In the last issue we saw that love is the
product of our walk by the new nature i.e. it is produced as we put on and
utilize all the things that the Word of God says that we are and we can do. In
that issue we also examined some of what I Corinthians 13 says about love.
Today, we will continue with the consideration of some more passages of the
Word of God on the same topic, that will help us to appreciate the importance
of love better.
To start this second part on love, we will go to the
gospel of John. What we will read happened in the night of the arrest of Jesus
Christ. During that night, Jesus gave many instructions to the disciples and a
large portion of the gospel of John is exactly devoted to it (John 13-17).
Among the things that Jesus told the disciples that night was also something
that he characterised as a new commandment. John 13:34 tells us:
John 13:34
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as
I have loved you, that you also love one another."
The new commandment that Jesus gave was to love one
another. The great importance that he gave to this commandment is showed by the
fact that he repeated it two more times the same night. John 15:12-17 tells us:
John 15:12-17
"This is my
commandment, that you LOVE ONE ANOTHER as I have loved you. Greater love has no
one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever
I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know
what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I
heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I
chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your
fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name He may give
you. These things I command you, that you LOVE ONE ANOTHER"
Jesus Christ commands us to love one another, and in
fact to love one another as much as he loved us. But how much he loved us?
Ephesians 5:2 tells us:
Ephesians 5:2
"And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us AND [as a result of his
love] given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet
smelling aroma."
Jesus Christ loved us so much that he gave his life
for us. It is with such kind of love that he also commands us to love one
another. "Love one another AS I have loved you", he said. He
characterised love for one another as a COMMAND, as something that should
necessarily be done. I Peter 1:22 also tells us:
I Peter 1:22
"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
spirit in sincere love of the brethren, LOVE ONE ANOTHER FERVENTLY WITH A PURE
HEART"
Moreover: I Peter 4:8
"And ABOVE ALL THINGS HAVE FERVENT LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER"
Above all things we are to love one another. And in
fact to love one another fervently. So fervently as Jesus loved us.
In John 13:34 we saw that Jesus characterized love for
one another as a new commandment. This may have made some of us to wonder why
he characterized it as such. Was it because it was commanded for first time?
Obviously not for it is contained in the book of Leviticus that was written
hundreds of years earlier. Really, Leviticus 19:18 tells us:
Leviticus 19:18
"you shall love your neighbor as yourself"
Literally speaking therefore, the commandment that
Jesus gave was not a new commandment. Why therefore he called it new? The
simple reason is that though love was a commandment of the law, till then it
was not possible to be kept. Really, love being a product of the new nature, it
needs the new nature to be produced, and till that day, the new nature was not
available. Thus though people were commanded to love one another they could not
actually keep this commandment. However, from the day of Pentecost onwards
people can freely receive the new nature by confessing with their mouth the
Lord Jesus and believing in their heart that God raised him from the dead, and
thus they can love. That's why Jesus called love for one another a new
commandment. It was not new because it was commanded for first time but because
soon (from the day of Pentecost) it would become possible to be kept.
In fact, the commandment to love one another was not
the only commandment of the law that it was impossible to be kept, because
people lacked the new nature. Romans 8:3 characterise the whole law as
"weak through the flesh [the old nature]". The problem with the law
was not that it was bad. In contrast, Romans 6:12 tells us that it was
"holy and just and good". However, there was no way to be kept and
the reason was that the new nature was not available. As Romans 6:4 says:
"the law is spiritual" but its subjects were "carnal, under
sin". Thus people could not keep the law. However, from the day that the
new nature was made available, one can love and by this he automatically
fulfills all the law. Indeed, Romans 13:8-10 tells us:
Romans 13:8-10
"Owe no one anything, except to love one another, FOR HE WHO LOVES ANOTHER
HAS FULFILLED THE LAW. For the commandments,
"You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder,"
You shall not steal," You shall not bear false witness," You shall
not covet," and if there is any other commandment are ALL summed up in this saying, namely, "You
shall love your neighbour as yourself" Love does not harm to a neighbour;
therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
Also: Galatians 5:13-14
"For you brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as
an opportunity, but through love serve one another. FOR ALL THE LAW IS FULFILLED IN ONE WORD, EVEN
IN THIS: "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF"
Jesus Christ by his sacrifice, ended the
administration of the law, opening at the same time a new administration, the
administration of grace. However, many of the things that the law said continue
to be valid in the present administration as well. For example, the
commandments that we should not steal or commit adultery, or murder, or lie are
also commandments of our administration. Now, according to the above passage to
fulfill any commandment of the law, which may also be commandment of our
administration, what is needed is nothing else but LOVE. As the passage says:
LOVE is the fulfillment of the law and all the commandments are all summed up
in the commandment to love one another as ourselves. We do not have to focus
our minds on a list of do and don'ts like, "I should not steal, I should
not murder, I should not commit adultery, I should not lie etc...." but we
love and all these are not going to happen. For when we love we will neither
lie, nor steal, nor murder etc. We do not start pointing out the negative (I
should not do...) but we love and the negative will be eliminated. As Galatians
5:16 says: "Walk by the spirit [the new nature] and [as a result] you
shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh [the old nature]". When you walk
in love, you walk by the spirit, the new nature, and as a result you will not
fulfill the lust of the old nature i.e. you will not steal, murder, commit
adultery or do anything else that is a product of this nature.
Another passage that shows us the importance and the
necessity of love is I John 4:7-8. There it says:
I John 4:7-8
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
He who does not love does not know God, for God is
love"
As the passage says: "he who does not love does
not know God". Truly, God gave us the Scripture to know Him since there He
reveals Himself. Nevertheless, as it is clear this cannot be done by head
knowledge alone. It also needs LOVE. Even if someone has full head knowledge of
the Scripture, he will not know God if this knowledge is not accompanied with
love. As I Corinthians 13:1-3 tells us:
I Corinthians 13:1-3
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,
I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have prophecy,
and understand [Greek: "know"] all mysteries and all knowledge, and
though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I
am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I
give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."
