 |  |
"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them
who are of the household (or family) of faith."
We are, then, to have a prime concern for the welfare of our fellow-believers; even
when `all men' are mentioned the emphasis is laid upon `especially them who are of the
household of faith'.
It is not infrequently suggested that the believer shows his love for God by
demonstrating his love for others. What saith the Scripture?
"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His
commandments" (I John 5: 2).
We only know that we do in fact love our brethren in Christ, when we love God and
put Him first. How often `other commitments' are our excuse for not giving first place to
God! And `other commitments' can be the means whereby we deny our fellow-believers
fellowship. How many ministers have become dispirited by lack of support by reason of
`other commitments': in turn they fail those to whom they minister because so dispirited:
and indeed those whose `other commitments' have led to such a situation are also
deprived of the ministry they need. It is true that Paul was speaking of `the other Body',
but his words in I Cor. 12: 25, 26 are pertinent to the situation of the members of the
One Body:
". . . . . the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one
member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the
members rejoice with it."
"We are members one of another" (Eph. 4: 25). In the context of our dealings with
the `weaker brother' Paul says "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to
himself" (Rom. 14: 7). As believers and members of the Body of Christ we cannot live
in isolation: each member needs `that which every joint supplieth'; each member, being
in a right relationship with Christ, the Head, is a means whereby spiritual nourishment is
ministered to his fellow members.
But it may be argued that in Matt. 5: 44 the Lord Himself appears to take it further:
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you."
This, however, is found in the Sermon on the Mount in which the Lord expounded the
laws for entering the Kingdom, and occurred early in His ministry and before the
Kingdom and the King had been rejected by the Jews. After His rejection, and just prior
to the crucifixion we read:
"These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye
know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love
his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is
not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if