Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at Faith, Hope & Love P58 (08-31-20)
Synopsis
We will always be learning how to trust in the love of God. As we allow ourselves to get to know God better through His word, error in our heads will be replaced with truth. So as we rely on, abide in Christ, the life of the vine, who is Christ, will produce in us and through us the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Like a branch, we cannot produce such fruit, but we can bear fruit, as we remain connected to the head, who is Christ. You are the church, you who are in Christ Jesus.
The Spirit testifies with our human spirit that we are children of God, by which we cry “Abba, or Daddy, Father.” That is our true identity, a child of God, not Baptist, or Presbyterian, or whatever label you put on yourself. Those are not identities God gave. Those are identities men give. Denominations may be teaching truth or they may be teaching error. How do you know? By the Spirit and His word, and the Spirit who reveals to you the meaning of His word. Like the Bereans, we are to test and see if what any man says is so, through the scriptures and the Spirit who lives in us. But the only identity God gives us, and the only one I will ever identify with, is that I am a child of God.
Now, as a child of God, we are an heir. Everything that belongs to Him belongs to us, as an heir in Christ Jesus. So, we come to know and understand this love that surpasses understanding, and this love is what pushes out fear. Fear has to do with punishment. But, there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, for the law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. You are under the grace of God. Your sins will never be counted against you, and with Christ living in you, sealed in you until the day of redemption, the redemption of our bodies, we can always go boldly to the throne of grace in time of need. If God is for us, who can be against us? For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
So how did this all begin. What would cause God to lavish His grace on us? Why would God look upon me and consider me? This is the agape love of God. So let us retell the story of creation and of the fall, and see what our condition was that led God to a marvelous rescue and redemption of humanity.
When God made Adam and Eve, He created them in the image of God. He got down on His hand and knees and made Adam out of the dust of the ground, and then breathed in him the breath of life. What is that breath? That is the Spirit of God living in him. So, too, he took a rib out of Adam and crafted a woman, and breathed into her also the breath of life, the Spirit of God to be living in her.
So He made them in such a way that God in the man is indispensable to the proper functioning of the man. All was good in the world God originally created. There were no thorns or thistles, no sweat of the brow in trying to get food from the earth. There was no death.
Then something happened. God had told Adam to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for the day that you do that will be the day that you die. In other words, remain attached to me, relying on who I am, the one who created you and always wants the best for you. Continue to live in this loving relationship we have. But Satan tempted them, cast doubt on God’s character, and convinced them that they could be wise without God, that they could decide for themselves, and imagine a world without God. In essence, they could be God and be in control of their own destiny. But, we were not designed to be in control like that, nor, a created being, are even capable of doing so. We are created as dependent beings, to walk in trust in our Creator and experience all that God has in mind for us.
In essence, Adam turned the control of his life to Satan. He chose to disobey what God had said and to believe a lie. That is why scripture says that anything that does not come from faith is sin. We were designed to live by faith, in trust in God who loves us and accepts us unconditionally. That is who God is. God is love. But sin has blinded us and separated us from the love of God.
When Adam sinned, there was a consequence to that sin called death. He did not die physically, not immediately. But what happened is that the Spirit of God left Adam because of sin. That is what is called spiritual death, or separation from God, just as God had said. If man should remain in that state before he dies physically, then he will forever be separated from God.
So, knowing that you are separate from God, there is this fear of death, and all mankind is subject to that fear. When Adam sinned, sin and death entered the entire human race. All of us were born dead in Adam, inheriting his condition of sin and death. How can man, who is separate from God, living in fear of Him, knowing there is a consequence of sin called death, ever be able to approach God? How can those, who are born without the Spirit of God, even know God?
Now let us retell the marvelous story of redemption. God was grieved in his heart over the fall of mankind, destroyed by the craftiness of Satan and the choice of mankind. He had a plan in mind. The only possible rescue for mankind is for sin and death to be done away with, taken away forever from the eyes of God. Until man is out from under the law of sin and death, life could not be given. Because under that law, the next time man sinned, he would die again. God did not want to give man temporary life, but eternal life. He wanted to restore His original creation, the breath of life, the Spirit of God, to be placed back into man. Only then could man know and communicate with the living God. Only then could man discern the things of God.
