NOTES for Jo1 3:11-24

Hatred is a manifestation of evil, a sinful passion, and a very dangerous one. We can, of course, excuse ourselves by saying that what we hate is evil, which ought indeed to be hated; and hatred is mentioned more than once in the Bible in this sense. That is true, but the trouble is that our human hatred slips all too easily from evil to those who are afflicted by it as by an infection. Then, while seemingly fighting evil, we ourselves imperceptibly become its bearers and spreaders, capable of the very actions that irritate us in our opponents. (And is it not precisely because we see ourselves when we look at them that these actions irritate us?) Yet the apostle calls everyone who hates their brother a murderer. One might slyly object that he speaks only of brothers, and that if outsiders hate us, our renunciation of hatred does not extend to them. But we dare not forget that the Teacher answered the similar question of whom to regard as one's neighbour with the parable of the Samaritan, and that He also called us to love our enemies.

We may draw near to God if our heart—or, apparently, to put it another way, our conscience—does not condemn us. Yet the heart may lose its sensitivity because it has become hardened through numerous unrepented sins. Will the Lord reject such a person's appeal? The Lord is merciful; He cares for everyone, and who is without sin? Still, if we think He does not hear us, we should consider whether the reason we do not receive what we ask for lies in us. Are we asking for something good, and are we standing before Him with a heart of stone?