[b]2 Peter 1:4-9
[i] “5And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”
We are to give all diligence to have faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. To have these is will result in fruitfulness in your knowledge of Christ. To lack these things is to be blind, short-sighted, and forgetful of the work of Christ in purging us of our sins.
[i] “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.” 1 John 2:10-12
If any man hateth his brother he is in darkness and doesn’t know where he is going because his eyes are blinded. Compare this with 2 Peter 1:7, 9 we see that if one lacks in brotherly kindness they will be blind and short-sighted. Then in 1 John 2:12, the writer reminds the reader that their sins have been forgiven [b]for His Name’s sake.
[i] “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” 1 John 3:14
One of the evidences of salvation is that we will love the brethren. To lack this love is to abide in death.
[i] “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1 John 3:16
We love our brethren by laying down our lives for them, this is part of the cross, to deny ourselves and take up the cross of loving our brethren, however we can (Mark 834-35), laying down our opinions, esteeming others better than ourselves (Phil. 2:1-3), and meeting physical needs of the body (1 John 3:17).
[i] “And this is his commandment, That we should [b]believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another,
[i] “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 John 4:8.
[i] “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” 1 John 4:9-11
God’s love was manifest through sending His Son for our salvation, and not only were our sins atone for but God provided life for us in Jesus Christ that we might live through Him. Such sacrifice came out of God’s love, and that is how we are to love one another. We ought not to hold back anything that would be for the spiritual good of a brother or sister. There ought to be no sacrifice that would be too great to give for our brethren. No love of self should reign over loving the brethren. No ambition even dreamed of that might hurt another brother or sister.
[i]“And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” 1 John 4:21
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The above Scriptures and thoughts came from my QT the other morning. I was so blessed and excited to see how tthe Scriptures came together with the passage from 2 Peter 1 and the various passages in 1 John. And I know it was only the tip of the iceberg. I'm sure there is much more to be discovered. :-) I would like to dig a little bit more into the effects of hating a brother or lacking brotherly kindness and the blindness that brings to the life of a believer. Wonder if that's been discussed here... :) Oh, it's so exciting to study the Word of God!