Hatred and eternal life are incompatible

1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. In this verse John taught that the presence of eternal life in an individual is incompatible with hatred and murder. According to the Holy Spirit, who inspired John to write, hatred of a brother makes one a murderer. This helps us to know that if we have any feelings of hatred for someone in our minds, it’s not from Jesus, but from the flesh or from the demonic realm. As I listen and read the news it seems that the spirit of murder is growing in the world. The content of the news often provides one example after another of hatred spewing forth from one ethnic group toward another, members of certain political groups spew out hatred toward people who disagree with them. There’s a growing hatred for believers in Christ in the world. We should not be surprised when that hatred manifests itself in the murder of Christians. We see it in other countries around the world, and we shouldn’t think that it can’t happen in the U.S. Hatred in the heart is murderous. John’s point was that hatred should never be expressed between brothers in Christ. It makes me think that at the time of John’s writing, there were some in the assembly that called themselves believers who did have hatred in their hearts toward others in the church. He wanted them to know that those people were devoid of eternal life. They were spiritually dead, and were not to be listened to. These things were written so that God’s children might not be deceived by the tares sown by the enemy in God’s field. He intended them to have discernment based on the spiritual DNA which produced visible qualities reflective of one’s father. Jesus taught His disciples that the devil was a murderer from the beginning. He hated God and he hates His children. So one would expect the children of the devil to also hate God and His children to the degree that they would murder them. The one with hatred in his heart needs to be warned that he is in danger of eternal destruction. Those of us who live to love with Jesus should show mercy to those who are held in the death grip of hatred and murder. They are in a miserable condition, but God is merciful. He sent His Son, to destroy the works of the devil and to set them free to love with Jesus. If God puts someone in our paths today who hate us, may He also give us grace to display His mercy to them. May He use us to rescue them from Satan’s grip.