Holy Love
Series: Scriptural Holiness
- Connect
- Hook: The love of mothers is unique from others.
- All mothers
- Compassion, nurturing
- The love of my mother
- First break-up
- God’s love is unique, distinct
- We are called to be holy as he is holy
- To love as he loves
- Holiness
- isn’t just about morality
- is both positive and negative
- Pursuit of love/peace/righteousness
- Rejection of sin/evil
- Only possible in a church
- Focus: The love of God is holy, set apart from the counterfeit loves of the world.
- Our love must be holy as His is.
- Holiness Beyond Morality
- Faith is not just about being moral/ethical/good
- First, it’s about worship
- If you get it backwards, end up with the wrong god
- Then, the wrong morals
- If you start with love self- or culturally-defined
- The God of the Bible won’t fit your definition of love
- Option 1: Reject the Bible, or some of it
- Results in different god
- Results in different morals, ever shifting
- Option 2: change my/cultural definition of love to fit Scritpure
- Shaped by love
- “Beloved”- those chosen and loved by God
- Both the apex and defining principle of good
- Set Apart
- For holiness - being like God
- For holy love
- Not just any love, any definition
- Not (just) a feeling
- Result of obedience to the truth
- Requires purification of the soul
- Not natural
- It’s only possible after the New Birth
- Born from new, supernatural life
- Grows into salvation/eternal life
- Specific, concrete
- Sincere/fervent/earnest love from the (pure) heart (1:22)/with all your heart (NLT)
- Without play-acting/pretense (contrast to hypocrisy)
- Persevering/constant (derivatives of ἐκτείνω)
- How can this be commanded/exhorted?
- 3:8
- Harmonious/unity of mind (ESV) /of one mind (KJV)
- Is this possible?
- Sympathetic/sympathy/having compassion
- Understanding, feeling with, suffering with
- Brotherly (love)/love as brethren
- Kindhearted/tender heart/ be pitiful (KJV)
- Humble in spirit/mind/courteous (KJV)
- Never returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead
- Brethren will hurt you
- 3:11
- Do good
- Seek peace and pursue it/ search for peace and work to maintain it (NLT)
- 4:7-11
- Be of sound judgment and sober spirit (for prayer)
- Hospitable (without complaint/grudging)/cheerfully share (NLT)
- Employ your gifts in serving one another
- Speak as from God/as the oracles of God (KJV)
- Serve as from God’s strength (NASB)/ minister… the ability which God giveth (KJV)
- From the world, from sin
- 2:1 Toward the brethren
- all
- Malice/ evil behavior (NLT)
- Deceit/guile
- Hypocrisy
- envy/jealousy (NLT)
- Slander/evil speaking (KJV)/ unkind speech (NLT)
- 3:10-11
- Keep his tongue from evil… lips from deceit/guile (KJV)/telling lies (NLT)
- Turn away from evil
- 4:3-4 Toward the world
- Sensuality (NASB)/lasciviousness (KJV)/debauchery (NIV)/ immorality (NLT)
- “lack of self-constraint which involves one in conduct that violates all bounds of what is socially acceptable, self-abandonment… esp. of sexual excesses” (BDAG)
- Behave like an animal
- Lusts/passions
- a desire for someth. forbidden or simply inordinate
- Drunkenness/excess of wine (KJV)/ feasting (NIV)
- Carousing/orgies/revellings
- only in a bad sense excessive feasting (BDAG)
- drinking parties involving unrestrained indulgence in alcoholic beverages and accompanying immoral behavior (Louw-Nida)
- Drinking parties/banquetings
- Abominable/lawless idolatries (ESV)/ terrible worship of idols (NLT)
- Excesses of dissipation (NASB) /flood of debauchery (ESV) /excess of riot (KJV)/ reckless, wild living (NIV)
- For the church
- Communal/Corporate Necessity of Holiness
- 1 Pet. 2:4-10 - living stones (in the Temple)
- Wesley: “The gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness. Faith working by love, is the length and breadth and depth and height of Christian perfection.”
- Vague sense of Christian brotherhood
- People treat the church like a whore
- Come and go as we please
- Other people in church are incidental to my faith & worship
- Must be concrete
- Requires regular engagement with the same people
- Conclusion
- Mothers (& others), love with a holy love
- Why wouldn’t you
- Knowledge of former sins
- Maybe currently in sin (hypocrite)
- Fear of chasing off your children
- Be a holy mother in the church
- Be holy in your love for one another
- Not as the world loves
