Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups revolutionized sweet treats, at least for me. There is just something about the combination of chocolate and peanut butter that tastes so good. If you need to, you can take a break right now and go get one to eat while you finish reading! And since the invention of these cups by Hershey’s, they have been used in so many other recipes. Cookies, cakes, pies, salads, or just plain. It seems as though we can’t get enough. But I am thankful for self-control. Otherwise I might be significantly overweight and Reese’s PBC’s would certainly have paid a role.
Combinations often make things even better. Our clothing is often a combination of different fibers woven together. This combination brings the best of the materials together to make clothing that will wear out in a year or two necessitating the purchase of new clothing. But while they last, they often don’t need much de-wrinkling. The iron just doesn’t get as much use as it used to. I miss those good ole days!
Faith, love and obedience are bound together in our text today. All three must be present or the presence of the others is up for debate. We have read repeatedly how John connects loving God with loving each other. The two must go together. Absence of the love for each other is a signal that our loving words toward God are worthless and empty.
John connects our faith in Jesus with our new birth, a birth of heavenly origin. We all have an earthly birth and some respond to the LORD’s call and receive, in addition to the earthly birth, a heavenly birth. And when that heavenly birth happens we are changed. We begin to love our fellow Jesus-followers. Without that love expressed in tangible ways to each other, we cannot claim the heavenly birth. We can’t claim love for God without love for each other.
And just as we can’t claim love for God without love toward each other, we can’t claim either if we aren’t obedient to His commands. In this context John is talking about the command to love, not about any other list of commands. The following verses make this quite plain.
Notice that it is a command to love, not a suggestion. This is not an optional add-on to our live of faith. Love for and toward each other is at the core of Christianity. We don’t have suicide bombers, we have suicide lovers. We give up ourselves for the sake of others. We lay down our rights and serve. We take the lowly positions in order that Jesus might be exalted. The Gospel flips the power structures of this world on their heads. We die so that others might live.
This is of course what Jesus did for us. And it is what we are called to do in response. We do what is best for others, rather than what is best for us. We think of others before we think of ourselves. We meet their needs.
The Arnold Journey 