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THE FIRST AND THE GREATEST
COMMAND
“And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (Mrk.12:33 NKJV; Rom.13:9 and Gal.5:14; Mt.22:38-40) Some years ago, I saw a poster that
has greatly impressed me, that is:
“When one loves what he does, one is
capable of all.” Then, I said to myself:
“If the man of the
street is “capable of all”, when he loves what he does, how much more can the
man of God, who has at his disposal the power of the Holy Spirit! But, is it
true that the natural man is capable of all? Yes and no!”
YES,
for the possibilities of the will and of man’s capacities, who was thus endowed
by his Creator, remain nearly always unused, unexploited.
“We use only 10 per cent of our mental capacities,”
said Albert Einstein. It suffices to watch the television and take a look at the
History and the exploits of some people who have achieved unbelievable
things on account of the love they had for the objects they were given to do.
They also attribute to Einstein this expression:
“We don’t understand even the hundredth of what we would be capable of
understanding.” And
NO, for Jesus Christ, speaking about
spiritual things, had declared that we could do nothing without Him. There are
certain people who could solve the most difficult technical problems but they
cannot get rid of smoking the cigarette! This truth is especially valid
when it has to do with the understanding of spiritual things on the part of the
natural man, as Jesus himself had declared and explained to Nicodemus. Also
Jesus said: “…If you can believe, all
things are possible to him who believes” (Mrk.9:23). Paul, the apostle said:
“I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me” (Php.4:13) Why have I said all
this? Because the secret of success in spiritual life depends on
one thing: Love Christ with all your
being. WHAT
GOD REQUIRES
Let me repeat the
same verse: “And to love Him with all
the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the
strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole
burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mrk.12:33). This is the first and the
greatest commandment in its most complete expression! It is a love required both
of believers and of unbelievers. This love for God is a love produced in the
believer’s heart by the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:22; 2Th.3:5). This love can be
produced in a heart, which, irrespective of how weak it is, is sincere, has good
intentions and makes good willful choices.
The Holy Spirit,
since ancient times, enjoined us to love the LORD our God with all
our heart and with all our soul and with all our might (De.6:5); also that we
must fear the Lord, our God, in order to walk in all His ways and
serve Him with all our heart and with all our soul. The observation of
these commandments were intended for our happiness:
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD
your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways
and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all
your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I
command you today for your good?” (De.10:12-13) Consequently, the
love for God is not a new commandment. It is a commandment which was
simply “amplified” by our Lord Jesus Christ, and its right importance and value
were ascribed to it. The true love towards men is impossible if the love for God
does not exist or rather does not pre-exist. These two commandments are closely
bound and interdependent.
DEFINITIONS In reality,
and in general terms, all the other commandments are just commentaries and
extensions of the meaning, importance and message of these two. The first
part of the verse we are studying speaks of our duties of reverence towards God.
The second part, how to treat our fellow men. Now, we will insist on the
first part of this commandment. If God does not empower man to that end it
is impossible that the other commandments be put in practice. And, it is,
in the same way, impossible that God enables man to do His will, if man has not
passed through the narrow gate experience, that is through the wonderful
experience of a sincere repentance, a complete denial of himself and through a
full surrender or consecration to God:
a turning to God from idols to serve the
living and true God (1Th.1:9). This is possible only through an act of
willful choice.
CLARIFICATIONS In practice,
what does the love for God consist of?
The love for God consists in keeping His commandments. And His
commandments are not painful, (1Jo.5:32 and
2Jo.1:6).
It means to serve the Lord with a perfect or devoted heart; it means to do what
is good in the eyes of the Lord with faithfulness and integrity of heart (2Ki.20:3).
In other words, he who acts with a sincere and perfect heart acts in the fear of
God and with faithfulness (2Ch.19:9). Here is a key verse which
illustrates that notion:
“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father,
and serve Him with a loyal
heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD
searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek
Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off
forever” (1Ch.28:9). And the Holy Spirit said:
“For the
eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth,
to show Himself strong on behalf of
those whose heart is loyal (is perfect) to Him.
