Simon, please excuse the insertion of " Song of Solomon 3:14": it must have come in as a result of the Site's Checker. I intended the Scripture from 1st John, chapter 3, verse 14.
This whole chapter is on God's Love for us & its implication & application for us. As John states in verse 1, that God's incomprehensible Love brought us into the family of God. And because of our special relationship to Him, we look longingly to Him awaiting the day of Jesus' Return. As well, John says, that love we have for God, that which compels us to live for Him & not live in sin, is also the love we need to have for one another.
And this love must be genuine, looking to another's needs, even to the laying down our lives for another. And so 3:14, comes as a challenge to our hearts: we think that the love we have for God because of His Love for us is clear proof for our entrance to Heaven. Whereas we ought to consider that if that love for God is real, then that love has to be shown to one another, for therein is the final proof that this is indeed the love that God looks for: the real love for God that is in us, that is demonstrated to another as well. When this is apparent, then our release from eternal death to eternal life is proven. A lot like Faith & Works: Faith does indeed save us, but if there's no proof of that faith (by works), is that faith genuine?
For if we love not our brother then our love is not genuine towards God & we need to be examining what has taken place in our hearts that has caused this spiritual & mental anomaly. As John said in 4:20, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth (despises, disregards or holds in lower esteem) his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" This comes as a great challenge to all of us - particularly that we don't harden our hearts when there are those in the Church & around us in such great need.
Chris ,are you the first born, in your family ? You are blessed with the knowledge of Christ! Speak the truth without a lot of words! you are a pillar!
Thank you Fred. I am indeed the firstborn, but don't know how that might be appropriate here. I do tend to be 'wordy', as through the years of sharing in Bible studies, one of the failures of adequate teaching has been receiving matter with little substance & studies without adequate background & explanation. Even in my 'short' responses here, I sometimes feel that I've not given the enquirer sufficient information on which to consider & form an opinion - but that's just me I guess. Thank you too for your valuable comments - I always look forward to hearing from you.
And this love must be genuine, looking to another's needs, even to the laying down our lives for another. And so 3:14, comes as a challenge to our hearts: we think that the love we have for God because of His Love for us is clear proof for our entrance to Heaven. Whereas we ought to consider that if that love for God is real, then that love has to be shown to one another, for therein is the final proof that this is indeed the love that God looks for: the real love for God that is in us, that is demonstrated to another as well. When this is apparent, then our release from eternal death to eternal life is proven. A lot like Faith & Works: Faith does indeed save us, but if there's no proof of that faith (by works), is that faith genuine?
For if we love not our brother then our love is not genuine towards God & we need to be examining what has taken place in our hearts that has caused this spiritual & mental anomaly. As John said in 4:20, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth (despises, disregards or holds in lower esteem) his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" This comes as a great challenge to all of us - particularly that we don't harden our hearts when there are those in the Church & around us in such great need.
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