The Gospel of Faith through Love

By Paul H Agapis

If you were to tell any Christian that love is important to the Gospel, it would seem like an obvious statement. Popular verses such as John 3:16 would come to mind. Even though the connection between the Gospel and love is plain for all to see, just how intertwined they are is often obscure to most. This is commonly due to our adoption of the World's definition of love, rather than the Biblical definition. Throughout the pages of this book, you will discover the truth and depths of God's love toward us, and what that looks like for us. You will discover how God's love is both the crux of the Gospel, and the defining characteristic of our faith. You will better understand the Gospel of Faith through Love.

 

This Christian book was written with the express intent to help believers and unbelievers alike better understand the Gospel. Regardless of whether you are new to the faith, a seasoned Christian or a theologian, there is just something about the love of God that is both universally understood, and yet misunderstood simultaneously. For many, talking about the love of God seems like a cliche topic, and yet when faced with being able to biblically define love, many stumble in their response. Most frequently, the way in which the World defines love will slip into their definition.  

 

Love is far more than just a reason for Christ's greatest act of compassion and mercy, but it was literally the center of His being. His purpose and mission were not only to save us through His greatest act of love, but His very life was the example of love for us to follow. It was the very command that He left us with: "to love others as I have loved you." - John 15:12. Christians often understand the importance of faith, but frequently miss just how intertwined faith and love are. Christ's life demonstrated not just the importance of faith and love, but how the two are reciprocal.

 

Through the pages of this book of faith and love, believers will understand truths that they didn't realize they already knew. Why? Because it is truths the Holy Spirit has been speaking since the beginning. It's the message that was intertwined throughout the entirety of the Bible. It's that which Christ lived and taught. It's the message that every New Testament writer emphasized even when it wasn't the purpose of that particular writing. It's the part of the Gospel that every genuine believer already knows, but so frequently gets lost in the various doctrines and rituals that man has layered on the faith. It's the very thing that the spiritually blind and deaf could not understand because their hearts were hardened in their own pride. The selfless biblical love that Christ embodied, is our example.

 

Some of the various topics covered in this book include:

- A concise articulation of the Gospel

- Defining biblical love through use of scripture.

- The gospel and love's connection from the Old Testament to the New Testament

- Examples of the ways love is manifested through humility, forgiveness and service.

- Love's antithesis, a selfish and prideful heart

- The receiving and work of the Holy Spirit

- Understanding and defeating sin at the source

- A deeper understanding of God's love and common misconceptions

- A warning against Apostasy and understanding what that is

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul H Agapis
• Release date: May 19, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224233144

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Copyright © 2023 by Paul H Agapis

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact the author.

