Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister. That’s not from me. It’s from the Bible. Certainly, non-Christians might feel no obligation to obey it. But if we’re Christian, it’s not a suggestion. It’s not just a “nice” thing to think about. It’s a command! And there aren’t any exceptions to go with it. In case you’re wondering, or even if you’re not, that includes our “brothers and sisters” from another country. Again, Jesus gives no exceptions.
Some of you are undoubtedly trying to remember when Jesus ever said this applies to brothers and sisters from another country.
And, if you’ve got a digital Bible and you search for brothers and sisters from another country, you won’t find it.
But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
It comes down to the letter of what Jesus said versus the spirit of what Jesus said. If you’re a regular here, you might have read Follow the money – Judas and the thirty pieces of silver. One of the things in there was the letter of God’s law versus the spirit of God’s law. And the lesson? Don’t be a Pharisee. The same lesson applies here. We’ll see why the spirit of what Jesus said means exactly what the title says: Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister.
Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister
My title comes from the passage below:
God’s Love and Ours
1Jn 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1Jn 4:13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
1Jn 4:19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
And oh, by the way, if you looked for brothers and sisters from another country, you didn’t find it. There are various reasons, but here are two really simple ones.
First: in Biblical times, they often spoke of brothers, but not sisters. It was a male dominant society. That’s not so much the case today. If we truly pay attention, we notice that Jesus, and even Paul, began to be much more inclusive of women, I know some will argue about Paul. And yet, if you think about Aquila and Priscilla, Paul wrote about them twelve times. Six of them had Aquila first. The other six and Priscilla first.
One of the social revolutions Jesus started was making the status of women more important. True, we’ve come a long way since then. But hey, every journey starts with a single step. And Jesus took some really big steps in that regard.
Second: searching for the word country will fail. However, there are references to different locations, different countries, and especially to different cultures in the Bible. Again, it’s the spirit, not the letter.
So, with all that in mind, let’s get started.
Love comes from God
1Jn 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Right off, we read that love comes from God. However, do we know what “love” means?
For instance, it doesn’t mean, “I love pizza!” Which I really do. But I also realize that’s not what John’s talking about here.
So what is John talking about? You may have heard of agape love. Every instance of “love” in the entire God’s love and ours passage is either agape or its Greek root word. Here’s what agape means:
ἀγάπη (agapē). n. fem. love. This term means “love” but can also denote ideas such as benevolence or goodwill.
The noun ἀγάπη (agapē) carries the sense of affectionate regard or benevolence toward someone. The Septuagint almost always uses this word for love to translate one of the main Hebrew words for love (אָהֵב, ʾāhēb). The NT employs the term agapē in two basic ways.
First, it can denote “love” in a general sense. Examples of this use include references to love as an idea (e.g., John 15:13; Rom 13:10) and love between people (e.g., 2 Cor 2:4; 8:7).
Second, the NT writers use the noun agapē to refer to the love of God (e.g., Rom 5:5; 2 Thess 3:5) or of Christ (e.g., John 15:10; Rom 8:35). This use of the noun is epitomized in the affirmation that “God is love” (ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν, ho theos agapē estin; 1 John 4:8, 16). 1Nettelhorst, R. P. (2014). Love. In D. Mangum, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, & R. Hurst (Eds.), Lexham Theological Wordbook. Lexham Press.
Since we are talking about the love of God, then the intended meaning in this passage, in every case, is that love of God concept in the second general sense above. No, we won’t succeed in matching God’s love. But, we are supposed to try. And, we do have the Holy Spirit to help us. So, let’s keep that in mind as we proceed.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Born of God. Knows God. This isn’t everyone. Every person was created by God, However, being born of God and knowing God means something beyond that. It means being Christian. It’s just as Judas taught Nicodemus.
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
Jn 3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Jn 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’”
Jn 3:4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
Jn 3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Jn 3:9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
Jn 3:10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
I know. This isn’t popular with a lot of people. However, if you claim to be Christian, this is what our God said.
And on that thought, I do have an observation for anyone who doesn’t like it. If you really are Christian, as in a disciple of Christ, this is what He taught. If you don’t believe in Christianity, that’s your right. If you don’t even believe in God, that’s also your right. In fact, that’s part of God’s love. No one is required to love, or even believe in God. I just made a note to write up more about this. I’ll put a link in here when it’s published. Or, you can subscribe to the site to get notifications whenever something is published.
The idea that we must be Christian to really know God continues.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
The reference to Jesus again takes us back to the Jesus teaches Nicodemus passage.
And then John continues, showing what follows from what Jesus said.
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Once again, the Father sent the Son out of love for us. Because of that, we should love one another. Really? Why? That doesn’t fit any logic principles I ever learned.
