4. Interdependence of the love for God and love for the brethren.— The love for God and the love for the brethren are not, according to the apostolic teaching, two independent facts. In examining their relation, it should be remembered that the love for God and the love for Christ are to the NT practically interchangeable conceptions, Christ no less than God being the source and recipient of religious devotion (Eph 3'^). This may be most
VOL. I. — II
strikingly illustrated by a comparison of the Gospel and the First Epistle of John : in the latter, love is derived from and attached to God precisely after the same manner as in the Gospel it is derived from and attached to Christ. The close union of love for God (and Christ) and love for the brethren can be traced both objectively and subjectively. 06- jectively it may be followed along these lines : the Divine purpose and the redemptive process do not contemplate the production of love for God in iso- lated individuals, but in the Church as the organic community of believers. It is through the conjoined love for God and the brethren that the Church is and works as an organism (1 Co 12, Eph 3"), ' rooted and grounded in love' (Eph 3^'', cf. Col 3^'* 'the bond of perfectness') ; hence the same term, Koivoivia, 'communion,' is used for the fellowship with God and Christ and the fellowship with the breth- ren (1 Co P, 2 Co G''* 8S Ph P 31", 1 Jn l^- e-^) ; the act which produces love for God simultaneously produces love for the brethren, and the same Spirit which underlies and inspires the former likewise underlies and inspires the latter (Ro 15^", 2 Co G**, Gal 5-^ Eph P 6-S Col P, 1 Th 3'2 4», 1 Jn 3"») ; the inseparableness of the two also finds expression in the ligure of the family or household of God (Gal 6'", Eph 2'^ 1 Jn 1^ 2» 51 [where, however, ' him that is begotten ' may refer to Christ and not to the fellow- believer]). Subjectively the interdependence of love for God and love for the bretiiren presents itself as follows : through the recognition of the inclusive- ness of the love of God the experience of the same acts as a motive-power for the Christian to include those whom God loves in his OAvn love likewise ; the Christian also recognizes that he is not merely the object of the Divine love, but also the instru- ment of its manifestation to others ; he serves man in the service of God (Ro 6'^ 1 Co 7"^ 2 Co 8^, Ph 2^^ 2 Ti 4'') ; the love of God and Christ shown liiiu becomes to the believer an example of love to tlie brethren (Ro W\ 1 Co 8", 2 Co 8«- », Eph 4»^ 5^, Ph 2^^-, 1 Jn 4'i) ; the idea of a close union between the two also underlies the formula ' faith energiz- ing through love ' (Gal 5"). Here faith as the right attitude towards God as Redeemer begets love fur Him, which in turn becomes the active principle of service to others (cf. v. ^^). Because the love for others is thus founded on, and regulated by, the love for God, it not only does not require but for- bids fellowship with such as are in open opposition to God and Christ (1 Jn 2'5 5»«, 2 Jn i». Rev 2-^- %
5. The origin of brotherly love. —Religious love in general is a supernatural product. It originates not spontaneously from a sinful soil, but in response to the sovereign love of God, and that under the influence of the Spirit (Ro S^- 8 g^s, 1 CoS^ [where ' is known of him ' = ' has become the object of his love '], Gal 4^ [where ' to be known by God ' has the same pregnant sense], 1 Jn 4'''- ^^). Love for the brethren specifically is also a product of re- generation (1 P r-2-22; cf. P-^). Especially in St. Paul, the origin of brotherly love is connected with the supernatural experience of dying with Christ, in which the sinful love of self is destroyed, and love for God, Christ, and the brethren produced in its place (Ro &^«- 7* S^'S 2 Co 5'^-i«, Gal 2i"- 2"). Accordingly, love for the brethren appears among other virtues and graces as a fruit of the Spirit, a charisma (Ro IS^", 1 Co 13, Gal 5^^ e^-i"). Although this is not explicitly stated in Acts, there is no doubt that St. Luke (if not the early disciples themselves) derived the manifestation of love in the Mother-church from the influence of the Spirit.
6. The essence of brotherly love. — A psycho- logical dehnition of brotherly love is nowhere given in the apostolic writings, but certain notes and characteristics are prominently brought out.
These are : (1) On the positive side. — (a) Personal
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BUILDING
attachment and devotion. The fornuihe for this are 'to give oneself,' 'to owe oneself," ' to seek the person ' (2 Co S» 12'4, Philem i«). There is among the brethren an inner harmony of willing (Ac 4^-). As such an inward thing true "love goes bej'ond all concrete acts of liel])fulness : it means more even than feeding the poor or giving one's body to be burnt (1 Co 13^) ; it involves an absolute identifica- tion in life-experience, whicJi goes to the extent of bearing the burden of soirow for the sins and the weaknesses of others (Ko 15\ 1 Co 2% 2 Co 7^ Gal 6-'). — (b) An energetic assertion of the will to love. Love d6es not consist in mere sentiment ; it is subject to the imperative of duty. St. Paul speaks of it as a matter of pursuit and zealous endeavour (1 Co 14^) ; it involves strenuous labour (1 Th P [where ' the labour of love' is not the labour performed by love, but the labour involved :n loving]). Hence also its voluntariness is emphas- ized (2 Co 9"), and the continuance of its obligation insisted upon (Ro 13**).— (c) Concrete helpfulness to others. The NT throughout preaches the necessity for love to issue into practical furtherance of the interests of others. This is emphatically true even of St. Paul, notwitlistanding his insistence on faith as the sole ground of salvation. The Apostle, because governed by the principle of the glory of Got! as subserved by the love of God, requires the work as essential to the completeness of love. ' Good works ' is a standing formula in the Pastoral Epistles (1 Ti 2'" 5'"- ^Q^^', 2 Ti 2-' 3", Tit P" 2'- '-i 31- 8) ; but it also appears in Ac e^^, Ro'l33 14«, 1 Co 6-0 10^1, 2 Co 9«, Eph 2'<', Col V\ He 10-* 1 P 2'^ Kev 22->9--'3-=6 32- 8- 15 141=* 20>2 22i-^. Hence the reference to tlie ' members ' as organs of the service of God (Ro 6'* 12'). The test of love lies in its iielpfulness (Ro 14, 1 Co 8). Love ' edihes,' i.e. builds up, the fellow-Christian (1 Co 8'). It contri- butes, however, not exclusively, nor even primarily, to the material or intellectual, but to the spiritual benefit of others (1 Co 8i). The NT avoids the errors both of the Jewish and of the Hellenic prac- tice of ethics. In Judaism the external acts bad become too much detached from the personal spirit of devotion. In Hellenism tlie interest was too much turned inward and absorbed by a self-centred cultivation of virtue as such. Because all conduct is thus determined by the supreme principle of love as helpfulness, all casuistry is excluded and ethical problems are all reduced to the one question : what will benefit my brother ? This absence of all casu- istic treatment of ethical questions is characteristic of St. James as well as of St. Paul.