Brotherly Love
Love
is the fulfilling of the law (cf. Rom. 13:8-10). Christ said that he came not
to destroy the law but to fulfill. And in Galatians 3:23 we read that the Jews were
kept under the law until faith or Christ should come. At that time the law
would be fulfilled and the love of God would be made manifest in his only
begotten son Jesus Christ.
Brotherly
love stems from the love of God (cf. I John 4:7-12, 19-21). The love of God is
the basis for the one true gospel because it was the love of God that provided
the light of the world.
Now
consider the logic of this thought. The law of Moses was given to natural
Israel to prepare them for the love of God in Christ Jesus. The law pointed to
Christ. It was holy, just and good, and its precepts pointed to the Messiah in
all its points. Christ fulfilled the law. He brought all of its precepts to
light and he manifested the love of God in his life and in his death. Brotherly
love is based upon and is an imperfect imitation of divine love. We attempt to
show our love to God through our brotherly love. Therefore, even though one
calls for "an eye for an eye," and one calls for "turning the
other cheek," we conclude that brotherly love in the old covenant is
identical to brotherly love in the new covenant because both are fulfilled and
represented in Christ.
Our
purpose is to look at some Scriptures to define some different aspects of
brotherly love that we should put into practice in our lives. Our starting
point is the love of God. We could spend much time on this subject in itself.
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, and
hath raised us up together, and hath made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6). It is upon this great love which the Father
hath bestowed upon us in calling us sons of God that we base all aspects of
love.
We
would like to make a brief reference to the much misunderstood verse in the
Christian world, John 3:16. The world that God loved and now loves is not the
Adamic world, the aion which began with sin and is laden with it. God hates
that world. It is immoral, it is false, it denies the true God of Israel,
Yahweh, and is oblivious to the true identity of his son, Jesus Christ. In
fact, that world killed the son. The Moslems, the Communists, the atheists, the
Christians, are all the enemies of the truth. For this reason God has commanded
his servants, "Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate"
(II Cor. 6:17). God loved the world (kosmos)—the world as he ordered
it—the world as he created it—the world as it can be. It is the world which is
to be full of his glory. God's love is shown toward us in that he has made a
provision whereby we can come out of Adam and become a new creature in Christ
Jesus, giving us hope in a perishing world.
And
this is the basis upon which our love toward our brethren must be evidenced.
Love is not developed upon the humanitarian thinking of man, but upon the
divine thinking of Yahweh which has been revealed to us through his Holy
Scriptures. "Love rejoices not in iniquity" (I Cor. 13:16). In the
thinking of man love does rejoice in iniquity because all that is in the
world is "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of
life" (I John 2:16), and man's love is developed upon those
characteristics. Divine love is not so. It puts down the flesh and raises the
heart and soul and mind to a higher level. It is based upon things which are
eternal, not temporal.
Let's
briefly consider the divine arrangement of the ten commandments (Exod.
20:1-17). The first four relate to God, the fifth to family and the last five
to other men (our brethren and/or neighbors). Paul wrote that in the last days
perilous times would come, for men would become lovers of their own selves (II
Tim. 3:2). But in God's law there is no place for self love or selfishness—only
for love of God, family and brethren.
Read
Matthew 22:35-38. Here is where our brotherly love begins. It begins with the
love of God because without this motivation love is not true love. How do we
then love God? By simply believing his Word and putting his will first in our
lives. It's that simple. "If ye love me, keep my commandments."
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." This is the first
ingredient of loving God. God delivered Israel out of Egypt and he has likewise
delivered us out of Adam. Again, our love is a result of his love. Moses wrote,
"The Lord our God is one Lord," and God declared, "I am God and
there is none else." We can show our love to God by representing these
truths in our lives. No other gods, no idols, nothing which takes precedence
over the will of God. Only Christ has completely laid down his life to that
purpose, but our love can be made perfect through him.
The
second commandment is like to the first. "Thou shalt not make any graven
image." Again the reason. God will punish those that hate him for their
iniquity. Love of God is understood here as preserving the sovereignty of God
in our actions. Worshipping the work of men's hands or the likenesses of God's
creation is to hate God. "For the lofty looks of man [represented in
idolatry] will be brought down, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that
day" (Isa. 2:11). So to preserve God's holiness and his supremacy in the
truth of his Word is how we can show our love to him. We must observe God's
purpose as being supreme and the work of man as vanity and a chasing after the
wind. God shows his mercy to thousands of them that love him and keep his
commandments and for that reason his name cannot be taken in vain (vss. 6- 7).
