Believe, Love And Live

This morning I am reading from 1 John 3:23-24 NIV:

[23] "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. [24] The one who keeps God's commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us."

Wow, talk about boiling the Christian walk down into its simplest form!  I think John pretty much nailed it in these  two verses.

We are called to believe in the name of His Son - Jesus Christ.  It is by faith, not works that we enter into and experience the grace of the new covenant.  We believe that by His Name, and by His actions we are saved, through no work of our own (Gal 2:16).

We are called to love one another as He commanded us.  It is not enough to believe, but this belief (faith) must show itself in our actions, or as James says, it is dead (James 2:17).

These are the two commands we are to keep - "believe in Jesus' name" and "Love one another".  It is that simple.  If we keep these commands then He lives in us (John14:20), and we live in Him, hidden in Him (Col 3:3). What a place of security and intimacy!

We know this is true, by the gift of the Holy Spirit!  He is evidently present.  In other words, we know He is present by the evidence of His empowering and gifts in our lives.  When the Holy Spirit fell on people, all those around could tell, for there was evidence (see Acts 10:44-46 for an example). We want to make room for and allow the Holy Spirit to be evident in our lives and our life together.  He is God in our midst!  He brings far more than just inspired thinking or wisdom, He brings real power that is evident to all!

Lord, we pray that You will help us to embrace and live this simple, yet beautiful lifestyle.  Help us to quiet the many demands that religion would put on us, telling us that it is faith plus works that is required.  Help us to believe, love and live in You.