“For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
My Notes
What Does 1 John 3:11 Mean?
John takes his readers all the way back to the beginning — the very first message they received when they came to faith: "that we should love one another." This isn't a new teaching; it's the original one. And John is concerned that in all the theological complexity and community conflicts that have arisen, this foundational command might be getting buried.
The marginal note indicates that "message" could also be translated "commandment," which reinforces John's point: this isn't just information to be received — it's an instruction to be obeyed. The gospel doesn't simply announce that God loves us; it commands us to love each other in response.
John writes this in the context of combating false teachers who claimed spiritual enlightenment while fracturing the community. For John, the test of true teaching is always relational: does it produce love? If a theology makes you smarter but not kinder, it has failed the most basic test.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Has your faith journey made you more loving or more opinionated — and how can you tell?
- 2.Why do you think love gets buried under theological complexity so easily?
- 3.Who is the 'one another' in your life that's hardest to love right now?
- 4.What would change if you treated love as the primary test of whether your beliefs are working?
Devotional
It's striking that John calls love "the message from the beginning" — not grace, not salvation, not even faith, but love. Not because those other things don't matter, but because love is the container that holds them all. Every doctrine eventually has to express itself in how you treat the person standing in front of you.
We have a tendency to complicate our faith until the original simplicity gets lost. We add qualifications, theological nuances, denominational distinctives, and personal preferences until the straightforward command to love one another is buried under layers of sophistication. John keeps pulling us back: this is the message. This has always been the message.
The word "another" matters too. John isn't talking about loving humanity in general — he's talking about loving each other. The specific, inconvenient, sometimes-annoying people in your actual life. The ones who disagree with you, disappoint you, or drain you. Love one another.
If your faith has made you more theologically precise but less loving, something has gone wrong. Not because theology doesn't matter, but because it was never meant to replace the message you heard from the beginning.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
For this is the message,.... Sent from God by Christ, or what he in his ministry declared, and is the commandment which…
For this is the message - Margin, “commandment.” In the received text, this is ἀγγελία angelia - “a message brought;”…
For this is the message - See Jo1 1:5. From the beginning God hath taught men that they should love one another. How…
The apostle, having intimated that one mark of the devil's children is hatred of the brethren, takes occasion thence,
I.…
For this is the message that ye heard, &c. Or, Because the message which ye heard from the beginning is this: -this" is…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture