Category: Love is …

Crucifying the Flesh by Love Unleashed

Another way we “crucify the flesh with its passions and desires” is to unleash the love God has put into our new hearts.  “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (I Jn 5:3).  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (Jn 14:15).  As children of the Heavenly Father, we keep His commandments – “crucifying the flesh” – out of a love relationship with the Godhead.

I don’t know what your childhood was like, but I have a distinct memory of being motivated to obey my parents out of a love relationship.  That is, I did not want to disappoint them or abuse the trust they put in me.  As we grow up, we transfer that “obedience out of love” to our relationship with God.  And this love relationship, this ability to love God as we should, comes from God Himself as one of the provisions of the New Covenant.  So not only does God give us the resurrection power to resist temptation, but He gives us the desire to do so as well through our love relationship with Him.

Another way love affects our response to temptation is in the manifestation of the love God has given us for each other.  For example, I will not correct my children out of anger – a deed of the flesh – if my motivation is to deepen my love relationship with them.  I will treat my wife with honor and respect even in times of disagreement because I love her.  I will not dismiss personalities different than my own if I am controlled by love.  My moral choices, when motivated by love, will be influenced by how my choices affect others.  My choices will be governed by a desire to enhance the love relationships God has brought into my life; both close familial and friend relationships as well as more casual acquaintances in the body.

A good measure of our level of love motivation is our attitude in carrying out Christ’s commands.  Hospitality is not really hospitality if it is done reluctantly.  Generosity is not really generosity if giving is done begrudgingly.  “God loves a cheerful giver” (II Cor 9:7), and I think it is safe to say, based on many scriptures, that God loves a cheerful obeyer in all areas.  “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Phil 4:4).  Good cheer and joy will be the result of “crucifying the flesh” out of a love motivation.

Finally, embracing and experiencing the love of God takes the power out of the sin of fear and worry.  On the large scale, the twenty-four hour news cycle supplies us with more than enough to worry about.  As author Marilynne Robinson has observed, “We’re stuck in psycho-emotional bomb shelters.”  Closer to home, intimate knowledge of our family and friends situations often give us ample opportunity to worry.  I know I specifically worry about what my children’s future will hold.  But God’s love casts out fear.  Resting in God’s love, trusting that any future issue will have passed through His loving hands, helps quiet the urge to worry when the temptation comes.

“And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.  God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (I Jn 4:16).  May you experience the abiding love of God today!

Love Lifts the Burden

Another challenge we all face in the area of lifestyle is the high standard of Jesus’ call to discipleship.  When we reduce that standard to a list of rules to keep and the burden to keep the rules becomes too great, there is a temptation to give up on the Christian life.  But under the New Covenant, rule-keeping by will power has been replaced by an unfolding of our new nature as we more and more yield to the new influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  A way to think about getting out from under the burden of rule-keeping is this.

Have you ever heard someone say about their job, “It doesn’t really feel like work, because I am doing what I love?”  It does happen.  And it happens in the Christian life as well.  “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (I Jn 5:2-3).  Depending upon how you were introduced to the Christian life, “His commandments are not burdensome” may be news to you.  It was sure good news to me.

Tying the flow of God’s love to our keeping of the commandments – as John does twice in this passage – always seemed like a “catch” to me.  Aha! This love of God is not entirely unmerited.  There is a performance required on my part to earn God’s love.  There is a requirement to obey and, by the way, the standard – all that Jesus asks – is incredibly high.  Not just high, but maybe out of reach.

Then I began investigating why I was not experiencing “His commandments are not burdensome”, because honestly I found them quite difficult.  You cannot read the gospels with an open mind and not recognize that this discipleship business is serious stuff.  It really goes against our natural grain.

The promise of I John 5:3, “His commandments are not burdensome” came into view for me as I began to understand the provisions of the New Covenant.  I came to see that the joy in following Christ’s commands was not found in working harder, it was found in resting in and appropriating the new nature that He has given us.  It lies in abiding in His love.  “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love” (Jn 15:9-10).

When we abide in Christ’s love, we are inviting the facts of the New Covenant to become our experience of the New Covenant.  And when we do, His commands are not burdensome, because they were exactly what our new nature was made to do.  Just as someone may say about their vocation, “I enjoy this because this is what I was made to do,” so we too can say about the commands of Christ, “I enjoy them, because this is what I was made to do!”

Love: One Strategy, One Message

I personally believe that one area where Satan has really muddied the waters in the American church is on the topic of love.  I believe Satan is quite content to see our message proclaimed basically without interference here in the States while he busies himself sowing seeds of discontent and strife among the body.  As we learned last time, this disharmony takes the power right out of our message and our witness.  I can think of at least two ways Satan delights in this current situation.

