"So many souls would find their meaning/If they first would learn what love is" ~~ Scott & Christine Dente, aka Out of the Grey
That line comes from a song on the same album, “Diamond Days,” called “What Love Is.” You can read the full lyrics here, but here’s the chorus:
What is love?
To lay your life down to save another
What is love?
To give yourself to those who don’t deserve
When mercy smoothes the furrowed brow of justice
We will understand what love is
According to Bible Gateway, the word “love” appears in the New Testament 259 times. Perhaps the most familiar instances are found in 1 Corinthians 13, aka “the love chapter,” and John 3:16. But one of the first things that comes to my mind is 1 John 3-4:
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” (1 John 3:16, emphasis added)
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ... This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ... And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:7-8, 10, 16; emphasis added)
When I was a teen, one of my favorite bands was DC Talk. The first song on their album “Free at Last” was called “Luv is a Verb” [sic], and part of the lyrics said this:
Back in the day there was a man
Who stepped out of heaven and he walked the land
He delivered to the people an eternal choice
With a heart full of love and the truth in his voice
Gave up his life so that we may live
How much more love could the son of God give?
Here is the example that we ought to be matching
’Cause love is a word that requires some action
My dad is fond of pointing out that the devil is a judo expert: he knows man’s tendency to go to extremes, and he uses our momentum against us. One of the debates within the church is between faith and works. In Ephesians 2:8-9, the apostle Paul says this (emphasis added):
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
However, James 2:24 says this (emphasis added):
“You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”
I won’t go into a full exposition of the two passages. The point I want to make is this: Both Paul and James are right. No one can earn their salvation, but, as Jesus said:
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:15-20, emphasis added)
I feel like there’s much more I could say on this subject, but I’ll close with this: Do you know love?
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