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Show TWO PARTS TO THE COMMANDMENT "And this is his commandment, That we shou ld believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. " (l John 3: 23) The Apostle John wrote Revelation, The Gospel of St. John, 3 John, 2 John, and of course, 1 John. In all of these books, he insists that we know that "God Is Love " and that love is of God and where there is no love God is not. He wants every believer to give up our hateful ways and practices for the habits of loving kindness. This mornings text continues John 's dissertation on LOVE as Jesus gave us that new commandment. "And this is his 1 commandment, That we should believe on the name ofHis Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment." Notice there are two distinct parts to this commandment. A commandment is an order, an ordinance, a bidding, a behest, an injunction. In Psalm 119, the longest Psalm in The Bible, we read verse after verse, some 176 of them, about the law, the testimonies, the ways, the statutes, the judgments, the utterances, the sayings, the word, the precepts, the understandings, the meditations all as ways of talking about the commandments of God that we are to obey. John reminds us that this is the commandment of God. This is not some man made rule or regulation. This is not 2 the limits and judgments of one man upon other men. This is not the customs and traditions of the law makers. Rather, this is the commandment of God. His commandment starts with your and my role in getting to righteousness before god. No deed or work or blood of ours will bring us into a right relationship with God. It is simply that you and I, after we have heard The Word, must "... believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. " The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10 that we are to believe within our hearts and confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus Christ. The first part of His commandments is to believe, have no doubt, be assured, trust in, be convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the Only Begotten Son of the Living God. And 3 that at His name every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. Believe while you can make the choice or confront it too late. The only way to become like Christ, a child of God is through faith and belief in Jesus' name. The second part of His commandment is to "... love one another, as he gave us commandment. " Jesus loved us so much that He gave His life for us to have life, the right to the tree of life. He died to settle our wages and pay our debt. He loved us so much that because He died, we can live for all eternity. Of course, we have pattern our lives after His and love one another the same way. Be willing to give up all that you are for the sake of another. We must strive to be like Him, loving with a perfect love. Let Him 4 change you from your old nature so that you become spiritual like Him. You may draw the plan of salvation on paper but the foundation of the building that will withstand the storms of life is belief in Christ and love of one another. We commanded to trust in His Name and to fallow his example of loving one another. When we trust in Christ, we keep the door of communion with God open by loving one another. The only way we can experienced the beloved community is by believing in the name of Jesus and loving one another. 5 |