Table of Contents

A GOSPEL OF LOVE

THE GOSPEL

DEFINING BIBLICAL LOVE

DEFINING LOVE

DEFINING BIBLICAL LOVE

WHAT IT MEANS TO LOVE GOD

DEFINING BIBLICAL LOVE

WHAT IT MEANS TO LOVE OTHERS

TESTAMENT OF FAITH & LOVE FROM OLD TO NEW

NEW COVENANT OLD PROMISE

TESTAMENT OF FAITH & LOVE FROM OLD TO NEW

THE OLD & NEW COMMANDMENT: LOVE OTHERS

MANIFESTATIONS OF LOVE

MERCY

MANIFESTATIONS OF LOVE

HUMILITY

MANIFESTATIONS OF LOVE

SERVICE

LOVE’S ANTITHESIS: PRIDE

PRIDE: THE HEART OF SIN

LOVE’S ANTITHESIS: PRIDE

SELFLESS VS SELFISH

LOVE’S ANTITHESIS: PRIDE

PRIDE OF THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS

FAITH THROUGH LOVE

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FAITH

FAITH THROUGH LOVE

FAITH EXPRESSED THROUGH LOVE

FAITH THROUGH LOVE

TAUGHT BY GOD

FAITH THROUGH LOVE

REPENTANCE

GOD’S LOVE WITHIN: THE HOLY SPIRIT

PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

GOD’S LOVE WITHIN: THE HOLY SPIRIT

PURPOSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

GOD’S LOVE WITHIN: THE HOLY SPIRIT

OBTAINING THE HOLY SPIRIT

GOD’S LOVE WITHIN: THE HOLY SPIRIT

THE ONE TRUE BAPTISM

GOD’S LOVE WITHIN: THE HOLY SPIRIT

WALKING IN THE SPIRIT

GOD’S LOVE WITHIN: THE HOLY SPIRIT

SANCTIFICATION

LOVE DEFEATS SIN

THE MAKING OF SIN

LOVE DEFEATS SIN

DEFEATING TEMPTATIONS

LOVE DEFEATS SIN

LUST IS NOT LOVE

UNDERSTANDING GOD’S LOVE

CHILDREN OF GOD VS THE DEVIL

UNDERSTANDING GOD’S LOVE

GODS HEART HARDENING

UNDERSTANDING GOD’S LOVE

GOD’S LOVE VS HATE

UNDERSTANDING GOD’S LOVE

MAN’S FREE WILL & GOD’S WILL

ENDURE IN FAITH & LOVE

FALLING AWAY

ENDURE IN FAITH & LOVE

EPILOGUE

A GOSPEL OF LOVE

THE GOSPEL

Let’s start off with the most important thing first. A true concise understanding of the Gospel, or in other words, the Good News.

This doesn’t begin in the New Testament, but the Gospel truly starts in the Old Testament. It begins in the Jewish scriptures known as the Tanakh. As you will eventually see, this wasn’t the fulfillment of a single prophecy, but rather the fulfillment of a culmination of prophecies predicted over centuries and written by numerous different writers. One of whom, named Isaiah, wrote several times about the coming Messiah. In Isaiah 53, he gives us an early depiction of what would ultimately go on to become known as the Gospel.

"But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquitie. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all." - Isaiah 53:5-6

This prophecy was fulfilled in absolute perfection in the person of Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah who fulfilled at least 300 other prophecies just like that one.

For what purpose? As is said in Isaiah, He was killed for our sins. Just like sheep, each of us has turned away from God’s way to go after our own selfish ways. To seek after our own desires. In doing so, we have not only turned our backs, but committed cosmic treason against the Creator of all things. Our sins were laid upon Christ in order to save us from destruction. All of us have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.

"But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God’s forbearance;" - Romans 3:21-25

We all understand that it is bad when someone lies to you, hurts you, insults you, steals from you and so on. We all understand that we can look upon horrors such as the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi’s as evil. We all understand this because there is such a thing as objective morality. The understanding that there is in fact good and evil. Objective morality only exists if there is a standard that is greater than mankind’s subjective view. This would mean that there is a moral lawgiver. A judge and standard of morality, so to speak.

Oftentimes people believe that they are innately good. That they do good deeds and expect that their good outweighs their bad. Yet you would be hard pressed to find someone who won’t admit that they have lied, stolen, cheated, gossiped, hated someone, or looked upon another with lust, to name a few. Any one of these is a direct violation of the Moral Law. If you were to stand before a just judge having committed a crime, he would have to punish you for your crime. You couldn’t persuade a just judge to let you off simply because you have done good too. If a murderer murdered somebody and told the judge, yes, but I helped this old lady walk across the street, would a just judge let them off? No, and for reference, hating someone has been equated to murder within your heart by the Moral Judge.

This is how it is with God. He is a just judge and no matter the amount of good works you perform, you can’t bribe Him with good deeds to outweigh your bad. Our crimes are our sins. Of all the world’s various religions there is only one that has ever provided the solution to this. By the grace of God, Christ took our punishment upon Himself.

Just as if you had a speeding ticket, and someone came and paid the fine for you, you are no longer held responsible for the fine. Christ came and paid our fine. He settled our debt.

"For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45

He came into this world not to be served, not to demand worship, but instead to give his life as a ransom for ours.

Why is it necessary that He pays for us? Why not just forgive us? Because if God is truly just, He must hold everyone responsible for the evil they perpetrate. Just like in a courtroom, justice demands recompense. As we are told in Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death. This means that death is payment for sin. Not just physical death, but spiritual death through separation from God. The only way payment for this penalty was possible was for a sinless life to pay the penalty for our sinful life.

"For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. " - 2 Corinthians 5:21

In order to pay the penalty we rightly deserve, there had to be a payment suitably worth it. Christ paid our penalty as a perfect sacrifice that had never sinned. The payment had to be perfect for the imperfect to be justified.

Since it was not only impossible for any mere man to live a sinless life, and because even just one perfect mortal being would only be worth one imperfect mortal being, this sacrifice would have to be even greater. In order for the payment for all sin, for all time, for all people to be paid, it would require the ultimate sacrifice. God Himself would have to pay it.

"who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross." - Philippians 2:6-8

This wasn’t simply a sinless sacrifice, but it was God Himself entering into His creation, into the human experience, in order to pay the penalty we deserve.

