I John 4:20-21

These verses are presented by John as a challenge, as a test to those who are reading, because there are many who say they “love God” or “I have fellowship with God” or “I know God” and John is saying, prove it by loving your brother. The proof that love is real is the action that it produces. It will always help the other person in the long run.

And if a person really loves God, he will honor his parents, he will not commit murder, he will not fornicate, commit adultery, or lie, or steal, or covet. In other words, he will keep the commandments. If a person is really getting close to God, he will not do any other those things in their spiritual ramifications as well.

This verse, then, offers a permanently valid test as to whether our religion is the true one or not. Do we love God? Do we love one another? The proof that we love God is that we love our brother with agape love because that kind of love must have an outlet or it is not reciprocated back to God.

I John 4:20-21

Do not let anyone tell you that "it is just between me and God," as though nothing else matters as far as our judgment is concerned, because it is our relationship with our brothers that is the primary area of our judgment because that is the environment in which we live and operate.

If we want to be in a good relationship with God, truly reconciled to Him, it will be because the blood has paved the way toward how we treat our brother. Does the parable in Matthew 25 teach you anything? Christ said, "Because you have done this to the least of these My brothers, you have done it unto Me" (Matthew 25:40). Christ cannot be separated from His brothers. If we have a good relationship with God it is because we are using His Spirit to be an appeasing force, a force for the covering of sin because is it not John who says that love covers a multitude of sins? Brethren, we have just begun to the scratch the surface of this subject.