Protracted hatred moves to murder, to get rid of the object hated. Hatred is the inevitable precursor to murder.
PRINCIPLE:
The Christian who hates his brother commits a form of mental murderer.
APPLICATION:
Some Christians feel that if they refrain from physically murdering people they hate, they do just fine. The biblical view is that if you hate, you are in the same class as a murderer. I wonder how many murderers will sit in your church this Sunday.
People in church look wonderful, but they may not look so wonderful if we could read their minds. However, God does read our minds. There has never been a thought that God did not read, yet He loves us with infinite love. Amazingly, He loves us after knowing everything about what we do and think.
God does not love us because we gain brownie points with Him; He loves us out of His own character. God does not love us because we give to the church or because we share our faith. It is not what I do; it is what Jesus did that impresses God.
Some Christians are very implacable. These types are very miserable people to be around. Their rigidity tries to make everyone around them conform to their viewpoint and will. This is not love but selfishness. Fellow Christians catch on to this attitude very quickly.
Implacable people may appear to have a very nice personality, but others will bypass them. It is one of the most miserable things in the world to be around an implacable person. Their pseudo spirituality cannot cover this sin. They cannot fake spirituality very long.
The commentator says,
The word “whoever” here refers to Christians, carnal Christians.
If that is true, then we can do it like this:
Carnal Christian hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no Carnal Christian has eternal life abiding in him.
Conclusion: Carnal Christians are not true Christians at all, because they have no eternal life in them.
Nestor, the apostle John has been talking about believers from verse 11 . Even in this verse the “brother” is a fellow Christian. Keep the context in mind.
Also, continue in the next study (3:15b) to see the completion of the argument.
Apostle John did not have in mind “carnal Christians” when he wrote “whoever” in verse 15a, as well as in verse 14b. He is simply saying general truth: “whoever does not love abides in death”, “whoever hates his brother is a murderer”. The “whoever” in these verses is “whoever” or “everyone”, plain and simple. The attitude of not loving and hating anyone is unchristian and sinful. A professing Christian who KEEPS in his heart this attitude, should examine his profession.
Nestor, To hate a brother corresponds to the experience of murdering someone. He would be no different than Cain in attitude (v.12) even though he does not commit the physical act of killing his brother. It is the spirit of a murderer.
The NIV incorrectly translates this verse by omitting the word “abiding.” Therefore, the point is not “No murderer has eternal life in him.” The better translation would be “No murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” The focus is on “abiding.” John’s use of abiding is always a reciprocal relationship (Jn 15:4; 1 Jn 2:27). To claim that someone does not have eternal life abiding in him is equivalent to the idea that he does not have Christ abiding in him. The argument here is that of stigmatizing hatred for a brother, an attitude that is inconsistent with true spiritual life. To hate is to lose vital experience with the life of God.
The parallel to “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” is someone who “does not love.” The idea is a person who actively hates or loves a brother. Love and hate are mutually exclusive dimensions; there is no neutrality between them. Hatred and murder belong to the same category. Someone who hates has committed the same category as murder. The fundamental motive in hate is the same as the overt act of murder. An attitude creates an outcome (hatred).
The Greek word “you know” (οἴδατε) denotes knowledge that is axiomatic. It is common knowledge that the spirit of hatred or murder is inconsistent with the nature of a born-again person— “that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
“Everyone” allows for no exception; the idea would be every person whose governing spirit is hatred is a murderer. To make this claim is inconsistent with what is real and is also conflicts with Scripture as a whole. We cannot take this verse to mean that it is impossible for a genuine Christian to hate a fellow Christian. The assertion is “anyone” who hates his brother is at issue here. The argument is not that only non-believers can hate here but that another Christian can hate “his brother” (see https://versebyversecommentary.com/1-john/1-john-29/).
To claim that a true believer cannot hate or even murder is an extrapolation that goes beyond the context. John’s argument is one of radical contrasts. David committed both adultery and murder as a believer (2 Sa 12:9). He wrote Scripture (Pss 32 and 51) after committing these sins. Jesus said that hatred of another believer is tantamount to murder (Mt 5:21-22) and lust to adultery (Mt 5:28). A Christian can suffer “as a murderer” (1 Pe 4:15).
The argument is not that “no murderer has eternal life” but that “no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” John did not say that the believer would not possess eternal life but that it would not “abide” in him. It is the experience of “abiding” rather than the possession of eternal life in view here. The believer experiences the same kind of life that a non-believer would experience if he lives with hate. He cannot claim to be in fellowship with the Lord in this state. Hatred is incompatible with spiritual life. God does not dominate this kind of life. The person who is controlled by the life of God in him cannot hate another believer. A person can be a believer and hate but he cannot hate while living the kind of life God affords. The aorist active participle μένουσαν places emphasis on the abiding of eternal life. “Abiding” in fellowship is the argument of the entire epistle of First John.
Well, I don’t buy for so much words. But I think you are missing my point. I want to go back to my first comment, where I said,
‘The commentator says, The word “whoever” here refers to Christians, carnal Christians.’
Now, you have to PROVE that this is INDEED TRUE. And you must prove that the word refers to carnal Christians, because you emphasized it.
Nestor, first, nothing can be proved from studying the word “everyone” or “all” (Πᾶς) in itself. The context must determine the antecedent of Πᾶς. John has used this term (pas) 8 times since 2:29. πᾶς ὁ is used in First John 3:3 for the believer. Verse 15 continues the point made in verse 11, “For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” “One another” is the Christians community. Πᾶς (“all”) at the beginning of the verse 15 makes clear that the address is to the whole believing community (Jn 2:23).
Πᾶς (“all”) at the beginning of the verse again makes clear that the address is to the whole community. πᾶς ὁ μισῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἐστίν, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer.” John begins with another principle directed at believers. Using the πᾶς ὁ construction, John states an all-inclusive truth that arises from the illustration of Cain and Abel. The present participle describes a kind of person (application of the gnomic sense) rather than indicating continuous activity.
πᾶς ὁ μισῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἐστίν, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer.” The introductory formula πᾶς ὁ … (literally, “everyone who …”) is characteristic of the writer’s style in this part of First John (cf. 3:3, 4, 6, 9, 10) referring to believers. Abruptly, and pointedly, the concept of “not loving” (μὴ ἀγαπῶν) in v 14 is identified as “hating” (μισῶν). For the contrast between hatred and love of one’s brother see 2:9–11; 4:20. By speaking here of the object of mutual hatred as τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ (“his brother”) John may have been referring initially to the lack of love which already existed among the members of his church.
What John says about hate and murder here is as true for believers as unbelievers. However, because he identifies this hatred as directed toward one’s fellow believer, he is applying this truth to the church community to which he writes. The entire argument of First John pivots around fellowship with the Lord first then with fellowship with fellow believers secondly (See my Introduction to 1 John at the top of the page).
Since hatred is directed toward a Christian brother, the emphasis is on the significance of “hating” other Christians. How one “hates” another Christian will be clarified later in the epistle. For now, though, John makes the contrast and describes the significance.
What is important is that the community should not participate in the murderous nature of the world. Therefore, they are forbidden to hate and commanded to love. Such an indirect warning can be connected to the state of the community’s knowledge (for οἴδατε, cf. v. 14), according to which hatred and murder on the one hand, and Christian existence on the other, are mutually exclusive.
I believe you have enlightened me very well in understanding the passage. Thank you for your gracious patience.
Anyone who has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ will not lose their eternal life even if they become backsliden and let the devil put hatred in their hearts. John was referring to the fact that their wittiness to the saving grace of God and the message of eternal life would suffer.