In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have
wars.” (2Ch.16:9). So, those who do not have a
perfect heart towards God act foolishly and they will have useless
wars in their life! On the contrary, the heart of the one
who really belongs to God is whole, not divided, not shared with the world,
without hypocrisy, perfect and pure… He has a well-intended devoted will for
Jesus, absorbed exclusively by His affairs and finds his pleasure only in Him.
Such a life, which is not shared with the world,
is the only one acceptable to God…
This love for Jesus is incompatible with the love for a worldly life. This is
the reason why it is written: “Do not
love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love
of the Father is not in him.” (1Jo.2:15). The will of God is that we resist
unto blood, if necessary, striving against sin (Heb.12:4). God did not call us
to uncleanness, but to sanctification (1Th.4:7). Furthermore, the true
Christian is interested but to be in good terms with his Savior! He is
interested in seeking first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, knowing
that all the things he needs will be added to him (Mt.6:33). TWO SPIRITUAL ERRORS
·
We
should never ever forget that one cannot pass from the state of the natural man
to the state of a born again Christian without an act of choice. Also, we must
never forget that
we cannot pass from the carnal
situation to the spiritual one little by little but through an act of willful
choice. It is THEN that the true spiritual
development begins… It is
THEN that the spiritual
life begins to blossom and to bear fruit. It is
only THEN that the spiritual development
begins. The conquest of the “promised land”, that is of the spiritual space of
holiness and of spiritual power, begins after we have quit the “desert” of our
own efforts and plans and
after we have submitted our own will to God’s will.
That is not possible but by
repentance and faith and by
an act of trust in the love and care of the All-wise and Omnipotent
Jesus who calls us to that life. We should not also forget that
it is not enough to begin well but also to finish well!
Our God is a “jealous” God. If our love towards Him is diminished, then we are
reproved. Here is what the Word says:
“But I have
against you that you left your first love. Therefore remember from where you
have fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come to you
quickly and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent.”
(Re.2:4-5),
and “If
anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed…”
(1Cor.16:22).
What a solemn warning!
·
There are people who think
that they express and prove their love to God by their worship and adoration
in the church. That is
partly true but only as a result of a life full of obedience in deed and in
truth. I remember cases of people who thought that with a lot of decibels they
were proving and showing their devotion to God… Others who thought that by
screaming
“Glory to God”, “Praise the Lord”, “Thank you Lord” etc., for more than half an
hour could prove and show their love and devotion to God! I was wondering: Was
that the way the first Christians, as they are described in the book of Acts
of the Apostles, were worshipping Christ? Let us
finally come to our selves! THE
LOVE FOR GOD IS NOT OPTIONAL
The love for God is not optional!
(De.6:5; 11:1; 22:5; Mt.22:37). This holds good for both those who believe and
those who do not believe. God created all men, believers and non believers. They
are His workmanship, and will have, sooner or later, to give account of their
position towards God, whether they want it or not, whether they believe it or
not! The proof that
we, believers, love Him is our position towards Him in the form of obedience and
sound priorities: Our devotion to Him and to His truth as well as our fight
against sin constitutes the greatest proof of our love towards Him. But
it is necessary to be
noted that those who are
really born again, the true children of God, love Him without having seen Him (1Pet.1:8).
This love is spontaneous for it is implanted by God their Father, in their
heart; it is engraved into their
heart, simply because they have accepted to make
the good choice in the fear
of the Lord
and live in deed and in truth!
This love is worth more than all other sacrifice (Mrk.12:33). WHY
GOD REQUIRES THIS LOVE?
In the verse we are studying, that
is, Mark 12:33 there is a message hidden, which can also be found in De.10:12-13:
“And
now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you, but to fear the LORD your
God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the commandments of the
LORD, and His statutes, which I command you today
for your good?”
God requires from us this love for the
following reasons:
1.
For our good:
That means for our happiness and for our blessedness. This is confirmed
by other verses also.
