a. The community’s internal relations (3:8; 4:7-11)

Because Christians are reborn into God’s loving family (1:3, 22-23), harmony, familial love, and mutual humility must shape all relationships (3:8). These qualities are not natural. They are manifested only when Christians appropriate God’s grace in their relationships with each other.

If loving relationships depend on grace in times of calm, how much more in times of turmoil. Especially when Christians are abused and pressured because of their faith, nothing is more important than holding each other in fervent love (4:8). In the face of hostility, mutual love will help the community remain free from sin (4:8) and will provide the support that is needed to glorify God through Jesus Christ (4:9-11).