Conceptually, a way to think of this is not too dissimilar from you having an avatar in a video game. It’s a method in which a greater being enters into a lesser realm. While this is still far from a perfect analogy, it is simply a way to help you conceptualize God coming in human form.

Our God, who is greatest of all, humbled Himself by coming as a man. He didn’t come demanding to be served as God, but instead served us by paying our ransom. The Creator came to save us, yet His creation mocked, spit, hit, scourged and murdered Him. The Creator permitted the creation to spitefully treat Him, suffering the most excruciating and humiliating deaths imaginable. He did this for you. To reconcile ... YOU.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation;" - 2 Corinthians 5:17-18

It’s through this reconciliation that we become a new creation. Different than we were before. His sacrifice on the cross cleansed us of our sin. Knowing that none could be saved, our God subjected Himself to suffering to be the very Savior we needed.

It doesn’t end there. To demonstrate that He was who He said He was, He raised Himself from the grave on the third day, just as He foretold. This was done to demonstrate His power over death and to give us hope to be raised again after our physical death. Christ was delivered up to death to pay for our trespasses and was raised from the dead for our justification. It was done to prove He was who He said He was, and did what He said He did. Christ was raised so that we could have faith.

"Yet, looking to the promise of God, he (Abraham) didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. Therefore it also was credited to him for righteousness. Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone, but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead, who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification." - Romans 4:20-25

You see, Christ did this not because we earned it. No amount of good deeds could ever repay it. He did this for us. In order to be imparted with this forgiveness of sin, all we have to do is believe in Him.

What is this belief or faith in Christ? It is trust. Trusting that Christ paid for your sins on the cross, and rose the third day, overcoming death. Not trusting in the works of your own hands or worthiness, but simply trusting in the promise and works of Christ.

A great example of this was Abraham, who would go on to be the patriarch of all Israel, and not them only. He was promised by God that while his wife was 90 and he was 100, they would still have a child in their old age. A child whose lineage would eventually lead to our promised Savior.

As it says in Romans 4:20, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief. Abraham put his complete faith in God to fulfill His promises. This faith was counted as righteousness. This is how we are made righteous, by putting our faith in Christ, the promise of God, to have paid for our sins. Not trusting in what was done by our works or by our merit, but simply the utmost trust that He paid for it already. That He has and will fulfill all His promises. Our faith requires the sacrifice of our pride for the humility to understand that it was all Him. That we are incapable of saving ourselves.

"for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them. " - Ephesians 2:8-10

Our salvation is a gift from God. You can’t pay for a gift, because then it is no longer a gift, but something you purchased. You simply accept the gift. Likewise, neither do our works play any part in our receiving of salvation. All that is required to receive the gift is simply to trust the gift and gift giver, to trust in the finished works of Christ.

Think of faith in Christ like a trust fall. If you were standing on a table facing away from your friend. If you trust your friend, you will allow yourself to fall knowing they will catch you. Is it possible that a doubt or two had crossed your mind? Sure, but when push came to shove you trusted. You are trusting in the will and works of another. The person that is unwilling to fully trust their friend, and trusts in their need to catch themselves would not only hesitate, but try to catch themselves. Unable to give complete trust to their friend. In much the same way is our faith in Christ.

Do not confuse this though, as all too many have. There is frequent contention on whether works play a part or not at all, and what that looks like in a believer. Our works do not play a part in our salvation because that stands in direct opposition to trusting Christ. However, genuine faith will produce works.

Just as if you claimed to believe a stove was hot and then proceeded to touch it. This would demonstrate that you did not truly believe. By putting your faith in Christ, it will produce change. Not a forced requirement to pay for your salvation, but it is simply a product of the faith. Just like how a good tree produces good fruit. The fruit comes naturally from a good tree. So too do good works come naturally from a genuine faith.

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works." - Titus 2:11-14

Your good works aren’t done to earn that which you cannot earn. Instead, it is an effect of an internal change that your faith brings about. This internal change of heart for a desire to do that which is good, is that which is commonly referred to in scripture as repentance.

Notice in the letter to Titus that it is described as Christ purifying us, rather than us purifying ourselves. This is the sanctification process of the Holy Spirit, of which we will cover in greater detail later. So, even our good works are ultimately a work of Him.

Think of it this way. If someone pulled you out from the brink of death at the cost of their own life, would you simply turn around and go back to the thing that nearly killed you? Or out of your gratitude would you turn away from that thing? Anyone that truly appreciates the gift they have been given at great cost, would have immense gratitude. That would spark a change. It would spark a love for your savior.