In such a way,
God can bless us and make us enjoy the life that he gives us (De.30:16)
abundantly and that all spiritual blessings that God has reserved for us in the
heavenly places in Christ. Some of these future blessings them can be achieved
in our life on this earth.
2.
Because, as it has already been said,
we belong to
Him. He has this right because He died for
us all! He has purchased us! He is our Redeemer!
3.
Because He
loved us the first (1Joh.4:19). Our love towards God is the fruit of our
understanding and of our acceptance of God's love towards us (1Jo.4.10; 1Jo.4:19;
2Cor.5:14-15; Ps.116:1),
and
4.
Because He wants to bless us, hear
our voice and our prayers (Ps.116:1) and answer our requests and cover
our needs!
WHY THOSE
WHO HAVE BEEN REDEEMED LOVE HIM Love for God
is one of the characteristics of His children. Here are the reasons why
we love Him:
·
We
love Him because, as already said, Jesus loved us the first (1Joh.4:19) with an
everlasting love and has drawn us to Himself with loving-kindness (Jer.31:3). He
loved His own in the world to the end (John 13:1). His love was so great that He
died for us when we were
still without strength, ungodly,
sinners
and even His enemies (Ro.5:6-10);
·
We love Him because His
love is unfathomable, surpassing all knowledge (Eph.3:19), constraining us to
love Him and live for Him (2Cor.5:14-15). His love is unchangeable (Joh.13:1)
and nothing can separate us from Him (Rom.8:35).
·
We love Him because He
came to save the lost like you and me (Lu.19:10), He gave Himself for us (Gal.2:20),
He died for us (Joh.15:13; 1Jo.3:16) and He washed away our sins
in His
blood (Re.1:5). On the
basis of His work, “If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” (1Joh.1:9).
He has cast all
our
sins into the depths of the sea
(Micah
·
We love Him because He has
justified us by His grace (Tit.3:4-7), has quickened our souls (Eph.2:4, 5) and
has granted us many temporal and eternal blessings (De.7:13).
·
We love Him
because His purpose is to bless us so that we may enjoy the life that He gives
us and that all spiritual blessings that God has reserved in the celestial
places in Christ: “Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies in Christ” (Eph.1:3).
·
We
love Him because He has sent and has
shed the
Holy Spirit in our heart (Ps.68:18; Joh.16:7;
Rom.5:5) and has filled our hearts with love, purity, power and divine wisdom!
·
We love Him because He
hears our prayers (Ps.116:1) and intercedes for us (Heb.7:25; 9:24).
·
We love Him because He
knows all of us personally and calls us by name (1Cor.8:3).
·
We love Him because He
preserves and delivers us from the hatred of the Devil (Ps.145:20; Ps 91:14) and
because He has made us partakers of his mercy (Ex.20:6; De.7:9) and of His
divine nature.
·
We
love Him because His plans and His thoughts for us are
thoughts of
peace and not of evil, to give us the blessed expected end (Jer.29:11).
·
We
love Him because He rebukes and chastens us for our good (Re.3:19; Heb.12:6-11).
He does not punish us but He chastens us for our good,
for our
profit, in order to make us partakers of His holiness.
·
He
makes all things work together for our good (Ro.8:28; Ps.57:2).
Even
if he slays me, yet I can trust in Him, says Job (
·
We love Him because He has loved us and has made us
“children of God… and it has not yet
been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He shall be revealed, we
shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1Jo.3.1-2). Incredible
but true!
·
We love Him because He
has come to set us free from the bondage of sin and of our passions, as it is
written: “…to bind up the
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to those who are bound; … to comfort all who mourn; … to give to them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the mantle of praise for the
spirit of heaviness; …” (Isa.61:1-6). Yes! He took our burden and gave us a
song…
·
We love Him because
Jesus Christ is made to us
wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption (1Cor.1:30).
·
We love Him because He has named us
“priests of the LORD; …Ministers of our
God;” and because He “…loved
us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and made us kings and priests
to God and His Father »
(Re.1:5-6).
One
day we will be called to judge angels!
(1Cor.6:3).
