Made Just by Love (#980)
What would the church look like today if it had been less preoccupied with getting its theology right and more in touch with what it meant to be loved by God and live out of that love in the world? When we put the life of Jesus into institutional systems, we gravitated toward conformity of thought and practice instead of helping people discover the reality of love and its transforming nature. Kyle and Wayne explore the idea that justification is not a declaration by Jesus of our righteousness but the process by which love changes us internally so we live as just people. Is that how we were meant to participate in his kingdom.
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About the estrangement of the Nicean Creed from the Sermon on the Mount, I find this helpful.
The Greek mindset, which we have today, sees the body and soul as two distinct entities.
Likewise, belief and actions are seen as two distinct things.
We can, and do, believe one thing and do another.
The Hebrew mindset sees the body, spirit and soul as one integrated whole.
Likewise, belief and actions always have to agree, seems how it is all one thing. What you believe you do, and what you do you believe.
What we believe is who we are is what we do!
Faith is understood by Jews as obedience.
If you ask a Jew, Do you believe in God? They understand it as, Are you obedient to what God is saying.
Likewise, If you ask a Jew, Are you obedient to what God is saying? They understand it as, Do you believe in God?
There is no delineation between belief and action.
If I believe it I do it – If I do it I believe it!
Can God in any way act in a way that departs from His nature? No!
Does His character differ from His actions? No!
Likewise, we are tri-part beings born of Him, new creations in His nature and His DNA.
Do we have to define love in such a way that Jesus is pleased in our love? In John 21:15-17, Jesus asks Simon Peter several times if he loves Him, realizing that Simon Peter’s concept of love doesn’t match up with Jesus. Jesus simply asks Simon Peter to feed His sheep.
There are stages of love (storge, eros, phileo, agape), agape being the highest form of love. C.S. Lewis in his book ‘The Four Loves’ defines agape as a selfless love that is passionately committed to others’ well-being. Is it that most of us are more capable of expressing the type of love Simon Peter has, than Lewis describes, and that is where the church falls short?
Hi Ron. I think the point of all of this is that we cannot love the way God loves until he loves us first like that. We learn it from him, and once we do, we’ll be able to live in it with others. Agape love is a big deal, not natural for us as humans except perhaps with our children that tug on a pretty deep heartstring even from the beginning. But, alas, we don’t always live up to it as our kids grow. I love learning how to love by the way Jesus treats me.
What if Jesus meant what he said? What if it really is all about abiding in him, as He abides in us, letting Him produce the fruit of the Spirit in us, so that we obey all that He commanded, as we are the light and salt, his hands and feet to the world around us, joining Him on his mission of reconciliation, with God who is reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them, but loving them just like Jesus did.