Again the principle, we love him or revere his name because he first loved us
in the sure mercies of David.
Concerning
the third commandment to not take the name of the Lord in vain, we call
attention to the exposition in The Law of Moses, Sixth edition, pp.
31-32. Here the author says, "The third commandment comes in logical
sequence to the first two. If God's name, and therefore Being and Authority,
were made light of or held in the light esteem implied in familiar and
irreverent illusion, it would be of small moment to God or man that no other
God was recognized and no graven images made or worshipped. It is an
indispensable corollary of belief in God that his name should be had in
reverence, and should never escape human lips in the spirit of flippancy—not to
speak of profanity. God is certainly displeased with covenant-breakers and
perjured persons; but his displeasure does not arise from the fact of his name
having been used to pledge them to performance, but because the person
promising or covenanting has failed to perform whether the promise or covenant
were entered upon with the name of God on the person's lips or not."
So
we conclude from a brief look at the first three commandments that our love for
God is built upon holding him in the very highest esteem. This is a very positive
action. It involves praising his name before all men in word and deed. It
involves a reliance upon his Word as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our
path with no other guides even to be considered. It also involves the rejection
of anything which is a challenge or a modification to his truth. Love can by no
means be equated with toleration. Love does not rejoice in iniquity. To love
God must then involve a purging out of all that is evil or false. We will
shortly apply these principles to our subject of love, brotherly love which
develops out of divine love.
"Remember
the sabbath day to keep it holy," the fourth commandment, was an
act of love under the law of Moses. It required the denial of one's earthly
cares and the special contemplation of divine ideas. Isaiah wrote concerning
Israel and the sabbath that "they honored the Lord; not doing their own
ways or finding their own pleasures or speaking their own words" (Isa.
58:13). Our purpose now is not an in-depth study of the sabbath law or the ten
commandments, but to consider how love is developed in the law of Moses. The
sabbath law typified the millennial day of rest, and as with Israel we must put
aside our fleshly thoughts and deeds to give our love to God in prospect of our
Lord's millennial rule in that everlasting aion.
We
will now consider our dealings with family and our fellows as brotherly love is
explained under the law of Moses. The fifth commandment is to "honor thy
father and thy mother." Unlike the next five commandments this one is not
a prohibition or a " thou shalt not," but it is positive, and
as Paul says, it is the first commandment with promise. This would seem to put
this commandment in a special position and possibly show that doing good is
better than refraining from evil as we will see in the next five
commandments. If children are not brought up to honor father and mother, to
learn respect and authority, how much more difficult will it be for them to
learn to honor God. The proper fear of parents is the best education in the
fear of God, and this commandment concerns the highest well-being of a child. A
brother once suggested as a definition of love that love for someone was
making every effort to help them reach the Kingdom of God. This would
necessarily have to remove the thinking of the flesh and subject all to God's
will. If we can keep this in mind it will certainly have an effect upon the
structure and order which we maintain in our families.
Care
for the ecclesia, or the ones who have accepted the invitation of God (the
called out, or called together ones) is brotherly love (cf. I Tim. 3:5). It is
what was forecast and described in the law of Moses and what was fulfilled in
Christ. "Greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends" (John 15:13), and his friends are those who do the will
of his Father.
"Thou
shalt not kill … commit adultery … steal … bear false witness … covet."
The best interpretation of these verses is found in the sermon on the mount
(cf. Matt. 5:21-48). "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time …
but I say unto you … "Jesus emphasized that the thought preceding a sinful
act was to be put away, or the meaning of the law would be obscured. Brotherly
love, then, is established by overcoming evil with good.
Thus
far we have seen that brotherly love is based upon several things:
1.
The work of Christ as
typified in the law of Moses and fulfilled in his very person.
2.
Divine
love as expressed in God's Word with no acceptance of what is false.
3.
Our
love for God which gives it a meaningful purpose.
4.
Preparing
family and brethren for an eternal service to God.
Now
we would like to look at some practical applications of brotherly love for our
day.
The
following from Eureka, vol. 1, pp. 166-167 sets the background for
present day application:
Paul
understood these pretended apostles thoroughly. He styles them, "false
brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty"
(Gal. 2:4). "They zealously affect you," says he, "but not well.
