2012-12-23 - We Are to be Loving

The Epistles of John ~ Part 83 ~ 1 John 4

John summarizes with the truth that we love in response to the love of God in us. We are incapable of loving as God loves, except as a response to His love, though the power of the Holy Spirit.

The test for the teachers was the presence of God's love in their lives. They claimed to be of God, but without His love, clearly they were liars. They were not of Christ. Love of God means keeping His commands. They didn't love. They didn't keep His commands. They weren't His.

By extension, the readers of John's letters must have been showing God's love, because they were His. "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him" (John 14:21).

GKragen@aol.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org

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