Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Love without pretense means love that is sincere and genuine, free from hypocrisy, deceit and mere show. To hate what is evil means to reject sin and have no part in it, and to hold to what is good means to cling firmly to whatever leads to God and to the well-being of others. In the church this calls believers united as members of one body to be of the same mind, kindly affectioned with brotherly love, preferring one another in honor and refusing proud self-exaltation, domination and censorious rule over one another. Such love is shown in kind, courteous, forgiving conduct even toward the unjust and discouraging, without retaliation, yet it does not excuse wrongdoing but rebukes it to save souls, hating sin while seeking to save sinners. Faithfully living this out in daily duty, mercy, diligence, prayer and hospitality transforms the church and secures eternal treasure, while mere profession without a heart given to Christ is worthless and will leave neglecters with no part in the kingdom.
Words and Chapter Setting
Love without dissimulation is love that is sincere and genuine, with no hypocrisy, no pretense, and no deceitful show. It is a practical command to be carried out in daily life, calling believers to hate what is evil and to hold fast firmly to what is good. This sincere love belongs with brotherly affection, honoring others, mutual honor, diligence, spiritual fervor, hope, patience, and prayer in the faithful use of different gifts, and heeding it would bring a great transformation in the church. It is not a deceitful pretense that excuses wrongdoing or blurs right and wrong, and it hates sin while remaining kind, compassionate, and forgiving toward sinners and willing to sacrifice to save them, even when faithfulness requires giving up association or friendship with the ungodly. It comes from faith working through love which purifies the soul from emulation and strife, and it stands as caution and exhortation to workers in publishing houses, sanitariums, and ministry who cherish tendencies to wrong, try to bear rule over one another, and lack repentance and daily conversion.
To abhor evil is to hate and reject evil, to have no link with sin, and to refuse to strengthen any evil work. It has nothing to do with worldly, underhanded, sharp schemes that may seem to benefit self but injure another. To cleave to good is to hold fast firmly to what is good with a cemented, unalterable attachment to whatever leads to God and contributes to the well-being of fellow creatures. Sincere love does not end with soft words but rejects evil by giving reproof and sharp rebuke when needed to bring back those out of the right way, working moral renovation of the heart so souls do not perish in sin, and it holds fast to good in daily character with family religion and holiness honored by pure words full of sympathy, tenderness, and love, which exposes spurious faith and proves true Christianity.
The verse belongs to the practical instruction of Romans 12 on religious duty and Christian conduct toward one another. That chapter is a history for all churches and teaching of high value that calls the work of God to a higher plane of action, to be studied prayerfully with its whole chapter and obeyed in small matters as well as large, above all at this late time in the history of the earth. As members of the heavenly family Christians are by this rule to help and strengthen each other with sincere love that hates evil and holds fast to good, which is part of overcoming as Christ overcame and following His example instead of walking in darkness, so as to win heaven and sit with Christ on His throne. In that instruction all who hold position in the church as shepherds must represent the great Shepherd, and all masterly, dominating ruling power that dictates to the Lord's people what they shall and shall not do is a strange and dangerous element, not of God and must no longer be allowed. The verse means every member of the church has a work to do, with different members fitted for different kinds of work and not all able to do the same work to the best advantage, all blending together into a complete whole.
Its setting is the picture of many members in one body with different gifts and offices according to grace. Every member has a special work to fill his appointed place with the gift given him, not counting his own gift above all other gifts and not thinking more highly of self than ought to be thought, but making his gift helpful by connecting it with the gifts of others, wearing Christ's yoke and drawing under His leading in humble cooperation with brethren as individual organs contribute to the perfection of the physical body. Joined to being kindly affectioned with brotherly love and preferring one another in honor, it calls those brought together in church life to be one as Christ is one with the Father, united understandingly with converted mind, affections, motives, and powers worked by the same Spirit in peace. The variety of gifts are to be brought into the building of the temple of the Lord, each finding its proper place and growing into an holy temple in the Lord as God's husbandry and God's building, each gift appreciated as essential for advancing God's cause so that the sons of God represent Him in the midst of rebels and in a crooked and perverse nation, with love shown in not judging a brother and putting no stumblingblock in his way and refusing to shut within self. Neglect of these instructions contributes to discord and strife that dishonor God.
