1 John 5:1-2 (KJV)
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

Rhetoric, the creative use of the word, written or spoken, to instruct and persuade, is a favorite of mine. I like attempting it (though I know I am not good at it). And I like observing it.

1 John 5:1 is certainly fine rhetoric. It requires thought to really catch but once you’ve caught it you immediately realize the simplicity of it. “every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” It’s this simple, Christians love Christians.

The next verse, I think, is the more challenging. Of course Christians love Christians, but how? What is the Biblically prescribed way to express this love? Am I free to love professing Christians in whatever manner I believe is love? No. Verse two tells me exactly how to love my brethren in the faith:

By loving God
That’s right. The best way to love another Christian is to love God first.

By keeping His commandments
Really! I express my best love for other Christians by obedience to the truths in God’s Word.

My wife knows that I want to love God more than I love her. She is fine with that. She even encourages and prays for that. The reason? She knows that the more I love God and keep his commandments, the more capable I am to love her.

Christians know this to be true so we long to see other Christians love God and keep His commandments.

To my readers:
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For this and more than 4100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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1 John 5:1-2 (KJV) Christians Love Christians

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