Now concerning brotherly love ye have no need that we should write to you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
Paul has just warned the Thessalonians about sexual sin. Now he turns to something they were already doing well. He tells these new believers that here he has nothing to teach them. God has taught them Himself.
One writer sees a deliberate contrast between that sin and this love.
With verse 9 Paul turns from this sin, which so often pretends to be love, to brotherly love. That is the real thing, and it is found among the people of God. As to this he gladly acknowledges there was no need of his exhortations, for they had been taught by God to do it. It was the very instinct of the divine life in their souls. The only thing he has to say to them is that they should "increase more and more."
The same phrase appears elsewhere in Scripture. One writer sets the two uses side by side.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:9 we read, "You yourselves have been taught by God to love one another." And John 6:45 says, "And they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." In John the teaching of God turns the soul to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Thessalonians it instructs those who have come to Him to love one another.
One writer adds what this teaching produced in the Thessalonians.
As for brotherly love — that new driving force of their life — they needed no urging. God Himself had taught them, and they were an example of love to all.
One writer contrasts this love with mere good nature, and notes how new these believers still were:
Remember that the Thessalonian believers were young in the faith. Yet the apostle told them they had no need for anyone to write to them about brotherly love, because God Himself had taught them to love one another. We have been walking this road much longer than they have. May the Lord give us grace that we, taught by God, may abound in love still more… Anything else is only "good nature," as people call it. It is a kind, well-meaning spirit that does not like to trouble or be troubled, and is willing to let everyone have his own way. And this is counted as love!
The two can even come apart in the same person:
A merely pleasant nature is found in dogs and other animals too; it is animal nature. But love for the brothers and sisters is a divine motive. I love them because they are of God. A person may be very unlikeable by nature and yet love the brothers and sisters with all his heart. Another may be very likeable and have no love for them at all.
Hamilton Smith, quoting J. N. Darby
What ties believers to each other? One writer points to what they already share in Christ.
Having Christ binds hearts together in a wonderful way. Affection for one another is a spiritual instinct, and everything we learn of Christ deepens it with understanding. Meeting together may sometimes test whether it is real, but on the whole it makes it grow — and all the more as believers share the same hostility from the world.
Yet one writer warns against making this love the highest thing.
Brotherly affection has its limits, because of what it is and who its objects are. It is not God, and it may often let in what shuts Him out. So believers too often slip into evil of one sort or another. And if people press brotherly affection — as they commonly do — as the highest point of love, what harm must come to the saints, and what dishonour to the Lord and the truth!
Still, no amount of correct teaching substitutes for the love this verse describes.
The love of God poured into our hearts leads us to love one another. No formal orthodoxy and no correct church practice can ever make up for a lack of love. Whatever argument someone brings to prove he is well taught, it is worth nothing if he does not show love to the saints.
- Taught, not told. God Himself is the teacher here; that is why Paul says he has no need to write to them about it.
- Taught twice. God's teaching draws a person to Christ. Then it teaches him to love those who belong to Christ.
- Taught early. These were young believers, yet this love was already the instinct of the new life in them. Years in the faith are not what produce it.
- Taught beyond niceness. An unlikeable person may love believers deeply. A very likeable one may not love them at all. Easy-going "good nature" is not this love.
- Taught to increase. The one thing Paul still asked was that they increase more and more. But one writer warns against treating brotherly affection as the highest thing, since it can let in what shuts God out.
For also ye do this towards all the brethren in the whole of Macedonia; but we exhort you, brethren, to abound still more,
Paul had no fault to find in how these young believers loved each other. Their love already reached churches across the whole province — so why ask for more of what God Himself had taught them?
Where did this love come from? Not from anything Paul had to teach them.
As to this he gladly admits there was no need of his exhortations, for they had been taught by God to do it. It was the very instinct of the divine life in their souls. The only thing he has to say to them is that they should "increase more and more." … LOVE and OBEDIENCE — these are the things! And more and more of them!
The verse widens love out to all the brothers. What ties a believer to Christians they have never met?
That we should increase in this is the Holy Spirit's expressed desire for us. "We urge you, brothers, to do this more and more" (1 Thess. 4:10). This is because "you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers." Our Lord Jesus Christ loves all and has redeemed us all by His precious blood. All are born of God. All are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. All call God "Father," and happily they may follow together Him who is "not ashamed" to call them "brothers."
Macedonia was the wider region around Thessalonica. Their love did not stop at the people they met each week. It showed itself in giving too.
As each one enjoyed divine grace, their hearts went out to every member of the Christian community. It reached not Thessalonica only, but all the brothers in all Macedonia. We learn too how ready Christians from the Gentiles were to give to the need of the poor saints at Jerusalem. How willing and hearty the churches of Macedonia were in that service! (2 Cor. 8:1-4)
"More and more" runs right through this letter. That repetition settles a question: can a Christian reach a finished state in this life?
It is very interesting to watch the apostle's use of the word "abound" or "increase" in this letter. It is also important, because it shows that there is no limit of attainment here for the believer. Many speak of perfection or holiness as something we can reach in this world. But the smallest glance at the apostle's teaching on "abounding" shows that these ideas get no support from the word of God. He says, "may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all." It is clear that there can be no standard for "abounding."
Paul had already said much the same in chapter 3. Why say it again here?
Still, he had to urge them to "increase more and more." He had told them nearly the same thing in chapter 3:12, yet he needed to say it again. It is similar in Philippians with joy in the Lord (Phil. 3:1). For true joy in the Lord can so easily fade instead of grow, and love toward others can become feeble instead of abounding. Such exhortation we constantly need.
Could a call for more love mean looser standards? The answer lies in who God is.
This increase of love will not lead to laxity or indifference, for love is of God, and God is light as well as love. The same letter shows it. There Paul asks the Lord to make their love abound, "so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints" (1 Thess. 3:12-13).
- Taught — this love was not a skill Paul had to teach them. It was the instinct of the divine life in them, learned from God Himself.
- Grounded — it reaches all the brothers because Christ redeemed them all by the same blood. All are born of God, indwelt by the Spirit, and call God Father.
- Widened — real love does not stop at the local church. Theirs covered a whole province and opened their hands to poor believers far away.
- Increased — "more and more" sets no ceiling. That is why claims of perfection in this life find no support in Paul's teaching.
- Kept — love that grows does not grow lax. The same letter ties growing love to hearts blameless in holiness when the Lord comes.