"[And] to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19, ESV).
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us..." (1 John 3:16, NIV).
"This is real love--not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins" (1 John 4:10, NLT).
God expressed His love in giving us His Son to die on our behalf--there isn't any greater love than to lay down your life for another.--God did it for us while we were His enemies! Muslims, on the other hand, deny that God is a God of love, or specifically, that God is love, meaning that the essence of God is love, i.e., His defining attribute. What do you say to someone who doesn't believe in love? The Word says that he who loves another has fulfilled the law, and we ought to love the brethren like Jesus loved us--sacrificially and faithfully. Muslims believe that it's okay to hate people and even to murder in the name of Allah--the concept of love being the gift of God is foreign to them and their dogma.
This is how we know we are believers: by the love, we have toward one another, and the New Commandment Jesus gave was to love another like He loved us (cf. John 13:35). As it is written: "Herein in love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us!" (Cf. 1 John 4:10). We cannot limit this love, for Jesus' love is beyond comprehension.--the finite cannot contain the infinite! The love God showed to us can never be repaid, and we don't deserve it and didn't earn it--that's grace or love that condescends to our level.
This is how we know that we belong to Christ: by love, we have for one another. Spread the word; the word is love! Mother Teresa was right: It doesn't matter what you do, but how much love you put into it! Even Bertrand Russell, the famed British atheist philosopher-mathematician said, "... What the world needs is more Christian love." "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19, NIV). In fact, we only know what love is because God chose to reveal it in the giving of His Son, who laid down His life for us! (Cf. 1 John 3:16). What expression of love in the Father calling us His children (cf. 1 John 3:1)! It's not that we loved God, but that He loved us!
What we know from Scripture is that he who loves knows God--and love is the fruit of the Spirit--in fact the fruit (the other eight winsome graces of Gal. 5:22-23 are just manifestations of love in action). Once you've experienced the love of God, you want to pass it on! Just like you cannot disprove God, because it's irrational to prove a universal negative, you cannot prove there is no love in the universe, even if you say you don't believe in love! Poor souls who've never experienced love and are therefore skeptics! Love still objectively exists, regardless of whether one agrees with it or not--it just exists! The soul to be pitied is the one that is unloved by his fellow man or who never finds true love in life! This is the ultimate sign that we are born again: We have experienced love and know what love is on a personal level, not just second-hand. The bottom line is that the worst insult one can receive is that the love of the Father does not dwell in him.
God, nevertheless, exists whether we affirm His existence or deny it as unbelievers. The infidel has blind faith, not the believer because the believer has sound reasons to believe, and not knowing why you don't believe, or having no legitimate reason is blind faith. There is ample evidence for those willing to do God's will, while there's never enough evidence for the hardened heart and stubborn skeptic. God and love can be distinguished, but not separated, since God is a God of love and God is love. As Paul says in Gal. 5:6, NIV, "... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Beloved, as John says, "... [Let] us not love [merely] with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth" (1 John 2:18, NIV). In conclusion, I cannot but recall the cherished song by The Beatles: "All You Need Is Love." Soli Deo Gloria!
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us..." (1 John 3:16, NIV).
"This is real love--not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins" (1 John 4:10, NLT).
God expressed His love in giving us His Son to die on our behalf--there isn't any greater love than to lay down your life for another.--God did it for us while we were His enemies! Muslims, on the other hand, deny that God is a God of love, or specifically, that God is love, meaning that the essence of God is love, i.e., His defining attribute. What do you say to someone who doesn't believe in love? The Word says that he who loves another has fulfilled the law, and we ought to love the brethren like Jesus loved us--sacrificially and faithfully. Muslims believe that it's okay to hate people and even to murder in the name of Allah--the concept of love being the gift of God is foreign to them and their dogma.
This is how we know we are believers: by the love, we have toward one another, and the New Commandment Jesus gave was to love another like He loved us (cf. John 13:35). As it is written: "Herein in love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us!" (Cf. 1 John 4:10). We cannot limit this love, for Jesus' love is beyond comprehension.--the finite cannot contain the infinite! The love God showed to us can never be repaid, and we don't deserve it and didn't earn it--that's grace or love that condescends to our level.
This is how we know that we belong to Christ: by love, we have for one another. Spread the word; the word is love! Mother Teresa was right: It doesn't matter what you do, but how much love you put into it! Even Bertrand Russell, the famed British atheist philosopher-mathematician said, "... What the world needs is more Christian love." "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19, NIV). In fact, we only know what love is because God chose to reveal it in the giving of His Son, who laid down His life for us! (Cf. 1 John 3:16). What expression of love in the Father calling us His children (cf. 1 John 3:1)! It's not that we loved God, but that He loved us!
What we know from Scripture is that he who loves knows God--and love is the fruit of the Spirit--in fact the fruit (the other eight winsome graces of Gal. 5:22-23 are just manifestations of love in action). Once you've experienced the love of God, you want to pass it on! Just like you cannot disprove God, because it's irrational to prove a universal negative, you cannot prove there is no love in the universe, even if you say you don't believe in love! Poor souls who've never experienced love and are therefore skeptics! Love still objectively exists, regardless of whether one agrees with it or not--it just exists! The soul to be pitied is the one that is unloved by his fellow man or who never finds true love in life! This is the ultimate sign that we are born again: We have experienced love and know what love is on a personal level, not just second-hand. The bottom line is that the worst insult one can receive is that the love of the Father does not dwell in him.
God, nevertheless, exists whether we affirm His existence or deny it as unbelievers. The infidel has blind faith, not the believer because the believer has sound reasons to believe, and not knowing why you don't believe, or having no legitimate reason is blind faith. There is ample evidence for those willing to do God's will, while there's never enough evidence for the hardened heart and stubborn skeptic. God and love can be distinguished, but not separated, since God is a God of love and God is love. As Paul says in Gal. 5:6, NIV, "... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Beloved, as John says, "... [Let] us not love [merely] with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth" (1 John 2:18, NIV). In conclusion, I cannot but recall the cherished song by The Beatles: "All You Need Is Love." Soli Deo Gloria!
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