In the first chapter, we saw that life is simply Christ Himself. Christ as life to us is a Person. We can deal with many things without love, but we cannot deal with a person without love. We may deal with a table or a chair without love, but not with a person.
Suppose I am your roommate. If you do not love me, you will find it very difficult to have me as your roommate. It would be difficult for me to stay with you, and it would be difficult for you to stay with me. So love is needed in order to deal with a living person.
According to the Bible, our relationship to the Lord is likened to a marriage. We are His Bride, and He is our Groom. A bride and a groom must have love. If a marriage lacks love, then that marriage will have difficulties. It is impossible to have a genuine marriage without love. Marriage is built uniquely upon love. Without love, there is no marriage life. Likewise, our relationship with the Lord is like a marriage, and this marriage depends upon love. There is no problem on the Lord’s side, for He certainly loves us. The problem is on our side. Do we love the Lord Jesus? When someone mentions the name of Jesus, do we have a sweet feeling within? Whenever we think even a little about Him, are we attracted to Him?
Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:14, “And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” Grace is abundant in two aspects: in faith and in love in Christ Jesus. Originally, Paul as Saul of Tarsus had nothing to do with Jesus Christ. He was even full of hatred toward the Lord. But one day he received mercy and grace from the Lord, not only to believe in Jesus, but also to love Him. Once he hated Jesus; then, by the grace of God, he loved Jesus. This is the greatest mercy, and this is real grace. It is not enough just to believe in the Lord Jesus. We also must love Him. I am sure we have all thanked God for His mercy and grace which have caused us to believe in the Lord Jesus. But have we ever prayed, “O Father, how I thank You that by Your grace I love the Lord Jesus”? Not only do we need faith, but also love.
The entire Gospel of John shows us these two things. In the first part of the Gospel, we read that the Lord Jesus, who was God Himself, was the Word in the beginning. Then one day He became incarnated as a man to dwell among us, full of grace and reality. John’s Gospel encourages us to believe in this One. One of the most important verbs in the Gospel of John is “believe.” The Word has been made flesh and we must believe in Him. To believe simply means to receive. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” We believe by receiving, and we receive by believing. We believe what God has given, and by believing we receive what He gives.
But this is not all. In the Gospel of John, after speaking of believing, the Lord Jesus appeals for our love. He tells us, “...he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him...If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (14:21, 23). In these verses the Lord Jesus did not say, “he that believes in me.” To believe in the Lord is one thing, but to love Him is another. To believe is to receive, but to love is to enjoy what you have received. So in the last chapter of John’s Gospel, the Lord asks Peter three times, “Lovest thou me?” By this, the Lord was showing Peter that, as one who had received Him, he must learn to enjoy Him by loving Him.
We know that the sisters go to the supermarket, buy many groceries, and store them. Though these groceries are bought and stored, they have not yet been enjoyed. Therefore, the sisters must not only store them, but also enjoy them.
It is unnecessary for me to ask if you believe in the Lord Jesus. But I have a big question mark as to whether you love the Lord Jesus. Tell me honestly, do you love the Lord Jesus? Do you love Him more than all other things? Peter could say, “Lord, thou knowest that I love you.” Can we say the same thing? With an honest heart, can we say, “Lord Jesus, You know that I love You”? Now that we have believed in the Lord, He is appealing for our love.
Suppose I give a nice Bible to a brother. I want him not only to receive it, but to love it and spend much time with it. This is why believing in the Lord is one thing, but loving Him is something deeper. Paul said that the grace of God was abundant to him with both the believing and the loving. It is by His grace that we believed in the Lord Jesus, and it is also by His grace that we love the Lord Jesus. We have faith in Him as well as love for Him. We believe in Him and we love Him.
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