There is a lie of the enemy that we need to expose and defeat with the truth. The design of the lie is to get us to turn away from God and His command to “love one another.” A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another (John 13:34). Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God (1 John 4:7). And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also (1 John 4:21). The lie concerns, who is our brother; who is the one another? As a body, the members of the body (coming together in fellowships) have created doctrines that divide the Body of Christ. The enemy has convinced us that other fellowships, that do not hold to our doctrines (our own understanding), are not our brothers.

To start with, even if a fellowship has moved away from Christ with their doctrines and become our enemy, we are still told to love them. If they use us for spite and persecute us, we are told to pray for them. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:43-45). Those that confess Jesus Christ with their mouth and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead (see Romans 10:9) are our brothers. Their brotherhood does not depend on how they understand other teachings, for we are united in Christ Jesus. In that, it does not matter if others believe that I am their brother (because they differ in their understanding); they are still the “one another” Jesus commanded me to love.

It has been said that Christians spend to much time talking about love and not enough time talking about discipline. The real lie is that love is just an emotion or feeling. The truth is that love is a discipline. Love is not an emotion or a feeling. Healthy emotions and feelings may be birthed out of love, but they are not all there is of love. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Love is a discipline. Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). All the law and all the prophets hang on two laws of love; love is a major discipline – love is a foundational truth.

Defeat the lie of the enemy with the truth. Love one another. The walls of doctrine can be thrown down by praise and worship. We, the Body of Christ, can come together in Him. We can come together in the truth that He is the Son of God – that He died for the remission of our sins – that God restored Him to life. It is through the restoration of Jesus Christ that we all have the hope of eternal life.

© 2007 Tim D. Coulter Sr.