“O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” [1]
Karl Barth, the Swiss theologian, following a lecture delivered in 1962 in Rockefeller Chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago was asked to summarise the gist or his multiplied books on theology. This learned man charmed his admiring audience by quoting from a song that every child learned during Sunday School: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Indeed, each Christian can testify to the truth that Jesus loves him or her, and this on the authority of the Bible. Christian love is ridiculed when the world wants to mock the Faith. I suppose the primary reason that this is the case is that those who belong to the world long for love, but they cannot define what is meant when they speak of love. Therefore, as the song writer has stated, those of the world are always looking for love in all the wrong places. [2] Christians know what love is, even if we are too often negligent when speaking about the love we have received from the Lord. Though we Christians may sometimes sound as though we are speaking with the voice of the world, each follower of Christ has experienced the love of the Father, and thus we can speak with authority about love. Because we walk in love, we are experts on the real thing.
With this message I want to encourage you not only to communicate your knowledge of love to those about you, but to live a life revealing the love of the Father. We who follow the Master are responsible to reflect the love of God as we conduct our lives day-by-day. Fortunately for us, the Lord Jesus Himself asked the Father to endue us with His love—the same love that the Son and the Father have shared for all eternity. Since the Father always gives the Son what He asks, we know that the love of God resides in us. Just as the Risen Lord of Glory lives in His redeemed people, we know the love of God is integral to the life of the one who follows the Risen Saviour.
THE CHRISTIAN’S KNOWLEDGE OF LOVE — “O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” [JOHN 17:25-26]. I suppose it was inevitable that we would come to the point of speaking about love. It is a common caricature of we who preach to laugh about our emphases on love. With exaggerated emoting, comedians and anyone who wishes to ridicule preachers will caricature how we speak about love. We Christians are guilty of speaking about the love of God precisely because we have received that love, even when we didn’t deserve it—and we are changed by His love.
Though a Christian may be reluctant to speak about love because of fear she will be ridiculed by those associated with the world or because she has adopted—consciously or unconsciously—the attitude of the world concerning this business of love, the Christian nevertheless does know what love is because God does love her or him with unfailing love. That Christian has now received the love of Christ, and she or he is confident that they are the object of eternal love.
In the truest sense, we Christians are world class experts when it comes to love. In the realm of physical love, multiplied studies have shown that followers of the Risen Son of God are the most satisfied—and the most satisfying—lovers that are to be found anywhere in the world. And why not? The individual who is redeemed knows—and is known by—the God of Love!
Ladies, you need to know that the godly man who believes the Word of God and incorporates the teachings of that Word into his life is the best lover possible. He sees you as more than a sexual being—he sees you as an heir together with him of the grace of life. Because he wants to honour the Master, he esteems you as a precious gift given by the hand of God Who always gives what is best. This is precisely what we read when Peter instructs Christian men, “Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” [1 PETER 3:7].
Men, the identical truth holds for you; that godly woman who puts Christ first in her life is the gal for you. She will lavish her love on you because she wants to honour Christ, ensuring that the Word that God has given is a vital part of her life. And because this is true, you will be blessed by her presence as a loving wife. She will put Christ first, and because Christ is first in her life, she will always seek to honour His reign in her life by showing you respect and honour, just as she is taught when the Apostle Paul writes, “Let the wife see that she respects her husband” [EPHESIANS 5:33b].
That godly woman will take to heart the wise words delivered through the Apostle to the Jews, who informs Christian women, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening” [1 PETER 3:1-6].
And it is not merely physical love that is in view when we speak of the love the follower of the Risen Saviour experiences and reveals. Love must be founded on something far deeper than mere sexual activity if it is to last and if it is to grow. Without being firmly grounded in mutual respect for the unique capabilities of one another and mutual acceptance of the uniqueness of each other, love will soon wither and die. We are individuals, and we are not identical. Women are not men—and it will be impossible for a woman to become a man, and men are not women. It is an impossibility for a man to become a woman. No man can ever understand what it is to be a woman, though he can appreciate women for their strengths and unique perspective on issues. And the same holds true for women who foolishly imagine they can become men.