·
We love Him because
Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God will lead
us to the fountains of living waters. And God will wipe away all tears from our
eyes … and there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying out, nor will
there be any more pain; for the first things passed away (Re.7:17 and 21:4).
·
We love Him because
the Angel of the LORD camps round about
those who fear Him, and delivers them (Ps.34:7).
·
We love Him because
God
is for us,
consequently
no one can be against us! Truly He
who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? It is God who justifies.
Who is he condemning?
It is Christ who has died, but rather
also who is raised, who is also at
the right
hand of God, who also intercedes for
us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …"But in all these
things we are more than conquer through Him who loved us
(Rom.8:31-37). Since Christ
was crucified for me and purchased me, then I belong to Him and I must live
for Him. I
have
no right to live a life
shared between two thoughts and two desires. An irresolute man is
unstable in all his ways and he could not be pure in its heart (Jas.1:8; 4:8).
The man who has taken a solid decision for Him does not find his pleasure but in
the law of the God and meditates in it day and night! (Ps.1:2) Do you see
someone who does not love Jesus Christ? That means that God is not yet his
Father. Jesus told them: “If God was
your Father, you would love me.” (Joh.8:42). It is necessary, however, to
recognize that there are some that do what is right, but with a heart which is
not entirely devoted (2Chr.25:2). It is strange and incredible but
true!!! You could give your money to someone that is in the need either by love
or in order to be seen by Mr. Everybody or in a spirit of
antagonism
or of vengeance.
(Php.1:15-18) IS
THIS LIFE POSSIBLE?
God has rendered this life possible.
He who calls us in this life it is He who will do all that is necessary! It is
for this reason that Paul said: “I
beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God,
which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what
is that good and pleasing and perfect
will of God.”
(Rom.12:1-2). God who gave
us the sound reasoning (logic) is He not reasonable? Our God is a
reasonable God, and it is for this reason that all that He requires from us
is always reasonable and it is at the same time feasible either by our
own strength or by the power of the Holy Spirit. God who calls us to this life
will render it possible for us, as it is written in the epistle to the
Thessalonians “…Faithful
is He who called you, who also will do it.”
(1Th.5:23-24). The Spirit of God has expressed the same idea in the Old
Testament: “Have not I commanded you? Be strong
and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be you dismayed: for the LORD your
God is with you wherever you go”. In the book of
Isaiah it is written: “LORD, You will
ordain peace for us; for You also have worked all our works in us.” (Isa.26:12).
Conclusion:
Whatever God requires it can be done. He
has already given us the means…
and the courage to achieve it! THE
HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GUARANTOR
The Christian life is and must be
a victorious life, thanks to the Holy Spirit who is our guarantor. It is
well known that every born again Christian has received the Holy Spirit (Eph.1:13,
14; Joh.7:39; Act.2:4), but all Christians are not full of the Holy
Spirit (Ac.6:3). In order that my heart be full of this love towards God, it
must be emptied of my sin by confession and its abandonment. Sin which is
not confessed remains unforgiven and deprives me of the heavenly
blessings and of the victory. It is full consecration and a total trust, which
give God the possibility of controlling and governing our heart and our life. It
is the condition “sine quoi non”. I
repeat:
“He who has called us is faithful and
HE will do it”! (1Thes.5:23-24). The faith that
saves is the one which accepts humbly salvation and God’s power as well as the
victory that God promises and gives. It is a faith that obeys. And it is then
that God gives His Spirit
“…to all those who obey him.”
(Act.5:32).
It is impossible to arrive at some success with a heart divided between two
desires and two goals. A divided heart arrives
at nothing! In general, men who achieve
something important in their life are those who live with only one passionate
desire. TWO
OBJECTIONS and THEIR ANSWERS
First objection: Someone could say to me: How then am
I capable of doing God’s will, if God does not invest me of His power? Do
I have the gift of healing or of casting out demons, or, or, or? God distributes
His gifts according to His sovereignty. Is it not so? Yes, but, do I need His miraculous
gifts in order to be more zealous concerning the study of the Bible or my
prayer life or to fulfill my other commitments faithfully as a Christian? Is
it necessary for me to have “a spiritual gift” in order to be honest and
faithful in order to be reactivated and share the Bible with all those who die
in ignorance and sin? Should I be satisfied in comparing myself with
those who lead a lukewarm life? Where is my treasure? Of what is my
mind nourished and saturated all day long?
