They will know we are Christians by our love

I don’t mean to pick on song lyrics. If I did, I would pick on some other ones.

As I was reading the Bible recently I ran across a passage that reminded me of this old song, “They’ll Know We Are Christians”. It must have been the passage where they got the inspiration for the lyrics, for it says “…we know who the children of God are… nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” –parts of 1 John 3:10. Yes, you got the picture, it’s only part of the story, and it’s a negative instead of a positive. Let’s look at the whole passage in context.

1 John 3:7-10, “⁷Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. ⁹No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”

This passage points first to our actions, not that we can earn our own salvation by our actions, but our actions can be evidence of our adoptions as children of God. This is along the same lines of reasoning as James 2:18, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” Likewise, this also does not mean that we act perfectly, for we see Paul’s famous phrase in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” And in verse 21, “When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.”

As far as love in the first passage, we look forward in the same chapter to see how John defines love. We need to love, not just with our words, but with action and sacrifice, as our savior did.

1 John 3:16-20, “¹⁶This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? ¹⁸Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. ¹⁹This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence ²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”

What shall we sing then? They will know we are Christians by our faith, evidenced by our actions, done in sacrificial love.