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You are here: Home / Bible / New Testament / brother love and conditionalism

brother love and conditionalism

May 4, 2020 By Jefferson Vann Leave a Comment

Photo by Kat Jayne from Pexels

In “brother love and conditionalism” Jefferson Vann shows that John’s message of brother love in 1 John 3:11-16 is intertwined with conditionalism.

1 John 3:11-16 ESV

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.
13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.
15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

brother love and conditionalism

John’s message of brother love is intertwined with conditionalism.

Notice, for example, that there is no assumption of natural immortality in this text. Believers are encouraged to love their brothers, even if that should mean laying down their lives for them.

Oh, but the traditionalist will counter that John was only referring to the life of the body, not the immortal existence of the soul. But wait a minute, what John actually refers to is laying down tas psuchas (the souls)! So, it is a reference to the soul’s mortality as well as that of the body.

But our traditionalist friend will not give up so easily. He counters that the passage states that believers have eternal life dwelling in them already. Certainly that can mean nothing if not a reference to a continued existence after departure from the body.

But such is not the case. The statement is conditionalist. If only one group has eternal life then the contrasting group does not. Traditionalist teaching requires that all people have eternal life within them.

John compares believers today with Abel, and unbelievers with Cain. It would do us all well to remember that in Genesis, both Cain and Abel are represented as mortals. Cain struck Able, and Abel died as a result. Cain buried his brother in the ground, and the Lord saw it. The Lord approached Cain and told him that his brother’s blood cried out to him from the ground. That is not a reference to Abel’s survival at death, but the opposite.

We can all agree that loving our brothers and sisters is a way of showing our new relationship with God through Christ. The eternal life within us is not a natural immortality. It is a supernatural adoption into God’s family, and it will result in our inheriting immortality at our resurrection. Showing mutual love demonstrates that inheritance.

For more on conditional immortality, see:

conditionalism is fair

the way of the wicked

theological contamination

Psalm 58

Two Legs to Stand On

an invitation to study God’s exclusive immortality

Should we modify conditional immortality?

a coming kingdom

The Clarity of Scripture and Conditionalism

Preaching the Message of Conditional Immortality

throwing away the earthly tent

tomorrow – ready

Destroyed from God’s Presence

Is the Resurrection Necessary?

three ruined outfits

Anything but the blood of Jesus: How (some) traditionalists downplay the death of Christ

Did Paul Have an Out of Body Experience?

So, Why Didn’t They Tell Me That In Church?

not enough | Ecclesiastes 6

the promise | eternal life

the bloody city

looking at 1 Thessalonians 5:10

Communication with the Dead

let my soul live

the curse of immortality

exchanging this world for heaven

The context of 1 Timothy 6:16

Afterlife: After or Beyond?

Not Convinced By Arguments For Conditionalism?

The meaning of appollumi (ἀπόλλυμι)

Glory of Jesus | The Humiliated Lord

The Spirits in Prison: I Peter 3:18-20:

What is Life ? Life is…

What is an evangelical ?

Waking a friend | The dead are sleeping

What Happens when we die

victory through resurrection

from temporary to permanent

Love Wins by Rob Bell | Book Review

 

About Jefferson Vann

Jefferson Vann pastors Piney Grove Advent Christian Church in Delco, North Carolina, USA. He is a teacher, Bible translator, and avid blogger. "My hope is that everyone who reads my writings will have an opportunity to understand the gospel, and will know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior." He has written books on theology and Bible commentary. You can read more of Jeff's writing at Devotions  |  Jefferson Vann | Commands of Christ | Learning Koine Greek Together

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