I am teaching the adult class in the morning. There is one particular verse that I need to be prepared to explain exactly what it is teaching and am not entirely sure.\u00a0 What is your understanding of I John 3:16?\u00a0 Are we expected to be willing to die for another when their life is in danger and we might lose ours in protecting that person?\u00a0\u00a0(e.g. Romans 16:4)\u00a0 Or, is it referring to the interest and devotion we should manifest to our brethren even to the extent of making great and trying sacrifices?\u00a0\u00a0Or, both?<\/p>\n\t
“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<\/em>” (I John 3:16).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It is both and more. It is the concept of devoted love and the idea of meekness wrapped up into one obligation. It is more than just substituting one life for the life of another. It is the willingness to expend oneself to any extent for the betterment of others.<\/p>\n
Isn’t this the example that Jesus left for us? “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness–by whose stripes you were healed<\/em>” (I Peter 2:21-24).<\/p>\n
It is the same command husbands are given to obey. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:25-27).<\/p>\n
It is the same concept that drives soldiers to put themselves in danger in order that others in their country might live better lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I am teaching the adult class in the morning. There is one particular verse that I need to be prepared to explain exactly what it is teaching and am not entirely sure.\u00a0 What is your understanding of I John 3:16?\u00a0 Are we expected to be willing to die for another when their life is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[65,788],"class_list":["post-11070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-love","tag-meekness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20149,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-know-i-am-loving-my-brethren\/","url_meta":{"origin":11070,"position":0},"title":"How do I know I am loving my brethren?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello. I have a question about love in the biblical sense. I am a member of the church and have been for a while now, but I am confused by the meaning of love in the Bible. I know this sounds like a stupid question, but is love a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85627,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/by-this-we-know-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":11070,"position":1},"title":"By This We Know Love","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Michael Sullivan via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 1, January 2015 \"I love you.\" We live in a world that drains these words of their power. Even for many who claim to follow Christ, \"love\" has come to represent strong emotion and warm feelings toward those who are likeable, those\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12161,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-christian-love-demand-a-willingness-to-lay-down-your-life-for-a-friend\/","url_meta":{"origin":11070,"position":2},"title":"Does Christian love demand a willingness to lay down your life for a friend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: While teaching the adult class I made the statement that a true characteristic of Christian love is that one would be willing to lay down his\/her life for his\/her friends.\u00a0 One lady stated that she could not do that.\u00a0 What are your thoughts?\u00a0 How would you answer this lady's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2089,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-philosophy-of-true-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":11070,"position":3},"title":"What is the philosophy of true education?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the philosophy of true education? 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Thayer gives the varied usage of this word as \"1. to protect or keep by covering, to preserve... 2. to cover with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67464,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hard-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":11070,"position":5},"title":"Hard Words","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Somewhere along the line, our culture has been convinced that insulting people is the way to win others to their way of thinking. Harsh words that disparage intelligence coupled with character-destroying insinuations have become embedded in our arguments and disagreements. 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