The Scope of Love

Day 29 of the journey through I John. One more day and then on to the Gospel of John, which I'll do in 3 segments, 30 days a piece. What a wonderful thing this has been to find the depth and power of God's Word this way!

The interesting thing about reading a particular book this many times over is that it takes a couple of times through it to really get the overview. After that the themes start to jump out and you can catalog them into groups and start to really understand each of them. (On a side note, even after 29 times through I John, I still feel like there is so much more to grasp. I could do it another 30 times or 300 times, and I don't know that I would have it all.) These last couple of days, though, I've just started reading the book to see what would catch my attention, if anything (sometimes my attention is elusive). Yesterday I was literally surprised by the theme of "the world". I don't know how that could be since it seems so plain now, but 27 times through it, and I hadn't seen it before. Today I even noticed one reference that eluded me yesterday in I John 2:2. My Arminian friends would say that it was a subconscious Calvo-Freudian slip, but in actuality, I'm just that dull.

Today I didn't read with any particular purpose in mind at the outset either. What jumped out at me was the concentration of the concept of "love" in 4:16-21. I know, I know--everyone knows that John is the "beloved" apostle, and that one of the major themes in I John is love, so what's the big hairy deal? Even with all of that knowledge going in, I never noticed the specific and purposeful development of this theme in these 6 verses. I'll try to briefly summarize it here.

1. We must know and believe God's love for us (v. 16). The emphasis is specifically on understanding the depth and greatness and perfection of His limitless love first (see Romans 8:31-39). Not on conjuring up warm feelings or repeating empty expressions of our limited love. Our love is developed from His perfect love and motivated by our understanding it.
   
2. We must understand that God is love (v. 16). Our understanding of love at all is defined by God. Any feeling of love that we have ever had is proof of His existence. He is the source and substance. There are many places in Scripture where we can find this developed more, but here it is important to note that the emphasis is still on Him first.
   
3. A life lived in Him is a life that is lived in love (v. 16). So pervasive and powerful is His love that it literally consumes our life.
   
4. When we live in love His love is perfected in us. I wish I knew Greek tenses and definitions to be able to better understand that becuase that is an amazing thing. His love is perfected in us. His love is perfected in us. His love is perfected in us. I still can't wrap my mind around all of that, but I know that it is an ongoing process because I am not any kind of perfect in any kind of love.
   
5. The perfection of His love gives us confidence for the day of judgment (v. 17). That's not confidence here on Earth as if we become some type of super-assured, highly motivated Donald Trump type. Although we know that His love definitely does give us confidence over doubt, against persecution, in the midst of uncertain circumstances, etc. But that is not the specific point here. That comes next. The specific point here is confidence against the day of judgment. We are sinful, yes. But His love and grace overcomes our sin to the extent that it gives us confidence going into judgment. That's powerful love.
   
6. The perfection of His love drives fear out of our lives here (v. 18). Again, it's not fear of harm or spiders or heights. And we know that it's not the fear of the Lord--that's a good thing. It's a specific fear. It is fear for punishment. His atoning sacrifice, accomplished at a specific time in the past has paid for our sins, past, present, and future, and taken our future punishment. The punishment that was ours became His. It was completely accomplished so that we can be complete in love.
   
7. His love causes us to love (v. 19). Simply put, His love came first and sparked love in our hearts. Without His love, we are an engine without a spark plug. What causes us to love? His love. What increases our love for others? An increased understanding of His love (not a greater understanding of myself, not a greater understanding of people).
   
8. The effect of His love has demonstratable proof (vv. 20-21). There it is in plain black and white. Do I really understand how much He loved me? If I do, it will be shown in the depth of my love for others. It's that simple. It's that powerful. It's what caused Francis of Assisi to kiss the lepers (thank you Gary Thomas).
   

Gotta go. I've got a lot of perfecting to do.

Soli Deo Gloria