By this shall all men know
Not only by this you yourselves will know that ye have passed
from death to life, that the true work of grace is begun upon
your hearts; nor only by this will you know one another to be
Christians; but by this all men, even the men of the world will
know,
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another:
and own and acknowledge it, as Tertullian F14 says
the very Heathens did in his time; who would say, when they saw
the Christians pass along the streets, and meet and express their
affection to each other, "see how they love one another": would
to God the same was as observable now. The distinguishing badge
and character of a disciple of Christ, is not any outward garb,
or any austerities of life, by which the disciples of John and of
the Pharisees were known; nor were the ordinary nor extraordinary
gifts of the Spirit, bestowed upon the disciples of Christ, what
distinguished them as such; since those who were not truly his
disciples, had these bestowed on them; but love to one another,
brotherly love was the distinguishing character, and this is
another reason or argument enforcing a regard unto it.