While this verse is often read to mean to love fellow believers in Christ, it may have a broader application, that is, that we should love all others, whether in Christ or of the world. (Luke 6:27-36) And yet it is a love that is first of all a love for God, in harmony with appreciation of His love for us and the whole world dying in Adam. (John 3:16,17; 1 John 2:2,5; 3:17: 4:7-11) It is this love that should distinguish the regenerated child of God from all others. It is a love that can be seen in action on all occasions. It is a love that is willing to overlook the frailties and imperfections of others. The goal of those who belong to Christ is to perfect this love in their hearts. Indeed, eventually, all who are to live forever must have this love perfected in their hearts.
And yet, there is a special love that we should have for our brothers in Christ. Such love should be willing to lay down life for each other. Indeed, this, we believe, is possibly the greatest test on all the regenerated children of God, and it possibly along the line of love that many will fail to attain the prize that Paul wrote about in Philippians 3:14. Most of those consecrated who do not attain that prize will, we believe, have to go through further disciplining before they will be proven fit for eternal life, although they will have lost the greatest prize for which they were called. -- Luke 12:47,48.
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