A Debt Never Paid

DEBTORS TO LOVE

The greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all that we are; and the second is like unto it, love our neighbors as ourselves. While there is probably no one reading this who doesn’t know the command to love, who of us is not continually falling short? We fall short in that we do not love perfectly and in that we never get to the point at which we have loved enough. It is a debt we can never pay.

Paul makes this point by comparing love with other debts. We owe taxes, rent, utilities, etc.; and sometimes frivolous, fleshly induced debts. We understand financial debt. It is possible to live life in such a way that these kinds of debts are paid in full. In fact, the exhortation of Paul in Romans 13:8 is to owe no man anything. That is often where folk end the quote. To do so misses the point almost completely. Debt-free is good, but is not good enough. You must love!

After pressing the saints with paying up all that is owed in the context of life and legal relationships, he adds this powerful conclusion: Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. This exhortation is a transitional statement that allows him to expand upon details of how love is expressed. Of course, he quotes the law, which includes the last half of the ten commandments.

Love is a debt that can never fully be paid. To pay a debt implies retirement of the debt. It is no longer in force. We are no longer bound to it. Love will forever be a necessary rule in the lives of God’s people. One cannot love today and not love tomorrow. If the sun rises tomorrow, love is still owed. We can never stop loving.

In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul defines and illustrates love in numerous ways. He then speaks of faith, hope and love as three fundamental cords of the Christian life. Faith and hope will pass away, but love will continue in this life and forever. Let brotherly love continue!  We must have and depend upon the Spirit of Christ to enable us to fulfill this commandment. While it is not easy while in this flesh, it is desirable and doable for the those walking in the Spirit. To such, His commandments are not burdensome!

How Does Your Testimony Compare?

EXAMINING YOUR FAITH

Have you ever listened to someone else give their testimony of conversion  to Christ and wondered, in light of all they experienced, whether your conversion is real? It is no light matter. If you have never truly been born again you cannot see and will not enter the kingdom of heaven. And so you examine yourself, comparing your own experience with the impressive testimony of whoever, and it seems you come up short. Or, perhaps you are on the other side of the evaluation and feel pretty good about yourself because your experience exceeds the one you have just heard. In fact, you find yourself questioning the genuineness of, whoever.

There is good reason to examine yourself to see if you are truly in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). You know it is possible to be deceived. You know it is possible to imagine yourself to be something you are not. A true believer is sensitive to this possibility. A lost person really has no interest in examination. So, if you are interested in examining your profession of faith, you have reason to be hopeful.

But in your examination you must not compare yourself with others. This is dangerous. Wouldn’t it be disastrous to get to the end, stand before the judgment of Christ and be shocked that someone you thought you far exceeded in genuine Christianity was welcomed, and you were rejected? It could also happen that one whose verbal testimony you thought far exceeded yours, and stirred up doubt about yourself, is turned away and  you are welcomed.

You must judge yourself by God’s standard. Do you honestly recognize that God owes you nothing but death and condemnation (Rom. 6:23)? Have you submitted yourself to God’s righteousness in the Lord Jesus (Rom. 10:3,4)? Have you surrendered your own efforts to attain God’s favor while at the same time turning away from all that would separate you from Him (Rom. 5:20-6:2)? Are you coming to God through the only One who is able to present you faultless (Jude 24; Heb. 7:25)?

If you can honestly answer “yes” to all the above, then you ought to also be seeing other indicators in your life that the Spirit of Christ is in you (Rom. 8:9). How about: a hunger for His Word (Acts 2:41; 1 Peter 2:1-3), a longing to do His will (1 John 2:15-17; Gal. 2:20), an increasing distaste for sinful pleasures (Rom. 12:1,2), a love for other believers (1 John 4:7,11), fruits of the Spirit increasing (Gal. 5:22,23), and increasing dependence upon Christ (John 15:5; Philip. 4:13)?

Is the faith of the Son of God at work in you?

What Would Love Say?

SPEAK TRUTH IN LOVE

I recently read an article in a Christian publication (http://christiannews.net/2012/11/18/franklin-graham-mormonism-will-never-be-labeled-a-cult-again/) dealing with Franklin Graham’s decision to remove a note from their website that named Mormonism as a cult. His decision was not made because he believes their doctrine is sound, but because he didn’t want to shut the door to possibly ministering to a Mormon. In his opinion, to call them names (classifying them as a cult) is not helpful in keeping dialogue open.

In that same article John McArthur spoke:

[Mormonism] is a damning religious system,… It is so far from Christianity that it is more like paganism than Christianity.

Evangelicalism is in a desperate situation, and that is made manifest by its inability to distinguish who is a true Christian. We have abandoned any clear understanding of what it means to really be saved… We have no right to redefine [salvation] in our own terms in order to be be popular or in order to be accepted. True and historic Christianity has never been confused about what it means to be a Christian.

I am of the opinion that in our attempts to keep doors open and practice love, we have in fact shut doors and done anything but demonstrate true Biblical love. To muddy the waters of pure gospel truth with the idea that it is possible to have eternal life apart from the righteousness of God through His eternal Son, Jesus Christ, plus nothing, is to shut the door upon eternal life and to act in a most unloving manner.

