It's not so much what it says; it's what it does. After all, talk can be cheap, as the saying goes.
"Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it" (2 John 1:5-6 NASB).
Maybe a paraphrase of a line from a modern movie says it best - love is as love does. Love isn't defined by what we say, but by what we do.
Elsewhere John gives us a clear definition of love expressed through obedience - "This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us" (1 John 3:23 NASB). This working definition of real love leads to the controversial but vitally-important teaching that John sets forth in 2 John:
"For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist" (2 John 1:7 NASB)
Much could be debated as to what John meant by this deviation from the truth of the nature of Jesus, but this much seems certain: knowing the true historic Jesus is the basis for the supernatural love that will characterize true believers. Seeking to know the Jesus of the Scriptures, regardless of creed or tradition, is an absolute priority if we are to comply with the command to love.
How God will deal in judgment with the beliefs many hold to about Jesus is certainly His business, but His command to me is clear: know His Son truthfully and wholeheartedly, and be a conduit for genuine love. The better we know the true Christ, the truer our love for Him and others will be.
I recently realized that I had largely been ignoring and neglecting Jesus in my times of prayer and personal worship. Following His pattern in the model prayer, I had been coming to the Father, but the truth that "no one comes to the Father but through me" (John 14:6) weighed heavy upon me. Conversation and communion with Him is prerequisite to coming to the Father. And how invigorating and liberating it has been to have that conversation as we prepare to come before the Father!
To know and understand the true Jesus is monumentally important. It is the basis for genuine love, and it has a direct bearing on our approach to the Father. What others say about Him is interesting, but what we personally know and understand is far more important. It is as if He asks us the same question that He asked His disciples: "But who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15).
May your firsthand and personal knowledge of Jesus guide and encourage you this day.
Steve
© 2010, Steve Taylor
"Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it" (2 John 1:5-6 NASB).
Maybe a paraphrase of a line from a modern movie says it best - love is as love does. Love isn't defined by what we say, but by what we do.
Elsewhere John gives us a clear definition of love expressed through obedience - "This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us" (1 John 3:23 NASB). This working definition of real love leads to the controversial but vitally-important teaching that John sets forth in 2 John:
"For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist" (2 John 1:7 NASB)
Much could be debated as to what John meant by this deviation from the truth of the nature of Jesus, but this much seems certain: knowing the true historic Jesus is the basis for the supernatural love that will characterize true believers. Seeking to know the Jesus of the Scriptures, regardless of creed or tradition, is an absolute priority if we are to comply with the command to love.
How God will deal in judgment with the beliefs many hold to about Jesus is certainly His business, but His command to me is clear: know His Son truthfully and wholeheartedly, and be a conduit for genuine love. The better we know the true Christ, the truer our love for Him and others will be.
I recently realized that I had largely been ignoring and neglecting Jesus in my times of prayer and personal worship. Following His pattern in the model prayer, I had been coming to the Father, but the truth that "no one comes to the Father but through me" (John 14:6) weighed heavy upon me. Conversation and communion with Him is prerequisite to coming to the Father. And how invigorating and liberating it has been to have that conversation as we prepare to come before the Father!
To know and understand the true Jesus is monumentally important. It is the basis for genuine love, and it has a direct bearing on our approach to the Father. What others say about Him is interesting, but what we personally know and understand is far more important. It is as if He asks us the same question that He asked His disciples: "But who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15).
May your firsthand and personal knowledge of Jesus guide and encourage you this day.
Steve
© 2010, Steve Taylor
posted by steve @ 8:49 AM
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