When the Spirit of God left Adam, and all mankind since were born without the Spirit of God, we were not able to function as God intended. We were born spiritually dead. We had a human spirit, unlike the animal kingdom, but this human spirit, alive to this world, was dead to God. It is like a light bulb without electricity. It just cannot function without being plugged into the source of electricity. Without being plugged into the source of life, mankind is only able to function in the natural realm, through the physical senses feeding his human spirit. He is born with this independent and passive indifference or rebellious nature. He, in essence, decides for himself what is right and wrong. Yes, he has a built-in conscience, so he knows what is right and wrong, but is unable to carry out what God desires. Those things he knows to do that are good, he fails to do and those things he knows are wrong, he does anyway. Who will rescue mankind from this body of sin and death?
God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal life. God sent Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth, into this world to die on a cross, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He died in order for His life to be given to us, to be lived in us and through us. That life is to be received by faith, as a gift from God.
When Jesus walked this earth, He became the second Adam, one who has the Spirit of God living in Him. He was born of a virgin, so he did not inherit the sin and death in Adam. He came as God in the flesh, but emptied Himself of His divine attributes, never ceasing to be God, but becoming like us in our humanity, so that we, who are not God, can see how we were designed to function. Jesus testified that he did nothing of his own initiative but did what he saw his Father doing. He did not say anything unless the Father told him to say it and how to say it. He fulfilled the demands of the law for us. How? He lived in perfect love and love is the fulfillment of the law. God is love so God is able to pull this off. By seeing God in His perfection, we see ourselves in our imperfection and look to receive His.
God is the initiator of all things. He created us without consulting us in creation. He saved us without consulting us in our salvation. We who were dead in trespasses and sins, who did not know God and did not seek God, God made Himself known to us in Christ Jesus. He made Himself known to us that we might receive what He came to give us. He came to give us life. But first he died on a cross, so that which kept us separated from Him, our sins, would be taken away. The sins of the entire world were placed on Christ.
Now that sin and death are taken away, now life can be given. So, He, having no sin of his own, was raised to new life, so that same life that raised him from the dead can raise you and me from the dead also. We, having been reconciled to God through the death of His Son, in Him we are offered new life. How much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Receive that gift of life, not by something you do to earn or deserve it, for you cannot, but by faith in Him, who alone accomplished for you and me something we could never do for ourselves.
That is the love of God that casts out all fear. So come to Him and receive new life. If you are in Christ Jesus, get to know this love that surpasses understanding, and rely on Him to live His life in and through you. Just as Jesus taught us in the parable of the vine and the branches, learn to walk in Him, to abide in Him. To live is Christ and to die is gain. Walk in the newness of life, allowing the source of life, the fruit (singular) of the Spirit, who is Christ Jesus, to be worked in you and through you, so that fruit will be available and received by others, who see God at work within you.
Learn to walk by faith and not by law, the rules, customs or traditions of men. The law spurs on sin, but grace and truth sets men free. Be led internally by the Spirit of God, as a recipient of all that is in Christ Jesus, and let Him, who is living in you, who is your head, the mind of Christ, to lead and guide you into all truth. Remember, love is the fulfillment of the law, and God is love, and He lives in you. You have a new resource in which to filter the decisions of life, to demolish strongholds and to test the thoughts that come to your mind. You turn to the Spirit and let Him direct your paths. Error is what binds you, but truth is what sets you free. You live under the grace of God, so you are free to talk to Him at any time.
Transcript
There was a long time of learning how to trust in the love of God, and allow that to push out this fear. When you are in that fear situation, you are a slave to it. You have given into it and you have become a slave to fear. Now you have received a Spirit of Sonship. God didn’ t give you that spirit of fear. We know where that fear is coming from when it is imaginary. You did not receive that but the Spirit of Sonship.
Romans 8:15-17
And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
That is why it is so important for us to understand our identity in Christ. I realize that there are some children who have grown up with pitiful examples of parents, but for the average person they have grown up with parental love. Not all people, but the majority of us have. We at least knew that our father was going to be a protector of ours.
I have told this story before, but it was so much an example in our early days of being a Christian. In those days, we would live in California and would love to go to Yosemite in the summers, and view the beautiful landscape. We would go up with our small children. Sometimes I would take little Bobby rock climbing. In some instances there would be some rather dangerous places that we would be moving. It would not have entered my mind to say to Bobby, “come and grab a hold of my hand and we will go rock climbing.” The reason for that is that if he was holding onto me, and his little foot slipped, the first thing you do is let go. He could have fallen to injury or to death. But I would say to him, “Come, Bob, and I will hold onto your hand and we will go rock climbing.” The difference between those two, as a father and a protector, is that I would have gone to my own death or my own injury rather than allowing him to go to his. There is an instance of protection.
