The Commandment Of Love, Part X

Jesus commands us to love one another. Sounds simple but it is not simple to apply. Love is the expression of our faith. We believe in Jesus and therefore we act in love based upon that belief. Love is the fruit that we are to bear for Him. This fruit is for God's glory. There is great sacrifice in love. Love always requires sacrifice of some sort. Which is why our bodies (flesh) and this world are so against it. Love does not appease or satisfy the flesh. Love is in opposition to the flesh and the flesh fights it with amazing resolve. As we grow older, allowing the flesh it's whims, it becomes a more stubborn foe.

Yet, our bodies must fall in line or we will never be able to show love and do what is required when the time comes to act on God's behalf. Some Christians call this sanctification or preparing the way for God to work through us. If we do not bring the flesh under control it will often hinder us. Righteousness and salvation come through Christ and only Him. Yet, to be a soldier and servant of Christ, you must train yourself to become an instrument that God can work through.

^{1 Corinthians 9:25-27}

²⁵Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

The Commandment Of Love, Part IX

Love is the string that resounds throughout the Bible. Whether Old Testament or New Testament, it is obvious that love is the real meat of what the Bible and God are all about. The story is a story of love. Consider the following logic.

God=Love

Jesus=Love

Holy Spirit=spirit of love

We know that God is love for the Bible tells us so and from this we can deduce that Jesus (the Son of God) is also love and if that is a true statement then it only makes sense that the Holy Spirit is the essence or spirit of God and that spirit is also love.

If all these things are love then you can come to several other realizations.

God's Will=Love

God's Salvation=Love

God's Mercy=Love

Truth=Love

Light=Love

Righteousness=Love

Faith=is not only belief in Jesus Christ but also the love whereby He saved us and confidence in that love.

I know this sounds too simplistic and probably silly. However, it is a way of understanding connections in the Bible. Jesus says He is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is love so love is the way, the truth, and the life, just as an example. Anywhere in the Bible that states anything concerning the light, grace, truth, righteousness, etc. is just another way of describing love. Even Jesus says the great two commandments are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. When Jesus gives the disciples a new commandment, it is the commandment to love one another.

We are saved through an act of love by a God who loves us. Love is good and hate is evil. Love is life and hate is death. If you do not believe in this just read 1, 2, and 3 John. The message that they have heard from the beginning is the same thing that is mentioned in the first part of the Gospel of John. The one they handled, the word made flesh among men and the message that we have heard from the beginning is love. Jesus commands us to carry on the love He showed to us with passion and conviction.

1 John 1:1

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our joy complete.

The Commandment Of Love, Part VIII

Once we know what we must do, which is obey the commandment of love (the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law). We have been set free from the letter of the law but in new life we honor, worship, and love the God that bought us by fulfilling the commandment that Jesus gave us.

There is no greater purpose for us than to bear fruit for Him and His praise and this is done through the soil of love. Love is how the world identifies us as believers, not a cross worn around the neck or a bible in our hip pocket. Love is the mark of excellence but love is a hard lesson to learn and most may find that it takes all their life to fully learn it (even with the Spirit's help).

We should be stirred up to love and now that we are aware of this commandment we must understand what love is. Their are many words in the Bible that mean love such as Jesus, spirit, truth, charity, word, grace, salvation, and righteousness because essentially all these words are rooted in love. Paul spells out so elequently the definition of love in the following verse.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

The Commandment of Love, Part VII

The Bible is basically a book about love. Many over the centuries have tried to make sense of it and there is much division over how you interpret it. Wisdom comes out of humility and through prayer and once you are at that point, the word becomes plain and simplistic. Although His wisdom is far above our own and we may never fully understand it all, what can be understood is plain.

God loves us. Now it is up to us to love Him and love others. Jesus gave us a new commandment that supersedes the old. He gave us a commandment that is based off the "spirit" of the law which is to love one another. It is incredibly hard to be a Christian in this world because the world does not know or operate in God's perfected love. It is essential that we, as Christians, are humble, selfless, compassionate, patient, forgiving, and always seeking to shine God's love on someone.

Of course that sounds good but it is easier said than actually done. Our shortcomings in obeying this law of love are actually about our failure in our relationship with God. In order to bear fruit for Him and His glory we are going to have to spend some time with Him. As I have said in other posts, God doesn't repeat Himself for nothing and neither does Jesus.

John 15:12-17

12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

The Commandment of Love, Part VI

It is imperative for us to express love in our daily lives. Love is the expression of our faith. Faith that works, for love is salvation and hate is death. This is the essential truth within the gospel and the New Testament teachings. Everything Jesus did was an act of love, either for the Father or for His children. This love is selfless and sacrificial.

The world does not operate in love. It operates in status, arrogance, intellect, self-worth, greed, malice, and distrust. If we learn anything from the news these days, it is that there is not much you can trust in the world. Even world leaders and leaders of powerful organizations have their personal agendas and their corruption can be seen almost daily in TV news reports. Jesus offers us not only a salvation and righteousness that is through grace but another way to live.

Selfishness is at the root of our sinful nature and it leads to hate which in turn leads to death (spiritually). To be tough and independent and resourceful is what the world looks to but we Christians are to be humble and express the love that Jesus gave us to others around us. No where in the Bible is this message more resounding than in 1 John.

1 John 3:11-20

11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. 13Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.