“Let love of the brethren continue.” 1 Hebrews 13:1
“The importance of brotherly love extends well beyond the walls of your local church”. - One might surely argue that the real significance of brotherly love does demonstrate itself until one is beyond the walls of the local assembly and outside of the "official" confines and definitions of the institutional church. A real argument can and should be made that if bortherly love does not control and color, really color one's behavior; making a discernable difference in our conduct and behavior toward the brethren, then something is dreadfully wrong in our lives.
“John 13:35” - With the citation here, we are given an evidence of the presence of Salvation. We must be careful, however, not to understand this to say that unless this love is present that salvation is NOT present. It surely does argue that the absence of love for the brethren would make an argument that salvation is cast in doubt. Christ is saying that love of the brethren is characteristic of believers that are walking in obedience to God. But what this passage is saying is that the love of the brethren present in our lives tells those around us that we ARE believers, NOT vice-versa as some may argue. "Love" in this passage is not the brotherly love mentioned elsewhere, but is "agaph" or pure Christian love, of the type that God demonstrates toward us and that we are commanded to show toward Christ. What is significant here is that love for others here is the distinguishing characteristic, not of salvation, but of discipleship.
It is interesting to think for a moment about the "new" aspect of this commandment. There is nothing new about the command to love, since Lev. 19:18 teaches to “love your neighbor as yourself.” The new element is the change from “neighbor” to “one another” and the change from “as yourself” to “as I have loved you.” Christian love has Christ’s sacrificial love as its model, and the community of believers as the primary (though by no means exclusive) place in which it is expressed. It is a far more difficult task - thank God that we have a far greater provision enabling us to do so in the Spirit of God!
“…the measuring stick by which the world can determine if our Christian profession is genuine.” - As believers, we know that we will be subject to intense scrutiny and careful evaluation. Further, we know that this evaluation will come, Biblically, from a hostile point of view, as these are unsaved people and they, by nature are haters of God and all He stands for. Whether that comes out in active opposition or passive aggression, it is there none-the-less. The Bible tells us that it will be so and we are both forewarned and forearmed.
Because this is true, we must assume at least two things. First, that it is a normal thing, a natural thing, a part of the created order. You and I, as redeemed people stood in exactly the same position when unredeemed.
Secondly, because it is that normal and expect thing; God has called and enabled us to stand and be prepared for a proper witness to the lost in the face of that hostility. A part of that witness is that the unsaved watch how we love and treat each other.
“…what a delight it is…” - That same delight, only to a greater degree is experienced by our Heavenly Father as we love one another. The idea that we can give God pleasure or delight is a profound and magnificent one! We know that God is unchangeable. We know further that He needs nothing from man, He is lacking nothing and requires no input from man to make Him complete or fulfill Him.
Yet, it is true that His people can make Him glad. We can bring Him joy and we can cause Him to rejoice. What an immensely gratifying concept that is first of all, and what a tremendously sobering idea it is secondly.
What a joy to God's children to bring Him pleasure. With all that He has done for us, with all that has provided for us and all of that in the face of our fallen humanness - our natural response must be one of great joy and gratitude!
But, in light of the nature of God, of His holiness and righteous nature, of His great purity, especially in contrast to our own lack of those qualities, how sobering it is that we are enabled to approach Him! This is the God of the universe, the holy one of universe, the One Who holds heaven and earth in His hands, and we can stand in His presence and make offering to Him and do those things that bring Him pleasure! What a joy! Among those things is loving the brethren.
“Ps. 133:1” - "Behold" is a marker used to liven narrative, to draw attention to what is being said and call attention to some detail. "Good" is a moral reference speaking of the moral opposite of evil. It can be translated anywhere from good, to generous, to festive, to beautiful, to pleasing, all of which have the mentioned moral overtones as opposed to evil. It is morally good, not not just experientially good. "Pleasant" is an adjective that speaks of the quality of being favorable or acceptable. It could also, in some contexts speak of something that is beautiful or attractive when it speaks of the appearance of an object. "Dwell together" is a combination of a verb (an infinitive) meaning "to live"and a noun referring to a state of oneness or unity.
"Good" and "Pleasant" are preceded by what's called an "adverbial interrogative". It is a marker of a question. In this case, the question is a rhetorical one - that is, answer is not intended to not elicit an actual response from the reader - the answer is suggested by the very act of asking. The answer to the question is that it is immeasurably good and immeasurably pleasant! Actually - there is no real answer! The question is intended to stimulate thought more than a real answer.
“God is both pleased and glorified…” - If we could summarize the goal of the Christian life in a few words - these would be the words! Please Him and glorify Him! This ought to be our aim an the focus of our lives - the loci of all that we do.
“If you do not have such commitment, it is fair to question your relationship to God (1 John 3:17).” - As we have said, it is not so much that this is that which MUST be present or we are not born again, as it is that which give evidence that the Spirit is at work in us. The verse that is cited gives some insight into just what we mean here. 1 John 3:17 (NKJV)
17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
The brother in view is one who has the ability to meet need first of all. Secondly, the verse tells us that he perceives a brother in need and deliberately "shuts up" his heart from him. The verb is in the subjunctive which, in this context would suggest such a deliberate action, a choice on his part. We're not talking about someone who simply overlooks need or is not actively seeking for n eeds to meet. This is someone who is calloused and deliberately uncaring. It is this person that John says in whom "the love of God" does not "abide".
The "Love of God' is much the same as we have discussed before. "How does" is another adverbial adverbial interogative, a different word, but with the same effect. It asks the question "how" or "in what fashion". "Abide" in the Greek word for staying or remaining. It is in the present indicative and gives the picture of something already present (namely, the love of God) that won't stay. The point here is that there is real question as to whether it was ever really present! Refusing to help a fellow believer when you can, John reasons, reveals that you don’t really love him. And if you don’t love him, God’s love can’t be in your heart, which proves that you don’t belong to Him.
1 John 3:18-19: 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.
___________________________________________________________
[1] This year I am often using MacArthur’s devotional “Strength for Today” as a starting point for my comments. Quotes from MacArthur’s Devotional are in boldface.
No comments:
Post a Comment