November 8, 2025 - Titus 3:12-15 - "Love for the Brethren"

Titus 3:12-15

"When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter. Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them. And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen."

Love for the brethren! They are those chosen in Christ, saved by His blood shed unto death at the cross, and called to Him by the Spirit of Grace. Here is a love that is not born from human will or sentiment, but from the cross of the LORD Jesus Christ. Every true affection toward the people of God flows out of His particular Love, that eternal and unconditional Love that brought Christ down to satisfy law and justice. Any true Love must have its Root there. "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16).

True and everlasting Love flows from the perfect harmony between the Father and the Son—in all things about creation, providence, salvation, and even judgment. God does all things out of perfect Love for the Son, and the Son, in turn, out of perfect Love for the Father. There has never been, nor will there ever be, any tension or disagreement between them, for they are One in Love, purpose, and determination. As Christ declared, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30–38). It is that very Love of the Father for the Son which, by the Spirit, flows into the hearts and minds of God’s chosen and redeemed people, moving them to love one another as brethren in the household of faith.

The world has much to say about “love,” yet what it calls love is often self-serving—rooted in pride and human effort. Likewise, in relation to God, the religion of the natural mind teaches its followers to attempt to earn or maintain His favor through their own deeds. But Scripture clearly declares that nothing we do of ourselves can ever obtain that favor. Love that begins with self always ends in disappointment: it demands recognition, insists on repayment, and, when unacknowledged, turns bitter. The Love that is of God, however, flows freely, for it springs from Him toward His elect in Christ and is the fruit of His Grace. "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

Paul’s closing words to Titus reveal this Love in action. The apostle’s concern is not for himself but for the care of the LORD’s people and the furtherance of the Gospel. “When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis” (Titus 3:12). There is here a true oneness of mind and spirit, the fellowship of those who labor together in the Gospel. They are not bound by earthly ties, but by the Spirit of Christ Who unites His people in one direction and one purpose. Paul’s love was not a general affection. It was love for a particular people—the brethren, those in Christ. Just as a father’s love for his children is distinct and tender, so is the believer’s love for those who are born of God. The apostle names men who shared this labor—Artemas, Tychicus, Zenas the lawyer, and Apollos. These were not mere acquaintances; they were fellow laborers in the Faith, precious to him because they shared in the work of Christ. This Love could not be explained in worldly terms—it was the work of the Spirit. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death" (1 John 3:14).

The call for Titus to bring Zenas and Apollos on their journey “that nothing be wanting unto them” (Titus 3:13) shows a love that cares for the needs of others. Everything we have has been given by God; it is borrowed goods, to be used for His glory. In the early church, “as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them…and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need” (Acts 4:34–35). Such giving was not a forced obligation, nor was it an attempt to earn merit, but it was the natural fruit of God's Love that reaches out to those in need within Christ's church.

Paul’s exhortation is: “Let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful” (Titus 3:14). This reveals that True Love (the Love of the Father for the Son and those chosen in Him) is always active in His people through that Love. These good works are not spiritual performances to earn favor with God, but the fruit of Christ's labor on their behalf that causes them to love, serve, and honor their brethren. "Good works" are God's works in, by and through the LORD Jesus Christ toward those who are brethren in the Faith, that He has saved by His death, burial and resurrection, and called by His Grace. The believer works with his hands, as Paul did in tent-making so that he may give to help and support others more needy in the body of Christ. Love for the brethren shows itself not in mere words but in grateful service, in the quiet, steady care for one another’s needs as the LORD prospers and directs, and not to be seen of others, or desire for reward (Matthew 6:1).

Finally, this love is bound up in The Faith of God in Christ Himself. “All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all” (Titus 3:15). Love for the brethren flows from Love for The Faith—the Truth of Who Christ is, what He has accomplished, and for whom He has done it. Where there is a shared revelation of The Faith, there is a shared Love that cannot be broken. It is this Faith that binds believers together. It is why the church gathers, why the Gospel is preached, and why hearts are knit in one accord. The same grace that brought Christ to the cross is the grace that keeps His people in Love. It is particular, effectual, and everlasting. The scripture warning is "'If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (I John 4:20).

To love the brethren, then, is the love of Christ Himself, and flows from Him—to His people. This Love is not in the flesh but is from the Spirit of Christ Himself (2 Corinthians 13:14). It is not for gain, nor for recognition, but because He first loved us.