The Lord's New Commandment - John 13:34

The following is a short study on the Lord's New Commandment:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:

just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."

(John 13:34 ESV) 

I. What was the context of this new commandment?

1. Jesus issued this commandment to his disciples on the night of his betrayal at his last supper before the Feast of Passover. (John 13:1-2)
2. Before issuing the commandment, Jesus demonstrated his own service to his disciples by washing their feet. (John 13:3-10)
3. During the meal, Jesus shared his bread with Judas Iscariot, who then left the room under Satan’s influence in order to betray Jesus. (John 13:11-30)
4. Jesus spoke of his immediate glorification and God’s glorification through him, and he spoke of his departure and separation from his disciples, whom he denominated as his ‘little children.’ (John 13:31-33)
5. Jesus told them that by keeping the commandment to love one another, all people would know that they were his disciples, if they have love for one another. (John 13:34-35) 
6. Jesus carried over into the New Covenant an old commandment that was given in the Law of Moses (Leviticus 19:18, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”). He also extended that commandment to follow his pattern of self-sacrificial and self-giving love.
7. In light of all the other commands to love our neighbors, Jesus singled out this command as new, because of its uniqueness and special connection with his death for his people and Church.

II. What was the purpose of this new commandment?

1. This commandment was given at the time when Jesus established the New Covenant in his blood (Luke 22:20), and so it is to be a ruling principle in the Kingdom of God.
2. Jesus stated that the new commandment was to be carried out the same way in which he had demonstrated. “Just as I have loved you . . .” (John 13:34). This shows that imitating Jesus and his love is part of its purpose.
3. Jesus said that people would know you are his disciples by keeping this commandment (John 13:35). In other words, we demonstrate that we are following Jesus by showing love to others who are following him.
4. The Church, as the body of Christ, is to be built up into maturity through Christ-like love. (Ephesians 4:11-16) 
5. The new commandment gives assurance of true faith and of eternal life to those who keep it. (1 John 2:1-8) 

III. How can we obey the new commandment?

1. We can obey the new commandment by sharing with fellow Christians according to the need. (Acts 2:45)
2. We can obey the new commandment by bearing the burdens of others. (Galatians 6:2) 
3. What does that look like in real life?
4. We can obey the new commandment by not doing wrong to others. (Romans 13:10)
5. We can obey the new commandment by encouraging one another in the faith. (Acts 14:22; Hebrews 10:25)
6. What are additional ways in which we can love as Jesus commanded? 

IV. What are challenges to obeying the new commandment?

1. What are some challenges to fulfilling this commandment:

• from the home
• from the church
• from the world
• from the devil
• from our own sin

Spiritual Giftedness

Each Christian is called and gifted by God according to His will, not according to their own will or the will of other people. It is God who determines the function of each part of the body of Christ (see 1 Cor. 12:1-12).

According to 1 Corinthians, it is a good thing for us to pray and ask God to give specific gifts and equip us for the correct use of them. God is indeed glorified in the healthy function of all the various parts of the body, as well as in all the various gifts in the Church. Therefore, as Paul warned the Corinthians, we must not despise others for their gifts and calling from God, but we must rather edify one another with the gift of brotherly love after the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Brothers, show your spiritual health by your love for the parts of Christ's body that do not have the exact same function as you do. Show your love as members of Christ and of His diverse Church, and not as members of "the Church of Discerning Eyes", or "the Church of Sensitive Noses", or "the Church of the Working Hands", for such divisions do not glorify Christ.

You know what I am referring to. One gifted brother in the church looks at fellow Christians with great suspicion and doubt for the genuineness of their salvation because they are not gifted as he is. Such spiritual arrogance is not only evidence of the clear absence of love (the greatest gift), but is also greatly damaging to the health and upbuilding of Christ's Church.

May our God and Savior make you abound in His grace, truth and love.
Amen

Why Paul Wrote with Tears

In the second letter Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, he explained why his previous letter was written out of so much heartache:

For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.