Truth be told, it actually does. It’s just that there’s something not written, but implied. Here’s the actual sequence:
- The Father sent the Son, because He loves us.
- God loves all of us. Again, I go back to the reality that while God loves all of us, He does not require us to love Him.
- It’s not obvious in here, but, we should love everyone where it says love one another. We’ll see it in a few moments.
- Everyone should love everyone else, because of God’s love for us.
- However, that’s not going to happen, because not all of us even acknowledge God.
- It’s also not going to happen because not everyone who acknowledges God is truly Christian.
- And based on the second one, it’s also not going to happen because those who aren’t true Christians also don’t understand God’s love. Therefore, they cannot show God’s love.
- And finally, it’s also not going to happen all the time, even for someone who is a true Christian. After all, this is a fallen world, and even a devout Christian still fails sometimes.
- Everyone should love everyone else, because of God’s love for us.
Final thoughts on Love comes from God
If you’re Christian, really, truly a follower of Jesus, I don’t believe you can have a disagreement with this. Having said that, I know some people will. Some Christian denominations don’t believe in free will. I have a series on Predestiny versus Free Will that goes into why I believe what the Bible really teaches is that some people, like Moses, Paul, and others, were predestined to do the things they did. However, I also believe the Bible says that others, like most of us, have free will.
If we go too far to either extreme, we either make God an evil puppeteer, or an uncaring silent observer. I don’t believe either of those is true.
In any case, assuming free will to some extent is the only way I see to really see God’s love in action in our world.
Acknowledge Jesus is the Son of God
So, let’s move to the next portion of the passage, God’s love and ours
1Jn 4:13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God sounds so simple. Just say the magic words, Jesus is the son of God, and you’re Christian. Sorry, but that’s taking things from the English translation of God’s Word. That’s not what the New Testament really says. Not from the words Jesus used. See Search believe in Are we supposed to Believe in God, Believe God or Follow God? for more on that.
This gets to the heart of what I mean when I refer to true Christians. One of my greatest fears is that there are way too many people who firmly believe they are Christians. They said the non-existent sinner’s prayer. And they believe in God, but they don’t understand what “believe in God” really means.
That used to be me. When I found out, by studying the words, the culture, and more, I was shocked. We hear things in church. We read words in the Bible. But unless we take the time to really understand, we just don’t know. So that’s one of the reasons I spend so much time doing this. Trying to do my part of the Great Commission, getting out what the words meant when Jesus said them, as opposed to what we think they mean today.
God gave us a mind. Jesus told us to love God with all of that mind. But do we? I fear not.
So, what Jesus actually said was about believing to the point where that belief drives what we do in our lives. To that end, check out the passage below
Listening and Doing
Jas 1:19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
Jas 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
Jas 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James also wrote:
Faith and Deeds
…
Jas 2:26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
For a more in-depth look at that verse, please see The problem of Good Deeds and Faith. You’ll see that if we show no evidence in our lives that God really is in us, and no indication that we act according to His will, then our faith is dead. In other words, it’s not real. It’s not there.
God is love
Continuing with God’s love and ours:
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Uh Oh. This one is maybe getting too close to home for some. Perfect love drives out fear. And yet, how many Christians choose to not love someone because of fear? How many Christians are afraid of people who are of a different color, different nationality, different religion, or different background?
And let me be very explicit here. I’m including immigrants in this, front and center. How many Christians are afraid of immigrants? And vote accordingly. And act accordingly?
Maybe you’re thinking that brothers and sisters doesn’t have as broad a meaning as I’m saying? Think again. Here’s the definition of the Greek word that we translate as brothers and sisters, or in some translations only as brothers.
80 ἀδελφός [adelphos /ad·el·fos/] n m. From 1 (as a connective particle) and delphus (the womb); TDNT 1:144; TDNTA 22; GK 81; 346 occurrences; AV translates as “brother” 346 times. 1 a brother, whether born of the same two parents or only of the same father or mother. 2 having the same national ancestor, belonging to the same people, or countryman. 3 any fellow or man. 4 a fellow believer, united to another by the bond of affection. 5 an associate in employment or office. 6 brethren in Christ. 6A his brothers by blood. 6B all men. 6C apostles. 6D Christians, as those who are exalted to the same heavenly place. 2Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
We don’t get to pick one of these for ourselves. And the Jewish way of interpreting scripture is to exclude only those definitions that are not possibly correct and then include everything else. I suspect that God’s choice, and His is the only one that matters, is “all of the above”. In other words, everyone. No exceptions. After all, remember what the response was when Jesus was asked, “who is my neighbor?”
