You do realize that a person can have all their ‘p’s and q’s’ lined up perfectly, when it comes to church doctrine, on all points…and still miss out on the kingdom of God.  One does not simply 'enter' the kingdom based on 'what they know'; rather it's 'who'...you know.  And even more importantly...does He know you? (Matt. 7:23; John 10:27)

And while knowing the word of God is great…‘doing it’…is what matters most. (James 1:22; Matt. 7:21,24)

Paul makes this point as well, writing to believers at Philippi: “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me…these DO... and the God of peace will be with you.” (Phil. 4:9)

He would write to the Galatians, reinforcing this idea that if one is continuing to live for and practice the ‘evident deeds’, or ‘fruit’ of the flesh nature…they will “NOT…inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19-21). Paul also echoes a similar warning found in Romans 8:13, stating that if we continue to “live according to the flesh…we will die”. That has a familiar ring to what God told Adam back in the garden regarding eating from a particular tree (Gen. 2:17). And as we all know…the serpent came and cast doubt on what God said, even twisting it around to say just the opposite (Gen. 3:1-4)…and humanity has been paying the price for that ever since (Rom. 5:12).

I know it’s easy for us to grow comfortable with things we may have learned and accomplished in our religious settings…all in the name of God’s kingdom (Matt. 7:22), but take a moment to revisit those words we hear read often at wedding ceremonies…taken from the pages of 1 Corinthians 13.

We can ‘speak with the tongues of men and of angels’…and have the gift of teaching the oracles of God while understanding all mysteries and knowledge. One can have ‘faith to move mountains’… while bestowing all your earthly goods to help the poor and needy; and even ‘surrender one’s body to be burned’…but what important ‘condition is included in all of this? Paul states that if our lives are lacking or devoid of God’s love working in and through us…than all that other stuff is of no value, as in it profits us nothing, zero…nada!.

And if there was any confusion as to what this ‘God kind of love’ looks like…he lays it out for us there in vs. 4-7 how this agape-love plays out. Those verses make for a good self-examining mirror when we put 2 Cor. 13:5 in to practice; just saying. 

I probably should have mentioned at the start here today that this is a follow-up message to yesterday’s lesson, and how important it is for a world lost in darkness and sin…to see the light of God’s love IN us, as in how we demonstrate His love towards one another, which is His commandment for us followers (John 13:34-35). It cannot be understated that the ‘bar’ or ‘requirement’ laid down by Jesus Himself…was that we are commanded to love others as He first loved us (John 15:12). And it’s not just on our ‘good days’…that we are to manifest His love either.

If you did happen to read yesterday’s post…and have made it up to this point here today, then it would be fair to ask a very relevant question that any of us should be asking about now: “HOW?” How is it possible for any of us to consistently love others, let alone one another…in the same manner in which Jesus first loved us? And that is a GREAT question!

This is where we tend to quickly conclude ‘we can’t!

“Too hard”, we tell ourselves; “Impossible…for us to do”.

“Nobody…can live and love in such a way ...besides Jesus”, we are told. To which I would respond…Of course it is too hard and impossible to do…in our own strength and ability; which is why we need the nature and character of God dwelling within us…in order for us to live in such a way.

Now go read 2 Peter 1:2-4 where we are promised that very thing… as “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness”… that we “might be partakers of the divine nature…”

Do you see that? This was God’s plan all along…the ‘mystery of godliness’…where ‘Christ is IN us’ (Col. 1:27-28)…and how “it is no longer us who live, but Christ lives IN us”…as Paul writes in Gal. 2:20. But…But…But…please underline the first few words in that verse: “I am crucified with Christ…”

Friends…IF…we are not ‘crucified with Him’…then neither can we ‘walk in the newness of His life’ which is the only way in which the power of His love can be produced IN us (Rom. 6:4-8; John 12:24)

So when Jesus talks about how ‘unless we take up our cross and follow Him…we cannot be His disciples’ (Luke 9:23; 14:33)…this is where all this points to…as His Spirit begins to lead us to ‘put to death all the deeds of the flesh nature’ (Rom. 8:13). Hence…the reason I continue to beat this same drum about why it is imperative that we are truly ‘abiding in Him’, as Jesus explains in John 15:1-8. And it is Jesus who confirms that unless we are abiding in Him, none of this ‘fruit’ or His character and likeness can be produced in us, for apart from Him, we can do nothing!

Is there any ‘suffering’ involved in this process? Of course there is…but not to the extent that Jesus suffered for us, as we are reminded in Hebrews 12:4. But this is also why we are exhorted to ‘have the same mind as Christ’…as we ‘suffer in the flesh’ when we put it to death, because anyone who has done this has ‘ceased from sin’…that we should ‘no longer live according to the flesh but for the will of God’ (1 Pet. 4:1-2). And ‘doing the will of God’ is no small footnote, either (Matt. 7:21)

Did you see that part about ‘ceasing from sin’? Funny how we are told so often that nobody can do that! As God asked Adam: “Who told you that?” (Gen. 3:11).

Yes…loving others as Christ loved us is not only hard and difficult (on the flesh/old man)…but it is impossible…IF we are going to insist on holding on to this old nature of ours. In fact, if we do refuse to lay our life down…then we cannot experience the abundant life He came to offer us; and this is why so many of God’s people fall short in walking in all that He has for us, suffering needlessly…if not end up being ‘destroyed’ as God points out in Hosea 4:6).

But to those who truly call upon His name...and come to that cross and surrender their whole heart...

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor has it entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Cor. 2:9)