Love and Truth
In the introduction of his third epistle, the Apostle John wrote to his brother and friend Gaius, of whom John affirmed, "I love in the truth" (III John 1:1).
By this, John meant that he loved Gaius in Christ the living truth, and in the Scriptures, God's written truth. "I am the… Truth… Thy Word is truth" (John 14:6; 17:17). By God's grace in the Lord Jesus, John and Gaius both spiritually dwelt in Christ. They also both sought to live their lives in the light of God's Word. Thereby they loved each other as enabled by the Holy Spirit, and as defined by God's Biblical meaning of love. Personal relationship with the Lord Jesus and principled response to Truth constituted the bond between brothers, as it does in all born again believers.
"And the glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as We are one" (John 17:22).
Believers are not presently and perfectly united in perspective, belief, disposition, practice, or response to God and His Truth. Christians devoted to Christ often significantly differ on matters of doctrine and practice (excluding certain fundamentals necessarily common to all if we are to actually be Christian). We strive to be united, as enabled by the Holy Spirit, but perfect unity of worship and walk will not occur until our Lord's return and redemption of all things. We are one, in Christ and even in His truth (Ephesians 2:14). However, our response to this unity of God's grace and truth in the Lord Jesus does not yet completely coincide with spiritual reality.
We must therefore love each other in the truth. We must see our brothers and sisters as in Christ, and as vessels of Christ in them. We also remember the Word of God and its definitive mandates that call us to relate to our fellow believers in the love of Christ regardless of our differences. "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3). "Longsuffering" and "forbearing" are not required when all are in agreement. Our differences rather make such qualities of Christ's love necessary, whether in perspective or practice. This constitutes loving fellow believers in the Truth of Christ and the Scriptures as the hope and power for living with each other in a manner that fulfills our Savior's promise and calling...
"By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another."
(John 13:35)
"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
(Ephesians 4:4-6)
Weekly Memory Verse
But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom.
(Hebrews 1:8)
Frances's Blog: http://www.cafepowderroom.com
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