If you were a child and there was a burglar or something that was trying to get into your house, most parents would not send their young children to engage the burglar. The parents would go and do that. If you were driving along in those days and had a flat tire on a highway, you would not send your four year old to change the tire because it is dangerous. The father would go out and do that. Time after time we have examples of a father being a protector of a child.
That is what God wants us to see here. It is because we have received this Spirit of Sonship and we see Him as daddy Father, the most intimate of Hebrew terms. If you go over to Israel today and walk down the streets, you will hear little children following along beside their parents and you will hear the children say “Abba. Abba.” They are crying out “Daddy, Daddy.” This is how we approach God, calling him “Daddy, Father.”
Romans 8:16
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
If you are in Christ, then you are indwelt by that Spirit that is testifying to the fact you are a child of God. As this child you are an heir to all that belongs to your father and mother. As a child of God, you are co-heirs with God and co-heirs with Christ.
Romans 8:17
17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ
What that means is, whether you are a natural child or adopted into the family of God, which is what we as Gentiles have, then we are joint heirs with Christ Jesus. We need to understand that truth. Everything that belongs to Him belongs to us, as an heir in Christ Jesus. So that is a wonderful thing for us to know.
We are under the protective hand of God. We have nothing to fear. If God is for us then who can be against us? Ultimately on this earth, we are only here for a short brief period of time at the best. If we live a long life, that one day we are going to be with the Lord. If you lived a long life and you look back, it seems like a short one. Or if you die early in an accident or an illness, in either of those cases, there is nothing to fear. I do not have to fear death, and therefore, I do not have to fear life.
I think what we fear is suffering. I say, just do not maim me. We do fear suffering. On the other hand, it says we share in those sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Romans 8:17
if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
There are times in life where we are going to share in those sufferings of Christ Jesus. The suffering, of course, we know are some of those physical sufferings at the cross and in his death and the heartaches that went along with that. It is not that we will be free from those suffering, but when we go through them we are sharing in those sufferings and we are also going to share in His glory. As a child of God, do we have anything to lose? The answer to that is we have nothing to lose. There is nothing on this life down here to lose.
Philippians 1:20-22
20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!
For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. That is a win-win situation. We have people who live in fear. We fear the elements. We fear all kinds of things. We lived in a place, when I was in California, where we had earthquakes. In other places, you have tornadoes. A lot of natural disasters that take place. We had the Y2K where everybody had fear over. Those are not fun things to go through. Earthquakes and tornadoes are not fun to go through. You see the images and those things are devastating. But the worst thing that could happen to you and me is the best thing that can happen to us, to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. Although we may fear the event, we do not have to fear the outcome. There is the secret to walking in a lack of fear. We do not have to fear the outcome, the event, but not the outcome.
Abiding in love is abiding in the vine or abiding in God.
John 15:5
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
The reality of humanity and the human experience relies on this simple, yet profound statement made by Christ. Christianity does not become practical to us through ceremony, tradition, or even personal moral reform. It is only through abiding in the vine, the person, the life of Christ Jesus, that we begin to experience a new quality of life, of God doing something in us and through us rather than us bringing it about.
We talked about the fact that it is the Spirit that testifies with our spirit that we are a child of God. To remember the fact that that fear has to be pushed out by the love of God.
Let us take this illustration in John 15:5 for a moment and think about it. Jesus said “I am the vine. You are the branch.” Now, a branch cannot produce fruit. It was never intended to produce fruit. God did not make a branch to produce fruit. He made it to abide and to bear fruit. The only way that a branch is going to bear the fruit of the vine is if first the branch is attached to the vine. If the branch depends, therefore, upon the vine, to produce that fruit, it will bear fruit. The branch is dependent upon the source, which is the vine. The branch is not the source. The vine is the source. The branch is the result. Fruit, therefore, comes out of the branch.
So He tells us to remain in Him. He will remain in us just like the life of the vine is in the branch and the branch is in the vine and, therefore, He says, “I will produce the fruit and you will bear the fruit. But apart from me you can do nothing.” In the life of Christ Jesus, himself, is how fruit comes about.