(2 Corinthians 2:4 NAS)

Practical Christianity 2

Another very encouraging sermon from my pastor on Romans 12 about how Christians are to relate to one another. The body of Christ is made up of believers with different gifts and different levels of faith, yet they are all members of one another and are called to serve one another in love as Christ first loved us.

(Click here to go get the mp3, or listen to the player below.)

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A.W. Pink on Loving the Brothers

The exercise of brotherly love is not only a testimony to the world, but it is also evidence to Christians themselves of their regeneration:

“We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren” (1 John 3:14).

There should be a word of comfort here for those poor saints whose souls are cast down. At present, they cannot “read their title clear to mansions in the sky,” and are afraid to cry “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6), lest they be guilty of presumption.

But here is a door of hope opened to Christ’s little ones:

You may, dear reader, be afraid to affirm that you love God, but do you not love His people? If you do, you must have been born again and have in you the same spiritual nature that is in them.

But do I love them?

Well, do you relish their company, admire what you see of Christ in them, wish them well, pray for them, seek their good?
If so, you certainly love them.

- A. W. Pink, Defining Brotherly Love (reprinted in the Free Grace Broadcaster #206)

For the Love of God, Souls and the Terror of Hell

"Let all that you do be done in love." - 1 Cor. 16:14

"If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord come!" - 1 Cor. 16:22

"For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you." - 2 Cor. 2:4

My grandmother passionately reminds me often that, "Love is the key," as she points her finger directly at me. "And don't you forget it," she always adds. That is very true, and with love in mind, I want to passionately remind those who read this post that it is out of love for God, His glory, His Son and His purposes in this world, that we must not only earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), but we must earnestly and passionately seek to evangelize the lost.

Such a word as "evangelize" is offensive in much of Western culture today, yet is it not a word overflowing with love? It means to announce the good news and seek to convince others of its beneficial truth. It speaks of a message widely hated around the globe. Yet it is a message with the best interest of the glory of God in mind according to His saving purposes, and without knowing and believing it, guilty souls will spend eternity under the just wrath of God in hell. So it also contains the best interest of all people.

Here is a message by Mark Dever that he spoke at John Piper's church almost two weeks ago. I hope that all will listen to it. May it move you to your knees and move you to plea passionately to God for the love and the power to do what Jesus sent His people out as "lambs among wolves" to do, which is to share the good news.

If you are genuinely born again by the Spirit of God, then consider for yourself the love of God that He would send His Son into the world to save such an unwilling, unfaithful, unloving, unworthy, sinful rebel such as yourself. Then also consider what it would cost you to give up a little time for prayer, a little money, a little pleasure, a little acceptance with this ungodly world, a little pain, a little heart-ache to follow Jesus in the most rewarding and joyful experience possible during our preparation for eternity.

And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16 ESV).

May grace be multiplied to those who love and serve our Lord Jesus Christ under many trials.

Married to Christ (Romans 7:4)

I just published my latest Bible study, but unfortunately, I have not had time to update some issues with my As It Is Written blog, so I am publishing this study here for anyone interested. It is on the topic, "What does it mean to be married to Christ," from Romans 7:4. I hope you enjoy, it is a short one. :)

Why Give Thanks to the LORD?

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1 ESV).

I love that verse, and the more I read it, the more I delight in what it says. First, it tells the people of God (who were chosen by God, see Psalm 135:4-6) to give something to YHWH (JEHOVAH). What are they told to give? They are told, "Give thanks to the LORD."

And for what reason are the chosen people of God (and not them only - Rom. 1:21) commanded to give thanks? It says, "for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever." The rest of this Psalm continues to show how the Sovereign LORD is good to all His creation and how He has shown steadfast love to His people by saving them and giving them an inheritance.