«Cursed is he who does the work of the
LORD deceitfully,
or “negligently”…
» says the Word of God in Jer.48:10. We should not
forget what the Bible says:
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and
mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he
cannot be My disciple… And he
who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me…
If anyone desires to come after Me let him deny himself, and take up his cross,
and follow Me. He, who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
(Lu.14:26; Mt.10:38; Mt.16:24; Mt.11:15).
It
is sad, but we must admit, that some Christians have become ridiculed.
They began building a tower without having calculated the expense
and they abandoned its construction for lack of solid intentions! They went out
in order to wage war without having calculated their forces well. They
have “signed” a contract with God to serve Him in a world that perishes
but they have not honored it! “Salt is
good: but if the salt have lost his flavor, with which shall it be seasoned? It
is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He
that has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Lu.14:34-35). These words are tough! But are they
mine?
What God requires of me is my heart, the position of
my heart!
This is my duty, my business,
but the strength to obey Him is His
business! Consequently, the first thing for me
to do is to repent and to confess my
state which might be little or very deplorable as a believer, member of
the
Second objection: Since, the love for God is a gift of
God as it is written in De.30:6 “And the
LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to
love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may
live”, Why then should I be responsible and love Him without His help? The answer is
simple: Yes, you are responsible because God puts this love in our heart
IF we give to Him
our consent or our permission. Then it is God who works in us both to will
and to do of His good pleasure
(Php.2:13)
CONDITIONS and PROMISES
It is well known that the promises of
God are closely bound to some conditions that it is necessary to fulfill. In
general, the promises of God are inherited
by faith and patience:
We are called “…not to be slothful, but
followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Heb.6:12,
15). And finally, we should not forget that we must not cast away our
confidence, which has great recompense of reward, for we have need of patience,
that,
after we have done the will of God,
we might receive the promise (Heb.10:35-36). In the context of the love due to God
there are certain promises which are tightly bound to the attachment of the man
to God. The Bible says:
“If you love me, keep my commandments… He that
HAS
my commandments, and KEEPS
them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father,
and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him… If a man love me, he will
keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make
our stayed with him.” (Joh.14:15, 21, 23). Then, the one who loves Him:
1.
Keeps His commandments;
2.
Serves Him and also
serves his brothers (Mt.27:55; Mt.25:40);
3.
Gives Him all his preference and priority (Mt.10:37); he loves Him with
an ardent love up to death (So.2:5; Ac.21:13; Re.12:11). Such an
attitude results in taking up on our shoulders the cross, that God has designed
for us personally and follow Him:
“…And he that takes not his cross, and
follows after me, is not worthy of me.”
(Mat.16:24) In practice, this love is manifested in the following
manner: The true Christian loves:
1.
Christ, more than himself, the members of his family and all his possessions;
2.
Christ, more than his local church;
3.
The
truth, more than his own ideas, convictions and his denomination;
4.
The
Bible, more than the constitution and the traditions of his Church and is
devoted to the infallible Word of God, which does not need to be tried, but
solely to be believed and obeyed;
5.
The
will of God, more than his spiritual leader’s will or mentality;
6.
The
principles of the Word of God more than his culture or his cultural background;
7.
The
fruit of the Spirit, more than the gifts of the Spirit;
8.
Being possessed by the Holy Spirit than to possess Him. God has
promised the crown of justice and the crown of life to all those who love Him
and who, because of that love support patiently temptations
(2Ti.4:7-8;
Jaq.1:12).
If I love
Jesus, the first consequence
will be: I will keep His Word! The second consequence will be: The Father will
love me! The third consequence will be: Both of Them and the Holy Spirit will
make their stay in me!!!
(Joh.14:23,
26).
