Love and Obedience

This morning I was reading John's first letter. I must say He is a hard author to follow for he seems to spin around a couple of topics over and over again. For med Paul is much easier to understand, for his thoughts are usually expressed in a logical flow. Anyway, as I mentioned above, John has a couple of recurring themes and they are love for each other and God, and obedience and sin. Here are a couple of verses that are key in his letter-

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."

1 John 5:2-5 NIV:

[2] "This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. [3] In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, [4] for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. [5] Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."

1 John 3:4-8 NIV

[4] "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. [5] But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. [6] No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. [7] Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. [8] The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work."

These themes are all interwoven and you can't have one true in your life, and the others not true. If we say we love God, but hate our brothers we don't really love God, for our brothers and sisters are His children. If we say we believe His words, but don't love our brothers and sisters, which is His command, we are lying, which is sin.

It is in loving each other that we carry out His commands. It is by believing His words that increases our faith in Jesus, which leads to deeper relationship with Him, which leads to us operating out of love. As we obey the Lord, loving Him and our brothers and sisters, we are being obedient and no longer sinning. It is in loving each other that we overcome the works of the devil.

So let us examine our lives and see how we are loving Him and each other, for the two go hand in hand. Left us believe His word, and follow His command to love one another.