"But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8

Although we did not deserve salvation, He came to save. This is not because we loved Him, but because He loved us.

"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins." - 1 John 4:10

This brings us to one of the last major points to understand. Why would the God of the entire universe care to save me? The answer to this is quite simple. Love.

While we were still actively rebelling against God doing all manner of sin, He loved us. He despised our character of following after our prideful wicked hearts, but He loved so much so, that He suffered humiliation and physical death at the hands of His creation. This was done in order to consolidate both His just and merciful nature. There was only one way in which it could ever be done and the reason He did, was love. A truly humble, merciful, sacrificial and completely selfless love.

This is why when it is truly understood, John 3:16 demonstrates the perfect summary of the very heart of the gospel. Love.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. " - John 3:16

DEFINING BIBLICAL LOVE

DEFINING LOVE

Our God is a God of love, and what He asks of us is to love others. This isn’t just some cliché saying; this is quite literally the heart of the gospel. For many this seems like some vague or partial understanding of the faith. There are often many different views of what love means or looks like. It is for this purpose that the entirety of this writing was written. To bring a more purposeful and in-depth understanding of what love and faith actually are, how it relates to us, and how we truly manifest it.

Love is both far more complex, while yet more utterly simple than we truly understand. We must shed ourselves of our current understanding of what love is, and instead adopt our understanding from scripture. The heart of the Bible this entire time has been love, and as obvious as it will soon become to you, many still do not have the eyes to see, nor the ears to hear. Just as the Pharisees knew the scriptures inside and out, yet could not fully understand what truly was spoken from the scriptures. Even when Christ stood before them expounding on this very thing more fully.

Before we proceed into the bigger picture and the depth of specifics, we must define what love is. First and foremost, we need to differentiate. The English language uses the word for everything from the mundane to the important. The type of love we are talking about is from the Greek word agapé, which according to the Strongs Concordance means love, goodwill, benevolence and esteem.

Let’s take this definition a step further with a marvelous description. In his letter to the Corinthian Church, while talking about gifts of the Spirit, Paul expounds on the importance of love above all else. He proceeds to give a beautiful description of what love is.

"Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

When you carefully reflect on what is and isn’t love, you realize just how simple it is. Love is that which is selfless, while the antithesis is that which is selfish.

Let’s break this down even more so. To be patient or kind toward someone is to place their needs above your own. While to be impatient or unkind is a demonstration of your elevation of self over another. When you envy someone, it is not derived from a place of happiness for that person, but rather the raising of oneself to a belief that you deserve that which is theirs.

If you are boastful, arrogant or proud, these are demonstrations of an antithesis of love due to the selfish elevation of oneself over others. A heart of pride. Whereas the opposite of those is humility, which is a demonstration of love.

"doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross." - Philippians 2:3-8

Think of it this way. Our God who is the highest of high, humbled himself to come in the form of a man for our sake. He came into the world not as the child of a ruler, but instead as a carpenter’s son. Instead of using His power to take over the kingdoms of this world to be ruler, He instead came in the form of a servant healing the sick and helpless, and giving His life a ransom for many. Being the King of kings, He allowed Himself to be ridiculed, mocked, slapped, spat on, beaten, flogged and ultimately nailed to a cross. Being the Mighty God who has every right to be boastful, instead demonstrated the most perfect example of humility by enduring that which we deserved, on our behalf. Why? Because He first loved us. He bore the punishment of our sins so that He could reconcile us to Himself.

Love is not resentful, only that which is selfish is resentful. Holding a grudge stresses the importance of yourself and how they have wronged you. Whereas love is forgiving, just as how God not only forgave you of your sin, but bore the punishment you rightfully deserved.

Love does not rejoice in wickedness, but instead in righteousness and truth. To rejoice in the wickedness of yourself, is to praise your selfish desires. To rejoice in the wickedness of others, is not a demonstration of love when you understand the stain that puts on their soul. Instead, rejoice in righteousness and truth. That which brings them closer to God.

How can we be certain that genuine love is selflessness?

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. - John 15:13

Christ, who is the embodiment of God’s love, expounds this to His disciples. By explaining that there is no greater love than to perform the ultimate self-sacrifice for the sake of another, just like He had done for all of us. He sets the bar for the ultimate demonstration of love as the ultimate selfless act. Confirming that genuine love is genuine selflessness.