Unity and Humble Service
Those joined in church life are to be one as Christ is one with the Father, united understandingly and intelligently with converted mind, affections, motives and powers worked by the same Spirit in peace. Genuine love without pretense or dissimulation, hating what is evil and holding fast to what is good, produces that unity among members, expressed in tender brotherly affection, sympathy and kindness with one another. Such love is unselfish, cheerful and bright-sided, free from suspicion and distrust, with heart bound to heart in confidence and respect, honoring others above self and giving honor to one another rather than to self. It belongs with being subject one to another and clothed with humility, so that God's people are disciplined into harmony of action, seeing eye to eye and being of the same mind and judgment, and love for one another thus becomes evidence of discipleship rather than publishing opposing views in a way that breaks unity and turns conflict against fellow workers as brethren. It is given by God in answer to earnest prayer when workers submit to Christ to be shaped by Him and manifest confidence and love for one another.
Sincere, unfeigned love is to be kindly affectioned with brotherly love, preferring one another in honor, thinking soberly and refusing to think more highly of self than ought to be thought. It is shown in humility, thoughtfulness, diligence, spiritual fervor, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patience in tribulation and trouble, constancy in prayer, sharing with the needs of the saints, and hospitality. To cleave to good is expressed in that kindly brotherly love and honoring others above self, rejecting worldly, underhanded schemes that seem to benefit self but harm another, for selfishness and covetousness corrupt the heart and make service unacceptable. Shaped by humility and brotherly love, this principle governs daily conduct so believers show unity and do not misrepresent Christ through harshness, roughness, or disregard of His Word. Joined to hating evil and holding firmly to good, it calls for self-denial and self-sacrifice with no excess in overcoming evil with good, resisting every small outflow of money to gratify taste for frivolous things and useless ornaments in the home and turning every penny and shilling and pound into channels that glorify God.
All masterly, dominating ruling power that charges upon the Lord's people what they shall do and shall not do is a strange and dangerous element, not of God, another gospel, not the righteousness of Christ, a spoil to the church, and must no longer be allowed. All who hold position in the church as shepherds must represent the great Shepherd, and all in church position must wear Christ's yoke and draw under His leading in humble cooperation with brethren rather than proud, dictatorial independence. Trying to bear rule over one another, with inherited and cultivated tendencies to wrong cherished without repentance and daily conversion, stands under caution and exhortation until converted, and is to be studied prayerfully with the whole chapter to understand the gifts that make the church the light of the world. An arbitrary, dictatorial, censorious and overbearing judging spirit, with all malice and harsh, condemning spirit, must be put away from the home and from Christian relationships, with tenderness and compassion practiced instead, and with self kept under control in order to continue in usefulness. For each individual member contributes to the perfection of the spiritual body as individual organs contribute to the perfection of the physical body, making continued usefulness and the standard of perfection possible so past success is not lost when the warning is heeded.
Neglect of this vital instruction leaves it out of the practice of professing Christians and produces discord and strife that dishonor God. That lack of unity and mutual love grieves the angels of God and the Spirit of God. For that reason He withholds the power He desires to impart to glorify His name before the world and before the heavenly universe, a lesson to be understood and practiced by everyone, especially those laboring in ministry and medical-missionary work, above all at this late time in the history of the earth. Disobeying these instructions while expecting God's blessing would dishonor Him and harm the workers.
As members of the heavenly family Christians are to help and strengthen each other with sincere love that hates evil and holds fast to good, laying down one of the principles for the conduct of Christians toward one another. Working by this rule is part of overcoming as Christ overcame, following His example instead of walking in darkness and joining in helping others to overcome. So doing leads to winning heaven and sitting with Christ on His throne.
