Hello, John and Doves,
What is truth?
It is written,
But
whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen
plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
John 3:21 NIV
Said another way,
But
he who does what is honest and right comes to the light, in order that
his actions may be plainly shown to have been done in God.
John 3:21 Weymouth New Testament
John MacArthur says,
Here's a simple definition drawn from what the Bible teaches: Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God. Even more to the point: Truth is the self-expression of God.
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/grace-to-you/read/articles/what-is-truth-11521.html
So, then, it seems right and true and very good that it is written,
Love Fulfills God’s Requirements
8Owe
nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If
you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”10Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
11This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. 13Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see.
Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or
in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy.
14Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.
Romans 13:8-14 NLT
This makes sense, for it is written,
Loving One Another
7Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
11Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
13And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 14Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17And
as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be
afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence
because we live like Jesus here in this world.
18Such
love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are
afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not
fully experienced his perfect love. 19We love each other because he loved us first.
20If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.
1 John 4:7-21 NLT
Again, it is written,
Love
1If
I can speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but am destitute of
Love, I have but become a loud-sounding trumpet or a clanging cymbal. 2If
I possess the gift of prophecy and am versed in all mysteries and all
knowledge, and have such absolute faith that I can remove mountains, but
am destitute of Love, I am nothing. 3And
if I distribute all my possessions to the poor, and give up my body to
be burned, but am destitute of Love, it profits me nothing.
4Love is patient and kind. Love knows neither envy nor jealousy. Love is not forward and self-assertive, nor boastful and conceited. 5She does not behave unbecomingly, nor seek to aggrandize herself, nor blaze out in passionate anger, nor brood over wrongs. 6She finds no pleasure in injustice done to others, but joyfully sides with the truth. 7She knows how to be silent. She is full of trust, full of hope, full of patient endurance.
8Love never fails.
But if there are prophecies, they will be done away with; if there are
languages, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be brought to
an end. 9For our knowledge is imperfect, and so is our prophesying; 10but when the perfect state of things is come, all that is imperfect will be brought to an end. 11When
I was a child, I talked like a child, felt like a child, reasoned like a
child: when I became a man, I put from me childish ways. 12For
the present we see things as if in a mirror, and are puzzled; but then
we shall see them face to face. For the present the knowledge I gain is
imperfect; but then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13And so there remain Faith, Hope, Love—these three; and of these the greatest is Love.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Weymouth New Testament
We have faith, hope, and love as we abide in Christ Jesus, for it is written,
Faith Brings Joy
1Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2Because
of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved
privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look
forward to sharing God’s glory.
3We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
6When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7Now,
most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though
someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially
good. 8But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
9And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10For
since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son
while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the
life of his Son. 11So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
Romans 5:1-11 NLT
Again, it is written,
Life in the Spirit
1So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He
sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that
body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a
sacrifice for our sins. 4He
did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully
satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead
follow the Spirit.
5Those
who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but
those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that
please the Spirit. 6So
letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But
letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
9But
you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the
Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that
those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong
to him at all.) 10And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11The
Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just
as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your
mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
12Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13For
if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of
the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
Romans 8:1-14 NLT
And the payoff is this:
Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love
31What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34Who
then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was
raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s
right hand, pleading for us.
35Can
anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer
loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry,
or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39No
power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all
creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is
revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-39 NLT
Thus it is written,
Spiritual Blessings
3All
praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are
united with Christ. 4Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5God
decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to
himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave
him great pleasure. 6So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.7He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
9God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. 10And
this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together
under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 11Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.
Ephesians 1:3-11 NLT
~Blessings,
Mike