CHRISTIAN SALVATION PART 1

KEEP YOURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD

In the the Epistle of Jude we find a very prudent statement.

Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Jude implores the read to "keep themselves" in the "love of God." The opposite, of course, would be "not keeping ourselves" in the "love of God"

Obviously the "keeping ourselves" is something that we must do, it is not something that another does for us.

Jude connects the "keeping ourselves" to "looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." Compare that sentiment to the sentiment of Paul in Romans 2 where he speaks how God is going to render to each person according to their deeds...

Rom 2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
Rom 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Rom 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
Rom 2:10  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Rom 2:11  For there is no respect of persons with God.

So with Paul we have "eternal life" to those  who "patiently continue in well doing." So we know that "well doing" is connected to "remaining in the love of God." Now take a look at this...

2Th 3:3  But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
2Th 3:4  And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.
2Th 3:5  And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

So here we have the Lord faithfully establishing us by directing our hearts into the love of God, something in which we are to keep ourselves. By keeping ourselves, we patiently continue in well doing as we patiently wait upon Christ.

What are we waiting upon Christ for? The answer is His mercy in granting us eternal life, a hope yet to be reaped.

Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Tit 1:3  But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;

Eternal life is for those whom truly love God, those whom endure temptation and yet remain faithful. Very much like a human marriage, faithfulness, fidelity and love.

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Those whom love God obviously "keep themselves" in the love of God, that love being "manifest righteousness" shed abroad into the heart by the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost given to all those whom obey God.

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Act 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

Is not the New Covenant a covenant of the love of God written upon our minds and in our hearts?

Heb 10:16  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

...which leads us right back to the mercy of God...

Heb 10:17  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Dear reader, can you see how genuine salvation is a manifest state of having been saved FROM sin, to have been delivered from evil itself, to have been established in the love of God, something in which we keep ourselves in remaining yielded to God's influence whereby we love both God and our neighbour with all our mind, soul and body.

So let's all examine ourselves in all honesty and with due diligence. Are we keeping ourselves in the love of God, have we even entered into it to begin with?

Please consider.

Scott.

God is Love

1Jn 4:16  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Let us abide in love for God is love.

1Jn 4:16-17 is a very powerful passage which plainly pronounces the standard in which we must be found steadfast.

If we dwell in love then we are abiding in the fundamental truth of reality, and naturally, are thus in total harmony with God.

Why is love the fundamental truth of reality? Simply because it works.

The engine in a motor car needs to be lubricated with oil otherwise its proper function will break down. Likewise it is with love and society.

Love is expressive, in the sense that it requires more than one party to function. Thus, for successful interactions between two or more, love must be the glue that allows ordered function.

Rom 13:10  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Love does not work ill. Love does not work destruction. It is sin that works ill and it is sin that works destruction. This is fundamental and self evident truth. If people truly loved one another then there would be no...

1. Murder - The taking of the "lifetime" of another.

2. Theft - The stealing of the "lifetime" of another.

3. Fornication - The selfish misuse of sexual intimacy resulting in the destruction of the marriage bonding mechanic leading to divorce, jealousies, unwanted children, infanticide, disease, and a hedonistic culture.

These things are self evident to any honest inquiry.

Love is the fundamental glue for ordered society interaction.

Paul recognised that the greatest principle in Christianity was charity (love)...

1Co 13:1  Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
1Co 13:2  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
1Co 13:3  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
1Co 13:4  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:5  Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Co 13:6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
1Co 13:7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
1Co 13:8  Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
1Co 13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
1Co 13:11  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Co 13:13  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

If one does not have love then everything else is pure vanity. This is why Jesus taught that love was the absolute FOUNDATION of the law...

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

God is Spirit and is not something we can fully comprehend, yet we can comprehend genuine love if we are yielded to it having crucified self indulgence (selfishness is the opposite of love) through a genuine repentance.

Genuine love is manifested within a human being when they come before God with a broken and contrite heart having put off the self indulgent appetites of the flesh. Thus with no longer being rooted in a self serving state the foundational principle of the universe, wrought through the Spirit of God, will be manifested within. This manifestation brings with it life and peace, for the individual is submitted and thus in total harmony with God.

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

We have life and peace because we know we have given all our being to righteousness. The Spirit of God convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgement (accountability), and by God's Spirit we are made aware of the right way. Thus when we agree with and conduct ourselves in submission to the Spirit of God, then that Spirit indwells (no longer a mere influence of the conscience) our hearts as opposed to merely influencing our minds, hence the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Spirit of God.

It is in this quickened state that we have perfect peace for we know that there is nothing more we can give to God, save an ongoing steadfastness. We take one step at a time walking in faith, always with an eye to add to our faith when we see the opportunity. Thus the Christian walk is always one of increase.

Are you abiding in love?

Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Joh 15:11  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.