Incomprehensible, unbelievable but true! WHAT
LOVE FOR GOD PRODUCES
Before we start a brief description of what the love of
God produces in man, it is necessary to examine briefly another aspect on the
basis of a very important verse:
“…Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies. And if any man think that he knows
any thing, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God,
the same is known of him.” (1Cor.8.1-3). It is true that knowledge makes man
swell and that fact makes him cease depending on God! It makes him presumptuous
and self-confident, thing which makes it deviate from the good road. It turns
him obstinate and inflexible because he considers himself very important.
“Desiring
to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they
affirm.” (1Ti.1:7).
The major problems
out of the church and within the church are created by men who believe that they
know everything! He despises others and he is deceived. Yes,
“He is proud,
knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof comes
envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings” (1Ti.6:4).
However,
his knowledge is limited, even if he believes that his knowledge is complete or
perfect! He has not yet known as he should know them!
“See you a man wise in his own conceit?
there is more hope of a fool than of him.”
(Pr.26:12).
And it is also written:
“For if a man think himself to be
something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” (Gal.6:3). The
man, however, who loves God, gives to God the possibility of building him up and
of forming the character of Christ in his life.
His love is perfected by obeying Him
(1Jo.2:5). When love becomes perfect in us, then it gives us assurance and
boldness and casts out fear (1Jo.4:17, 18).
God approves him, loves
him and is acceptable to God and approved of men.
“For he that in these things serves
Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after
the things which make for peace, and things with which one may edify another.”
(Rom.14:18-19).
Love constitutes a sure and unquestionable guide in his life. His love towards
God renders him intelligent with regard to the fear of the Lord.
And his pleasure will be the fear of God; and he will not judge according to the
sight of his eyes, and will not judge according to the hearing of His ears
(Esa.11:3). It is
also written:
“And this I pray, that
your love may abound yet more and more
in knowledge and in all judgment; that you may
approve things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense
till the day of Christ. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are
by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
(Php.1:9-11). Yes, moreover, God enriches him with the gifts and the fruit of
the Holy Spirit, which is patience, purity etc.: The man who loves
God is invested by the love
of God which is the bond of perfection
(Col.3:14) and embellish his life with all the virtues of love mentioned in
chapter 13 of the first epistle to the Corinthians. From wherever the child of
God passes, he spreads around him warmth, the good; he puts balsam on the
wounds, he heals, he revives and he draws people to himself… His
love for God pushes him to
seek the good for his neighbor. God teaches him what to do, how to do it, when
to do it etc. His love for the Lord and his fellowmen makes him
abound more and more in knowledge and in all judgment for
the things that are excellent that he may be without offense till the day of
Christ. In a word:
He edifies!
He is transformed into a
city located on a mountain, into a light on a candlestick, into salt which gives
taste to life and which prevents rotting! And, let us not forget that
“…the end of the
commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of
faith unfeigned” (1Ti.1:5).
It is
a love which produces benevolence and generosity (1Jo.3:17-18):
“But whoever has
this world’s good, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of
compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him? My little children, let
us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
EXHORTATION
Dear
friends! My intention is not to put burdens on you! My intention is only to
encourage you to love Him Who has loved us and that you give Him your assent to
act in your heart. He gave us a command of an absolute nature! To love
Him
in an absolute way, in an exclusive way!
He knows
that we cannot do it in our own strength. But He who calls us to that it is He
who assumes the responsibility to do it provided that we give him our assent and
that we are ready to obey Him!
All He asks is that we come to Him and repent sincerely and irrevocably of our
sins. If these principles
or axioms have something to do with us, and if you and I have not done our
duty for our good, then the first thing for us to do is to repent and
confess our state which might be little or very deplorable as a believer, member
of the church of Christ. I repeat: Let the tears of our repentance wash our eyes
so that we could see better, as a beautiful hymn says. And let us not forget the
verse:
“Faithful is He who called you, who
also will do it.” (1Thes.5:24).
“Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.”
(Eph.6:24)
John Baltatzis
www.sporeas.com
www.sporeas.gr
www.sporeas.eu
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