Sincere Love Toward Others
Genuine love shows itself in kind, considerate, courteous conduct in practical daily life, in family religion and holiness honored by pure, clean words full of sympathy, tenderness, pity and love, and in Christian courtesy that holds the temper and sweetens the disposition. It requires a softened and refined heart that puts away an arbitrary, dictatorial, censorious and overbearing judging spirit with all malice from the home, and it exercises self-control and self-discipline to act kindly consistently rather than according to changing feelings. This steadiness matters because the same spirit shown in the home will be carried into the church. Love received from God becomes an active power that enlarges capacity to care for others, so that those who love God supremely show respectful, considerate courtesy to fellow believers.
This kindness and courtesy is to be shown even toward brethren and others who are suspicious, unjust, unsympathetic, critical, tempting or discouraging. It holds back the tongue from evil speaking and the lips from guile that weakens the hands of fellow workers, and it respects God's workers as laborers together with God, for failure to respect them offends God. It refuses retaliation in thought or action, refuses to withdraw from such persons or respond with hostility, and instead does God's work with steadfast purpose and purity while walking humbly before God, expecting little from men and trusting Christ's presence and help in every time of need and temptation. Such kindness is not weakness and it always pays.
Sincere love does not end with soft words and does not excuse wrongdoing, blur right and wrong, or agree with a transgressor to avoid showing his errors. It gives reproof and sharp rebuke when needed to bring back those out of the right way, working moral renovation of the heart so souls do not perish in sin. True, unselfish love of this kind exposes spurious faith and proves true Christianity by holding fast to good in daily character.
Christians are to hate sin while remaining kind, compassionate and forgiving toward sinners, refusing harmony with sin yet willing to sacrifice to save them. Christ's Spirit leads them to make such sacrifices even when faithfulness requires giving up association or friendship with the ungodly.
In congregations and in institutions for healing the sick, publishing and education, sincere love means treating fellow workers as brethren rather than publishing opposing views in a way that breaks unity and turns conflict against them, for love for one another is evidence of discipleship. It is shown by being merciful, just and honest, by taking interest that each person is directed to his proper work so hands do not grow weary and heavy, and by caring for the flock with tender words, kind consideration, tangible help and encouraging counsel that does not extinguish the last spark of courage in the soul. When this sincere love governs dealings at work it builds trust and respect and makes institutions a witness to the transforming power of sanctifying truth. This command has been greatly neglected and decided changes are required, and those who neglect it will be surprised at the judgment by the record of their lives and will have no part in the kingdom of heaven.
This love comes from faith working through love, which purifies the soul from emulation and strife. Love for God and Christ is to grow daily, and this genuine love belongs with active faith and should grow as love for God and Christ grows. Among fellow laborers it means love without suspicion and distrust, with heart bound to heart in confidence, respect and unity, given by God in answer to earnest prayer when workers submit to Christ to be shaped by Him and manifest confidence and love for one another.
Rejecting Evil and Holding Good
To abhor evil is to refuse to strengthen any evil work and to have nothing to do with worldly, underhanded, sharp schemes that may seem to benefit oneself while injuring another. This includes refusing to use talents of influence by pen or voice on Satan's side of the question, and those who have done so must stop and do it no longer. Selfishness and covetousness corrupt the heart and make service unacceptable to Christ, but remembering that all are brethren helps keep love free from such selfish conduct.
To cleave to what is good is obedience to a Thus saith the Lord, with unity of action seen among believers as members one of another. It requires turning from sin and choosing conduct shaped by God's transforming grace. That cleaving calls for self-denial and self-sacrifice that overcomes evil with good, being won from every species of idolatry and breaking every thread, even the finest, that binds to worldly habits diverting mind and affections from God. It puts away useless ornaments that waste time and money and firmly resists every small outflow of money to gratify taste for frivolous things in the home.
