Loving the Brethren

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 2, 1904

Loving the Brethren.

"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." 1 John 3:14. We have frequently heard people use this text as tho passing from death unto life were a reward for loving the brethren. A San Francisco journal quotes a clergyman of national repute as saying, "I know I pass from death unto life by loving the brethren." If this were true, men could earn salvation, but we know that this is beyond human power. "By grace are ye saved." Loving the brethren is not the cause of the transition from death unto life, but it is the evidence of such a condition. Love is a fruit of the Spirit, therefore one must be born of the Spirit before he can love the brethren. Through a love of the brethren comes a knowledge of a change of heart. "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in Himself" (Ch. 5:10; Rom. 8:16), and it is manifested in love of the brethren. Here is another point in which many people are deceived,—they mistake sentimentality for love. Love is not a mere sentiment, or sensational feeling; it is action. Like faith, without works it is dead. For the real meaning of love of the brethren, we consult the Word; and here we find that to love the "children of God" (or "the brethren") is to "love God, and keep His commandments." 1 John 5:2. Anything short of this is not recognized by the Lord as love of the brethren.