Are You Guilty of Murder?

     We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
                               1 John 3:14-15 NASB

     Once again John turns to the love of our Christian brethren as proof of our salvation (1 John 3:10-11, 14). If we cannot love those with whom we share the fellowship of Christ, how can we say we have eternal life abiding in us?
     John goes beyond the act of actually killing somebody, and says that to hate a brother is to murder that brother. Listen to what Jesus said about this very same thing.

     "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good for nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says , 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."
                         Matthew 5:21-22 NASB

     Likewise, James warns Christians that when they treated fellow believers with partiality they were committing sin. He also makes the connection to murder as Jesus, and John do.

     But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not commit murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
                             James 2:9-11 NASB

     This really makes one think soberly! God looks at the inward motives and attitudes that we hold in our hearts. We may not actually kill a person physically, but to be unjustly angry, to harbor feelings of hatred, and to show partiality, is the same in the eyes of God, who declares that NO MURDERER HAS ETERNAL LIFE IN HIM. 
     Think of all the racial prejudice in the world today. Think of how we so often despise others of lesser means than us. The poor are often treated as inferior by those who are better off than they. This is exactly what James was pointing out in the Church he addressed.
     John goes on to say that if we see a brother in need, and we can meet that need, but we close our heart towards that brother, we cannot possibly have the love of God abiding in us (1 John 3:17). This shows that we do not care about that brother, he means nothing to us, we are despising that brother in our hearts. 
     This should make us think and examine our hearts and actions to see if we can truly say we know Christ, we are born of Him, we have eternal life in us. 
     Love does not merely consist of feelings and emotions, but in deeds and action (James 2:14-17; 1 John 3:18). It is useless to wish someone well, but to refuse to help them.
     These passages deal primarily with the love of Christian brothers and sisters. Jesus also commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and shows us that our neighbor can be anyone we come across that needs our help (Luke 10:27-37). We are to treat one another as we would want to be treated (Matt 7:12). Jesus goes so far as to command that we love our enemies (Matt 5:43-48). This seems a hard saying, and indeed it goes against the way of the world. Only those who are born again of the Spirit of God are able to fulfill such an exacting command.