“And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.” 1 John 3:23 NIV
By believing in Jesus, one is naturally expected to be obedient to the command He gave to love. Though they are two things, believing and love, they are united as one. They cannot be separated. John is showing that faith and love are a unit. This then provides the clarification needed to understand the previous verses. Someone might argue that “doing” is sufficient to meet God’s commandments, even if we don’t believe. This is incorrect. If we are to do what is right, we must rightly believe as well. The doing part is loving one another, but a person can love every believer on the planet and not be a believer in the name of Jesus, the Son of God. If this is the case, then their love of those people does not make them right with God. The two commandments unite as one whole. Believing on the name of Jesus means believing on everything His name represents in the context of “Lord”. Jesus is our God united with human flesh. He is our Saviour who frees us from our sin. He continues to finish His work He began in us, despite ourselves, through the ongoing ministry of His Holy Spirit in our lives. Secondly, after believing, John brings in the concept of loving one another. Love for other Christians is to be the defining characteristic of those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. Let us live out this belief today and every day. Paul shows us the importance of loving in this manner in 1 Corinthians 13. Let us take some time today to read that short passage and meditate on it as we go about our day.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Lord, let our belief in You be expressed in our love for others.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, for those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, as Saviour and Lord, let our belief be expressed in Your love flowing through us into the lives of others. AMEN
I.B.R.A. Readings
Psalm 30:1-12
LISTEN TO TODAY’S DEVOTION
If you received our daily emails, please listen to today’s devotion on our website www.ffdl.co.za
On Facebook follow this link to start listening.