What is mankind?

In the last post , we saw how Paul incorporated the Old Testament concept of brotherkeeping into the church age. No longer are the brothers whom we’re to “keep in life” limited to siblings or fellow countrymen related through father Abraham. In Christ, all believers are our brothers and sisters. Yet we have seen that even OT brotherkeeping was not strictly limited to relatives, but also applied to unrelated neighbors and foreigners . In the same way, there are New Testament passages that apply brotherliness to the way we feel and act toward nonChristian neighbors and countrymen as well: ► 1 Peter 2:17 says, “Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.” A clear distinction is drawn. We owe love to Christian brothers. The Greek word behind love is agapao, which means to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly. There’s a degree of warmth that is missing from the connotation of honor, which we’re to give everyone else, small and great. Honor means to re...