Friday, August 12, 2011

"If you love me...."

Kevin DeYoung is the young [by my standards] senior pastor at the University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan. He's one of those guys who are always worth reading. For instance, from "The Law of Love and the Love of Law":
Some Christians make the mistake of pitting love against law, as if the two were mutually exclusive. You either have a religion of love or a religion of law. But such an equation is profoundly unbiblical. For starters, “love” is a command of the law (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:36-40). If you enjoin people to love, you are giving them law. Conversely, if you tell them law doesn’t matter, then neither does love, which is the summary of the law.

Furthermore, consider the close connection Jesus makes between love and law. For Jesus there is no love for him apart from keeping the law (John 14:15). But he says even more than this. Jesus connects communion with God with keeping commandments. When we keep Christ’s commandments, we love him. And when we love Christ, the Father loves us. And whomever the Father loves, Christ loves and reveals himself to them (John 14:21). So, there is no abiding in Christ’s love apart from keeping Christ’s commandments (John 15:10). Which means there is no fullness of joy apart from the pursuit of holiness (John 15:11).

God’s law is an expression of his grace. The law is God’s plan for his sanctified people to enjoy communion with him. That’s why the Psalms are full of declarations of delight regarding God’s commands. ....

Let’s not be afraid to land on law—never as the means of meriting justification, but as the proper expression of having received it. .... [more]
The Law of Love and the Love of Law – Kevin DeYoung

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