I would that they were even cut off, which trouble you. They desire to make a
fair show in the flesh, therefore they constrain you to be circumcised; but
only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ." They
had no objection to be [true] Christians; but they did not like the tribulation
the faith brought upon them by the Jewish power. They determined, therefore, to
blend Moses and Jesus in such a way as to avoid persecution; But Paul would
admit of no compromise; and all that adhered to his teaching renounced them. In
the words of the Spirit, "they were no table to endure these wicked men,
who asserted that they were apostles, and are not, and had found them
liars." And, though by joining their faction, they might have become
popular (for "they spake of the world, and the world heard them"),
they preferred to suffer and patiently endure, and to go on labouring for the
Name, unweariedly.
Such
was the first estate of the Star-Angels of the apostolic ecclesias. So long as
they continued faithful, the congregations flourished in the midst of
persecution; but when men stood up as the opponents of apostolic teaching and
authority, affairs began to go wrong. The hidden principle of lawlessness began
to work like leaven until the whole body was leavened with iniquity, and Satan
triumphed for a time.
At
the crisis, when the Spirit addressed them through John, the Star-Angel of
Ephesus was in a fallen state. They had forsaken their "first love."
Grievous wolves had secured a foothold, and were ready for every evil work. The
opponents of Paul's teaching were among the presbyters, and from them nothing
but perversion of the truth could be expected. The abandoning of their first
love was the effect of their influence; still there was scope for recovery.
They had not gone to the extent of denying the faith, or of holding principles
subversive of it. Though Phygellus and Hermogenes might be presbyters, there
were many of the presbytery who had tried them, and found them to be liars, and
would not endure them.
Hence,
the Spirit exhorted them to "remember from whence they had fallen"—to
recollect the spiritual health they enjoyed when Paul went in and out among
them for three years, declaring to them "all the counsel of the
Deity." They were exhorted to retrace their steps. To put themselves in
their original mode of thought and disposition, when in their first love, and
to do the first works, lest the Spirit should come and remove from them the gifts
he had bestowed; and so leave them in outer darkness, a prey to all the wiles
and ravening of the grievous wolves. This would be removing the light,
without which the stand would be of no account; and, therefore,
equivalent to "removing the lightstand out of its place." But the
Star-Angels of the epoch did not recover from their fall. Instead of changing
their mind they went on from bad to worse, until at length the time referred to
by Paul arrived, when "prophecies (the gift of speaking to edification,
exhortation, and comfort, by inspiration) failed; tongues ceased, and (the word
of) knowledge vanished away."
The
gifts of the Spirit were withdrawn because they had been abused; and
"faith, hope, and love" only remained to a remnant of the saints; and
"the greatest of these is love;" for "it rejoiceth in the truth;
beareth all things; believeth all things; hopeth all things;
endureth all things;" and "is the fulfilling of the law" (I Cor.
13:6-7). Hence, "love" is the major term, and comprehensive of
"faith and hope;" while a man may believe and hope, but not rejoice
in and obey the truth. "Love does not rejoice in iniquity,"
therefore, it is hostile to the clerical apostasy in all its forms. Love is the
greatest of the three; yet a houseless wanderer in the "religious
world," where none will take him in! End of quote.
First,
love may be defined as spiritual health. And this love or brotherly love is
absent where there is an absence of spiritual health. Just as taught by the law
of Moses, love is determined by the love of God and a dependence upon his
truth. The Ephesian ecclesia had fallen from its first love because error had
been tolerated and the Nicolaitanes, or vanquishers of the people, had by their
works and teachings deceived the people and gained a complete ascendancy over
them. The study of the Word had been neglected—spiritual guidance of man had
entered and true love would soon be hard to find.
So
how do we guard against this problem and hold on to and exhibit brotherly love
until the return of our Lord? The following passages are given as suggested
helps, with a synopsis of thought of each passage.
I
Tim. 1:3-7 Brotherly love is the supreme effort to maintain the purity of the
truth in our ecclesia.
I
Tim. 4:12-16 Brotherly love is entrenched in holding fast to the purity of the
Word and exhorting one another so much the more as we see the day approaching.
I
Tim. 6:17-21 In addition to purity of doctrine, brotherly love is expressed in
purity of deed. And again, our concern is for the welfare of our brethren.
Titus
2 Application of sound teachings to all age levels, holy conduct, considerate
family life, sobriety, representative speech, abstinence from worldly
institutions, earnestly looking for the blessed hope and appearing of our
Saviour.
Thus
far, by discussing parts of the ten commandments and some of the words of Jesus
and Paul to their disciples, we have hoped to establish a plateau upon which
brotherly love is based. That plateau of course being the carrying out of the
will of God. No matter what we do for or to our brethren, if it isn't based
upon the will of God and directed towards the spiritual health of our brethren,
it is utter vanity.