Money thus saved is turned into channels that glorify God, made to flow to relieve suffering, relieve poor families, clothe the naked, and feed the hungry. Time and money are spent to buy books that enlighten the mind in present truth, to write to friends, and to send papers and books to those who know not the truth. In this way believers are severed from idols and linked to the throne of God by grace and truth.
The command guards against apostasy, for evil cherished in the heart can separate people from God and lead them away from truth, and hating evil while holding fast to good helps resist that fall. Resisting requires rejecting pride, unholy desires, evil thoughts, and anything that separates the soul from Jesus. Love to Christ makes a person hate what Christ hates and love what Christ loves. When Christ lives in the heart and shapes the life, His presence fills the soul with abhorrence of evil and keeps evil surroundings from staining the believer, making him one with Christ in thought and purpose. He creates a new, pure, elevated, holy moral taste that keeps up constant and unceasing warfare against inward corruption, and even children of tender age can experience this change when their hearts are drawn out in confidence and love for Jesus and the whole current of their thoughts is changed.
Obedience Blessing and Warning
The verse lists precious gifts and duties required especially of those in church position, to be shown in steady duty at one's post rather than acting by impulse, feeling, wishes and ease, pleasing God rather than self and enduring hardness as a soldier of the cross. That steady love without pretense is expressed in giving with simplicity, ruling with diligence, showing mercy with cheerfulness, being kindly affectioned with brotherly love, preferring one another in honor, diligence in business, fervor in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patience in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the need of saints, and hospitality. It also means loving one another as brethren with kindness and courtesy, refusing to shut within self, not judging a brother and putting no stumblingblock or occasion to fall in his way, while the variety of gifts is brought into building the temple of the Lord, each finding its proper place.
Heeding this practical call to use different gifts faithfully would bring a great transformation in the church. It is lived out by taking light from the Word and forming into companies to work for others, in Christian courtesy that holds the temper and sweetens the disposition. It requires harmony between profession and practice, learning to distinguish sentiment from reality.
Outward connection with the church and zeal in church work are worthless unless the principles of truth are cherished in the heart and Christ abides within. A wide difference between profession and practice causes unbelievers to lose confidence in the truth. When the heart is given wholly to Christ, the life reveals the fruit of the Spirit in zeal according to knowledge, in harmony with Bible truth and duty, in holiness unto the Lord, and in a kind spirit full of usefulness and helpfulness.
Practicing these good works is a wise and perfectly safe investment that secures treasure in heaven, a constant accumulation giving title to eternal life when life closes and probation ends. Yet the command for sincere, unpretended love in how people in the church treat one another in congregations and in institutions for healing the sick, publishing, and education, shown by being merciful, just, and honest, has been greatly neglected and decided changes are required. Those who neglect it will be surprised at the judgment by the record of their lives and will have no part in the kingdom of heaven.
Those appointed by God will not be sustained unless they are doers of these principles in small matters as well as large. Neglect brings positive danger, for Satan seeks by every device to weaken and to exalt self in its own opinion and thus gain power, while God uses men as His instruments only as long as they work humbly seeking wisdom from Him. Disobeying these instructions while expecting God's blessing dishonors Him and harms the workers, and living by them in humility and thoughtfulness toward others avoids the harshness and roughness that misrepresent Christ. Obeying requires changing attitude and keeping self under control in order to continue in usefulness, and intelligent, pure, cordial belief in the grace of Christ which brings salvation to all places the feet on the eternal Rock so that past success is not lost.
The principles are to be lived out humbly rather than used to exalt self. Obedience is encouraged because Christ who gave His life to save the fallen race has pledged Himself to be a personal Intercessor. The Lord helps everyone who diligently seeks Him, for goodness and mercy and righteousness belong to His throne, and He not only pardons sin but gives victory over the power of sin and creates a new, pure, elevated, holy moral taste that keeps the believer in constant warfare against inward corruption. This is part of the conduct expected of believers who dedicate themselves to God and of every member in the church's shared work of loving and serving one another.
