To Love, or not To Love? (Part 2)

Is it obvious to others that you know God because you love them?

February 15, 2020

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."

1 John 4:7-8

Part 2

Yesterday:
“Beloved, let us love one another.”
God loves us; we need to be loving each other.

“For love is of God.”
God is the source of our love.

“And every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”
The proof of our belonging to God is our persistence in loving our brothers and sisters in God’s family.

Today:
“He that loveth not.”
It should be hard for a believer not to love others.  The way John described this non-lover is, “he keeps on not loving….”  His lack of love for those around him/her is continuing.  That is sadly his/her habit.  And if this is true, then he/she,

“Knoweth not God.”
This might make us think that a lost man or woman can never show acts of human kindness.  This is not so, because human beings are made in “the image of God” (Genesis 1:26-27).  Even though Adam’s sin fractured the image, a man may still do some loving things, but only a fraction of what he could do with a right relationship with God.

“Human love, however noble and however highly motivated, falls short if it refuses to include the Father and Son as the supreme objects of its affection.” [1] (Marshall)

Why is this true?
“For God is love.”
These words are critical to our understanding of the Bible’s viewpoint of God.  As we learned yesterday, “Love is of God.”

“…love absolutely and in itself, in its own nature and apart from any object, is from the very being of God.” [2]

“When we say God is love, we are not saying everything about God.  Love is an essential aspect of His character, and colors every aspect of His nature.  But it does not eliminate His holiness, His righteousness, or His perfect justice.  Instead, we know the holiness of God is loving, and the righteousness of God is loving, and the justice of God is loving.  Everything God does, in one way or another, expresses His love” [3] (Guzik).

This ought to be our goal, that God’s love flows through us and affects every area of our lives so that we might make a difference for Him, to others.

 

 

 

[1] Marshall, as quoted by David Guzik.  David Guzik’s Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] Popular New Testament, A Popular Commentary on the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] Guzik, ibid.