3:16 In contrast to the murderer Cain's act, we see love in Jesus Christ's laying down His life for us (cf. John 10:11). This is the opposite of taking another person's life as Cain did. Jesus Christ laid down His life once, and we ought to lay ours down habitually in self-sacrificing love, as the tenses of the Greek verbs suggest.
"Most people associate Christianity with the command to love, and so they think that they know all about Christianity when they have understood its teaching in terms of their own concept of love. John found it necessary to explain clearly to his readers what he meant by love . . . .
"Love means readiness to do anything for other people."134
3:17 We may not have the opportunity to save a brother's life by dying in his place. Nevertheless we can and should do the next best thing, namely, sustaining his life when he has needs.
3:18 The evidence of genuine love is not verbal professions but vital performances, deeds rather than words (cf. 1 Cor. 13:1; James 2:15-16).
"The major concern of this passage is to encourage obedient and active love from all those who claimed allegiance to the Johannine church."135
