One-Anothers in the Bible
Did you know that the phrase “one another” appears 59 times in the New Testament of our Bibles? That’s a lot, and of course, any time we see something repeated, it means that it’s important. It’s something essential for us to know.
The “one-another” passages are essential because they show us how we are to relate to each other. They reveal how we are to behave and treat one another.
Pastor and author, Andy Stanley, says, “The primary activity of the church was one-anothering one another.”
ONE-ANOTHERS IN THE BIBLE
According to the one-anothers in the New Testament, we are to:
Love one another… (John 13:34)
Encourage one another… (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Forgive one another… (Colossians 3:13)
Accept one another… (Romans 15:7)
Submit to one another… (Ephesians 5:21)
Bear with one another… (Ephesians 4:2))
Live in harmony with one another… (Romans 12:16)
Build up one another… (Romans 14:19)
Serve one another… (Galatians 5:13)
Be devoted to one another… (Romans 12:10)
Be kind and compassionate to one another… (Ephesians 4:32)
Live in peace with one another… (Mark 9:50)
And that is just to name a few. Evidently, God wants us to know how He expects us to live with one another.
So, how are you doing in these areas? Are you loving and serving others? Are you being kind and compassionate to others? Are you forgiving them when they’ve offended you? Are you building others up…living in peace with them? Are you submitting to others and living in harmony with them?
Yeah me either sometimes.
LIVING OUT THE ONE-ANOTHERS
But here is the key thing for us to know about these commands:
If you are a believer in Christ, God is commanding you to do these things because they are descriptions of who you are…who He has re-made you into as a born-again child of His.
When you start to see this gospel-centered perspective it changes the way you approach these commands.
God is not saying, “Now that you know what to do, go and get better at them. Work hard at loving others, serving others, forgiving others, and at all the things.”
No, He is saying, “I’ve made you into the kind of people who are loving, so love one another.” I’ve made you into the kind of people who are servants, so serve one another. I’ve made you into the kind of people who are completely forgiven, so forgive one another.”
So again, the commands of behavior are descriptions of who we are in Christ. God is saying, “Go live this way because it’s who you are. It’s who I’ve made you as a new creation in Christ.”
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Out of all of the one-anothers in the Bible, the command to love one another is given more than any other (15 times). I think the reason why is that it is the driver behind all of the one-anothers in the Bible.
Let’s look at one in particular that was given by Jesus during His earthly ministry.
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
(John 13:34-35)
Loving one another wasn’t a new command. There were other commands to love one another, but what made this one new is that Jesus said, “AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, so you must love one another.” They were to love Jesus the same way that He loved them.
So we have to ask, “How did Jesus love them?”
Well, first, we have to acknowledge that Jesus loved them with the Father’s love that was being expressed through Him.
Remember Jesus said in John 5:19 that He can do nothing apart from the Father, and we are even told by Paul in Philippians 2 that Jesus made his deity as if it was no account. He was God in the flesh, but He set His deity aside and lived out of his humanity being 100% fully dependent on God the Father in Him and through Him.
So, Jesus’ love for the disciples was the Father’s love being expressed through Him. It was a reflection of God who is love itself.
So part of what it meant to be a new command is that they were going to be able to love one another in the same way that Jesus loved them because eventually they would be united to Him when the Holy Spirit came and His love could be expressed through them.
The other part of what it meant to be a new command was the specific ways Jesus loved them. Jesus loved the disciples unconditionally, sacrificially, and servant-heartedly.
UNCONDITIONALLY
Jesus picked these men to be his disciples not because they were such great men or had such special talents. They were ordinary men who messed up a lot.
And Jesus didn’t put conditions on the things they had to do or the ways they had to perform to be loved by Him. He loved them unconditionally.
So, for us to love one another the way Jesus loved them and the way that He loves us means that we will love each other unconditionally.
That is very different than the way the world loves. The world says, “I’ll love you if you love me.” “I’ll love you if you perform well.” “I’ll love you if you meet certain conditions.”
But Jesus has made us into the kind of people who love without condition. We love simply because others are made in God’s image and because God loves them.
SACRIFICIALLY
The next thing we see about the way Jesus loved his disciples was sacrificial. He sacrificed his time to invest in them, to teach them, to answer their questions, and to help them. And of course, the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made was to give His life for them and us.
If we are going to love one another the way Jesus loved them and us, then we will love sacrificially.
We’ve been given sacrificial hearts in Christ, and He will lead us to give of our time, to invest in others, and to lay down our own lives for the sake of others.
SERVANT-HEARTEDLY
The final thing we see about the way Jesus loved His disciples was servant-heartedly. The verse we have been looking at is in John 13:34-35. Do you know what Jesus was doing at the beginning of the chapter?
He was washing the disciples' feet! Jesus loved them by doing one of the most humbling things someone could do for another person - washing their dirty, smelly feet.
If we are going to love one another the way Jesus loved the disciples and loves us, then we will serve others and look for ways to be a benefit and a blessing to them.
So, let’s love one another unconditionally, sacrificially, and servant-heartedly as Christ expresses His love through us, and may this be the driver behind all of the other one-anothers in the Bible that we live out as well.