-Love God. Do His commands. Simple recipe. But John here has just flipped the equation on its head. He had been saying that we can know we are loving God when we are loving His children, the ones He loves, and keeping His commands, specifically the old/new command to love one another. Now we come full circle. This knife cuts both ways. True believers, genuine Christ-followers whom God begets and in whom He has placed His Spirit will not only love His children, they will love Him and obey Him. It’s a both-and. We’re talking about a life and a heart which are both for Him and for His people, lives which genuinely and increasingly reflect Who He is, which manifest the majesty of the Kingdom of God wherever they go. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Self-control. You know the list. The One and the Same Spirit Who gives life and bears the fruit of love in our lives will also bear qualities like goodness and faithfulness, obedience. That’s not to say that there won’t be missteps along the way. Sometimes we do stumble and fall, a season of struggle. Perhaps we have a weakness, more prone to give in to temptation in a certain area of our life. But in general, you will see a true Christ-follower engaging in both the vertical AND the horizontal - love for the body AND love for God and obeying Him.
-You can imagine that someone perhaps comes in through the side door of the church. They like being with His people - some of them at least. There is joy. There is love, and genuine caring. There is good clean living, and generous sharing. This is attractive. This is family. Maybe they have never experienced that. This is something they’ve been longing for. And so they’re hanging out with God’s people, loving being with them and even loving them in return, but maybe, just maybe they haven’t surrendered their heart to Jesus. They’re unwilling at a certain level to do business with God, to acknowledge their sinfulness and imperfections, and to begin loving and obeying Him. Yes, the unbelieving world can perhaps at times rise to the level of natural kindness and affection, of party attachments and fraternal loyalties, but there is something different here. We are talking about an other-wordly, full-bodied love which comes from the God Who IS love, and which expresses itself both horizontally AND vertically. Fully-orbed two-dimensional love. It comes from the One Who is both first in His own affections but Who also loves His children infinitely, everlastingly, and unconditionally. This love wants what is good and right and best for the beloved. This love serves and sacrifices and gives itself away. This love endures and bears all things. It hangs in there and holds itself towards the beloved(s) - both/all of them, whether that One in heaven above or those here below. Both beloveds, both directions are important, both indispensible, since they both flow from the same fount. They spring forth from the same tree - there can be no version of one without the other. Love God, love His people, all wrapped up in the robe of righteousness, of being right in God’s eyes (thru Christ) and of living into that each and every day, by His grace. Thank you, Lord...
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