1 John 3:18-24
18 My little children, let us not love in
word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
19 And hereby we know that we are of the
truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater
than our heart, and knoweth all things.
21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then
have we confidence toward God.
22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him,
because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his
sight.
23 And this is his commandment, That we should
believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave
us commandment.
24 And he that keepeth his commandments
dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by
the Spirit which he hath given us.
Multiple
libraries could be filled with all the words men have wrote and said about love
but a real love is not in description but in how we live.
Furthermore if the deeds that we say come from
love are not in accord with the witness of scripture then it is not Gods love
through us. However deed and truth goes far beyond simply acting in accord with
what the scripture tells us to do. For example if we see a person in need and
though we don’t wish to be bothered we know it would be the “Christian thing”
to help so we force ourselves to help this is not deed and truth.
We are being
conformed to the life of Jesus and He was the truth. Jesus did not live in obedience
to the Father because He knew He should but instead because it was who He was.
In the same way His life in us is making us into His living word, living truth
and living love.
YHWH is the
truth and when He spoke all things into existence they took their true form;
this is directly opposed to the teachings of the Greek thinkers who said the
thought was the perfect form but the manifestation was always corrupt. Adam in
His original created form was the perfect man until iniquity was found in Him.
It is because of man’s fall and separation from God that though he may learn
the righteous way of being; the manifestation in his living (deeds) is a
corrupt version.
Jesus has
redeemed us back to a oneness with God. When we by faith are joined to Messiah
then the old man who was separated by the generating power of his own flesh
ability is crucified in the crucifixion of our master. We die in Him but the breath
(Spirit) of God is shared with us and in Jesus resurrection we become a new
creation whose generating power for life is the shared life of our God.
It is by
this that Paul declares in Him we move and breathe and have our being. So we
see that our love of God and our neighbor is generated by the living truth
abiding in our heart. God is one He is not fractured as Adam became. So while
Adam may say one thing and do another God only speaks and does what He is.
The carnal
man may comfort himself with the idea that he has a perfect understanding
despite his actions needing to be tweaked and brought as close to perfection as
possible. If a child of God adopts this same thinking about their faith or
living then they frustrate the grace of Gods life in them. We as children of
God must be as our Father is one in the word of our mouth, deeds of our life,
and truth in our being.
When we live
in this manner we know that it is our Fathers life in us and we are assured that
we are His children. The natural question that comes to the mind is what does
it mean if I see the truth in my heart but my deeds do not match what I know? John
says it in this way “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our
heart, and knoweth all things.”
Remember in
the first chapter John has said if we sin we have an advocate with the Father
and that if we confess our sin He is booth faithful and just to forgive our
sin. We must throw ourselves onto Jesus; for He is the author and finisher of
our faith. If we strive to fix ourselves we become as Cain; offering a work of
our own hands to please God and forgetting that He is our maker and redeemer.
Paul said this I know in whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able
to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.
We ask Him
to both forgive us and show us those things which we must cast upon Him. We do
this in full assurance and expectation that He is our maker, our Father, and
that He is giving us His promise of His life and life more abundant.
When we are
fully persuaded of His will and work in us all confidence in our flesh passes
away and is replaced with an expectation of God to love through us and to live
through us and to do through us. As we walk in this oneness with God we find His
life becomes our life, His works become our works, and His love becomes our
love.
Whosoever shall seek to save his life
shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
And a man's foes shall be they of his
own household. He that loveth father or mother more than
me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he
that taketh not his cross, and
followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose
it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. He that receiveth
you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
