Word of Encouragement (7/6/2021)
“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing” (1:3). This is one of Paul’s prayers we are considering. Yesterday, we observed two things about this prayer: 1) Paul gave thanks for people; 2) Paul gave thanks for their growing faith. Today, we will observe one more important point: Paul gave thanks for their increasing love for one another.
It is no accident that Paul mentions faith and love together. There seems to be a close relationship between the two: “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints...” (Eph. 1:15); “...since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints...” (Col. 1:4). Why are faith and love mentioned together so often? Paul points to a deeper relationship between the two in this way: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6). What is the precise nature of the relationship between the two that faith works through love? That question may be easier to answer when we ask it in this way: what is it about believing in Jesus Christ that leads to loving our fellow saints?
One of the crucial tenets of our faith in Jesus Christ is that He died for us out of His love for us: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13); “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16); “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Can we be saved by such a great and sacrificial love and neglect to love others? Can we accept Christ’s love for us and refuse to love those, to whom Christ has shown the same love? Because our faith is in our loving Savior, it works through love.
Consider also why Jesus made such a costly sacrifice. Jesus came to this world to save us from our sin (Matt. 1:21). What is sin? “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, #14). What, then, is the law of God about? It is about love. The entire law can be summarized as loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:14). To sin is not to love God or our neighbors in one way or the other. If so, the goal, or result, of our salvation must be to have us love God and our neighbor. Even though we are saved by grace through faith, not by works, we are to grow in love.
Loving others is like exercising our muscles: the more we do, the better and more we are able. So, Paul was grateful that the Thessalonians’ love for one another was increasing. May the Lord increase our love for Him and for one another as we practice loving one another in faith and deed!