D. Scott Meadows

In this spiritual letter, John Newton touches upon one of the most significant matters of all—the qualities of that brotherly love graciously produced by God in the souls and lives of those who are truly saved. Paragraphs correspond with the original in this abridged paraphrase.

1. No one genuinely loves true Christians for being true Christians except true Christians, and that is why this virtue is a trustworthy mark of true Christians (1 Jn 3.14). We are prone to imagine we have this mark even when we lack it, so we should consider the nature of this genuine love.

2. Many have mistaken counterfeits for this love and, having them, wrongly concluded that they are saved.

3. One counterfeit is a natural love of the brethren. Even unbelievers without saving grace sincerely love those closest to them. Orpah, though an idolater, had a great affection for Naomi, but it was inferior to Ruth’s spiritual love that left all for Naomi’s and the Lord’s sake.

4. Another counterfeit is a love of convenience. True Christians at their best are very virtuous and therefore easy to love. They are gentle, generous, and gracious, treating others very well. For that reason, people who are full of themselves and love to have their own way may like their company. Laban temporarily loved Jacob his dutiful son-in-law. When Jacob seemed dispensable, Laban was done with him, since he only loved him from self-interest.

5. The third counterfeit I would mention is party love. It is the love of those who associate with us in sentiment, in form of worship, or are attached to the same minister. Those united within such narrow and separate associations may lack all true Christian love, for even those in false religions have party love. Admittedly, the genuine love of true Christians is sadly mixed with selfish affections, too.

6. The core principle of genuine love to the brethren is that love for God that obeys Him. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments” (1 Jn 5.2). True Christians love each other for holy reasons, because they are brethren spiritually, even though they may have many differences in less important things. Yet they agree in supreme love to God the Father and to Jesus their Savior and in hating and avoiding sin as it is contrary to the will of the God whom they love. They share a commitment to the Christian faith and virtues which are despised in this ungodly world. Believers are washed in the same blood, supplied by the same grace, opposed by the same enemies, and have the same heaven in view. That is why they love each other!

7. This love is clearly from God. It extends to all who love Christ in sincerity and is not confined to those of one denomination. It is gentle and longsuffering, makes allowances for weaknesses, is open to reason, kind, compassionate, sympathetic, and generous toward the needy, as God is. It especially loves those the most like Christ, yet does not disparage those with even weak signs of true grace.

8. Anyone who so genuinely loves the brethren is a true Christian and, without depending on their evidences as the ground of their hope, has a warrant for full assurance of salvation. Still I must insist that true Christians must watch against their remaining sin which accounts for our uncharitableness and dampens this love I have described. The problems among us are so great and prevalent that it almost seems I must either retract much of what I have said or admit that very few professing Christians are really saved. How can we avoid this disagreeable dilemma?

9. Essentially the problem with true Christians lies here: we do not live up to the ideals we cherish. It is a good thing that we not under the law but under grace, for we would be condemned otherwise. When our love for Jesus is most intense, so is our love for His beloved people. We wish we could always be so heavenly-minded, but we are poor, inconsistent creatures. We cannot do anything right unless enabled by His grace. Hopefully, we do not indulge anything we know to be wrong, and even though we are so often misled by ignorance and prejudice, we do in our hearts love and esteem the brethren, desiring to be with them eternally. We know we love them for Jesus’ sake, and when we consider our obligations to them, we are ashamed and grieved that we love them no better.

10. If we could not conscientiously say at least this much, we should question our sincerity and spiritual safety. Scripture cannot be broken, and grace cannot fail to produce some degree of its proper fruits. Jesus who shall judge us announced that love is the characteristic of His true disciples, and without it, what comfort can we have in claiming Him as our God? Do not mistake this for legalistic self-dependence. I am not talking about how we are accepted by God but rather about the fruits we bear when He has accepted us. The highest is brotherly love (Jn 13.35). This makes it very plain that all other spiritual claims notwithstanding, without this love, God counts a man’s faith dead and his religion useless.

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This letter should be most sobering to all, a catalyst to self-examination, and also most comforting to those who pass the biblical test. It is also useful for true Christians to lament our shortcomings and to aspire to be more loving like Jesus Himself. Does not this humorous ditty embarrass us all? “To dwell above with saints we love, / That will be grace and glory, / But to dwell below with saints we know, / Well, that’s another story!” The Lord calls us who are true Christians by His grace to live more deeply and consistently in the heavenly love of our glorious destiny. Ω