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.
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