Love without pretense means love that is sincere and genuine, free from hypocrisy, deceit and mere show. To hate what is evil means to reject sin and have no part in it, and to hold to what is good means to cling firmly to whatever leads to God and to the well-being of others. In the church this calls believers united as members of one body to be of the same mind, kindly affectioned with brotherly love, preferring one another in honor and refusing proud self-exaltation, domination and censorious rule over one another. Such love is shown in kind, courteous, forgiving conduct even toward the unjust and discouraging, without retaliation, yet it does not excuse wrongdoing but rebukes it to save souls, hating sin while seeking to save sinners. Faithfully living this out in daily duty, mercy, diligence, prayer and hospitality transforms the church and secures eternal treasure, while mere profession without a heart given to Christ is worthless and will leave neglecters with no part in the kingdom.
Words and Chapter Setting
Love without dissimulation is love that is sincere and genuine, with no hypocrisy, no pretense, and no deceitful show. It is a practical command to be carried out in daily life, calling believers to hate what is evil and to hold fast firmly to what is good. This sincere love belongs with brotherly affection, honoring others, mutual honor, diligence, spiritual fervor, hope, patience, and prayer in the faithful use of different gifts, and heeding it would bring a great transformation in the church. It is not a deceitful pretense that excuses wrongdoing or blurs right and wrong, and it hates sin while remaining kind, compassionate, and forgiving toward sinners and willing to sacrifice to save them, even when faithfulness requires giving up association or friendship with the ungodly. It comes from faith working through love which purifies the soul from emulation and strife, and it stands as caution and exhortation to workers in publishing houses, sanitariums, and ministry who cherish tendencies to wrong, try to bear rule over one another, and lack repentance and daily conversion.
To abhor evil is to hate and reject evil, to have no link with sin, and to refuse to strengthen any evil work. It has nothing to do with worldly, underhanded, sharp schemes that may seem to benefit self but injure another. To cleave to good is to hold fast firmly to what is good with a cemented, unalterable attachment to whatever leads to God and contributes to the well-being of fellow creatures. Sincere love does not end with soft words but rejects evil by giving reproof and sharp rebuke when needed to bring back those out of the right way, working moral renovation of the heart so souls do not perish in sin, and it holds fast to good in daily character with family religion and holiness honored by pure words full of sympathy, tenderness, and love, which exposes spurious faith and proves true Christianity.
The verse belongs to the practical instruction of Romans 12 on religious duty and Christian conduct toward one another. That chapter is a history for all churches and teaching of high value that calls the work of God to a higher plane of action, to be studied prayerfully with its whole chapter and obeyed in small matters as well as large, above all at this late time in the history of the earth. As members of the heavenly family Christians are by this rule to help and strengthen each other with sincere love that hates evil and holds fast to good, which is part of overcoming as Christ overcame and following His example instead of walking in darkness, so as to win heaven and sit with Christ on His throne. In that instruction all who hold position in the church as shepherds must represent the great Shepherd, and all masterly, dominating ruling power that dictates to the Lord's people what they shall and shall not do is a strange and dangerous element, not of God and must no longer be allowed. The verse means every member of the church has a work to do, with different members fitted for different kinds of work and not all able to do the same work to the best advantage, all blending together into a complete whole.
Its setting is the picture of many members in one body with different gifts and offices according to grace. Every member has a special work to fill his appointed place with the gift given him, not counting his own gift above all other gifts and not thinking more highly of self than ought to be thought, but making his gift helpful by connecting it with the gifts of others, wearing Christ's yoke and drawing under His leading in humble cooperation with brethren as individual organs contribute to the perfection of the physical body. Joined to being kindly affectioned with brotherly love and preferring one another in honor, it calls those brought together in church life to be one as Christ is one with the Father, united understandingly with converted mind, affections, motives, and powers worked by the same Spirit in peace. The variety of gifts are to be brought into the building of the temple of the Lord, each finding its proper place and growing into an holy temple in the Lord as God's husbandry and God's building, each gift appreciated as essential for advancing God's cause so that the sons of God represent Him in the midst of rebels and in a crooked and perverse nation, with love shown in not judging a brother and putting no stumblingblock in his way and refusing to shut within self. Neglect of these instructions contributes to discord and strife that dishonor God.