How can it be construed as love to hide or confuse the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to keep dialogue open? Dialogue about what? What does such thinking hope to accomplish? Was Jesus unloving when He told the religious, well-meaning, Nicodemus that he must be born again? Would it have been more loving for Him to have encouraged Nicodemus to continue in his religious pursuits, just as he was?

The most loving things we can do for others is to lovingly communicate the truth! Eternity hangs in the balance. For those with whom we have already shared the gospel truth, we should live out that gospel in our relation to them. Do not bend your life to accommodate their wishes. Live your life with purpose to distinguish yourself as a Spirit-filled believer. 

The Spirit of truth blesses truth! Speak it and live it!

Love and Faith

FAITH-BASED  LOVE

We sing, Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, as if we really believe it. At times it rolls off our tongues from a heart that is swelling with the sense of that amazing love. But then, there are those times when we are only mouthing the words. The sense is gone.

Should you speak of His love for you only when you feel it? Should you speak of your love for Him only when you feel it?

Is the depth of God’s love for you determined by your sense of it? Is your response to God’s love for you determined by your sense or your level of emotional connection to His love for you?

Could it be that keeping yourself in the love of God (Jude 20) has more to do with faith than feelings? And, could it be that as feelings fluctuate, faith keeps you consistently responding to His love which you have come to know and appreciate, and which you prayerfully seek to comprehend more fully (Eph. 3:18,19)? And then as you dwell upon that love that you know by faith, is it possible that emotions will follow that will increase your delight in Him, and motivate you toward more fervent devotion to Him and service for Him?  (2 Corinthians 5:14)

As you think about this concept of relating to God’s love with the kind of consistency that faith produces, perhaps you can apply it to your human relationships. Your love for one another, and especially your love for your spouse, is to mirror God’s love for you, and your response to His love.  It is the Spirit of God who places this love in our hearts (Rom. 5:5; Gal. 5:22).

So, should you say to your wife, I love you deeply, even though your emotions or feelings are not necessarily connecting with that concept at the moment? Remember, God’s love for you is not simply an emotional statement. God’s love has been, and is, demonstrated! Thus, if you are loving as He loves, you should say and do, whether you feel it or not! In fact, if you say you love her deeply and then treat her in unloving ways, you words are mere words.

Thankfully, God’s love for us is more than mere words! Neither is He void of emotion. May the love He has made known to you through faith be manifested in your relation to others, especially your spouse.         

What is in a Greeting?

GO AHEAD, TRY IT!

I was recently confronted with a thought in a chapter of Love Dare (Kendrick, P&H Publishing Group), which addressed the matter of greeting your spouse. My thoughts expanded beyond simply greeting my spouse. Think about it with me.

The word translated “salute” and “greet” in our AV is found 49 times in the NT. At the close of several of Paul’s letters he gives a list of folks that he wished to be greeted. He often sent a general greeting from a church or churches. Friendly and kind relationships seemed important to Paul.

Jesus informs us that greeting your enemy is an evidence of genuine love: Matt. 5:47.

§  Jesus assumes that we will greet our closer relations, either bio-family or spiritual family.

§  Greeting others is a simple way to demonstrate love. Everybody can do it!

Four times in Scripture we find the direct exhortation to greet one another!

Ro 16:16  Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.

1Co 16:20  All the brethren greet you. Greet ye one another with an holy kiss.

2Co 13:12  Greet one another with an holy kiss.

1Pe 5:14  Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus.

Greeting is the introduction to a relationship – this is where each personal interaction begins.

§  Paul and Peter agree that Christians especially should be guided by a holy affection for one another.

§  When we come together, there ought to be a spirit of love guiding us, which is manifested by a kind and affectionate greeting.

§  Our holy kiss may be a hand shake, or an hello with a smile and eye contact! There should be the sense communicated that we care, are engaged and find some satisfaction in relating as brothers and sisters in Christ.

§  Spirit produced fruit of love enables us to overcome fleshly weakness and self-focus to engage others primarily for their sake, not our own. (Phil. 2:4)

·       A proper greeting expresses interest in another.

·       A proper greeting opens the door for the possibility of meaningful conversation.

·       A proper greeting may be an encouragement to the one you are greeting! (We all know how it feels to receive a cold, aloof, and indifferent sort of greeting from someone.)

§  What if they don’t respond with equal affection? Love does not act based upon response – your demonstration of love, consistently demonstrated, honors Christ and will have positive effect.

Thinking about how we greet one another forces us to think beyond ourselves!

§  Forces our minds out of our small, limited world to consider the person we are meeting.

§  Forces our minds to think about how we might positively interact to God’s glory with others.

There are times in which our countenance betrays our pain, trouble, sorrow, difficulty, etc..  In such case, we need the affectionate greeting and attention of others. But this should not be the rule of our lives!

If greet one another with affectionate kindness is important in relation to brethren in Christ, and greeting our enemies with kindness a display of genuine love, how much more should this apply to our spouses?

§  How do you greet your spouse in the morning, on the phone, or upon returning home at night?                   

§  Do you think your spouse is encouraged by your greeting? Do you think he/she anticipates your show of kindness in your greeting? Do you look forward to a kiss reserved ONLY for him/her?

We all might be surprised at the improvement our relationships might enjoy if we took this simple Christian instruction seriously: greet one another with an holy kiss. Go ahead, try it! I dare you!