The one who overcomes, believes; the one who believes, LOVES - part 4

This victory of God as an overcoming force is now ours and assures us that we can love God and obey His commandments. 

The marks of the new birth: belief, love, obedience. This life is not a life of burden but rather a life of victory and celebration. Victory is first and only preceded by confession that “Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 2:22 “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?”). Then in chapter 4 we read, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (1 John 4:15). 

In our main Bible passage this week, the word LOVE is used five times in the first four verses alone. Love is a prominent theme, not just of our study passage this week, but also for the life of a believer.
 

In Mark 12, Jesus answers a Scribe who asked Him which commandment is the greatest or most important. Mark 12:29 “Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

We know well the first part, right? I think that most of us now have a good understand of what is required in loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. But the second command, which Jesus throws alongside the first (making it seem as the two together are really mutually dependent upon each other), indicates that you cannot love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength if you are not able to love your neighbor as yourself. And vice versa: you can’t truly love your neighbor if you do not fully love God. And you cannot fully love God if you do not love your neighbor.
 

For a few moments, let’s examine what it means to truly love our neighbor as ourselves and the practical application of this saying. 

First, let’s ask the age-old question, “Who are my neighbors?” In Luke 10, Jesus was asked a question of what to do to be saved. In response, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans did not play nice together, but in this parable, you have a Samaritan helping a Jewish man. 
 

Jesus concluded this parable with a question. “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell to the robbers?” The Samaritan, the one who showed mercy. Jesus says, “Go and now do likewise.” So the moral of the story is this: your neighbor is not limited to physical location as it pertains to your house, but rather, your neighbor is anyone that you might be able to show mercy towards.

Continued tomorrow