The Origin and Effect of Love

Christians are commanded to love God (Dt 6:5; Mt 22:37); love one another (Jn 13:34–35); love their neighbors (Lev 19:18; Mt 5:43); and to love their enemies (Mt 5:44). The origin of such love is found in God (1 Jn 4:7). To actually fulfill such requirements demands one be born of God and also to know Him in a personal relationship (1 Jn 4:7).

To be born of God means a person has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. The natural man is spiritually dead, spiritually enslaved to sin (Rom 6:6; Eph 2:1), but God makes him alive in Christ (Eph 2:5; Col 2:13), causing him to be born again of God’s Spirit (Jn 3:1–8; 1 Pet 1:3). God pours out His love in the one who receives the indwelling Spirit (Rom 5:5; 8:9, 11). This is the beginning of new life in Christ (Rom 6:4; 2 Cor 5:17). It is here one begins to know God…not just know about Him.

God is love (1 Jn 4:8); and God sets His love upon those He predestined in love to be His adopted children (Eph 1:4–5, 11; 1 Jn 3:1). He demonstrated His love for all to see when Christ came into the world to save sinners (Lk 19:10; Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8; 1 Tim 2:4). More precisely, He came to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21).

Both the life of God and the love of God are manifested in the children of God (1 Jn 4:9). God sent His only begotten Son to die for us (Rom 5:8); and He sent the Spirit of Christ to give us life — new, abundant, and eternal (Jn 6:63; 10:10; 2 Cor 5:17; 1 Jn 5:11–13). The death of Christ was Jesus of Nazareth suffering under the wrath of God because of the imputed sin transferred to Him from His beloved bride (2 Cor 5:21; Eph 5:25), His church (Mt 16:18), the Israel of God (Gal 6:16). He bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Pet 2:24), as a propitiation for our sins (Rom 3:25; Heb 2:17; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10). This is truly divine love…agape love.

When Christians love one another with this love poured into us, we love in the same manner as Christ loved us…sacrificially (Eph 5:2, 25). This only manifests in those whom God indwells and abides. It becomes evident, and it grows in both frequency and intensity (1 Jn 4:12).

Union with Christ is only a reality for those to whom God has chosen to give His Spirit (Jn 14:17, 26; 15:26; 1 Jn 4:13). There is a mutual indwelling with the Spirit of Christ in each regenerated believer; and each saint being positioned “in Christ.” Jesus’ disciples were eyewitnesses to the sent Messiah from heaven, even as today’s witnesses testify to the Holy Spirit being sent to us (1 Jn 4:14). In addition, we testify that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil 2:11), as the Son of God come into the world (1 Jn 4:15). We do so “in the Spirit.”

God is love; and His love is in us. This is the confidence of the Christian, today, and on the day of judgment. Love is perfected in the beloved (1 Jn 4:12, 17–18); and it casts out fear. Knowing there is now no condemnation for the child of God (Rom 8:1), fear of death and judgment no longer dominates the one who belongs to Christ (Jn 10).

Love for God and for the brethren born of God is the commandment-combo given to us (Lk 10:27). Being obedient to these commands is not a burden because the foundation of God’s love within the believer overflows our cups. When one loves, the task of loving is easy. God the Father has loved us in election (Eph 1:4–5). God the Son has loved us in redemption (Rom 5:8). God the Spirit has loved us in regeneration (Rom 5:5).

The world is the battleground where we are tested and proven to be children of God (2 Cor 13:5). All that the world can muster to hinder the Christian is overcome by faith in the Son of God (Gal 2:20; 1 Jn 5:4). Again, we believe in Christ by the Spirit given to us (Rom 12:3; Phil 1:29; Gal 3:22; 2 Pet 1:1).

Those who are from the world do not love God (Jn 5:42; 1 Jn 4:18), nor do they have any love for God’s people (Jn 15:18–25). They do not know God in the sense of an intimate familial connection. God has not revealed the fullness of Himself to the merely natural man, who does accept the special revelation of God (Bible). He actually calls God a liar by denying the testimony of Christ and the Scriptures (1 Jn 5:10).

False professors walk in darkness and do not practice the truth despite their claims to the contrary (1 Jn 1:6; 2:11). The irony of their hypocrisy is that they claim to be without sin (1 Jn 1:8). There is no truth to their claim or to them. In the same way, they claim to know God — but have no interest in His commands to love. This one is an impostor.

Blinded by the darkness, the false professor insists he sees the light and yet he hates Christians instead of loving them. Instead, he loves the world and the things of the world (1 Jn 2:15–17). Being void of God’s love is apparent in word and deed. The false professor also tries to deceive the true believer into thinking the false professor is a Christian. In this, he is a hypocrite. This is only one of the sins that marks the unbeliever. He has no love for the truth; nor does he have any interest in actively loving as God has commanded us.

In summary, those born of God have the indwelling Spirit abiding in them (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11). God’s love is in the life of the children of God; therefore, we love and love in a manner resembling Christ. This means Christians practice righteousness and do truth in obedience to the commandments to love God and one another.

In conclusion, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He has overcome the world (Jn 16:33). Christians join that victory by faith (1 Jn 5:4), having been given the Holy Spirit, who is the personification of love, abiding in everyone born of God. Thus, we love because He first loved us (1 Jn 4:19). It is the Spirit of Christ who causes us to walk in the commandments of God (Ezek 36:27).

The hate caused by fear of judgment and punishment has no place in the child of God because perfect love, the love God has for His beloved, casts out fear. Therefore, the love of Christ compels us. Love controls our thoughts, words, and actions. Love is from God and God is love. Therefore, the one who knows God knows that it is the Spirit of God leading, guiding, and living in the believer who now lives by faith in the Son of God (Gal 2:20).

The origin and effect of love is God willing and doing His good pleasure in the elect, redeemed, regenerated believer, filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered to walk in Christlikeness, in a world hostile to him or her. The good news is that love never fails.

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

November 27, 2023

1 John 4:7–5:5