Part 28 of 31 from "Christ our Righteousness".
By Carl Oluf Rosenius.
(1816-1868)
Translated from ekris.net
“To godliness, brotherly kindness –” (2. Peter 1:7)
The apostle wants to say, be aware of, now, that you have the proper godliness. It will be recognized by this, that it shows itself in brotherly kindness. You may be the most pious and earnest person in the world, rich in virtues and insight, abstemious and persevering and strict in your attitude to the sin.
But if you don’t love the brothers, all those who are born of God and with pleasure want to live as Christians, then all your piety is a delusion. Then you aren’t standing in “God’s true grace”.
But there are many, then, who says:
“Certainly I do love the Christians. The ones who really are Christians, who are the way Christians should be.” But here it’s a question of what your kindness is like.
Certainly it’s true that the Christians should be the way God’s word says they must be. But if this is the condition of your kindness towards the brothers, then it isn’t of the right kind.
You still don’t understand, then, what it means to love the Christians. The true kindness loves all those who believe in Jesus, even if they are full of shortcomings and defects. We love them for Christ’s sake, - because they belong to him.
One can’t take the love of one's own accord, - that we have to admit. It’s impossible to compel one’s heart to love. But where the love towards Christ has been born in a heart, there it also appears like that, that one quite spontaneously begins to love all those who love and seek Him. Love them irrespective of who they are and what they are like in themselves.
Translation Gert Gravgaard