You see, love is not simply just an attribute of God, it is at the center of His nature. Love is the standard of that which is holy and all that is done in righteousness. True love is not some separate entity from God. Instead, God is the absolute standard of love, because God IS love. The very holy nature of our Creator.

"He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love." - 1 John 4:8

It is exceptionally important for you to understand that love isn’t simply a byproduct of our faith in Christ, it is at the root of our faith. The Gospel is a story of God’s unfathomable love for us, and how through that love, we are transformed to love.

"We love him, because he first loved us." - 1 John 4:19

DEFINING BIBLICAL LOVE

WHAT IT MEANS TO LOVE GOD

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." - Matthew 22:36-40

While questioned by lawyers and Pharisees, as He so often was, Christ was asked what the greatest commandment was. The first part of His response was to love God with all your heart, soul and mind, declaring this to be the great and first commandment. He then directly compares another commandment in likeness to the first commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. Christ then expresses how these two commandments are essentially the foundation of the entirety of the Law and Prophets. Why is the similarity in these two commandments so important? As you will soon see, the expression of your love of God is to love others.

Something that is extremely important for you to understand is that loving God isn’t simply a statement to be made, but an action to take. Love is not a statement of words, but a statement through actions. Just like if someone told you they love you, but never once showed any love for you, it would be nothing but empty words.

But whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, then closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God’s love remain in him? My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth. - 1 John 3:17-18

Take for example a parent that simply states they love their child, while yet the only thing this parent seems to do is abuse and neglect their child. Is this evidence of love? How about a parent that never tells their child they love them, yet does everything in their power to provide and protect them? What about the spouse that claims to love you, but is unfaithful through cheating on you? Love is seen in action, not simply words. Likewise, if you truly love God, that love is demonstrated through you, not merely lip service. Proclaim His love in both word and deed.

"One who has my commandments and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him." - John 14:21

Jesus makes it clear in John 14 that if you truly love God, you would keep His commandments. This has the potential to lead many down a rabbit hole, but in actuality He couldn’t have made what He meant here clearer. Christ not only stated what He meant numerous times, of which we will go far more in depth, but He literally demonstrated it when He walked among us.

"We love him, because he first loved us. If a man says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother." - 1 John 4:19-21

John clearly indicates that the commandment that Christ was speaking about was in fact to love others, as is further substantiated in John 14 and 15. If you claim to love God whom you have not seen, you would love your brother whom you have seen. This very thing was evidenced in the life of Christ. He didn’t simply state His love for us, He perfectly demonstrated it. Likewise, He calls us to follow His example.

"He called the multitude to himself with his disciples, and said to them, Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the sake of the Good News will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? For what will a man give in exchange for his life? For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in his Father’s glory, with the holy angels." - Mark 8:34-38

Repeatedly throughout the Gospels, Christ calls us to action. He doesn’t say, if you wish to follow me, just say so. He tells them to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him. To deny yourself is to turn away from the self-centered and to the selfless. To take up your cross and follow Him is an action. If you love Christ, you would follow Him through deeds, not just words.

Don’t misunderstand me. This isn’t to be mistaken for works being a requirement of love, but that works are a manifestation of love. Where there is no manifestation, there is nothing but empty words. To view works as a requirement of love is an example of making it egocentric, because you make it all about yourself and your ability to earn it. Rather, the true expression of love is manifested through the selfless placement of their needs above your own. It’s not a have to, but a want to. It’s a change of heart performed by God in one with genuine faith.

At the end of the day, you must decide whom you serve. Do you serve and love God, which by extension is serving and loving others, or do you serve yourself and your desires? There you will find who you truly love.

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon." - Matthew 6:24

DEFINING BIBLICAL LOVE

WHAT IT MEANS TO LOVE OTHERS

"A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. " - Matthew 22:39-40

When Christ came into the world, He shattered the paradigm. They expected a Messiah coming in might, but they got a Messiah in humility riding upon a donkey. They expected to do battle for their Messiah, but instead He conquered death for them through His own sacrifice. They expected the Messiah to slaughter their oppressors, yet instead they got a Messiah that came loving His enemies. For we were all once His enemies because of sin. It was because of His love for His enemies that we were set free.

"For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life." - Romans 5:10

When Christ answered the question of the greatest commandment, He gave two and showed through His life how they connect as one. Not only were they the fulfillment, but He exemplified their fulfillment. The foundation of it all was fully loving God through our love of others. What does that mean though?

"Therefore, whatever you desire for men to do