Love is From God

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:7-12 ESV)

This is another passage of Scripture where it is critical that we read it in context and that we understand the meanings of the words, particularly this word “love,” so that we get the correct understanding of what this is teaching us. For if we read and interpret this out of context, it would be very easy for us to come up with an incorrect interpretation of what it is teaching us. So, it is critical that we understand this, because it involves our faith in the Lord Jesus, and our salvation from sin, and our eternal life with God.

So, let’s begin with this word “love.” It is not human love, based in our emotions which can fluctuate. This love is about preferring God and his righteousness and holiness and loving others as he loved and loves us. Since he is love, he sets the example for us in how we are to love one another. And Jesus loved us so much so that, while we were yet sinners, he died for us on that cross, putting our sins to death with him, so that by faith in him we will die with him to sin and walk in obedience to his commands.

And to love God is to obey him, to do what he says that we are to do. To love him means that we surrender our lives to him and that we submit to his Lordship over our lives and we follow him wherever he leads us in becoming who he designed that we should be, doing what he planned in advance that we should be doing with our lives, as his followers. And only as we love and obey our Lord can we truly love other people as he loved us and died for us. And this includes sharing with others the gospel for their salvation from sin.

So, when this states here that if we love one another that God abides in us and his love is perfected in us, this is not speaking of human love or what the flesh of humans might consider as “love.” For there are a lot of non-Christians who can be very loving and kind to other humans, even sometimes more so than some who profess faith in Jesus. So we cannot interpret these words on the basis of human love and human thinking and reasoning. But this is love that results in obedience to our Lord.

And the same thing applies where this says that whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. And here we should read this in the context of 1 John 1-3 where it teaches us that if we say we are in fellowship with God, but while we are walking in darkness (sin), that we are liars. And if we claim that we know God, but while we do not obey his commandments, in practice, we are liars. For whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. And whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God.

[1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6,15-17,24-25; 1 John 3:4-10]

So, if we are loving one another with the love of God, we will love and treat with love even those who hate and persecute us, and who have no use for us and who are opposed to us and wish we would disappear. We will pray for them, do good to them, and speak to them what is beneficial for them in the eyes of the Lord. In particular we will speak the truth of the gospel to them for their salvation from slavery to sin so that they can now walk in obedience to our Lord in holy living, free from their chains of sin’s deceitfulness.

And we will not deliberately nor habitually do to them what is evil and hateful and which is deliberately harmful to them. For that is not love! But we will reach out to them in their needs, and we will encourage them. But one of the ways in which we are to encourage our fellow Christians is with a divine urging and exhortation against falling back into sin and towards following our Lord in walks of holiness and in obedience to his commands. And we will never dilute the gospel message to make it less offensive.

We will not lie to people so that they will like us and so that they will not reject us. Jesus spoke the truth of the gospel to all people, and many who had been following him deserted him because they said that his teaching was too hard. And his enemies lied about him and tried to trick him into doing or saying something wrong. And eventually they had him put to death on a cross, for they had convinced the people (not all) to call for his crucifixion and to let a murderer go free in his place.

[Matthew 5:43-46; Luke 6:27-28; Luke 10:27; John 13:34-35; John 15:12]

So, when we truly love others with the love of Christ, and we teach what Jesus taught, and what his New Testament apostles taught, we are not going to be well liked. We are not going to have many close friends. And many people may avoid us or want nothing to do with us. And they may tell lies about us or twist our words in order to accuse us of wrong. And they may do evil to us, in return for our love and kindness to them. And some of us they may even put to death because of our walks of obedience to our Lord.

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]

There’s a Stirring

By Annie Herring

There's a stirring deep within me

Could it be my time has come

When I'll see my gracious savior face to face when all is done

Is that his voice I am hearing?

'Come away, my precious one'

Is he calling me?

Is he calling me?

I will rise up, rise up

And bow down 

And lay my crown

At his wounded feet

Is that His voice I am hearing?

'Come away, my precious one'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yocTjkB6hV8

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Love is From God

An Original Work / February 15, 2025

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love