Another aspect of our love being perfected
is found in 1 John 2:4-5: “He that saith,
I know him [I know God, I know Jesus,
I know Love], and keepeth not his [God’s]
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is
not in him. But whoso keepeth his [God’s]
word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.”
When you keep God’s Word, you allow the love
of God to run its full course in your life. You
reach that place of allowing God to do on the
inside of you what He had in mind when He
created Adam. It’s what He was in Jesus.
And that’s exactly what He plans to be in you.
But notice that the key to being perfected in
God’s love is tied to keeping His commandments—
His Word. First John 3:23 says: “And this is his
commandment, That we should believe on the
name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one
another, as he gave us commandment.” This
verse refers to the commandment Jesus gave
to His disciples: “A new commandment I give
unto you, That ye love one another; as I have
loved you…” (John 13:34).
Love one another as I have loved you… “We
can’t do that, Jesus!” Of course we can’t.
That’s why 1 John 3:23 precedes the
commandment to love with “Believe on the
name of his Son Jesus Christ….” Then we can
love one another. That changes the
complexion of this thing. It takes love out of
the emotional realm and puts it in the spiritual
realm.
In other words, it’s going to take believing
on the Name of Jesus the Anointed One to
be able to love one another the way He did.
It’s going to take faith. Also realize from
these two passages that we’re talking
about a commandment from Jesus. If He
commanded us to love, then somehow He
must have equipped us to do it.
If Jesus commanded us to love, then
somehow He must have equipped us to do it.
Besides, Jesus doesn’t love us with some
human form of love. He loves us
with the love of God— and that’s not just
any love. Throughout His earthly ministry,
Jesus used a Greek word for love that was
as uncommon as He was.
It’s the word we know as agape. The people
of Jesus’ day didn’t really understand that
word because it was not used in conversation,
but primarily in classic writings and so forth.
We find agape used in the writings of the
Apostle Paul, particularly in that great passage
on love, 1 Corinthians 13. But even the English
translators translated love as “charity,”
which is closer to the true meaning because
charity is more than just love.
Charity is actually a love that has a driving
desire to give. So agape, as used by Jesus,
is more than just loving one another. It is
loving one another to the point that you
are willing to give yourself.
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