For these reasons then, we are told to give thanks: First, because the LORD is good. To even know what goodness is, we need to know the LORD. He is good. There is no good apart from Him (Psalm 16:2). God is the very definition of what good is, and so we are to give thanks to Him for His wonderful goodness. Second, we are told to give thanks for His steadfast love endures forever. Other translations of the Bible use the words mercy, kindness or lovingkindness. The Hebrew word translated as steadfast love in the ESV is chesed (Stong's #H2617), which has the meaning of kindness, as well as all those I just mentioned. The point is this, God's kindness, mercy, His steadfast love toward His people never ever ends. What does it say, "for his steadfast love endures forever."

God is eternal, His goodness is eternal, His mercy and kindness and love are eternal; never ending, never changing, never failing. However, we need to remember that because God is good, He must destroy sin and sinners (Rom. 3:5-6). I thought, after reading this psalm, of all the people around the world who are suffering terribly. This is God's goodness and mercy. Why? Because instead of destroying us all immediately for our numerous sins, He has instead been patient, inflicting us with daily reminders that we have sin, we are under judgment, and if we believe the gospel that Jesus Christ is the answer from God the Father for this problem, He will save us forever.

Here is how God shows His steadfast love for such wicked and wretched people who have been chosen for salvation: Jesus unrolled a scroll given to him in the synagogue at Nazareth and read,

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

(See Luke 4:17-19). Jesus stepped into a world that hated him, had rejected him, was under the condemnation of the holy law for sin, is totally worthy of destruction by God, and yet He came to set people free from their own deserved guilt and judgment by dying for them on the cross. He came to show the never ending steadfast love of God for wicked, vile sinners. This love is unending if you are one of His chosen, because His resurrected life is unending (Rom. 6:9; Heb. 7:25). And whom does God choose? The poor (poor in spirit - Matt. 5:3), the captives (captive to their sin - John 8:34; Rom. 6:15-22), the blind (spiritually unseeing - John 9:35-41), the oppressed (by the devil - Acts 10:38). In other words, God's unending steadfast love is shown to those who recognize they are completely miserable, helpless, worthless and bankrupt of all righteousness of their own, and so find eternal goodness and kindness in the righteousness of God given solely through Jesus Christ our Lord! (See Rev. 3:17-19)

If you are one of these who have fled to Christ Jesus for help, then "give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever!" Hallelujah!

The Good News of Love in Galatians - 10 min. or so

Pastor Mark in Philly asked me to speak for a few minutes before his sermon on Sunday. He has been preaching from Galatians, so I said something about the love of Christ in Galatians.


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Grace Abounding: Love is the Motivation

Love was manifest (made clear) to us in the gift of Christ Jesus our Lord, who died for us while we were still His enemies (Romans 5:6,10). God is love (1 John 4:8,16). Love comes from God (1 John 4:7), and those who love have been born of God and know God (1 John 4:7-8). In fact, our faith works through love (Galatians 5:6). In other words, we are saved because of God's love for us, our love for God and for one another comes from Him, and all the works of faith are worked through love. As my grandmother likes to say, "Love is the key."

So why am I saying all this? "Don't we already know it?" Well, because when I drove through the city of York today, I was praying for God's love to work in me to love the people. I met my friend, Matt, in the square. We stood there for about 5 seconds when we met a guy carrying a motorcycle helmet who said he didn't believe in God. I talked with him for about 10-15 minutes, appealing to the fact that he knew when he was a child that there was a God, and that he was afraid of dying (I said it all in a gracious manner). We talked a little about Creation and the Fall in Genesis, but my main focus was testifying to God's love shown in that He loved me while I was a self-righteous religious hypocrite and an enemy of God when He reconciled me by grace. This guy at first didn't look like he wanted to talk, but he ended by thanking me and accepting a small gospel of John. I ended by pointing him to Jesus and saying, "You cannot believe, because faith is a gift that God must give." (See Ephesians 2:8). He agreed with that statement more than anything, and perhaps he will read that gospel of John (See John 20:31).