Our neighbor, from what Jesus said, includes the foreigner that we hate the most.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
10:25-28 pp — Mt 22:34-40; Mk 12:28-31
Lk 10:25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Lk 10:26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
Lk 10:27 He answered: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’’”
Lk 10:28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
The expert in the law was doing well, right up to this point. The question for us is this. Do we really want to put ourselves in the position of trying to explain to Jesus that we, as Christians, thought that immigrants are not our brothers and sisters, or our neighbors? I’m not going to go there.
Lk 10:29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Lk 10:30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
Lk 10:36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
Lk 10:37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Oops. Neighbor takes on a whole new meaning with Jesus. He turned it around and asked, not who was the questioner’s neighbor, but who was a neighbor to the person in need. All of a sudden, neighbor isn’t the person we associate with. Neighbor is the person who helps someone in need, even if we don’t know them and even if we hate them.
Sure, non-Christians do the same things. And yet, isn’t that part of the problem? We, Christians, are called to be different. And yet, many who claim to be Christian are right up there supporting, if not driving, the fear that should be driven out by God’s perfect love.
God loved us first
And nor, let’s complete the God’s love and ours passage.
1Jn 4:19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Keeping in mind the male-oriented society back then, we must read “brother” as “brother and sister” today.
Therefore, the title stands as is: Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister.
Do you agree that whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister?
By now, some of you are not happy with me. Upset at me. Some, even angry with me. I’ll tell you what though, your anger is misplaced. All I’m doing, if you even claim to be Christian, is reminding you of something you say you believe.
You cannot pick and choose what to believe. Well, actually, you can. But God won’t. And you know that.
Remember that Jesus said this:
The Wise and Foolish Builders – Matthew
7:24-27 pp — Lk 6:47-49
Mt 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Yes. Actions, the things we do, they are important. And if what we do doesn’t line up with what Jesus taught, it’s like we’re building our house on sand. And it will fall. As will we with it. Loving all of our “brothers and sisters” is part of building on rock.
And just before that passage, Jesus also said this:
A Tree and Its Fruit
Mt 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Again, actions. Again, the things we do. And the times when we let fear override love are some of the things we do. And notice the part about false prophets. Just because we hear someone say something “in Jesus” name or in “God’s” name, it doesn’t mean it really is. We must test everything against God’s Word. The Bible.
And since I capitalized “Word”, I’m also saying Jesus. Remember the places where Jesus said something along the lines of “you may have heard”. Right after that, He said what the true intention was from God. In cases like that, as Christians, we must go with Jesus’ expanded explanation of the Old Testament commands.
Finishing off A Tree and Its Fruit, Jesus said,
Mt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
This gets right to the heart of my comments about some of us who claim to be Christian really are not. And when the time comes, in the next life, Jesus will make this very clear.
Like what I wrote above, Jesus’ words are also directed at those who claim to be followers of His. Look at the second paragraph. Jesus isn’t talking to people who are just hanging around. Blending in with the crowd. No, these are people who by outward appearances, really are true followers.
But they aren’t. Even though they claim to know Jesus and do things in His name, Jesus says they aren’t. In fact, Jesus goes so far as to say, I never knew you. I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!
Do you want to hear that?
If you’re not Christian, maybe you don’t care.
But if you think you’re Christian, that’s something to take very, very seriously. To me, this is the scariest thing in the Bible. To think that I’ve been following Jesus, and then have Him tell me to go away because He never knew me. That would be the worst possible scenario.
However, right up there with that, since I teach and write, would be to find out that someone who listens to me or reads my stuff would hear those words because I watered down the realities of what the Bible says. I don’t want to be in a position where I tell people that merely “saying” that Jesus is the Son of God is your ticket to Heaven. There’s nothing in the Bible that says saying those words is all that’s needed.
And if I did teach that, I also believe that I’d hear, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers! from Jesus. Why? Because I would have been leading people astray.
Conclusion – Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister. No exceptions.
So if you want to get mad at me, I’m OK with that. Because it’s not my message. It’s God’s message.
All I ask is that after you get mad at me, please look at yourself.
Judging Others – Matthew
7:3-5 pp — Lk 6:41, 42
Mt 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Mt 7:3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Yes, I’ve removed plenty of planks from my own eyes. More than I’d want to count. And I’m still removing them.
All I’m asking, if you want to be following Jesus, is that you do the same. And try to get as close as we possibly can, to the point where our love is perfect, like God’s love. Where we love our brothers and sisters. All of them. No exceptions.
Image by Annie Spratt from Pixabay
Footnotes
- 1Nettelhorst, R. P. (2014). Love. In D. Mangum, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, & R. Hurst (Eds.), Lexham Theological Wordbook. Lexham Press.
- 2Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.