God' s
commandments can be summed up in the the words: "Love God and love
people". (Luke 10:27) Loving anonymous "people" is often a
cop-out because it cannot really be tested. When celebrities say: "We love
people", they are probably thinking about their fans. That is why the
command refers to a "neighbour"; that is an individual like my
husband, wife, colleague or someone who crosses my path. It also takes for
granted that I love myself.
According to Micah 6:8 we are merely
required to do what is right, have compassion and acknowledge God in our
actions. John applied these same criteria to distinguish between real and fake
Christians. His letters were written to Christians who experienced challenges
to their faith. John encouraged them to apply these tests to themselves and to
those who tried to deceive them. Those "antichrists" were perverting
the original message by which they were saved:
In the first place genuine believers live
righteously. (1 John 2:3-6) Secondly, they love one another. (1 John 3:14) The
third characteristic of those who belong to God is that they believe that Jesus
is the Jewish Messiah. (1 John 5:1)
Paul wrote that faith, hope and love
"remain". (1 Corinthians 13:13) Our faith is in Jesus who saved us.
(John 1:12) The hope we have that Jesus is coming soon helps us to live clean
lives. (1 John 3:3) By the love we have for one another everyone can see we
belong to Jesus. (John 13:35)
