The sphere of beneficence.
This verse sums up the ideas of the previous verses, which spoke of beneficence in general, by setting forth its objects and occasions.
I. THE DUTY COMMANDED. "Let us do good." Christian life is not a mere easy and decent inoffensiveness. A man is not harmless who does no good. The barren tree is hurtful, because it cumbers the ground and draws to itself the fertilizing qualities of the earth, which would make a better tree more fruitful. It brings forth no bad fruit; yet it is cast into the fire. Therefore we must not only "cease to do evil," but" learn to do well." "To do good and to communicate forget not" (Hebrews 13:16).
II. THE DUTY BOUNDED BY OPPORTUNITY. "As we have therefore opportunity." Cotton Mather says, "The opportunity to do good imposes the obligation to do it." It is not when our inclination or our self-interest or the thirst for fame or gratitude dispose us that we are to do good, but at every opportunity that opens on our path. These opportunities are constantly around us in the common intercourse of life, but they specially arise in connection with suffering and distress. Therefore "in the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand."
III. THE SPHERE OF BENEVOLENCE. There is a wider sphere, and a narrower within it: "Do good unto all men, and especially to them who are of the household of faith." There are distinctions even in the wider sphere. We recognize them in the obligations of family life. "If any man provide not for his own, he is worse than an infidel;" we recognize the claims of friendship and of gratitude; yet our beneficence is to extend to all men within the range of opportunity. It is a significant fact that the Apostle Peter, in naming the successive graces of life that are essential to our partaking of the Divine nature, says, "Add to your brotherly kindness charity." There may be a selfish or sectarian feeling that leads us to forget the wider relations in which we stand in the scheme of Divine providence. Yet the brotherly kindness stands first. We are to do good, "especially to them who are of the household of faith;" on the same principle as we are bound to remember first the wants of our family or our friends. The spirit of the Rousseau philanthropy would not tolerate any distinctions of this sort. The household in question, which includes the whole collective body of Christians, is a large, a growing, a loving household, and, in early times, sorely scattered by persecution. There was, therefore, a special need to show kindness to its members. The" collection for the saints" (1 Corinthians 16:1, 1 Corinthians 16:2) is a practical illustration of this nearer relationship.