1. One of the obligations of the Christian life is to love other believers.

-this love is agape love, “a self-sacrificing desire to meet the needs of others that finds expression in concrete acts.”

-this love is commanded, thus it is not automatic, it is uniquely a love of the will not, not just feelings

-this love is expressed in a “Philadelphia” (from Gk. Philia) kind of brotherly or family love, affection

-this love must be sincere (without hypocrisy or manipulation) and fervent (“striving with all one’s energy”)

2. Test of love from 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:

-Am I the kind of person who blows up easily or lashes out at others?

-Am I the kind of person who treats others with disrespect or even contempt?

-Am I the kind of person who thrives on attention from others?

-Am I the kind of person who must have my own way?

-Am I the kind of person who is always on the edge of anger?

-Am I the kind of person who can’t let go of a wrong, who keeps a ready supply of wrongs to trot out in an argument?

-Am I the kind of person who secretly enjoys seeing others fall?

3. Peter can command and expect this kind of love between believers because:

-we are purified as a result of our redemption and “being purified from sin enables Christians to show genuine family love for God’s children.”

-we are born again, we have new life through our faith in Jesus Christ through the Word of God which can never die, it is imperishable.

4. The Word of God is living, that is it gives life; and it is enduring, indestructible because the eternal God is behind it.

5. “We must …therefore, develop, cultivate, manifest this affection…Such love was needed by those early Christians, amid the withering heat of persecution and pain; such love is needed today where sorrows cast their shadows, and where the night of grief and doubt deepens; it is the fragrant expression of the life of faith,…” (Erdman)