Topical Bible: Love to God: should Produce Love to Saints

◄ Love to God: should Produce Love to Saints ►

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The concept of love to God as a catalyst for love towards fellow believers is a central theme in Christian theology. This principle is deeply rooted in the teachings of the New Testament, where the love of God and love for others are inextricably linked.

Biblical Foundation

The commandment to love God is foundational in Scripture. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus emphasizes the greatest commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). This commandment is immediately followed by the instruction to love one's neighbor: "The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’" (Matthew 22:39). The close association of these commandments underscores the belief that genuine love for God naturally extends to love for others, particularly fellow believers.

The Apostle John's Teachings

The Apostle John provides profound insights into the relationship between love for God and love for the saints. In 1 John 4:20-21, he writes, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well" . John's epistle makes it clear that love for God is validated and expressed through love for others, particularly within the community of believers.

Pauline Epistles

The Apostle Paul also addresses this theme in his letters. In Romans 12:10, he exhorts believers to "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another" . Paul’s writings often emphasize the unity and mutual care that should characterize the body of Christ, rooted in the love of God. In Galatians 5:13-14, he writes, "For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" .

The Role of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in enabling believers to love one another. Romans 5:5 states, "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us" . The indwelling of the Holy Spirit empowers Christians to manifest God's love in their relationships with others, fostering a community marked by love and unity.

Practical Implications

The love for God that produces love for the saints is not merely an abstract concept but has practical implications for Christian living. Acts of kindness, forgiveness, and service within the church community are tangible expressions of this love. In 1 Peter 4:8, believers are urged, "Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins" . This deep, sacrificial love is a testament to the transformative power of God's love in the lives of His people.

Conclusion

The biblical mandate to love God and love the saints is a call to live out the gospel in community. It is a reflection of the divine love that believers have received and are called to share with one another, demonstrating the reality of God's kingdom on earth.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

1 John 5:1
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loves him that begat loves him also that is begotten of him.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Love's Logic
... O love the Lord ye his saints. ... See then, that to produce the indispensable fruits
of saving faith ... Oh," saith one, "it cannot be that God should love an unloving ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 17 1871/loves logic.htm

Article iii: of Love and the Fulfilling of the Law.
... that with Him the remission of sins should be sought. ... sake, because of His promise,
they have a gracious God. ... must be sought elsewhere than in love and works ...
/.../melanchthon/the apology of the augsburg confession/part 6 article iii of.htm

Love in the Blessed Ones.
... Hence, if after the judgment, the Holy Spirit should cease to ... what they are by His
indwelling, and Love can celebrate ... And what is this, but that "God is all in ...
/.../kuyper/the work of the holy spirit/xxiv love in the blessed.htm

Attributes of Love.
... this attribute of benevolence, that led God to give ... himself, "that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish ... If love is efficient in producing outward action ...
/.../finney/systematic theology/lecture xiii attributes of love.htm

How Love Spreads Its Excellence Over the Other virtues, Perfecting ...
... Theotimus, if one with an equal charity should suffer death ... art and of the ardour
of heavenly love, were found more grateful in the sight of God than the ...
/.../francis/treatise on the love of god/chapter v how love spreads.htm

Do are Then Make Void the Law through Faith? God Forbid; Yea, we ...
... It secures all the requisite influences to produce sanctification. ... the whole length
and breadth, and height, and depth of the love of God should be opened ...
/.../finney/lectures to professing christians/do are then make void.htm

That Divine Love More Excellently Sanctifies the virtues when they ...
... more fair than Rachel, ceaselessly desires to produce holy operations. ... though he
had said, that without love a man ... in the way a servant of God should be, which ...
/.../francis/treatise on the love of god/chapter iv that divine love.htm

Attributes of Love.
... Should God unveil himself to us, our bodies would ... prayed, "Show me thy glory," God
condescendingly hid ... is, then, an essential attribute of disinterested love. ...
/.../finney/systematic theology/lecture xv attributes of love.htm

The Mercy of God
... (2.) To love God. Mercy should be the attraction of love. ... God's justice
may make us fear him, his mercy makes us love him. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/a body of divinity/9 the mercy of god.htm

Love Worketh no Ill to his Neighbor; Therefore Love is the ...
... may make a strong impression, but do not produce true religion. ... And so it might if
he should go in and utter ... Can we love God, in this world with all the heart ...
/.../finney/lectures to professing christians/love worketh no ill to.htm