1 John 3:14 – “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not his brother dwells, resides and lives in death.”
If I am not loving my brother with God’s grace-empowered love then my love is conditional, soulish, limited and leads to idolatry. This phileo-soulish love puts me under its unfilled expectations. You could even say I put myself under a curse. Whoa. This love is self-seeking. It is Jezebel-like and cuts off from godly life energy. See the referenced blogs below. I also am not loving myself if I am not loving my brother. I can only love if I know God and His only Son. Otherwise, my love is presumption-based and it will betray me1. If I love someone based on the self-imposed law in my heart I am setting myself up for disappointment, pain and loss. God’s love is 1 Corinthians 13. It is very different from carnal, soulish love. I believe John is also saying if we are not in Christ then we are under self-imposed law which brings death.
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