David Jackman is spot on in his analysis of 1 John 4:13-21. In his commentary in The Bible Speaks Today series, the penultimate paragraph discusses the notion that we can love God, and yet not love our Christian brothers and sisters. He says this:
Is this not one of our greatest sins as Christians today? We may talk a lot about loving God, we may express it in our worship with great emotion, but what does it mean when we are so critical of other Christians, so ready to jump to negative conclusions about people, so slow to bear their burdens, so unwilling to step into their shoes? Such lovelessness totally contradicts what we profess and flagrantly disobeys God's commands. It becomes a major stumbling-block to those who are seeking Christ and renders any attempts at evangelism useless. In many churches and fellowships we need a fresh repentance on this matter, a new humbling before God, an honest confession of our need and a cry to God for mercy and grace to change us. (Pages 131-132)
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