1 John 3:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“For this is the message.” See how he confirms what he has said. “For this is the message that we heard from the beginning: that we should love one another.” By this he shows why he says that whoever acts against this commandment has fallen into that accursed sin. Those who are not born of God fall into it.

Therefore our love must always be shown both in respectful speech and in the manifestation of generosity.

The Lord says, “This is My commandment, that you love one another” (Jn 15:12).

The first disciples of Christ heard from Jesus Christ Himself the good tidings that one must love another, and that this is the necessary duty of every disciple of Christ. The Lord said to them, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. As I have loved you, so you also love one another" (Jn 13:34). He also bequeathed this love as the distinctive sign of His disciples. "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love among yourselves" (Jn 13:35). And again the Lord repeated, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:12-13). What the Apostles heard from their Teacher and Lord, they undoubtedly repeated themselves.

As for love of neighbor, this is not a subject proclaimed for the first time. It is the ancient testament and the oldest commandment. Therefore it would be unnecessary to enter into an explanation of its foundations. One need only know how to keep it and remember the word of the Lord: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love among yourselves” (Jn 13:35).

“This is the testament” (αγγελία = εντολή), because a testament is also the commandment of the testator. The Apostle is clearly speaking of the commandment given by Jesus Christ to the Apostles: “This is My commandment, that you love one another” (Jn 15:12). In Russian this commandment is called a proclamation, because the commandment of love constitutes the essence of Christ’s preaching and the chief subject of His Gospel.

Love for neighbors, which is one of the signs of sonship to God, is the proclamation, commandment, or testament which the readers of the epistle had heard from the beginning (cf. 1 Jn 2:7, 24). It is the fundamental commandment of Christ. “You heard from the beginning”: the first disciples of Christ heard this commandment personally from the Lord Himself (Jn 13:34-35; Jn 15:12-13). They handed it on to all to whom they preached the teaching of Christ.

This means that, according to the very Gospel of Christ, the fundamental and original Christian commandment is mutual brotherly love. It draws all the other commandments after itself. Indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said, “This is My commandment, that you love one another” (Jn 15:12). By this He, as it were, joined all the commandments together in this one commandment (cf. below, 1 Jn 4:20).

To show more clearly how the children of God may be distinguished from the children of the evil one by love and hatred, the Apostle cites the example of Cain, the fratricide. According to blessed Theophylact, Cain "hastened to become a son of the devil through evil deeds." By his wicked act he offered, as it were, a sacrifice to the father of lies (see Jn 8:44). Cain's original sin was hatred. And against whom? Against his brother. Moreover, he nourished hatred at a time when the first fall had only begun to bring forth its fruits. Is it surprising that now, with evil more greatly developed in the world, many hate Christians?