From Where Does Love Come? Part Four

“Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.” I Timothy 1: 5

The third fountain from which love springs is a genuine faith. This relates to our future goals.

The word translated as sincere, or genuine, means without hypocrisy. Are you living on a pretend faith? Faith produces works. Faith is consistently expressive. Is your faith a mirage?

The test of your faith is does it prompt obedient action? If what you call faith doesn’t, it isn’t faith, it’s froth.  It is a religious front that is a fake.

There are some very special times that can be used to demonstrate faith. Use the difficult times in life as occasions to demonstrate your faith in the living Lord. Instead of complaining and whining, use those difficult moments as meaningful times to exhibit your faith and thereby prove His faithfulness.

In love our Lord has discretely established faith as the means by which we obtain life’s greatest blessings and numerous other valuable ones. We are saved by grace through faith. Faith is the positive means by which we respond to the offer of salvation through Jesus Christ.   

There are some things that we might like but can’t obtain on our own. For example, if there were a cube of pure gold measuring 13″ X 13″ offered to you, would you accept it. If you were told that for it to be yours all you would have to do is come pick it up personally and take it with you, would you do it? A thirteen inch cube of pure gold!  Would you like it? It is yours if you simply take it. Most persons would love to have such a quantity of gold.  Regardless of how badly you would like it you could not meet the requirement for obtaining it. You could not pick it up for it would weigh one ton. You couldn’t meet the standard of picking it up.      

For you to pick up the gift of salvation God has made it possible for the “whosoever” of John 3: 16. All that is necessary is faith in Christ.

It can never be spelled out too simply or too frequently. There are four basics we do well to learn. Use the personal pronoun “I” to refer to yourself and repeat within yourself the following:

#1. I am not God.

#2. God is God.

#3. I sin when I get #1 and #2 reversed.

#4. Jesus Christ came to help me get #1 and #2 in proper order and to forgive me of #3.

When we, by faith, put those four in proper perspective, we are in position to obtain the wonderful love gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

You will never truly live until you have established a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Then you shall never die. The fountains of love flow freely.