When God Says …
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35 KJV).
Reflecting on these passages through the lens of our Lord's true gospel of grace and truth, by being in the know that love is God and God is love, we'll know we are now under a new covenant with God. In the old covenant of the law, the command to love was based on man's self effort - "love your neighbor as yourself." Now, we are to love by His love: "That ye love one another; as I have loved you,". The Lord Jesus raised the bar of this command to the highest level that only He can fulfill. That, considering that the command of the law to love our neighbor as we love ourselves no one has ever done and will ever do, as scriptures say: all have sinned (Romans 3:23). No one was made righteous by the law (Galatians 2:16a NLT). The law was given to increase sin (Romans 5:20a).
Now, the Lord Jesus Christ gives a new command, raised to the highest standard - His love! How can we, you and I, ever do this? The answer is: we can't! We can only manifest this love by totally surrendering to our Lord's grace by believing on Him. We must rest in His grace! And as God is love, we are to let Him love us by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We must let Him love us and declare "I am the beloved of Christ Jesus my Lord." It is all and only through abiding in Christ Jesus by our confession of faith, as the Scriptures say: “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.” (1 John 4:15-17 ESV).
And I say, AMEN!
Daily reflections by:
F. A. Frias
PFC Ministries
When God says... I say, AMEN! is a provocative reflection of the Lord's holy Word. It intends to challenge every seeker of truth to dig deep into the core of the Word of Life to point every being to Christ Jesus - the author and finisher of our faith, and to draw revelations for change, for nourishment and for strength of every soul.
Partners For Christ Ministries, INC
P. O. Box 773716
Ocala, FL 34477
Touching lives in Cambodia, The Philippines, The Middle East, The USA, and... other countries.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment