All religions demand some form of obedience. Now that doesn’t mean that all religions are the same. For God has only revealed Christianity to be true. That’s because Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. He is the One-and-Only of the Father. He not only reveals to us the Father’s love, but He even embodies such divine love!
Just as the Father loved the Son, so the Son loved us and became our friend. In His love, we know the Father’s love. The love with which the Father has loved the Son from eternity is the love in which we are chosen. And it is from this love that our love for one another springs forth. The Father loves the Son. The Son loves us. We love one another in the Holy Spirit. That’s the life cycle of our Christian faith. It all begins with God the Father.
The true wonder of the cross of Christ is that it shows us the Father’s love. The Father loves the Son. Yet, He gives Him a commandment: He is to become human and then suffer, die, and rise for our salvation.
Yes, it is an astounding mystery that Jesus became one of us. It is as our sermon hymn proclaimed:
O love, how deep, how broad, how high, beyond all thought and fantasy, that God, the Son of God, should take our mortal form for mortals’ sake. He sent no angel to our race, of higher or of lower place, but wore the robe of human frame, and to this world Himself He came [LSB 544].
Yes, Jesus’ incarnation is God and man becoming one Being. And if God is now human, then we can know God as one of us. We can then go to Him, call on Him, and trust in Him.
Jesus does not hide Himself behind a list of rules. He has revealed Himself to us. Yes, He is the invisible God–but He is also the visible Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus, we see love in the flesh. In Jesus, we also see such love come to us in His Supper, where He comes to us in His body and blood.
We also see such love in Jesus’ suffering. He says, “I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love.” What commands does Jesus mean? Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The commands the Father gave to the Son are those which the Son fulfills in love.
For God’s love isn’t some abstract ideal. A list of do’s and don’ts can’t contain the fullness of His love. God’s love is real and lived out in real ways, especially where and when the Son “would lay down His life for His friends.” In the Son following His Father’s commands, love has achieved its goal. How so? Through Jesus, we are then brought back to God the Father. That’s how.
That’s why Christianity knows no rules except love, at least love as God defines it. St. Paul writes:
Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not bear false witness,” “Do not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up by this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Love is what fulfills the Law (Romans 13: 8-10).
God is love. The singular command that our Lord Jesus gives us is to remain in that love. Whatever fruit we will bring forth in our lives will come from that love. Whatever goodness we achieve, whatever kindness we offer, whatever benefit to anyone we provide, they all come from this love and nowhere else.
A religion of rules uses rules to set up how god and his people will interact. The god makes the rules and the people respond by obeying them. The god will either bless or curse, depending on how faithfully the people have followed the rules. (The Old Covenant was like that in some respects. But that was to show the futility of trying to receive God’s blessings by keeping His commandments.)
But we do not embrace a religion of rules. Our rule-keeping does not create our relationship with God; love does that. We don’t begin our life with God; He does. Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16).
That isn’t a popular teaching–that God is the one who chooses us. Yet, that’s what Scripture teaches. God chooses us. We don’t choose Him (although from our perspective it often seems that way).
People don’t like this teaching, for it makes us then think that we are nothing but robots. I mean, if God chooses us to be His children, then why bother doing anything? Doesn’t that encourage irresponsible living? Doesn’t it promote self-centeredness? Won’t that crush any motivation we have to evangelize others? If everything about our salvation is the gracious gift of our loving God, and we get no credit for it, what then do we have left to do?
Ah, now you are finally beginning to get Christianity. What’s left for us to do? It’s to love! That’s what we are to do! We are to love as God defines it! The Son is begotten of the Father’s love from eternity. In love, the Son lays down His life for us and becomes our brother. In love, the Holy Spirit enlivens our hearts with the Gospel of God’s pure love, so we can live in it and have joy in it. What’s left for us to do but to love?
The love of God in Christ chose us when we were blind to what is praiseworthy in God’s eyes. We were even hostile to God. Romans 5:10 says, “While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son.” Oh, we could obey rules; anyone can do that, or at least try. But we could not love with godly love. We could not spontaneously and joyfully give ourselves to God, or even to one another. We could not even bear a single fruit of faith fruit because we were spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins, as Ephesians 2:5 says.
So then, how do you know if God has chosen you? People fuss and fret over this and drive themselves crazy. Perhaps, that is why so many have rejected this truth from Scripture. But the truth is the truth; we don’t get to change it. So, how do you know that Jesus includes you when He says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16)?
Consider this: Did Jesus love the LORD His God with all His heart, soul, strength, and mind? Did He love His neighbor as Himself? Did Jesus rise from the dead? Is He alive with life to give? So then, what’s the problem?
Now let’s get personal. Did Jesus live for you? Did Jesus die for you? Did He bear in His body all your sins, suffering what you deserved, washing away your sins by His holy and precious blood? Has God saved in baptism? That’s what 1 Peter 3:21 says; he writes that baptism now saves you. Has God given you eternal life? That’s what John 3:16 says, “that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” So then, what’s the problem?
Such faith within you is not your own achievement, nor is it an accident. God chose you. This is not a cold and arbitrary choosing. This is divine love. It is personal. It is for you. It is powerful. You can depend on it. It is eternal. It won’t change. It is gracious. You can rely on it when your sins rise to condemn you and claim you.
Now, unbelief will take how God works and then assume that what you do doesn’t matter. For that’s how unbelief is. Yet, your faith knows that what you do does matter. It matters, not because you win over God and cause Him to love you by what you do; no, what you do matters because it is born from God’s love. God’s love matters. It achieves its goal. The goal of God’s love for you is to be brought into the life of God’s love, which then lives out such love toward others.
That’s why whatever you do as a Christian you do as someone chosen in God’s love. You do what you do as a saint of God. Jesus laid down His life for you to forgive you of your sins. You are at one with God and live in His love.
What you do in love, you do as someone called in love. That means that every act of kindness, every faith-filled work you do for someone else, every dollar you put in the offering plate, has permanent value. It is true fruit that will last. For God’s love cannot disappear. And so, what we do in love–because we are loved by God–stands the test of time. Such faith-filled deeds are worth doing, for such faith-filled deeds are remembered even into eternity.
God’s love defines who you are as a Christian–and so, from that, you do your acts of love. Yet, whatever sin remains in what you do, God graciously forgives because of His Son, Jesus. You remain in the Father’s love, and your joy is complete. Amen.