Unity and Humble Service
Those joined in church life are to be one as Christ is one with the Father, united understandingly and intelligently with converted mind, affections, motives and powers worked by the same Spirit in peace. Genuine love without pretense or dissimulation, hating what is evil and holding fast to what is good, produces that unity among members, expressed in tender brotherly affection, sympathy and kindness with one another. Such love is unselfish, cheerful and bright-sided, free from suspicion and distrust, with heart bound to heart in confidence and respect, honoring others above self and giving honor to one another rather than to self. It belongs with being subject one to another and clothed with humility, so that God's people are disciplined into harmony of action, seeing eye to eye and being of the same mind and judgment, and love for one another thus becomes evidence of discipleship rather than publishing opposing views in a way that breaks unity and turns conflict against fellow workers as brethren. It is given by God in answer to earnest prayer when workers submit to Christ to be shaped by Him and manifest confidence and love for one another.
Sincere, unfeigned love is to be kindly affectioned with brotherly love, preferring one another in honor, thinking soberly and refusing to think more highly of self than ought to be thought. It is shown in humility, thoughtfulness, diligence, spiritual fervor, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patience in tribulation and trouble, constancy in prayer, sharing with the needs of the saints, and hospitality. To cleave to good is expressed in that kindly brotherly love and honoring others above self, rejecting worldly, underhanded schemes that seem to benefit self but harm another, for selfishness and covetousness corrupt the heart and make service unacceptable. Shaped by humility and brotherly love, this principle governs daily conduct so believers show unity and do not misrepresent Christ through harshness, roughness, or disregard of His Word. Joined to hating evil and holding firmly to good, it calls for self-denial and self-sacrifice with no excess in overcoming evil with good, resisting every small outflow of money to gratify taste for frivolous things and useless ornaments in the home and turning every penny and shilling and pound into channels that glorify God.
All masterly, dominating ruling power that charges upon the Lord's people what they shall do and shall not do is a strange and dangerous element, not of God, another gospel, not the righteousness of Christ, a spoil to the church, and must no longer be allowed. All who hold position in the church as shepherds must represent the great Shepherd, and all in church position must wear Christ's yoke and draw under His leading in humble cooperation with brethren rather than proud, dictatorial independence. Trying to bear rule over one another, with inherited and cultivated tendencies to wrong cherished without repentance and daily conversion, stands under caution and exhortation until converted, and is to be studied prayerfully with the whole chapter to understand the gifts that make the church the light of the world. An arbitrary, dictatorial, censorious and overbearing judging spirit, with all malice and harsh, condemning spirit, must be put away from the home and from Christian relationships, with tenderness and compassion practiced instead, and with self kept under control in order to continue in usefulness. For each individual member contributes to the perfection of the spiritual body as individual organs contribute to the perfection of the physical body, making continued usefulness and the standard of perfection possible so past success is not lost when the warning is heeded.
Neglect of this vital instruction leaves it out of the practice of professing Christians and produces discord and strife that dishonor God. That lack of unity and mutual love grieves the angels of God and the Spirit of God. For that reason He withholds the power He desires to impart to glorify His name before the world and before the heavenly universe, a lesson to be understood and practiced by everyone, especially those laboring in ministry and medical-missionary work, above all at this late time in the history of the earth. Disobeying these instructions while expecting God's blessing would dishonor Him and harm the workers.
As members of the heavenly family Christians are to help and strengthen each other with sincere love that hates evil and holds fast to good, laying down one of the principles for the conduct of Christians toward one another. Working by this rule is part of overcoming as Christ overcame, following His example instead of walking in darkness and joining in helping others to overcome. So doing leads to winning heaven and sitting with Christ on His throne.