So
we define brotherly love as: actions which are aimed at preparing one of like
precious faith to be made like unto the son of God. Some examples of brotherly
love are, (1) visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, (2) be
pure in the doctrine, be strong in the word, (3) submit yourselves one to
another in the fear of God, (4) preach the word, (5) prove all things, hold
fast to that which is good, (6) warn them that are unruly, comfort the
feebleminded, support the weak, (7) bear ye one another's burdens, (8) wives,
submit yourselves to your own husbands, (9) husbands, love your wives, (10)
children, obey your parents, (11) contend earnestly for the faith. The list of
positive action goes on and on, and provides us with many areas in which we can
exhibit brotherly love.
There
is also an area in which we need to be very cautious. The world in which we
live, particularly this country, the U.S.A., is currently occupied by a
"love society." It is based upon acceptance of everything—toleration
of anything—and a complete freedom of thought as long as you aren't hurting
anything. Popular music is full of these attitudes. In any age the brethren of
Christ have been susceptible to and influenced by the society around them. This
isn't good, but it is true—we are affected by the "love generation."
And we have to be very careful that it doesn't affect our correct understanding
of brotherly love as it should be applied. The society around us is operated
upon the principle of humanitarianism or the thinking of the flesh—what is
right and good for the natural man. This is not a principle of God because humanitarianism
promotes the flesh—the good of man which in the sight of God is as the grass of
the field or a vapor which appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
Let's
look at a few examples of brotherly love contrasted with the thinking of the flesh.
Marriage out of the truth—any Bible student should know the prohibition of this
act by the Word of God. So how do we exhibit brotherly love in such an
instance? Some say we accept the individual and hope for the best. They argue
that we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or drive anyone away from the
truth. Right? NO. We preach to them that God told Israel of the dangers
of mixing with the nations and of the harm which would be done to the body.
Remember our definition—an act intended to prepare one to be made like unto the
son of God. Unequal yoking will not achieve that end.
What
about a brother teaching the preterist or the futurist interpretation of the
Apocalypse? Do we invite them to speak for us in order to be open-minded—to
show our toleration of other ways of thinking? NO. Our very Christadelphian
heritage is built upon the continuous historical unfolding of the events
symbolized in the Book of Revelation. To accept or acquiesce to other views,
particularly those of Catholic origin, is not brotherly love, but rather
brotherly hatred in tearing down the truth of God.
How
about participation in the affairs of this world—politics, even on a local
level—civic organizations—fraternities—unions—entertainment? It can be argued
that none of these hurts anything. Besides, everyone else does it to some
extent. On the contrary, the Apostle wrote, "Be thou an example of the
believers, in word, in conversation, in brotherly love, in spirit, in faith, in
purity. Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine . . . Take heed
unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou
shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (I Tim. 4:12,13,16).
One
might say, I don't need to go to Bible Class or to Sunday School; I'm tired, or
I'll study another time. This is a grave error. Brotherly love demands example;
it demands mental upbuilding in the Word of God to prepare us to be made like
unto the son of God. And when we accept anything else we are denying God,
Christ, our brethren, and ourselves.
So
what if he's Amended, we believe almost the same thing, and we never
discuss those issues anyway. Have you ever heard anything like this before? I' m
sure you have. Does it sound like the words of Paul to Titus? Emphatically NO.
What would humanitarianism tell us? Don't worry about it—we can still learn
together. Brothers and sisters, if we truly love our brethren, we have to
contend for the faith. We don't overlook error, we expose it. We preach
the truth once delivered unto the saints. The issues of the nature of man, the
nature of Christ, baptism for both inherited condemnation and personal sins are
fundamental aspects of our faith. Brotherly love demands that we uphold
every aspect of the gospel for the edification and strengthening of our
brethren, as well as the acknowledging of God's will.
So
when we think of brotherly love let us remove the concepts of humanitarianism
and let us think of the love of God and the actions which we must take to
uphold the faith of Abraham and help prepare one another for the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
From
the pen of H. P. Mansfield: "Divine love is not a boundless tolerance of
evil, but is manifested in extreme jealousy of the honor of Yahweh and his
Word. This requires that the truth be preserved in its purity, and that we
resist false teaching. God has magnified his Word above all his name (Psa.
138:2) and love of God requires that we do likewise."
Tom Hamlin
The Sanctuary-Keeper. October 1985, pgs. 32-40.