This passage does not say that prophecy, the great
faith, the speaking in tongues etc. are bad or that the speaking in tongues and
the other operations of the spirit (see I Corinthians 12:8-10) are not in
existence now and should not be done. What the passage says is that if I do all
these without love I am nothing. It does not profit. Even if I have rightly
divided all the Bible and I am a monster of knowledge, a
"concordance", I am nothing if I do not love. Even if I spent all my
life and money for God, I am nothing, if I do not love. Even if I have given my
body to be burned, i.e. even if I am so much committed to God, I am nothing if
I do not love. For if I do not love I am still ignorant of God, who is love.
People who know less and love more will know God better than I. As I
Corinthians 8:1-3 says:
I Corinthians 8:1-3
"Now concerning things offered to idols: we know that we all have
knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but loves edifies.
And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought
to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him."
The knowledge is not bad. However, when it is not
accompanied with love, it will not result to a knowledge of God but rather to a
puffing up. Moreover, the same passage in combination with I John 4:20-21 makes
clear that the argument goes also the other way round i.e. if we do not love
one another not only we will not know God but also we will not be known by Him.
I Corinthians 8:3
"if anyone loves
God, this one is known by Him"
I John 4:20-21
"If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a
liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love
God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him: that he who loves God must love his brother also"
We cannot say that we love God when we do not love one
another. In other words, love for one another is a prerequisite to love God.
Since now love towards God is a prerequisite to be known by Him and since it
first requires love for one another we can easily conclude that love for one
another is a prerequisite to be known by God. Therefore, what does it take both
to know and to be known by God? The answer is LOVE.
We saw previously that Jesus Christ loved us, and he
showed it by giving himself for us. From this it is evident that love takes
action, giving. You may give the Word, you may give encouragement, part of your
time, money etc. but the thing is that love is ready to give and to really
support when it is needed. I John 3:16-17 tells us:
I John 3:16-17
"By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we also
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's
goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from
him, how does the love of God abide in him?"
Jesus showed His love for us BY GIVING his life for
us. We know by this that he loves us. Similarly we should also love one another
and show our love by the corresponding acts when it is needed. For really for
what love we could speak if we see a fellow member of the body, a brother or
sister in Christ, to be in need and we are indifferent, when we know that we
can help? Obviously this does not constitute love. Love is not a theoretic
concept but something that has to be manifested in acts. As I John 3:18 says:
I John 3:18
"My little children, let us not love in word or in a tongue, but in deed
and in truth."
Our love is not to be in words but in deed and in
truth. It is not to be in theory but in practice. It is not to be like in James
2:15-16:
James 2:15-16
"If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of
you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do
not give to them the things which are needed for the body, what does it
profit?"
It is so easy to love in words, to know all the
"theory" about love. To say "God bless you." No it is not
bad. But it has to be accompanied by the necessary actions when it is needed.
As Galatians 5:13 tells us we ought to SERVE one another through love. We are
not to be indifferent to one another, and run away when a fellow member of the
body needs our support.
Having said all these, some people may ask, how can we
know whether someone genuinely needs our support, and how can we know whether
someone whose needs we do not know exactly or at all, needs us? The answer is
through God's spirit. God has put His spirit in us, so that He can tell us what
to do, if to do, when to do, how to do. As Philippians 2:13 says:
Philippians 2:13
"for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good
pleasure"
God has put His spirit in us and works through it. We
have therefore to listen to the promptings of God's spirit and to leave it to
work in us. Love does not mean I do whatever comes in my head, because I may
esteem it as beneficial. What love means is that I am ready, available, to do
through love whatever the spirit of God in me prompts me to do, for whoever he
prompts me. Thus, I do not give to the whoever comes in my way and asks money,
for he may not actually need it. Instead I give to that man or for that purpose
that God tells me. God knows who has a genuine need and who has not. He knows
who needs support and who does not. He knows how to utilise our love with the
best way for His interests.
Though from the previous part and generally from the
discussion that we have done by now it should already be clear that love cannot
be but only honest, based on a genuine interest and concern for the fellow
members of the body, let's also go to Romans 12:9 to see it better. There we
read:
Romans 12:9
"Let love be without hypocrisy"
The phrase "without hypocrisy" is one word
in the Greek: the adjective "anupokritos" that is composed of the
word "an" a prefix that gives to a word a negative meaning, and the
noun "hupokrisia" from which the English derive the word
"hypocrisy". "hypocrisia" means to pretend to have a
quality that you do not actually have or to be something that you are not. For
example, II Corinthians 11:13-15 tells us that Satan "TRANSFORMS himself
into an angel of light" and his servants "TRANSFORM themselves into
the ministers of righteousness". This transformation of Satan and his
servants to something that they are not is called hypocrisy.
Returning now to Romans 12:9, it asks us to not
pretend that we love having probably in mind something else, but to honestly
love. Only honest love is real love. The same is also said in I Peter 1:22
I Peter 1:22
"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
spirit in SINCERE [anupokritos] LOVE of the brethren, love one another
fervently WITH A PURE HEART"
Our love is to come from a pure heart, to be sincere
and true. To be not in word but in truth and in deed. To be fervent.
May therefore we grow in our love towards one another
and in our appreciation that we all belong to one and the same body, the body
of Christ, and to one and the same family, the family of God and we are
brothers to each other. May we put love above everything else for love "is
the bond of perfection" (Collosians 3:14). May, we overlook the weaknesses
that each one of us has and love one another out of a pure heart, honestly and
without hypocrisy.