“”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.’
“Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.’” (John 13:34-38 ESV)
The love that we are to have for one another is the same love that we are to have for God which is a selfless and self-sacrificial love which prefers to live through Christ, to embrace God’s will, to choose his choices, and to obey them (his commandments) in his power, strength, and wisdom. This love loves others even if we are hated and mistreated in return. It is a love which leads us to lay down our own lives to obey our Lord’s leading in our lives, and which leads us to share the truth of the gospel for the salvation of souls.
So, when we love other people, especially those of the family of God, with this kind of love, we are going to do for and say to them what is for their good and not what is evil, and not what is going to get them to like us at the sacrifice of truth and righteousness. We are going to put their welfare above all consideration of whether or not they are going to like us in return. And we should be setting an example before all people as to what the life of a follower of Christ should look like, and I am still growing in this area.
So, if we who confess Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives are all putting this into practice, what should that look like? For this is not “love” as the world defines love, and it is not saying and doing just what makes other people feel good, and it is certainly not refraining from speaking the truth in love out of fear of being hated, mistreated, and rejected by others. We need to love like Jesus loved us and sacrificed his life for us so that we might die with him to sin and now walk with him in obedience to his commands.
And as fellow believers in Jesus Christ, when we gather together, it should be for our mutual encouragement and exhortation, that we might not fall into the temptation of sinful addiction, that we might not fall prey to people in their deceitful scheming who are telling us lies and who are altering the truth to make it more acceptable to human flesh. We should be helping one another to know and follow the truth of God’s Word and to grow to maturity in our walks of faith in Jesus Christ, living holy lives pleasing to God.
[Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]
We should be kind and compassionate toward one another, but kindness is not lying to people to make them feel good, especially if they are trapped in sin. And compassion is not being tolerant of deliberate and habitual sin in the lives of those who call themselves followers of Christ but who are ignoring the Lord’s commandments and who are choosing their sin over obedience to God. For we are to speak the truth in love to one another so that none of us is trapped in sin’s deceitfulness and so we follow Jesus.
And then we need to be people of integrity who are, in practice, who we say we are with our lips. None of us should be living hypocritical lives, professing one thing with our lips while we live the opposite. But how we live, i.e. the kind of lives that we live must be according to the teachings of the Scriptures and in accord with the will of God for our lives. And I am not claiming absolute perfection in everything in every area, for I am still clay in the Potter’s hands, but I do know that my life is surrendered to Jesus Christ.
And where Jesus draws the line between those who are of genuine faith in him and those who are not has to do with our daily practices, our lifestyles, how we live and speak, day in and day out, as a matter of life course. For we must deny self, die to sin daily, and follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands if we want to be his disciples. But if, instead, we make sin our practice (our life pattern), and not obedience to our Lord’s commands, then we do not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God.
[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
So, if you are addicted to any sinful habit, and you have continued in that sinful habit knowingly and willfully and deliberately, and so you regularly sin against others you are supposed to love, and you do so with full intention to do what you know is wrong and is sinful and is against others, then that is the opposite of love. And you are not capable of loving God and others if you habitually and deliberately do against them what you know is wrong and hurtful. So it is best if you do not claim “love” where love does not exist.
Now this was not Peter’s situation, so I am only going to use a part of his situation to make a point to go along with what has been said above. Some people who profess faith in Jesus Christ are living in sinful addiction, many of them in sexual immorality and in adultery against their spouses, but in other sins, too. But they will deny that they have a problem or that it is as severe as it is, and they will convince themselves that they are followers of Christ even though they are living the opposite of what that means, deliberately.
Peter denied that it was possible that he would deny the Lord. He was sure that he would lay down his life for Jesus Christ. But Jesus knew Peter better than Peter knew himself. But Peter was overconfident of his commitment to Christ, and then he really ignored the Lord’s warning to him, too, so that he ended up doing exactly what Jesus said he would do. So be humble in your estimation of yourself and be realistic, and listen to what Jesus and the Scriptures teach, for pride comes before a fall.
If the Lord has been pointing out to you something in your life that is wrong and that is against him and against his word, and that is against your fellow humans (or just one or some of them), then listen to him. He knows you better than you know yourself. And let him show you what is in your heart and why you do what you do, and what you need to do to change. For he made the way of escape for all of us out of bondage to sin. We just have to take the way he provided for us. No excuses if we do not!
Keep On!
An Original Work / December 15, 2011
Praise the Lord! Praise Him now!
Before Him humbly bow.
Repent of your sins now.
Turn to Him; obey now.
Walk in fellowship with Him daily,
And abide in His truth.
He will forgive you,
And He’ll cleanse you,
And He’ll give you new life.
Trust in Him. He is truth.
He will not forsake you.
Rest in Him. Let Him lead.
He will meet all your needs.
Obey His ev’ry word to you,
And listen to all He says.
He will be faithful
In all His promises,
So rest in Him.
Do not bow – gods of men.
Let Christ rule in your hearts.
Do not stop – share your faith.
Keep on: speak Jesus’ name.
Share His truth with all He leads you to
Be a witness for Him.
Never yield to sin
Against your God.
Obey Him in ev’ry way.
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