From Death to Life! From Life to Death

“Do not wonder, brethren, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.” 1 John 3:13-14.

Here we see quite clearly who has passed out of death into life, and who abides in death. If we cease to love a brother we once loved, we pass from life to death. God does not make exceptions; He does not allow us to love some brothers and not others and still abide in life. “. . . and brotherly affection with love.” 2 Peter 1:1-7.

“And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because wickedness is multiplied, most men’s love will grow cold. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:11-13. Here we see that if our love grows cold on account of wicked people, we love our life in God.

“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18. “And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’” Luke 23:24. Likewise, Stephen prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Acts 7:60.

If Jesus had come out of love, He would no longer have been in God, and salvation for all of us would thus have been lost. 1 John 4:16. And so it will be for each of us if we come out of love, for this is to come out of salvation itself. When a person proves difficult or conducts himself in such a way that another person’s honor is affected—honor he feels he is entitled to—it is easy for him to give such a person a cold shoulder. He does not show care and concern for him in order to lead him to God. He does not remain in love; he fails to think about how he could help the other person. Many people think more about how the offending person can be held accountable for what he has done.

When we read Colossians 3:11-15, we see the many kinds of people whom God has chosen, and we see what we have to do in order to abide in His love. We are to forgive others just as Jesus forgave us. Then we can be built up together with them in the body of Christ and be thankful. But if we do not really understand what sanctification means to us, we will not be able to abide in love. The one who says that he has no sin deceives himself, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 1:8. If we love the truth, we will understand the exhortation in 1 Peter 1:22*: “Purify your souls in obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brothers, and love one another fervently from the heart.”

A cleansing process will take place among all those who are chosen by God—if we understand what sanctification is, and if we know that we have sin. Then we also have reason to be thankful that we are one body together with the others. If our love grows cold, we come out of salvation. In the love of Christ no one and nothing can lead us astray. If we read 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13, we will see that only when we abide in love will we be prepared to meet our Lord Jesus when He comes with all His saints.