<p>3:15- see on Mt. 5:22.</p><p><em>Whoever hates his brothers is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him</em>- The allusion to Cain and Jn. 8:44 is continued; he was &quot;the murderer from the beginning&quot;, the archetypical murderer. The Lord of course taught that hate is tantamount to murder. But the great murder in view was the Jewish murder of the Lord (Mt. 22:7; Acts 7:52). &quot;Eternal life&quot; in John's Gospel is a present gift, received now and abiding in our hearts, &quot;in him&quot;; the life of the Lord Jesus, His spirit, the ability to live now as we shall eternally. This cannot abide in us if we hate our brother. For murder is related to death; and we have life abiding in us. The Greek for &quot;hate&quot; carries the idea of 'to detest'; we must ask ourselves if we detest any of our brethren. It seems apparent that many cannot answer that question very well.</p><p>&ldquo;Eternal life&quot; should be read as referring more to the <em>quality</em> of that life, rather than its eternal duration being the fundamental construct behind our conception of the Kingdom. This is how the phrase &quot;eternal life&quot; seems to be used in John's letters (1 Jn.1:1-3; 2:24,25; 3:15; 5:11,13). We must not be like the rich young man who desperately asked: &quot;What must <em>I do</em> that <em>I</em> may have <em>eternal life</em>?&quot;, as if he saw having eternal life as the ultimate possession to get under his own belt. Notice how our Lord's reply described 'having eternal life' as 'entering into life', 'having treasure in heaven', 'entering the Kingdom of God', rather than personally possessing eternal life (Mt.19:16-23).</p>