Love From a Pure Heart

What does it mean to have the love of God perfected in us? Peter writes, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,” (1 Peter 1:22)

1.      By obeying the truth we purify (sanctify) ourselves

When praying for His disciples Jesus said, “Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is the truth.” (John 17:17). We become His disciples by obeying His word. Jesus said the word of God is the truth. The word of God is clear on how we ought to conduct ourselves before God.

Peter commends the church for being obedient children, ‘not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:14-16). By obeying the word of God we are making ourselves approved and acceptable to our God, for He is pure.

2.      The channel for our purification is the Holy Spirit

Give a non-believer the bible to read. There are very high chances that he will not understand what is written, no matter how educated he may be. Sometimes the person may have academic knowledge of the Scriptures but they will not have an effect on Him. The reason is simple, the person is not obedient to what he is reading.

The Scriptures are spiritual and for them to have an effect they need to be activated by the Holy Spirit. Purification comes by obeying the word through the Holy Spirit. Obeying the word open the doors for Holy Spirit to do His work in you. God intends us to be first saved by believing and obeying the truth and then sanctified through the Holy Spirit. Paul writes, “…because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,” (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

  

3.      The Spirit deposits sincere love to us

God intends us to be pure and to be like Him. As the Holy God, He is a loving God. Peter says we have purified ourselves by obeying the truth through the Spirit ‘in sincere love of the brethren.’ (The King James version says, ‘unto unfeigned love’). This means that when we walk in holiness we become more and more like our Holy God. He loved us with the greatest love of all [AGAPE]. We also grow into that kind of love. This is not by any means our own work but by the grace of our dear Lord, “…because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us,” ( Romans 5:5).

4.      Because we have the true love, we should not cease to love one another

Given that the true love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, we have the authority to exercise and express it. We have to love one another fervently (without ceasing). God demonstrated His love in that whilst we were sinners Christ died for us. This was His love in action. When someone demonstrates something he is actually showing you how it is done and expects you to continue doing it. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God,” (1 John 4:7).

5.      The love should come from a pure heart

The love that we have to extend to one another should never be hypocritical. It must be sincere and coming from a pure heart. The point is that you purified yourself by obeying the word through the Holy Spirit. However, that does not mean it is done. As long as you live you have to keep your heart pure. Your former lusts which defiled you before you turned to the Lord will always be there but you have to continually keep your heart pure.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God,” (Matthew 5:8). The Lord is always willing to reveal Himself as you are walking with Him but you cannot see Him without a pure heart. We can confidently say truly our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ if we love our fellow brothers in the Lord with a pure heart.