In previous articles I have talked about faith and works and how as modern people we tend to want to separate things into neat little piles that do not touch, including faith and works. Theologians are also guilty of this notion at times as they strive for the ultimate systematic theology. Analysis is good, but you need to know when to stop. Because there are topics that break if you try to completely disassemble them. C.S. Lewis was once asked, which is more important, faith or works? And his reply I’m told was, “That is like asking which blade of a scissors is more important”. Lewis understood that the question itself was wrong-headed. A pair of scissors ceases to exist if you separate the blades.

Similarly, today, I want to talk about love and knowing God. I don’t think you can separate those two things without breaking them either. They are inseparable if you are to know either one. So, let’s begin by looking at a passage from 1st John.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God,

This passage ends with the statement that we “ought to love one another.” I know it’s a bit odd to start at the end, but I think it will help us in this instance. The word “ought” in modern usage is a pretty weak word. We often use it in sentences like, “I ought to stick to my diet.” Something we should do but often we don’t, but we ought to. We have a lot of vague guilt for such vague responsibilities.

But it would be a mistake to read the word ought in this passage in that “ya I probably should” sense of the word. The word ought here speaks of obligation not inclination it is an imperative conclusion given the love of God described in the previous verses. Consider the following passage to give this phrase a bit of context and a bit more bite.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

Now that we have a better feel for the weight of John’s words let’s go back and look at it again. First, we learn that love is from God. Love is something special; it has no earthly source. Whether it is a bear with her cubs, a mother with her child, or a father laying down his life for his family this all has the same source. Wherever true love exists it does not spring from itself. It is a reflection of the God that created all things. There is nothing more pathetic and sad than a true believer Darwinist trying to explain the origin of love or beauty or reason for that matter. It seems the obvious is totally lost on them. What is the chemical composition of love? What does it weigh? Why not catch some in a jar and synthesize it so it can fill the world?

No, love is from God and whoever truly loves is born of God and knows God, but whoever does not love does not know God. This may sound a bit jarring to our theology but it shouldn’t. In fact, the final judgment scene in Mathew 25 is hard to understand without this understanding of love. In that scene, people were saved or not saved based solely on their love for each other or the lack thereof.

My point in bringing this up is not to start a kerfuffle about the true nature and essence of salvation but to reassert the absolute necessity of love in the life of every believer. I am trying to show that love of others and knowledge of God are two blades of a scissor. And maybe to give a bit of pause to any believer that assumes that they are a cut above the rest because of their “faith” or “knowledge,” when, in fact, their love is no greater than an unbeliever’s. Faith and love can not be separated into two distinct piles. And love is not a feeling. It is an action taken for the benefit of others, this is plain in the Matthew 25 passage. Love is benefiting others at my expense.

Getting back to where I started, knowing God can’t be separated from love for others as this passage makes clear. Since God is love you can’t know God unless you know love. And to know love is not to simply understand love it is to actually love, much like to know the guitar is to actually play the guitar.

Love is foundational

So, love really is the foundation of everything. It is the foundation of God’s salvation through Jesus and His grace towards us. And it is the foundation of our knowledge of God. It could even be argued that love is more fundamental than faith since arguably it would be hard to truly trust someone you do not love. Or from another point of view, the ability to trust anyone at all, depends on the ability to love. I offer this as food for thought. In everyday Christian conversation it seems faith is talked about so much more than love. But verses like this make me wonder if I really have the right priorities in my life.

How do we walk along this way?

As always this is the hardest question of them all. For Jesus, the way of love led him to the cross, where he paid the ultimate price to benefit us all. But Jesus told us that to follow him we must pick up our cross daily. So, I think we can safely say we are not expected to literally die every day on a cross. Actual crosses are definitely a one-and-done kind of event, not something you do daily. So, what does picking up my cross look like daily? It looks like benefiting others at my expense. This kind of love may take a million forms, but it must always be our first concern. Because...

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,

So, to walk the way of Jesus and to pick up our cross is nothing more or less than daily looking for ways to benefit others at our expense. This love is not necessarily dramatic or flashy, but it is something we can all do every day, even to our enemies.

Have a great Week!