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New Testament Love: Loving One Another as Christ’s Brethren

🕊️ New Testament Love: Loving One Another as Christ’s Brethren

📖 Introduction


Love is the defining mark of the New Testament church. While outreach and evangelism are vital expressions of Christian witness, the New Testament places a profound emphasis on inward love—love among believers, especially toward the “least” of Christ’s brethren. This love is not sentimental or abstract; it is sacrificial, covenantal, and rooted in the very character of Christ. Jesus and the apostles consistently taught that the authenticity of our faith is revealed in how we treat fellow members of the body.

💬 Jesus’ Command: Love One Another as I Have Loved You

Jesus inaugurated a new ethic of love within the community of His disciples:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
 —John 13:34–35 (ESV)

This command is not generic humanitarianism. It is covenantal love modeled after Christ’s own sacrificial love. The phrase “one another” clearly refers to fellow disciples—those within the believing community. We love God because he first loved us, this is the truth of scripture. All were seeking their own, all had gone astray, but God was rich in mercy through his great love...

🧎‍♂️ The Least of These: Loving Christ’s Brethren

In Matthew 25, Jesus offers a sobering parable about final judgment. The criteria for separating the sheep from the goats hinges on how one treated “the least of these”:

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
 —Matthew 25:40 (ESV)

The phrase “my brothers” is crucial. In Matthew’s Gospel, “brothers” consistently refers to Jesus’ disciples (cf. Matthew 12:49–50). Thus, the parable is not primarily about general acts of kindness, but about how believers treat fellow Christians—especially the poor, marginalized, or suffering within the church.

🫂 Apostolic Teaching: Love Within the Body

The apostles echo and expand Jesus’ teaching, urging believers to prioritize love within the household of faith:

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
 —Galatians 6:10 (ESV)

Paul’s emphasis is clear: while love extends to all, it is especially directed inward toward the church, “especially to the household of faith.” 

This aligns with his metaphor of the church as a body, where each member is interdependent:

“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
 —1 Corinthians 12:26–27 (ESV)

🧠 Theological Implications

This inward focus does not negate outreach—it deepens it. The theological implications of this are profound. A church that loves its own well becomes a light, it is salt, a compelling witness to the world. 

Theologically, this love reflects:

  • Union with Christ: To love a believer is to love Christ Himself (Matthew 25:40).

  • Covenantal Community: The church is a spiritual family, it is not meant to be a loose association nor members to be mere acquaintances. Think of a body and how each member is closely connected and works together.

  • Sanctifying Witness: Love within the church is a sign of holiness and a testimony to the world (John 13:35).

🛠️ Practical Applications

  1. Prioritize Care for the Vulnerable in the Church. Deacons and lay ministers should identify and support all members, with special focus on those who need help the most, the “least” among the brethren—widows, orphans, the poor, the hungry, those in a ward (hospital, prison, nursing home...) the overlooked, especially, but always caring for the entire flock.

  2. Cultivate Intentional Fellowship. Move beyond Sunday greetings. Invest in relationships, bear burdens, and practice acts of love and hospitality to His brethren.

  3. Teach Love as Doctrine. Love is not optional—it is doctrinal. Churches should teach love as a theological imperative, not merely emotional encouragement.

  4. Guard Against Partiality. James warns against favoritism in the church (James 2:1–9). True love honors the lowly and resists worldly status markers.



Going Deeper


Focus Inward

  • We are to serve one another in love, fulfilling the entire law (Galatians 5:13-14). 

  • We are to love above other gifts (1 Corinthians 12:30). If we have all the other gifts but do not love we have nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Faith and hope will be set aside when we see Jesus face to face, complete no longer needed. Love is greater and everlasting.

  • Effective outward ministry flows from a mature (think fruit bearing) church that has built itself up truth in love (Ephesians 4:11-16). 

  • If we have not learned to serve one another in love within the church we have no business ministering outwardly (1 Timothy 3:4-5).

Growth is scripturally inspired by the establishment (or rooting) in love.* If we use fear of punishment we are not maturing the church in love (1 John 4:18). If we use authoritarian rule and lord over others we do not produce growth stemming from love and do not live to the words of Jesus (Matthew 20:25–28; Matthew 18:1–4; Luke 22:25–27). Why would anyone listen to teachers (unless they themselves seek personal gain) if they do not care for and love them?


The "great" who should be the mature, not by age but by spiritual maturity, they should become "last "serving “the least” to build them up in Christ who is the head. This is radical love and sacrificial service to Christ’s body, the church. We do not need ministers who are looking out for their own interests, who care only about numerical growth, but who seek the interests of Christ who cares deeply for each individual, especially the least, the children.


Inward Focus Extends Outward 


By building authentic relationships rooted in love, believers can embody and reveal God's love to each other that energizes faith. The world will see our good works, deeds of love, creating natural opportunities to talk about our faith. Ultimately, actions and words motivated by love and intertwined with the Gospel and God’s Spirit have the power to draw people to and closer to Christ. 


“In this all will know you exist my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

—1 John 4:11 (ESV)


Radical love is to be profoundly shown to the world. Jesus said we are to love our enemies and those who persecute us. How can we love outwardly when we do not know of God’s love inwardly? Only knowing and being established in love can we love others.


Radical love is expressed through Christ. Paul profoundly states, in 1 Corinthians 1:30, Jesus is our wisdom from God. Quit using the Old Testament proverbs and laws as justification to judge and not love others. The true church is required to give and serve in love, especially to the household of faith, and especially to the least of these.


The teachings of Jesus and the apostles emphasize a radical love that many professing Christians do not know nor live to. Take this scripture for example, “And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, that they may receive in return [interest]. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil” (Luke 6:34-35). 


This is why God sent Jesus, to demonstrate his grace and kindness,

“... to demonstrate to the age the incomparable riches of his grace in loving-kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
 —Ephesians 2:7

To be effective in sharing the message of Christianity (evangelism), and for growth within, love is crucial as both the driving force and the approach of the church. People are more likely to listen and be open to the message when they perceive genuine care and affection. 


Instead of the world making excuses for not wanting to be around Christians (like they are so judgmental, all they want is my money, or they really do not care about me...) instead, they say "they sure do love one another." There are no laws against the fruit of the Spirit, no one has an excuse against a church that is loving, kind, joyful, gentle, long-suffering...

🙌 Conclusion

New Testament love is radical, sacrificial, and deeply communal. Jesus did not merely call His followers to love the world—He called them to love one another as He loves his brethren. This love, especially toward “the least” of His brethren, is the heartbeat of the church and the proof of genuine discipleship. Inward love is not insular—it is the soil from which outward mission grows.

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
 —1 John 4:11 (ESV)

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