Here, as Jesus Christ, who was never ever anything less than God, yet He came to this earth, took upon himself our humanity, entered into our humanity with us, put on our earth suit. He walked on this earth for some 33 years, showing us how to live as a man. Now he was God but He came to show us how to live as a man. He did not come to show us how to live as God. We are not God. He is God. If He had come to show us how to live as God, we would have to say, “That is very impressive, Lord but what does that have to do with me?”
He showed us how to live as a man was intended to be just as He created Adam to live in total dependency upon his creator. That was the plan of God whereby God in the man is indispensable to the humanity of the man. For a man to function properly, he has to be plugged in, abiding in the source of His life. A man is physical and spiritual. Mom and dad is the source of our physical. God is the source of our spirituality. Until we are plugged into the spiritual, how in the world can we access the spiritual? How can we bear the fruit of the spiritual?
You take a light bulb and that light bulb is finely made. It is a finely made instrument. You could look at it and say it is a pretty light bulb, a finely made light bulb. You could admire the intricacies of that light bulb. But until that light bulb is plugged into an electrical socket, it is useless. Electricity in the bulb is indispensable to the function of the bulb. You might as well have a potato hanging from the ceiling for all the light you will get out of it until the light bulb is plugged into electricity. Why? It is made that way. It is not a complicated thing at all. When Thomas Edison was working to discover electricity, and all of its function, light bulbs were made in such a way that unless connected to electricity, they would not give out light.
Think also about oil in an oil lamp. Why does an oil lamp need oil in it? In order to function. It was made that way. It is not complicated at all. If you take oil out of an oil lamp, what do you have? You have got a lamp on your hands, but it cannot behave like one. It just sits there. It is there, finely made, pretty to look at, but it just sits there. There is no life in it.
Think also about gasoline in a car. Why do you need gasoline in your car? For your car to function. It was made that way. Whoever developed the engines, the way in which they developed it, it was in such a way that the burning of the gasoline produced the energy to get the car running and functioning. It was made that way. Gasoline in the car is indispensable to the function of the car. Beautiful car but the dumb car will not run without gasoline. You buy a $60,000 car. It is worthless without $2 worth of gasoline. That is the way it is made. That is the function of the automobile.
Well, okay. Why does man need God living in him? In order to function, the same way. He is made that way. You take God out of the man, what do you have? You have man on your hands, but he cannot behave like one, not like the one God made him to be. We realize we are not a true man unless the Spirit of God lives in us, because He created Adam in His image, which means God’s Spirit was living in the humanity of Adam. So when that Spirit departed Adam, Adam was not complete. We are born in Adam, incomplete. When you take the Spirit of God out of man, why he is not really a true man as God intended him to be. He is not an animal. If he was an animal, he would not even have a human spirit. So he is not an animal. So he cannot behave like an animal. So he behaves like an idiot.
Why do we need God living in us. God made us that way. God in the man is indispensable to the function and the humanity of the man. So what is new birth? What is salvation? It is man being restored to his true humanity. That is what salvation is. Being made into a new creation. We were born. Now we need to be created, just as Adam was created by the hand of God. I need to be recreated by the hand of God. Mom and dad gave me everything except the Spirit of God living in me. God came to indwell in me.
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
We have been recreated into the newness of man by Christ Jesus. He is the one who brought about that new creation. I did not get a new body. I got a new spirit. I have been made complete now as God intended man to be. Now, I have a body, a soul and a living Spirit living in me, God’s Spirit living in my human spirit. A new creation God had to do. Mom and dad could not pull that off. That is what salvation is, the receiving of life, the life of Christ to come live in you.
John 3:5-6
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
In order for God to give us life that could not be destroyed, such as in Adam, and sin did that, He had to deal with what caused that original spiritual separation. When Adam sinned, God’s Spirit departed from him, leaving him with a human spirit that is dead to God, dead to what vacated him, but alive to the world. Otherwise, he would be an animal.
Romans 5:12-17
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned –13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
For God to restore man to original humanity, He had to create a plan to give life that was eternal. He had no intention at all to give man new life that could be destroyed again. Again, why bother giving life if it could be lost again. In order to do what He did, He had to deal with what caused spiritual separation to begin with. That was sin.
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death
Folks, that is what the cross was for. The cross was the place where God did not come to cover sins. That is atonement. He came to deal with it, judge it, be punished for it, and to be through with it. When Jesus hung on that cross and said “it is finished”, He meant “it is finished.” It is paid in full. There is nothing else left to do. There is no more sacrifice for sins. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. There is no more shedding of blood. There is no more sacrifice. It is over. It is dealt with. So recognize that and be reconciled to God.
