Are You Pretending Love?

Romans 12:9-13 ESV

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

If our love for God and for our fellow humans is genuine, first off it is the love that centers in moral preference (agape), which is divine love, which prefers what God prefers, for he is love. And what God prefers is what is holy, righteous, godly, upright, morally pure, honest, and faithful, etc. So when we love with this kind of love we are going to be morally pure and honest and faithful to our Lord and in our dealings with other humans. And we are not going to lie to them, cheat them, nor do any kind of evil to them willfully, deliberately, habitually, and especially not premeditatedly.

Also, if our love for God and for others is genuine then it is not fake. It is not something we are just faking and putting on as an act to try to convince them that we love them when we may be doing the opposite of love towards them. But many people do this. And in some cultures this is socially acceptable to pretend love on the outside while those who are faking their love for someone, or for God, are treating them with hate, gossip, slander, and rejection, etc. And some people do this to try to cover up the evil that they are doing in secret. But discerning people should recognize this.

Also, according to the Scriptures, if we love God we will obey his commands under the New Covenant. But if we do not make obedience to our Lord our practice, but instead we make sin our practice, then that isn’t love. So if we say that we love God or that we know God, while we refuse to do what he says, and while we do the opposite of what he says to do, then we are liars. And the truth is not in us. So love is not just something we profess with our lips, and it isn’t a feeling, but love is what we do. And it is only love if how we treat God and others is truly loving them and not mistreating them.

So, this goes right along with abhorring what is evil and holding fast to (clinging to) what is good. For if we are those who love (prefer) evil, and who are doing evil, and who are not doing the good that we ought to do, then we can certainly call it “love,” but it is not “love.” 

For instance if you tell your spouse that you love him/her, but then you deliberately cheat on your spouse via lust, sexually explicit viewing, extramarital affairs, even light flirtations, and private conversations your spouse doesn’t know about, etc., then that is not love. Please read what the Scriptures say about that. For our spouses are to be number one in our lives after God, who is number one. And we are to treat our spouses with honor and respect, and in love, and not with hate, abuse, lying, and cheating.

Now, with regard to our service to our Lord, many people are teaching today that we can believe in Jesus, have all our sins forgiven, be on our way to heaven, but regardless of how we live. And many are teaching or they are suggesting that we do not have to repent of our sins, that we do not have to obey the Lord, and that no works are required of us whatsoever. Well, those who are teaching that are speaking lies, for that is the opposite of what the Scriptures teach. And so they need to read the Scriptures and they need to obey the Lord and his New Covenant commands.

For the Scriptures are very clear that if we are to follow Jesus Christ with our lives that we must repent of (turn away from, die to) our sins, and that we must now walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands under the New Covenant. And, yes, we are not saved from our sins of our own doing, by doing good works in the flesh to try to earn or to deserve our own salvation. But our salvation is not absent of works, for we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 2:11-14).

Now the hope that we are to rejoice in needs to be biblical and it needs to biblically apply to our lives. For many people are believing that they are saved from their sins and that they are guaranteed heaven when they die, and so that is their hope. But for many of them it is a false hope based on a lie, because they have not been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and they have thus not been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For they are still walking in sin and not in holiness.

But if our hope is genuine, we have died with Christ to sin, and daily by the Spirit we are putting the deeds of the flesh to death, and so we are now walking by the Spirit, according to the Spirit, and no longer according to the flesh. We are obeying our Lord in practice, though not necessarily in absolute sinless perfection (see 1 John 2:1-2), but lack of perfection should never be used as an excuse for continued, deliberate, and habitual sin against God and against other people. For if we walk in sin we will die in our sins and we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

And if our walks of faith in Jesus Christ are genuine, then we are going to be faced with tribulation, persecution, rejection, false accusations, and with people hating us, despising us, wanting nothing to do with us, and with us generally just being discarded as though we are trash. But in these times of trial and tribulations we are to be patient, and we are to remain steadfast in faith, and we are to be constant (continuing) in prayer, trusting the Lord with our circumstances, believing in his sovereignty, and obeying his will.

Now, we should also be generous people who see needs and who help to meet others’ needs, particularly those of the saints of God who are following the Lord in obedience and who are serving him in ministry and who are doing his will, according to the Scriptures. We do need to exercise spiritual discernment in this, though, for there are many con artists out there, even within the gatherings of the church, who are just waiting to take advantage of us and our generosity. So, always pray before you give so that you give according to the will of God and for the benefit of others.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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