Romans 13:8-10 ESV
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one 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 covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
The love this is speaking about here is not based in our
emotions which can fluctuate and therefore cannot be trusted. Now emotions
certainly are a part of loving others, but emotion cannot be the driving force,
for our feelings do come and go. And we don’t have to “feel love” at all in
order to love other people. For when we are commanded to love our enemies and
to do good to those who hate and mistreat us, we may not have warm mushy-gushy
feelings about our enemies, but we can still love them with the love of God.
For this love comes from God, and God is love, so love is
holy, righteous, morally pure, kind, thoughtful, faithful, considerate,
trustworthy, and honest, i.e. it is shown true in our actions. And the word
means “to prefer,” and it is based in moral preference and in preferring what
God prefers. So when we love God we choose his choices and we obey them in his
power and strength. And when we love others we do the same, and in that way we
will not do wrong to our fellow humans and to our fellow Christians.
So, when we love other people we are to love them with this
love, and so we are going to want God’s best for them, and so we will not
coddle them in their sins, and we will not ignore habitual sin in our fellow
believers in Jesus, but we will speak the truth in love to one another what the
Scriptures say that we are to say to one another. And this is for the spiritual
growth and maturity of the body of Christ, and it is to help one another to not
fall into sin, and it is to help one another to live holy lives, pleasing to
God.
So, basically, if we are going to love each other as this
talks of then first of all we need to be those who love and obey our Lord
Jesus, who are choosing his choices, and who are taking on his character and
thinking. We cannot be those who are habitually sinning against others to cause
them harm and then be able to love others with this kind of love. The two are
opposed to each other. So, we will be faithful, not adulterous, and we will be
honest, and not those who tell lies, for love does no wrong to a neighbor
(anyone).
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn
8:51; Jn 10:27-30; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:10; Acts 2:42-47; Acts 5:32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom
6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 10:1-22; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 1:22; Eph 2:19-22;
Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-30; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:18; Col 2:19; Col 3:16; Tit
2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 5:9; Jas 1:21-25; 1 Pet 1:1-2; 1
Pet 2:4-6; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6]
Romans 13:11-14 ESV
“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
Now when this says that salvation is nearer to us now than
when we first believed this is speaking of the true nature of our salvation.
For we don’t “get saved” (one time) and now heaven is guaranteed us when we die
regardless of how we live our lives on this earth. For those who are believing
in Jesus Christ (present active), we are saved (past), we are being saved (present)
and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns to take his bride to be
with him for eternity, which is when our salvation is complete.
But all this is contingent upon us walking according to the
Spirit and not according to the flesh, and us walking in holiness and in
righteousness and in obedience to our Lord, and not in deliberate and habitual
sin, and us continuing in these walks of faith in our Lord steadfast until the
very end. For if we do not, but we continue in deliberate and habitual sin
against God and against our fellow humans, knowing that we are doing them harm,
then we will not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God in the end.
Also, our salvation is not just forgiveness of sins so that
when we die we get to go to heaven. For Jesus died on that cross to deliver us
out of our slavery to sin so we would now be slaves to God and to his
righteousness. He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to
his righteousness and so we will live now for him and no longer for ourselves.
For he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so we would
now be God’s possession and so we would now honor God with our lives.
So, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be those who are
no longer walking according to our sinful desires but who are walking according
to the Spirit in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord. But
if that is not where you are, and if sin is still your master, and if you are
still living in addiction to sin, then this is a warning that it is time for
you to wake up from your spiritual slumber and to cast off those works of
darkness and to now walk in our Lord’s wonderful light in truth and in
righteousness.
For Jesus Christ did not die that horrible death on that
cross just so we can go to heaven when we die while we continue in deliberate
and habitual sin against him and against other humans. He died to free us from
our slavery to sin and to transform us in heart and mind and to make us more
like Jesus in mind and in character. So just know that if you are still living
in addiction to sin and if you are not walking in holiness and righteousness
and in obedience to our Lord, the Scriptures teach that you will not inherit
eternal life with God regardless of what faith you have professed with your
lips.
So, we are to be those who are walking properly in holiness,
faithfulness, love, kindness, honesty, integrity, moral purity and in obedience
to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant). Jesus is to be Lord and Master
of our lives and we are to serve and to obey him with our lives. Our lives are
now to be lived for his glory and praise and no longer to fulfill the sinful
cravings of our flesh. And all this is of the Spirit of God who empowers us to
say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and to live self-controlled,
upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return (Titus 2:11-14).
All The Way My Savior
Leads Me
Lyrics by Frances J
Crosby, pub. 1875
Music by Robert Lowry,
pub. 1875
All the way my Savior leads me,
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my Guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.
All the way my Savior leads me,
Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for every trial,
Feeds me with the living Bread.
Though my weary steps may falter
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see.
All the way my Savior leads me,
Oh, the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWdmZGik1Jw
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