THE TEST OF TRUE LOVE

"By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth." (1 John 3:16-18). [THE NKJV STUDY BIBLE].

16 The test of true love is identified as willingness to sacrifice one's life for one's brother. The demonstrative "this" that begins the statement points backward to the negative example of Cain and forward to the positive example of Christ. Love is used absolutely and its reference point is Christ's death. The demand for love thus arises from his command, and the meaning of love is found in his example.
     "We know" suggests that the knowledge that is involved belongs to events of Jesus Christ, which they heard from the beginning (cf. 1:1; 3:11). "Love" (agape) cannot be derived from some intuitive grasp of an idea but is known in the historical event in which Jesus Christ laid down his own life for us (cf. Jn 10:11). His sacrificial death thus distinguishes agape love from all other loves by its costliness, its unconditional acceptance of another, and its accomplishment.
       The personal commitment of Christ is expressed in the words of Jn 15:12-13 (cf. 13:1): "Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." Its accomplishment as a "for us" kind of love is reflected in Jesus' work. It is clear that Jesus understood his death as an effectual, accomplishing act for giving us eternal life (Jn 10:28); it was the only method open to him to fulfill his Father's will (cf. Jn 10:11-18, 27-30; 15:9-18; 17:19). Since agape love is grounded in Jesus death for us, knowledge of it can be received only where his "death" is appropriated into our experience.
       The dramatic conclusion we are irresistibly led to is this: "And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." We are to do this not simply because that is what Jesus did, but because that is what Jesus revealed to be the demand of agape love. Love is denial of self for another's gain.  

17 Again John's penchant for providing practical "tests" of the validity of one's faith comes to the fore. How can we know whether we would sacrifice our life for a fellow believer? We can know by being compassionate toward such a one in his or her present need. If we are unable or unwilling to sacrifice material advantage for the sake of our fellow believers, we know that the love of God is not in us. What are the conditions for our involvement? If we are in a position to see with our own eyes someone's need (as, for example, the good Samaritan did, Lk 10:29-37) and can offer help, then we cannot do otherwise than act. To withhold help in such a situation is to shut off compassionate action and to deny the presence of God's love in our own heart.
 
18 Turning back to "little children", John admonishes with the tone of a spiritual father pleading for the heartfelt response of his children. Love requires more than idle talk or exalted theology. It demands simple acts, which anyone can see, in order to meet the needs of brothers and sisters in distress. Any expression of love that fails here is not only empty but blasphemous (cf. Jam 2:15-16; 1 Cor 13:1-3).
[NIV BIBLE COMMENTARY Volume 2: New Testament].

[www.sowersoftheword.blogspot.com].

JESUS IS LORD.

GOD COMFORTS & EQUIPS US TO COMFORT & ENCOURAGE OTHERS

3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercies) and the God [Who is the Source] of every consolation and comfort and encouragement;
4 Who consoles and comforts and encourages us in every trouble (calamity and affliction) so that we may be able to console (comfort and encourage) those who are in any kind of trouble or distress, with the consolation (comfort and encouragement) with which we ourselves are consoled and comforted and encouraged by God.
5 For just as Christ's (own) sufferings fall to our lot [as they overflow upon His disciples, and we share and experience them] abundantly, so through Christ comfort and consolation and encouragement are also [shared and experienced] abundantly by us.
6 But if we are troubled (afflicted and distressed), it is for your comfort (consolation and encouragement) and [for your] salvation; and if we are comforted (consoled and encouraged), it is for your comfort and consolation and encouragement, which work [in you when you] patiently endure the same evils (misfortunes and calamities) that we also suffer and undergo.
7 And our hope for you-that is, our joyful and confident expectation of good for you-is ever unwavering, (assured and unshaken); for we know that just as you share and are partners in [our] sufferings and calamities, you also share and are partners in [our] comfort (consolation and encouragement). (2 Corinthians 1:3-7). [Amplified Bible].