First, we have taken the life out of our message because we have reduced Christianity to an adherence to a moral code (see yesterday’s excellent post on this very thought by Mark Galli at Christianity Today online).  We have failed to emphasize the finished work of Christ for not only our justification, but for our sanctification as well.  We have diminished, in our teaching, the provisions of the New Covenant for living the Christian life.  In short, we have missed the “everything is new” message of the New Testament.

Second, we focus on content over love.  Think about the miracles of Christ, for example.  The message that I have heard over and over – and have myself taught – is that the miracles of Christ are recorded to demonstrate the deity of Christ.  Their main point was to show that Jesus is indeed God and operates in God’s power.  They are a debating point to support the claims of Christ.  And they clearly do serve that purpose.

But could it also be that the miracles of Christ are meant to show the heart of Christ, the love of God as well?  As Jesus went around healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and raising the dead, do we only see the power of a deity or the loving hands of God’s rescue.  When Jesus raised the dead son of the widow of Nain – a woman grieving the death of her only son – do we see only a demonstration of God’s power or do we also see an incredible heart of love that restored this son to his mother.

The apostle Peter summarized the ministry of Jesus in Acts chapter 10 while visiting the house of Cornelius.  “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38).  Peter puts the power of God in Jesus and the goodness of God in Jesus together.  Because, in His essence, God IS love.  And as His children, love should be our essence as well.

“The early Christians had one strategy, one agenda, one message, one weapon, one force with which to overwhelm the empire of the Caesars:  love.  It was Christlike love that brought the empire to its knees, and erected the symbol of the cross over the ruins of the Roman capitol.  Love was an unstoppable force in the first century AD, and it is just as irresistible today!” (Ray Stedman in Body Life).

Love: The Final Witness

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:34-35).  The world has a God-given right to judge our affiliation with Christ on the basis of our love for each other.

Jesus extends the connection between our love and His mission as One sent by the Father in John, chapter 17.  Listen to Jesus’ prayer for His disciples and His followers who will come after them.  “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.  The glory that You have given Me I give to them, that they may be one even as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me” (Jn 17:20-23).

Twice in this passage Christ ties His claim to being sent by the Father to our unity as a community of believers.  In essence, our love is a witness for the claims of Christ to a watching world.  While we need to be clear on our content and teach pure doctrine, the world generally sees our content as just another option in the religion salad bar.  What they can’t explain away is our love.

And our love is not just a witness to an unbelieving world “out there”, but is a strong testimony to our young people at the crossroads of staying or leaving the faith.  You may recall that we started these posts about love as a way to address one particular complaint of those leaving the church; the complaint of “hypocrisy and lack of caring among church leaders.”  Just as the love was the answer to strife, envy, and disharmony in the church at Corinth, love is also the answer to hypocrisy and lack of caring in today’s church.

These charges – hypocrisy and lack of caring – are both answered in Romans 12:9-10, “Let love be without hypocrisy.  Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.”  When our love is genuine, when we abhor evil and cling to good, our lifestyle will agree with our words and hypocrisy will be defeated.  When we honor and give preference to one another, we provide a powerful antidote to a perceived lack of caring.

When our young people judge the Christian faith on the basis of our love or lack of love, they are not being shallow, selfish, or overly emotional.  They are merely doing what Jesus said to anticipate.  Our role is to embrace the challenge and respond with a vibrant and relentless love not only toward each other but toward our seeking generations behind us as well.

Love Is…

The New Testament verses about love are nearly inexhaustible and we could probably spend a year just on this topic.  But we will try to take this train of thought to the station in the next few posts.  Here are a few more pictures of what love looks like in a healthy community of believers.  It behooves us to ask ourselves if this is a description of our contribution to our church community.

Love is authentic – “Let love be without hypocrisy.  Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor” (Rom 12:9-10).

Love communicates and cares – “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not that you should be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you” (I Cor 2:4).

Love serves – “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Gal 5:13).

Love refreshes – “For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother ” (Philemon 1:7).

Love edifies – “Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge.  Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies” (I Cor 8:1).

Love encourages – “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb 10:24).

Love is hospitable – “Let love of the brethren continue.  Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb 13:1-2).

Love does not offend – “For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love.  Do not destroy with food him for whom Christ died” (Rom 14:15).

Love forgives – “Above all, keep fervent in you love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins” (I Pet 4:8).

Love keeps the faith – “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life (Jude 1:20-21).

Love obeys – “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (Jn 14:15).

A word I have borrowed from pastor Ray Stedman to describe this love is relentless.  It also characterized the early church.  “The early church saw its mission as one of reflecting God’s holiness, revealing God’s glory, and witnessing to the reality of Jesus Christ  – and it did so by demonstrating relentless love, both toward those within the fellowship and those outside” (Ray Stedman in Body Life).