Someone raised an excellent question following my Sunday sermon, in which we had been discussing the 'abiding love' of God. I know what abiding is, but what is meant by love? We understand that the passage translates Agape as 'love' in English, but what does this mean?
This kind of love is the love God has for Jesus and indeed all human beings. It is love that loves the other for their own sake. It is not performance based, or a reward for good behaviour. Contrast this with Eros, a Greek word that is not used in the New Testament, denoting love for the other based on their ability to satisfy ones own need.
It's all very well to talk about love between the persons of the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit - being the foremost example of love, but it turns into a bit of a theological or philosophical exercise. I talked on Sunday about the tension between grace and obedience. Christianity at its best is not so much a philosophy, but rather a way of life. In Luke 15:10 we read; 'If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.' The key thing here is that God's love is fully expressed in actions, rather than fine words. Inspired words are great, but they ring hollow without deeds. Respected commentator Leon Morris wrote of this text; 'Jesus returns to the thought of keeping the commandments. This is done as an explanation of the way they abide in his love. This is not some mystical experience. It is simple obedience. It is when we keep Christ's commandments that we abide in his love.'
It is life's work to gain understanding that God sees us but loves us anyway. We are saved by grace. The good, hospitable, Christ-like things we end up doing are not the source of our salvation, but rather the outflow of our joyful desire to abide or dwell in the Agape of God who has saved us.
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