A Christian Guidebook: What Is Faith? (5)

Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also. Marriage ishonorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Hebrews 13.1-4

All you need
Back in the ‘60s, when the Age of Aquarius was still trying to be born, pop singers pled with their audiences to help build a more loving world. “All you need is love,” the Beatles insisted. “What the world needs now is love, sweet love,” crooned Dionne Warwick.

Of course, the world did not become a more loving place, all that schmaltzy music notwithstanding. Pop music today doesn’t sing much of a world of love; its focus is more individual, sensual, and debased. If we can’t have a world of love, then let’s just get whatever we can while we can. That seems to be the sentiment pervading much of contemporary life and culture.

But the world still knows that love is the answer. It just doesn’t have any effectual means for how to make love happen.

Francis Schaeffer wrote that love is the quintessential mark of Christian faith (The Mark of the Christian), the evidence of full faith in full flower. He was right, of course. The writer of Hebrews therefore reminds us that when we rightly worship God we will also love our neighbors as ourselves. Full faith, faith that practices unseen realities, will issue in love—both for God, and for our neighbor.

Whom to love
Note the different people toward whom the believer is to direct his love, as suggested in our text.

First, to fellow Christians: “Let brotherly love continue.” Some of us might want to ask, “When did it ever begin?” Do the people in your church seem genuinely to love one another? Do they even know one another? And what about the other churches in town? Does the love of Christ connect the congregations in your community in an ongoing effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4.3)? Probably not. But love toward our fellow believers is the starting point for a life of love. If we cannot love those who share our faith in Jesus, how will we ever find a way to love the last, the least, and lost among us?

Second, the writer urges love toward perfect strangers—the guy at the checkout counter, the clerk at the post office, the fellow in line behind you, new neighbors on your street. Hospitality is not just a discipline we practice in our home. Wherever we encounter strangers, they should experience from us the sense of integrity, worth, and value that we acknowledge in them as image-bearers of God.

Next, we are to love the outcasts of society—prisoners and those who are mistreated in one way or another. This is a large category of people who need the love of the Christian community, including the poor, those who are abused or abandoned, believers persecuted for their faith in other countries, people who are taken advantage of by their employers or co-laborers—even those who rail against our faith in Jesus Christ. Justice and love require that we exercise the faith of Jesus in showing concern for and working to relieve the plight of those who suffer in various ways.

Finally, we need to practice love in our homes, beginning with our spouses. Here I’m sure we could all use a refresher course on showing the love of Christ to those closest to us. If we honor our marriages and the families that derive from them, we will work hard to make the love of Christ the foundational principle and constant atmosphere of our homes.

All this we must learn to do without so much as coveting a grateful response (v. 5). We are content to know that the Lord sees our work of love and that He will never leave nor forsake us.

Make love your aim!
But where can we learn to love like this? First, by fixing your mind on Jesus in all His glory you can begin to delight in the One Who is love, so that meditating on His glory becomes a transforming experience of love in your soul (2 Cor. 3.12-18). The first fruit of the Spirit, and therefore the first evidence of true faith, is love; and we cannot learn to love without learning Him Who is love. Meditating on Jesus, singing to Jesus, sweetly rehearsing His many beautiful, righteous, and good attributes can help us grow in love for Him.

Second, take up the counsel of the psalmist and begin meditating on the Law of God daily (Ps. 1). All that God teaches us about love is grounded on a right understanding of His Law, as understood and interpreted by the rest of Scripture (Matt. 22.34-40). If we neglect the Law of God, we cannot expect to have the mind or power of God’s Spirit working in us toward full faith (Rom. 8.5-9). The Spirit yearns to teach us the Law of God, so that the works of the Law can flow from us, in Him, like rivers of living water (Ezek. 36.26, 27; Jn. 7.37-39).

Finally, plan for love. Look ahead at each day and consider the opportunities for love you will have. Prepare for these by seeking the Lord, thinking through His Word, and considering what you know about the people you will encounter—how best to love each one. Ask the Lord to establish the work of love for all your daily activities, and He will surely help you every moment (Heb. 13.6; Ps. 90.16, 17).

Love requires that we do good and share with others (Heb. 12.16), and that we encourage and assist one another in bringing forth full-faith evidence of good works, out of the inward assurance we have in Jesus (Heb. 10.24).

This is pleasing to God and part of the evidence of full faith at work in our lives. Make love your aim, and aim it wherever you can.

Search the Scriptures
1. Meditate on John 13.1-15. What would you say are the key components of love as we see them here?

2. What are the primary obstacles Christians need to overcome in showing love to the people around them? Suggest some ways of overcoming these, and use Scripture in your suggestions.

3. How does the calling to love relate both to the assurance of full faith and the evidence of it?

Next steps—Transformation: Who are the people in your life who should most consistently experience the love of Jesus through you? On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best rating, how are you doing? For each person, pick one way you might show the love of Jesus more consistently each time you see him or her. Then get going!

T. M. Moore

Additional Resources
If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

For a more complete study of this subject, order the workbook, The Landscape of Unseen Things, by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.