Sincere Love Toward Others
Genuine love shows itself in kind, considerate, courteous conduct in practical daily life, in family religion and holiness honored by pure, clean words full of sympathy, tenderness, pity and love, and in Christian courtesy that holds the temper and sweetens the disposition. It requires a softened and refined heart that puts away an arbitrary, dictatorial, censorious and overbearing judging spirit with all malice from the home, and it exercises self-control and self-discipline to act kindly consistently rather than according to changing feelings. This steadiness matters because the same spirit shown in the home will be carried into the church. Love received from God becomes an active power that enlarges capacity to care for others, so that those who love God supremely show respectful, considerate courtesy to fellow believers.
This kindness and courtesy is to be shown even toward brethren and others who are suspicious, unjust, unsympathetic, critical, tempting or discouraging. It holds back the tongue from evil speaking and the lips from guile that weakens the hands of fellow workers, and it respects God's workers as laborers together with God, for failure to respect them offends God. It refuses retaliation in thought or action, refuses to withdraw from such persons or respond with hostility, and instead does God's work with steadfast purpose and purity while walking humbly before God, expecting little from men and trusting Christ's presence and help in every time of need and temptation. Such kindness is not weakness and it always pays.
Sincere love does not end with soft words and does not excuse wrongdoing, blur right and wrong, or agree with a transgressor to avoid showing his errors. It gives reproof and sharp rebuke when needed to bring back those out of the right way, working moral renovation of the heart so souls do not perish in sin. True, unselfish love of this kind exposes spurious faith and proves true Christianity by holding fast to good in daily character.
Christians are to hate sin while remaining kind, compassionate and forgiving toward sinners, refusing harmony with sin yet willing to sacrifice to save them. Christ's Spirit leads them to make such sacrifices even when faithfulness requires giving up association or friendship with the ungodly.
In congregations and in institutions for healing the sick, publishing and education, sincere love means treating fellow workers as brethren rather than publishing opposing views in a way that breaks unity and turns conflict against them, for love for one another is evidence of discipleship. It is shown by being merciful, just and honest, by taking interest that each person is directed to his proper work so hands do not grow weary and heavy, and by caring for the flock with tender words, kind consideration, tangible help and encouraging counsel that does not extinguish the last spark of courage in the soul. When this sincere love governs dealings at work it builds trust and respect and makes institutions a witness to the transforming power of sanctifying truth. This command has been greatly neglected and decided changes are required, and those who neglect it will be surprised at the judgment by the record of their lives and will have no part in the kingdom of heaven.
This love comes from faith working through love, which purifies the soul from emulation and strife. Love for God and Christ is to grow daily, and this genuine love belongs with active faith and should grow as love for God and Christ grows. Among fellow laborers it means love without suspicion and distrust, with heart bound to heart in confidence, respect and unity, given by God in answer to earnest prayer when workers submit to Christ to be shaped by Him and manifest confidence and love for one another.
Rejecting Evil and Holding Good
To abhor evil is to refuse to strengthen any evil work and to have nothing to do with worldly, underhanded, sharp schemes that may seem to benefit oneself while injuring another. This includes refusing to use talents of influence by pen or voice on Satan's side of the question, and those who have done so must stop and do it no longer. Selfishness and covetousness corrupt the heart and make service unacceptable to Christ, but remembering that all are brethren helps keep love free from such selfish conduct.
To cleave to what is good is obedience to a Thus saith the Lord, with unity of action seen among believers as members one of another. It requires turning from sin and choosing conduct shaped by God's transforming grace. That cleaving calls for self-denial and self-sacrifice that overcomes evil with good, being won from every species of idolatry and breaking every thread, even the finest, that binds to worldly habits diverting mind and affections from God. It puts away useless ornaments that waste time and money and firmly resists every small outflow of money to gratify taste for frivolous things in the home.