The next person we met was Brad. He was in his early twenties and is white. He lives in the city and told me some guys on one street threatened him with a gun. He seemed a little stressed out. I thought he probably had a mental illness, and he told me he is bi-polar and had been praying because of his suicidal thoughts. We went to McDonald's to sit down and talk. While we were there, one of the older black women said he was her neighbor. She sees me come in every week, so I think they are opening up a little. We sat down and talked about our health conditions and our outward vices, each of us sharing similar but different problems, then we talked about the ROOT of the problem - SIN. I kept pointing Brad to Christ as the answer, and he said, "He's the root killer!" I said, "Yeah, He killed our sin root problem in His own body when He was crucified." Brad wanted our phone numbers, so perhaps he will meet with us again. He said God meant for us to meet today. (Of course, a lot more was said concerning the gospel in these conversations, but I cannot write it all. My main text was Romans 5:6,8,10).

Last of all, as Matt left, I was at the cross walk, and there were a group of Hispanic Christians preaching in the Square from a loudspeaker. They had a bunch of people from their own church standing around with tracks. It was all in Spanish, so I couldn't understand what they were saying, except for, "A Su nombre Gloria!" ("Glory to His name!" I'm not sure if I worded that right?). There was a girl standing at the cross walk, so I handed her a gospel tract and asked her some questions. I will call her "Luella," because I couldn't pronounce her name in Spanish. She had an accent, and as we talked she said she had been here for 9 years, so I asked where she was from, and she said from the Dominican Republic. So I said, "I have a friend who lives there!" (I hope you don't mind me mentioning you, Rita? Rita's blog is New Human Life). I said what I always say in Spanish, "Tiene un Biblia?" (Do you have a Bible?) She pointed to her purse. Then before I left, I mentioned, "La salvacion es por la gracia de Dios... no por obras." And I explained that in english, that it is the gift of God by grace that we are saved, and not by our works.

I left feeling joyful, because God answered my prayers. I also saw Charles, my homeless friend, and Smitty, who always asks me for things now at McDonalds. I don't have the love apart from God's grace working it in me through Christ, but God called me to evangelism, and I am so thankful that He raised up Matt as my fellow worker in the field. Usually I don't like to go alone. I share all this to encourage you all in your prayers and love toward the perishing. I order a lot of good resources to give to people from these places:
www.mountzion.org (Tracts and booklets - "The Poor Huckster" and "Greasy the Robber" are classic stories to give to those interested).
www.wtsbooks.com (inexpensive Bibles and pocket NT's in ESV).
www.ibsdirect.com (gospel of John in English and Spanish, and sometimes other languages).

This is grace abounding from York to Gap, Pennsylvania. Grace to you (Ephesians 6:24).
(Please also listen to these songs: "Why?" and "Love Crucified")

The Gospel is About Love

Romans 5:8
"but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

This is God's love: The Son of God died on a tree in place of me (1 John 4:9-10). The Son of God gave his life in exchange for mine. The Son of God experienced His Father's judgment and wrath instead of me. Love... Love that is out of this world. Love from God while I was still a sinner (ungodly, under God's wrath, an enemy of God - Romans 5:6,8,9,10), Christ died for me. That is love, and that is the good news.

It had nothing to do with my decision either, because God decided to love me in this way without consulting me. If the LORD had said to me, "What do you think if I send my Son, and have Him die instead of you?" I probably would have said, "No! I'll pay for my own sin. Thank you." But God didn't ask me, instead, He sent Christ into the world as a baby, and the Lord Jesus arrested my heart with His love (Galatians 2:20; Revelation 1:5-6).

"For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life." (Romans 5:10 ESV).

This is good news of great joy (Luke 2:10) and it is worth preaching (proclaiming) to the world!

Grace, peace and love to all who treasure Jesus with lasting joy.