I John 3:14 “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”
To “love the brethren” is to “know that we have passed from death unto life”. This “death” is a state of separation from God; having no sense of God, no love for God, no love for the Word of God, no love for the Church of God, and no love for the people of God. Those who are in this state of “death” are motivated by their own carnal desires and lusts; their primary concern is for themselves, even at the expense of others. Those who are in this “death” are “without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12) and are “alienated and enemies in” their “mind by wicked works” (Colossians 1:21). The sure evidence, in our minds and hearts, “that we have passed from death unto life” is that “we love the brethren”. This life altering “love” draws us to the Lord’s Church, binds us together, gives us a great compassion for one another, and gives us an overwhelming desire to fellowship together. When “we have passed from death unto life”, we are always looking forward to the next opportunity to meet together, to worship together, and to express our “love” one to another. This happy state is our personal assurance that “we have passed from death unto life”; that is, that our Lord has given us Spiritual Life (John 3:1-8).