Money thus saved is turned into channels that glorify God, made to flow to relieve suffering, relieve poor families, clothe the naked, and feed the hungry. Time and money are spent to buy books that enlighten the mind in present truth, to write to friends, and to send papers and books to those who know not the truth. In this way believers are severed from idols and linked to the throne of God by grace and truth.
The command guards against apostasy, for evil cherished in the heart can separate people from God and lead them away from truth, and hating evil while holding fast to good helps resist that fall. Resisting requires rejecting pride, unholy desires, evil thoughts, and anything that separates the soul from Jesus. Love to Christ makes a person hate what Christ hates and love what Christ loves. When Christ lives in the heart and shapes the life, His presence fills the soul with abhorrence of evil and keeps evil surroundings from staining the believer, making him one with Christ in thought and purpose. He creates a new, pure, elevated, holy moral taste that keeps up constant and unceasing warfare against inward corruption, and even children of tender age can experience this change when their hearts are drawn out in confidence and love for Jesus and the whole current of their thoughts is changed.
Obedience Blessing and Warning
The verse lists precious gifts and duties required especially of those in church position, to be shown in steady duty at one's post rather than acting by impulse, feeling, wishes and ease, pleasing God rather than self and enduring hardness as a soldier of the cross. That steady love without pretense is expressed in giving with simplicity, ruling with diligence, showing mercy with cheerfulness, being kindly affectioned with brotherly love, preferring one another in honor, diligence in business, fervor in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patience in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the need of saints, and hospitality. It also means loving one another as brethren with kindness and courtesy, refusing to shut within self, not judging a brother and putting no stumblingblock or occasion to fall in his way, while the variety of gifts is brought into building the temple of the Lord, each finding its proper place.
Heeding this practical call to use different gifts faithfully would bring a great transformation in the church. It is lived out by taking light from the Word and forming into companies to work for others, in Christian courtesy that holds the temper and sweetens the disposition. It requires harmony between profession and practice, learning to distinguish sentiment from reality.
Outward connection with the church and zeal in church work are worthless unless the principles of truth are cherished in the heart and Christ abides within. A wide difference between profession and practice causes unbelievers to lose confidence in the truth. When the heart is given wholly to Christ, the life reveals the fruit of the Spirit in zeal according to knowledge, in harmony with Bible truth and duty, in holiness unto the Lord, and in a kind spirit full of usefulness and helpfulness.
Practicing these good works is a wise and perfectly safe investment that secures treasure in heaven, a constant accumulation giving title to eternal life when life closes and probation ends. Yet the command for sincere, unpretended love in how people in the church treat one another in congregations and in institutions for healing the sick, publishing, and education, shown by being merciful, just, and honest, has been greatly neglected and decided changes are required. Those who neglect it will be surprised at the judgment by the record of their lives and will have no part in the kingdom of heaven.
Those appointed by God will not be sustained unless they are doers of these principles in small matters as well as large. Neglect brings positive danger, for Satan seeks by every device to weaken and to exalt self in its own opinion and thus gain power, while God uses men as His instruments only as long as they work humbly seeking wisdom from Him. Disobeying these instructions while expecting God's blessing dishonors Him and harms the workers, and living by them in humility and thoughtfulness toward others avoids the harshness and roughness that misrepresent Christ. Obeying requires changing attitude and keeping self under control in order to continue in usefulness, and intelligent, pure, cordial belief in the grace of Christ which brings salvation to all places the feet on the eternal Rock so that past success is not lost.
The principles are to be lived out humbly rather than used to exalt self. Obedience is encouraged because Christ who gave His life to save the fallen race has pledged Himself to be a personal Intercessor. The Lord helps everyone who diligently seeks Him, for goodness and mercy and righteousness belong to His throne, and He not only pardons sin but gives victory over the power of sin and creates a new, pure, elevated, holy moral taste that keeps the believer in constant warfare against inward corruption. This is part of the conduct expected of believers who dedicate themselves to God and of every member in the church's shared work of loving and serving one another.