Love
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
It is a command of God, and a holy connection not only with each other, but with our Lord and Savior, our God, and the Holy Spirit. It is to be the hallmark of who we are And whose we are (John 13:35).
We at times claim we to be the arbiters of truth, as you have often seen me write, and in this vein we seek to admonish, upbraid and correct each other. This is not the love you claim, but glorifies the flesh. To those who deliberately walk in apostasy or error, we do rebuke and make clear the spirit in which such things are done. For it is not God's spirit.
But to the brethren there is to be love.
A love that covers a multitude of sins (and errors). A love that seeks for others to understand, not our words and the filtering of God's truths through our own understandings, but of God's own words in His book of Life called the Bible. Within it's pages are the truths, principles and tenets of our faith that will lead us back home. If we will but let it do so.
And that path is a path of love.
Truth
Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
There are those who say that truth is the MOST important aspect of our walk of faith. Jesus Christ has declared that He is the way, the truth and the life (and light) and as He is the cornerstone and foundation of our faith, the truth is definitely apart of that.
But whose truth do we declare?
Many will say “God's truth” and this is how it should be. But we see within the Bible many passages that say we must know the truth in order to be set free. That we must rightly divide (understand through search and studying) the word of truth in order for us, the workers in God's vineyard, not to be ashamed of our lack of knowledge of that selfsame truth.
We must believe the truth, trust the truth, and most importantly, live the truth. It is truly the gospel (God's spell) of our salvation. It is the begetting of our lives in Christ. That begetting (or being born in the spirit) is from the living of that truth.
Many years ago, God gave me a saying and I use it often in life “truth is not relative; only our position to it”. We need to have the truth within us, a living, breathing testimony of God and His words of life etched within our hearts, souls and minds.
We must be the truth.
Unity
Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Ephesians 4:3 Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Unity is a bond of peace, and of faith, and the measure of our stature in Christ. It brings the promise of peace and harmony. It is an extension of love one towards another. It is the evidence of our faith made visible.
Being in a state of unity, or union, within the body of Christ, is a real and tangible power. Truly it says where two or more are gathered in His (God's) name that whatsoever they touch (pray about, agree upon, or petition before the throne of God) will be bound in heaven and earth.
If righteous before God it will be done.
Why do you think Satan works hard to bring dissension and discord to the body of Christ? It nullifies or dilutes the power we bring in our unity. It holds back understanding and knowledge through the agency of bickering and fighting - and the need to be right at any cost.
