1Pet 2:17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. 1Pet 1:22 Since you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned brotherly love, love one another from a pure heart fervently,
Verse 17 says, “Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” Why does Peter say “love the brotherhood” instead of “love the brothers”? By using the word brotherhood Peter indicates that we should not merely love the brothers [believers] separately, one by one, or individualistically. Rather, we should love the totality of the brothers. This means that we should love the universal family of the brothers.
As believers in Christ, we are not only a community; we are also a family. A family is much more intimate than a community is. Because we are in a family, we refer to one another as brothers. If we were not of the same family, how could we be brothers to one another? No matter what our skin color may be–black, white, yellow, brown, or red–we all are brothers in God’s family. Hallelujah for this worldwide, universal family! This family has been in existence for nearly two thousand years.
The word brotherhood in verse 17 refers to this family. We should love the brothers in God’s family in the feeling of brotherliness. This is to love the brotherhood. However, few Christians today have the sense that in loving the brothers they are loving the brotherhood. This indicates that today’s Christians do not have the sense of the corporate life. Nevertheless, the church is altogether a corporate matter. We need to love the brothers in their totality; that is, we need to love the brothers in a corporate sense.
Prayer Confession Heavenly Father thank you for this truth. Thank you for revealing the need of loving the brothers in God’s family. I learn to live together and love my fellow brothers in a corporate way and sense. Lord, give me the grace and revelation of loving the body of Christ with no favoritism in Jesus’ name, Amen.