John 19:30
30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Hebrews 10:18
18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
Hebrews 9:22
22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
2 Corinthians 5:19
19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s sins against them.
That is the only thing left to do. Be reconciled. It is over. It is finished. Now He is ready to give us life eternal. People who teach that you can lose salvation do not understand what salvation is. Salvation is life. The life He gave us is eternal. The reason it is eternal is because of the eternal consequences of the cross, where sin would no longer bring about spiritual death. Why did Jesus give His life for you? In order to give His life to you. Why do we need His life? Because we are born dead. He gave His life for you to deal with what is called spiritual death and gave that eternal life to you.
1 John 5:11
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
John 17:3
3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Why did He give His life to you? In order to live His life through you. This is a picture of the vine and the branch. He said, “Branch, you cannot produce fruit. You cannot produce physically what I am looking for spiritually. That life that lives in you will produce these things through you. The only way that is going to occur is if you abide in me because apart from me you can do nothing. A zero is a zero with all the edges knocked off of it. It means that nothing I am interested in can be produced by you. Only by me.”
John 15:1-5
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
This parable of the vine and the branch is one of the most important teachings in the entirety of all scripture. Not only did the Lord tell all of us to come unto Him, He also called us to abide in Him. He said “Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” He also called us to abide in Him, to continually be drawing our life from Him. This abiding relationship allows us to live in complete everlasting union with the living God, to experience that daily reality of Christ living His life in us and through us.
Matthew 11:28
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
God gave His life for you. He had to do that once and for all with those things that caused death, which is sin. He dealt with it once, and He took it away, not dealing with it again.
Hebrews 9:28
28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
The reason He is not coming to bear sin is because He already did that. So many Christians have never settled that issue, to be able to say that it is over. God is not dealing with me today on the basis of sin and death. He is dealing with me on the basis of life.
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The fruit of His life living in us is in Galatians 5:22-23.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
What does that mean? There is no law that says you must do that. The reason there is no law that you cannot do that is because you cannot do that. We were just told that apart from me you can do nothing. There is no law that says this is for you to do. That is what a law does, something for you. This is for Christ. This is Christ’ responsibility. You have no responsibility at all in this. “When you abide in me, these are the things I will be producing in and through you.” This is called the fruit (singular) not fruits (plural). That means that all of these things are characteristic of Jesus; love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
What this does not mean is that I got a little joy but I need some patience. This is not a vending machine. When a person is learning to abide, trust, walk in that marvelous relationship with Him, then all of these things, not some of them, will be coming out of you. You will start being that kind of a person. You will be faithful, gentle, and full of self control. All of these things are characteristics of the Spirit.
There is not one of these things that are characteristics of our flesh. That is why it says “apart from me you can do nothing.” Do not look to humanity to create these things. All that humanity does is the opposite of these things. The way Satan does that is by fear. He keeps you away from love, joy and peace. You cannot do any of those things with fear. All of those things are counteracted by one thing, fear. If he can keep your flesh fearful, he can keep you from experiencing the fruit of the Spirit, not one of them, but all of it.
John 13:34
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
He says there is a new command I give you, to love one another as I have loved you. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. We look at that and we say, “That is nice. That is over in John 13 to love one another. How? As I loved you, you must love one another. In biblical interpretation, we get so enamored with language. That is a command. That tense is a command of God. That is not an option. That is a command. If that is a command, then that is a law. It just got through saying that against these things, the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, there is no law. There is no demand put upon you because you cannot pull it off. Yet Jesus says a new command I give you is to love one another. So what is he saying?
One of the reasons I loved you is so you can pass that love onto others. I give you that command to do so. In so doing, I just got through telling you that in and of yourself you cannot do that. So as I have loved you, and it is not that we loved Him but that He loved us first.
1 John 4:10
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
As I have loved you, now my response is love for Him. That is abiding in Him. His love is abiding in me. And He has loved me, so I love Him. So I am abiding in Him. What does that produce? Love for one another. Because I am understanding God’s love for me, I am responding, abiding in that vine, that that love for Him creates the union that produces truth.
It is like a sperm and an egg. When those two combine, it produces life. When Christ Jesus puts His life in me and His love toward me, and I am understanding that love, the union of life is there, and that life is love and that love now goes out to one another.
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