{"id":632,"date":"2017-06-25T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-25T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/?p=632"},"modified":"2017-07-01T15:38:59","modified_gmt":"2017-07-01T20:38:59","slug":"what-does-the-bible-say-about-loving-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/2017\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-loving-god\/","title":{"rendered":"What does the Bible say about loving God?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cJesus said to him, \u2018You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.\u2019 This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it; \u2018You shall love your neighbor as yourself.\u2019\u201d Matthew\u00a022:37\u201340<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

True saints will forever be characterized by full devotion to God and ministry to others. There are many well-meaning people who emphasize the people-centered commandment because the God-centered commandment spiritually demands so much. The error of the \u201cSocial Gospel\u201d is that the first commandment of full devotion to God was replaced by devotion to humanistic religion, while neglecting God\u2019s whole truth. The second commandment of \u201clove thy neighbor\u201d became the ultimate end in religious fervor. Evangelicals today must guard against the same hazard. Doing good to prove being good is really not much different than works-oriented salvation. Keep God\u2019s order and God\u2019s priority in the first commandment, and the second takes on its rightful shape and meaning.<\/p>\n

Doing good serves a high purpose when it is designed to pave the way to witness. Serving to earn a hearing is useful in order to tell the claims of the Gospel and pursue each soul\u2019s need of salvation from sin to holiness. But doing good in order to elicit a spontaneous response of spiritual life in someone else is not found in our Lord\u2019s words. In fact, an unsaved person is incapable of spontaneous spiritual life ginned up from within. He must be acted upon by the Holy Spirit, utilizing the Word of God (John\u00a03:3\u20138; Romans\u00a010:17).<\/p>\n

Several observations about our Lord\u2019s words from Matthew come to mind. First, while both characteristics of true saints are expansive (the immaterial you\u2014heart, soul, and mind, and the material you\u2014bodily serving), it is instructive that the second characteristic is very brief compared to the first characteristic. The first characteristic, therefore, defines and directs the second.<\/p>\n

Second, it is quickly apparent that the second characteristic flows out of the first. Authentic love for God will not remain hidden. You cannot have one commandment functioning as designed without the other fully functioning as well.<\/p>\n

Third, not only do the two commandments outline the Ten Commandments, they are also trans-dispensational in that they are featured in the Gospel and are unfolded in the rest of the New Testament. They are characteristic of all saints, of all ages.<\/p>\n

Finally, the two commandments work in tandem to define the difference between merely nice people and those who are born-again. There are many who practice the golden rule, but they do not have eternal life since they do not know God. They have no authentic devotion in loving submission to the true God. On the other hand, there are also many who claim to love God but do not care for those He loves. In both instances spiritual life is absent.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind\u201d is the first commandment. It is a quote from Deuteronomy\u00a06:5. In fact, as austere as the book of Deuteronomy is perceived to be, the word love appears many times. It is God\u2019s attestation of His love for His people and His challenge for them to love Him in return (10:12, 13:3, 11:1, 13:3, 30:6). Deuteronomy\u00a07:6ff declares, \u201cThe LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people\u2026but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers\u2026.\u201d Love, as demonstrated by our God, is a choice of commitment. His love is the model for the believer\u2019s full devotion to God. \u201cWe love Him because He first loved us,\u201d 1\u00a0John\u00a04:18 says.<\/p>\n

Webster defined love \u201cto be pleased with, to regard with affection, on account of some qualities which excite pleasing sensations or desire of gratification, what gives us pleasure or delight.\u201d He further said, \u201cThe Christian loves his Bible. In short, we love whatever gives us pleasure and delight, whether animal or intellectual; and if our hearts are right, we love God above all things, as the sum of all excellence and all the attributes which can communicate happiness to intelligent beings.<\/p>\n

In other words, the Christian loves God with the love of complacency in his attributes, the love of benevolence towards the interest of his kingdom, and the love of gratitude for favors received. The love of God is the first duty of man, and this springs from just views of his attributes or excellencies of character, which afford the highest delight to the sanctified heart. Esteem and reverence constitute ingredients in this affection, and a fear of offending him is its inseparable effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

God is the initiator in His love for us. Our fitting response is love for Him. Deuteronomy\u00a07:9 says, \u201cTherefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.\u201d Chapter\u00a010:12f repeats, \u201cWhat does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD our God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good\u201d (Psalm\u00a05:11).<\/p>\n

As you grow deeper in your love for Him, your service to your fellow man will find its eternal purpose. What steps can you take to augment your devotion to the Lord today? Trust and obey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cJesus said to him, \u2018You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.\u2019 This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it; \u2018You shall love your neighbor as yourself.\u2019\u201d Matthew\u00a022:37\u201340 True saints will forever be characterized by full devotion to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}