Title: Milestones for Salvation (6)
Contents
“Therefore, be all the more diligent, supplying to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and brotherly kindness love. When you are satisfied, that you do not become sluggish and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; but whoever does not have these things is blind, and has lost sight and has forgotten the cleansing of his old sins” (2 Peter 1:5-9).
When you go through the milestones of godliness and reach the milestones of brotherly love, you will see the glorious church. As it is written, “He set before him a glorious church, without speck or wrinkle or such, holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27).
In the record of the church, which appeared for a while as a seed, it was testified that "the believers were of one heart and one mind, and all things were in common with one another, and no one claimed that even a little of his possessions were his own" (Acts 4:32).
Brotherly friendship is not a brotherly friendship of blood and blood that will perish. It is an eternal brotherhood that will dwell with Christ in the Father's house forever. This brotherly kindness is truly a beautiful thing that pleases God. It is written, “How good and beautiful it is for brothers to live together in unity, like the precious oil on the head, flowing down on the beard of Aaron, down to the collar of his robe, like the dew of Hermon on the mountains of Zion. He commanded you to live forever” (Psalm 133:1-3).
Only where brothers live together in unity can there be certain eternal life. “There the LORD hath commanded a blessing, everlasting life,” he said. Where brothers live together in unity, the breath of new life flows. This is because it is not the fleshly body without brotherly friendship, but the body of Christ with brotherly friendship.
It is just as it is written, “The Sovereign LORD says to these bones, I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live” (Ezekiel 37:5), and “You see that faith works with his works, and by works faith grows.” (Ezekiel 37:5) made perfect” (James 2:22).
Therefore, the church, which is the body of Christ, is manifested in brotherly love. A church without brotherhood is not the house of God. God's joy is in God's house. As it is written, “The LORD your God is in your midst, the Almighty who will give you salvation, and he will rejoice over you with joy, he will keep his love over you, he will rejoice over you with singing and rejoicing over you” (Zep 3:17).
We know that we can never dwell in the house of God without going through the milestones of brotherly love. It is written, “For this reason the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed, for everyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor does he love his brother” (1 John 3:10). You know that you have passed from death into life by doing this, but the one who does not love remains in death” (1 John 3:14). He who does not love cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20), and “we have received this commandment from the Lord, and he who loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:21). ) proves that.
Therefore, those who have reached the milestone of brotherly friendship are truly blessed. This is because they are those who dwell in God. It is because it is as it is written, “We have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love. He who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). Thank you Lord.
Last but not least, Kim Yoon-goo