in a loving concern for our fellow- Christians (cf. 3:14). The perfect love that casts out fear, casts out hatred ¡also. If God’s love for us is made perfect when we love one an other (12), so is our love for God. John does not mince his words. If what a man is contradicts what he says, he is a liar. To claim to know God and have fellowship with God while we walk in the darkness of disobedience is to lie (1:6, 2:4). To claim to possess the Father while denying the deity of the Son is to lie (2:22, 23). To claim to love God while hating the brethren is to lie also. These are the three black lies of the Epistle — moral, doctrinal and social. However loudly we may affirm ourselves to be Christian, our habitual sin, denial of Christ and selfish hatred expose us as the liars we are. Only holiness, faith and love
can prove the truth of our claim to know, possess and love God. That it is ludicrous for a man to say he loves God while he hates his brother should be clear from the fact that he can see his brother but can not see God. Indeed, the verb indi cates not only that he “can” see his brother, but also that he hath seen him; he has him “continually before his eyes” (Plummer), with ample opportunity to serve him in love. It is obviously easier to love and serve a visible man than an invisible God, and if we fail in the easier task, it is absurd to claim success in the harder. “It is a false boast when anyone says that he loves God but neglects His image which is before his eyes” (Calvin). According to a reading followed by RV, RSV, NEB, the sentence is in the form not of a question (how can he?), but of an
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