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Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who
loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know
God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward
us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we
might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but
that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in
us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we
abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And
we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of
the world.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and
he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for
us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in
him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have
boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this
world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear,
because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made
perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. If someone
says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who
does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom
he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who
loves God must love his brother also.
This month's topic is how can we love our enemies when they are so
bent on destroying us. What I have found these past two years that my
enemy can very well be those who call themselves 'Christian.' The
Gospel has been so perverted, with the help of Satan, to bring a
different gospel than the one that brings Good News about our Savior,
Jesus Christ. This different gospel is works-based religion -- they
are taking the all sufficiency of Calvary's Cross and devaluing it
by saying we must 'do' more in our own self-righteous, arrogant
attitude. They must, in some way, glorify themselves in an attitude
of self-occupation. Christ's finished work on the Cross is sufficient
for the entire world -- past, present and future. Because of the
completed work of Calvary, the sin issue no longer rules in our lives.
We are free from the Law and we saved by grace, through faith, and not
of our own, but it is a gift of God. (Romans 8:2, Ephesians 2:8-9).
I have been patient and long suffering with 'Christians' who believe
that homosexuals are 'damned for hell,' and I am included in that
because I am a transsexual. I do not believe homosexuality, in
itself, is a sin, any more than heterosexuality is a sin. I believe
it is the intentions of the heart, that only God can see in our souls.
The Bible teaches that the only necessity for salvation is belief in
Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God and died for my sins. No
more, no less. Also, John 3:16 says that 'Whosoever' shall believe
on Him (Jesus Christ) shall not perish, but have everlasting life --
and I believe that 'whosoever' can be homosexual, heterosexual,
transsexual, and so forth.
I say that before we can love our enemies, we must know the love of
God. Because if we know the love of God, and understand His charity
toward us, then we can understand the value that we have with God.
This will help us gain the knowledge of our love for our brothers and
sisters in Christ, as well as our enemies.
We must understand the nature of God's subjective love. God's love is
made perfect. The word of God in 1 John 4 says that there is no fear
in love and that perfect love casts out all fear. Because of the fear
of death, people live their lives in subjection to some kind of
bondage. When I'm filled with love, which is this subjective nature
of God, that love will drive out subjective fear. Where there is
fear, there is insecurity, the devaluation of ourselves because of how
we view ourselves. We must keep in mind that our feelings are not of
truth, but the mind of God is truth and purity. He loved us first.
God is love. That love is made manifest to the world through His Son,
Jesus Christ.
God's love is subjective, a love that depends completely on the
subject (in this case, God) and never on the object (man). Subjective
love is unconditional. Subjective love only belongs to God. God is
love, but I am not love. Only to the degree that I receive love from
God, do I actually have love. Only as I receive love can I be love.
I must have this love shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit
(Romans 5:5).
What did subjective love do? It manifested itself on the Cross in the
unlimited atonement to pay for the sins of the world (see 1 John 2:2
and 2 Corinthians 5:19). This love is unconditional. Now, whosoever
will may come to God and be received of Him, and as many as receive
Jesus Christ, receive power to become the sons of God (John 1:12).
Objective love -- in contrast with subjective love -- depends upon the
response of the object to the subject who is expressing the love. It
is based on the value that has been place on the object, or something
attractive in the object. Unsaved people can have measure of
objective love toward one another.
The moment we were saved, we received a robe of imputed
righteousness -- the righteousness of a holy God placed on our
account, with no works God place on our account, with no works on our
part (Isaiah 61:10). Positionally, we were declared righteous (Romans
3:25). But at that point, the only way God could love us objectively
was in our position in the Finished Work. This is not an experiential
love where He initiates and we respond. It is an unconditional love
that extends from the Subject because He is love; but as yet, there
was nothing of value in us as the objects of His love. His love was
for us, and toward us, but it was subjective. There is no real
response on our part until we begin to have a hunger and thirst for
the Word of God. But as we receive the Word of God, we are filled
with imparted righteousness (Matthew 5:6), which gives us objective
value.
Objective love is conditional, just as rewards are conditional.
Therefore, we must first develop a capacity to understand how much God
loves us. He will always love us, and we will always be the objects
of His love for salvation, but His all encompassing Alpha-Omega love
must be imparted. When it is not imparted, then we do not receive the
many benefits that are ours in Christ . We may have the benefits of
positional truth, and we may know that we have eternal life (1 John
5:13), but we do not yet have everything that belongs to us in our
experience.
Because objective love is conditional, its manifestation changes
depending on the response of the object to the subject. If I have
entered into an objective love relationship with God, by putting Him
first and responding with God by putting Him first and responding to
His promises, then I will experience His subjective love toward me.
As we begin to respond to God's subjective love toward us, we begin to
love ourselves. We love who God has made us to be in Christ. Then we
have the power to respond to God's commandment, "Thou shall love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind, and with all thy strength" (Mark 12:30). This brings us
into a special relationship with God -- an exchange of objective love.
"I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me"
(Proverbs 8:17). This verse is speaking about objective love, which
is based on a response from the object and flows back to the subject.
As a result of this communion through the Holy Spirit, the love of God
is shed abroad and poured out, as already stated (Romans 5:5).
Objective love toward people must first be based on my response to God
as the subject who loves me unconditionally. When I am filled with
the subjective love of God, then I can have a positive attitude toward
the potential of the object, whether it be my significant other
(spouse), another believer, the unsaved, or even my enemies.
Whenever a person as the object is responsive, subjective love will
be poured into him until the well springs up and the river flows out
(John 4:14, 7:38-39), then righteousness is revealed from faith to
faith (Romans 1:17).
Because I am filled with the Spirit, I can have attitude of love
toward my enemies that is free from mental attitude sin. When we
receive grace, mercy and love through the Word of God, and when we
keep those words through Grace, using rebound when we fail, then we
have objective love. That quality of love is not produced because of a
works program, it is based upon us receiving the divine nature of God,
which brings in virtue and integrity of grace through His precious
promises.
We are always under grace and then we are healed by grace. Because of
God's subjective love when we fall, we are not utterly cast down,
though we may think we are (see Psalm 37:24). The Word of God says we
are not. We may have to use rebound seven times a day, but we keep
rebounding because our hearts are after God. We keep seeking after
God and receiving from Him until finally the Word becomes resident in
our souls. It becomes our possession, a well of water that springs up
into everlasting life, and a river which flows out to others (John
4:14, 7:38).
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Seeds of Peace : Contemplation and Non-Violence William Henry Shannon Thich Nhat Hanh
Other Articles By Lucas Hawkins:
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