BEING BROTHERS AND SISTERS

There is little we can do but to conform to the demand of being in union with each other. From the beginning when the Lord asked Cain, “Where is Abel your brother? And he replied, I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” The answer was yes; and there are not any further questions. The Old Testament prophet Amos wrote of a “covenant of brotherhood” (or brothers) (1:9). Jesus said, “You are all brothers” (Matthew 23:8), and the apostle Paul wrote, “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor” (Romans 12:9-10). Additionally the apostle Peter wrote as part of our “divine nature” to “add to your godliness brotherly kindness, and to your brotherly kindness, Christian love.” (2 Peter 1:3,4,7).

There is no room for any kind of negative isolation with such a strong appeal to be brotherly and in community with others. The community may be where there are “two or three” or two or three thousand but there is no single Christian.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus