1 John 3:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

NIV: Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

NASB: Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.

CSB: Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

NLT: Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

KJV: Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

NKJV: Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

John's words in this verse have led to much controversy. Some have interpreted this to mean that anyone who has committed murder cannot become a Christian. Or, that they never were a Christian. Or that feeling hate towards a fellow Christian is an absolute sign of being lost without Christ.

The context provides a different solution. In verse 12, John has just warned believers, "We should not be like Cain." Cain murdered his brother because of his own evil deeds. Verse 15 builds on this idea. The person who hates his brother is, like Cain, a murderer. Such a person is not "abiding" in eternal life (1 John 2:9, 11). Under no circumstances can a Christian excuse hatred for another believer: such attitudes are entirely from the Devil. Those who persist in such attitudes, more likely than not, have no relationship with Christ at all.

John will build on this further in 1 John 4:20, adding, "If anyone says, ‘I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." Love is not merely a feeling, it is a choice to act. Hatred is always an act of disobedience to God.

First John 3:11–18 describes the contrast between hate and love, and how love ought to be seen in the life of a Christian believer. Evil has a jealous hatred for good. This is why Cain killed Abel, and why hatred is considered the spiritual equivalent to murder. Christians are expected to do more than feel love, they are commanded to act on it, in selfless sacrifice.

The third chapter of 1 John focuses mostly on the concept of love. Because of His love, God not only calls us His children, He actually makes us His children. John also explains how sin, including hate, is never the result of a proper relationship with God. Christians, in contrast to the world, are supposed to do more than simply ''feel'' love; we are to act on it, as well

Chapters 1 and 2 introduced the stark differences between those who truly have fellowship with Christ, as opposed to those who are ''in darkness.'' Chapter 3 continues this discussion, with a particular emphasis on love. This serves as a bridge, between John's descriptions of lives lived abiding either in darkness or light, to an explanation of how God's faithfulness gives us confidence as Christian believers.

First John seems to assume that the reader is familiar with the gospel. Rather than re-state these facts, John is concerned with building confidence in Christian believers. At the same time, his words encourage believers to examine their own lives for signs of their relationship with Christ. This letter also challenges false teachers and their incorrect claims about Jesus. Many themes are shared with the Gospel of John.