May the mumbling commence!
We have spent several days exploring the depths of the meaning of the true love that come from God. There is at least one more pertinent passage on this caliber of love from First John. It is found at the beginning of the fifth chapter. Read it from the Bible in Basic English translation (BBE):
Everyone who has faith that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God: and everyone who has love for the Father has love for his child. In this way, we are certain that we have love for the children of God, when we have love for God and keep his laws. For loving God is keeping his laws: and his laws are not hard. (Verses 1-3)
What a dense trio of verses! They are rich in meaning and give shape to the important commands of God. List them off:
1. Have faith/belief that Jesus is the Christ… and be a child of God.
2. Love God… by keeping His laws.
3. Love the children of God.
There they are – the great threesome. Let’s compare them to the last list that we made:
1) Believe in Jesus.
2) Abide…
A) In Jesus.
B) In God.
C) In the Holy Spirit.
D) In the Word of God.
3) Stick together.
4) Love one another.
5) Confess Jesus Christ.
6) Allow nothing to contradict the anointing you have received through God.
Now, how do they match up? Number One from today matches up with One and Two from our last list – the previous two give more detail to what belief in Jesus as Christ means. Numbers Two and Three from today match up with numbers Three through Six from our last list. There is some overlap between today’s number Two and Three because to love God’s children is to obey a law of God.
Yes, I believe strongly that belief comes first… belief in Jesus as God’s greatest Word, God’s greatest expression of love. Then out of belief comes love. Out of love comes obedience.
Yes, belief comes first, but love is central. Love holds it all together. Without love of this caliber… we are nothing.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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