God is well able to lead His children to unite with other true children. When God does that, the children need to exercise that love of God in their attitude toward those whom God brings together. There will be a need for rebuke, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. There will be the need to teach sound doctrine and to hold to sound doctrine. The Word of God is not negotiable. It is the righteous standard by which all decisions must be made.
In verse 17 we see how this love is expressed in tangible ways. I had a conversation with a professing Christian not long ago about the religious climate of our time. I stated that the time is moving to where Christians are going to need to be much more like the first century New Testament Christians. We need to be independent in that we choose to follow God and God alone. We need to be more dependent in seeking to help one another to survive and to serve God in the midst of an increasingly challenging time. Some may not see the need for this, but this is where we are at. The world is becoming more hostile toward the truth all the time. The latest vehicle they seem to be using is the sodomite agenda. There is such a push to silence anyone who would state the truth. Even lost people who oppose the sodomite agenda are being attacked. There needs to be a continual clear voice on all matters of truth. We cannot ride our particular hobby horse. We need to continue to teach the whole counsel of God.
In verse 17 God asks a very relevant question. If we see a brother in need and we have the means to help that brother, but we refuse to do so, how does that show the love of God. When we stop and consider the fact that Jesus Christ left Heaven’s glory to lay down His life for the sheep, how can we who have been blessed with God’s gift of eternal life, withhold the material blessings that He gives us from a brother in need? God says this cannot be. The time of personal pleasure and gratification needs to be greatly forsaken so that we can help those who have genuine needs. We have missed out on blessings because we have come quite a ways from the New Testament teaching on brotherly love. We are not talking of condoning laziness or carelessness. We are talking of the importance of working as a family for those who are truly born again.
As we have noted before, every generation or born again Christians should be building upon the sure Word of God, not on the traditions of the past generation. When God’s Word is not THE foundation upon which we build, then we drift off course. It is important to read and study God’s Word and be willing to allow God to plant us firmly upon His truth. The world will be shocked as the first century world was, when they can see God’s mighty hand at work in the daily lives of His people.
Pastor Bartel