Gratitude for divine comfort (1:3-7)

The paragraph embodies the chief emphasis of chs. 1-7: "comfort in the midst of affliction.'


3-4 Paul generally follows his salutation with thanksgiving for the divine grace evident in the lives of his converts and a summary of his prayers for them. Here, however, he offers praise to God for consoling and encouraging him, while later (v.11) he solicits their prayers for himself. This atypical preoccupation with his own circumstances shows the distressing nature of the experience in Asia from which he had so recently been delivered (vv.8-10). He highlights the aspects of God's character he had come to value in deeper measure as a result of personal need and divine response, namely, God's limitless compassion and never-failing comfort.
    Paul sees his suffering not merely as personally beneficial, driving him to trust God alone (v.9; 12:7), but also as directly benefiting those he ministered to: "God . . . comforts us . . . so that we can comfort. . ." To experience God's help, consolation, and encouragement in the midst of all one's affliction is to become indebted and equipped to communicate the divine comfort to others in any kind of affliction or distress.

5 This verse supplies the reason why suffering equips Christians to mediate God's comfort. Whenever Christ's sufferings were multiplied in Paul's life, God's comfort was also multiplied through the ministry of Christ. The greater the suffering, the greater the comfort and the greater the ability to share with others the divine sympathy. "The sufferings of Christ" cannot refer to the atoning passion of Christ that Paul regarded as a historical fact, a completed event. Rather, they include sufferings that befall the "man in Christ" (12:2) engaged in his service (cf. 4:11-12). They are Christ's sufferings not simply because they are similar to his but because they contribute to the fulfillment of the suffering destined for the body of Christ or because Christ continues to identify himself with his afflicted church.

6-7 Verse 6a restates and applies v.4b. Paul's affliction and endurance of his trials ultimately benefited the Corinthians in that he was now equipped to administer divine encouragement to them when they were afflicted and to ensure their perseverance when they underwent trials. Paul then makes explicit (v.6b) the divine comfort he received in the midst of affliction. Whether he suffered affliction or received comfort, the advantage remained the same for the Corinthians (cf. 4:8-12, 15). They too would know an inner revitalization, an infusion of divine strength that would enable them to endure patiently the same type of trial that confronted Paul (1 Pet 5:9).
    Since Paul realized that to share Christ's sufferings always involved the experience of God's comfort through that suffering, his hope that the Corinthians would be triumphant in their time of trial was securely grounded (v.7).
[NIV BIBLE COMMENTARY Volume 2: New Testament].

[www.sowersoftheword.blogspot.com]. JESUS IS LORD.

LEAVE THE CHILDREN ALONE

Then little children were brought to Jesus that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

But He said, Leave the children alone! Allow the little ones to come to Me, and do not forbid or restrain or hinder them, for of such [as these] the kingdom of heaven is composed.

And He put His hands upon them, and then went His way. (Matthew 19:13-15).

Blessing little children (19:13-15)

13 Children in Jesus' day were often brought to rabbis and elders to be blessed, customarily by placing hands on them (cf. Genesis 48:14). The disciples rebuked the parents and others who were bringing their children. Why? Perhaps they were annoyed that Jesus was being delayed on his journey to Jerusalem, or they felt they were being interrupted in their important discussion. Although children in Judaism of the time were deeply cherished, they were thought in some ways to be negligible members of society: their place was to learn, to be respectful, and to listen.

14-15 Jesus did not want the little children prevented from coming to him, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to those like them. Jesus receives them because they are an excellent object lesson in the kind of humility and faith he finds acceptable (see Matthew 18:1-9). Furthermore, having just given an important lesson on the sanctity of marriage and family (Matthew 19: vv.3-12), Jesus continues this by saying something important about children.
[NIV BIBLE COMMENTARY Volume 2: New Testament].

[www.sowersoftheword.blogspot.com].

JESUS IS LORD.