I find it interesting to note that the Greek term for physical love is not found in the New Testament. The reason for this absence is not that the Bible is unaware of the act of love, but this absence is because the act is always inferior to the source of love. The Christian understands brotherly love, the natural love for family and for friends, but the love the child of God expresses is intensified because he is loved within the Family of God. It is this divine love that we Christians experience, and thus reflect.
However, there exists—and is experienced only as a Christian—the love of God that is poured out on us as followers of Christ. And it is this divine love that truly transforms the perspective of the twice born child of God on love. We have known the love of God, love that is extended even when we were enemies to Him and devoid of all righteousness; and thus, we understand what it is to be loved unconditionally. We extend this divine love to others because it has filled our lives. We understand in a way those outside of the love of God can never understand, the reality of Jesus’ words, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” [JOHN 15:13]. Our Saviour has revealed that love to us, and we are thus enabled to love as we are loved. This is a truth that is not always recognised—we love in response to being loved.
We see this taught in the Word of God when we witness the Apostle of Love saying, “We love because he first loved us” [1 JOHN 4:19]. Then, John provides practical application of this truth in the verses which follow. In those verses the aged Apostle instructs those who know God, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother” [1 JOHN 4:20-21].
The love of God transforms us who follow Christ; we are changed from enemies of God into the image of Christ the Lord. And this transformation is progressively realised as we walk with the Risen Lord of Glory so that we increasingly grow to reflect the character of the Master, the Son of God with whom we walk. That this is the case for us as followers of the Son of God is revealed when we read what Paul wrote in his second letter to the saints in Corinth. The Apostle wrote, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” [2 CORINTHIANS 3:17-18]. You, if you are a follower of the Risen Lord of Glory, are more like Him today than you were a year ago. You are more like Him now than when you first put faith in Him. And you will be more like Him tomorrow than you are today.
Hold onto this definition of love: love is not an emotion; love is an action. Love is always revealed through the way we interact with others. In short, we who are loved by God cannot help but reveal that love through our interactions with others. The lost will know that God loves us because we love them enough to tell them of the life that is offered in Christ the Son of God. They will know that our love is genuine because we will not avoid warning them of the coming wrath in a show of false concern that we may injure their feelings. The redeemed will know that God loves us because we will seek their welfare in all things, always remembering them before our God and Father in prayer and preferring them in love. Our family will know God loves us because we will always seek what is best for them as we seek to promote their welfare before the Lord, to make them better people.
Thus, it will be apparent that our love—love for the lost, love for our redeemed fellow saints, love for our family, indeed, love for all mankind—is but a reflection of the love that is poured out on us by the Son of God Who loved us and gave Himself for us. That this is the situation for the child of God becomes evident as we witness the Apostle when he testifies, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” [GALATIANS 2:20].
I’ve been speaking of the love revealed through the life of us who follow the Saviour, but the love of God is not restricted to us who are made alive in Christ. Surely you have heard at some time the justly famous verse that informs all who will hear it, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” [JOHN 3:16]. God loves the world! However, His is not the love that many imagine, a love best described as that of a doting old grandfatherly sort who can’t bear to hold his loved ones accountable for their enmity. The love of God is a love that willingly sacrifices Himself for His creature, but also a love that cares enough to demand accountability of those to whom He offers life.
I don’t want anyone to fall into the trap of deluding themselves into thinking that because God is love that they can ignore Him, refusing to receive Him as Lord over their life. The dark side of God’s love is divine anger. Sinners need to know that the love of God is extended to all who will receive it. However, should that love be unrequited, there remains nothing but the abiding wrath of God. We read in Scripture the warning, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” [JOHN 3:18]. And this warning is iterated and emphasised when we read, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” [JOHN 3:36].
Nevertheless, God loves those whom He created. The evidence that this is so was witnessed in the sacrifice of the Son of God for sinful man. The Apostle Paul testifies to this truth when he writes, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” [ROMANS 5:8].
Though those identified with this dying world cannot recognise this truth, the presence of us who are saved gives evidence of God’s great love. John makes this evident when he writes in his first epistle, “By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God sent His one and only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins” [1 JOHN 4:9-10 NET 2ND ed.].
THE CONTINUAL DEMONSTRATION OF GOD’S LOVE — “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” [JOHN 17:26]. The knowledge of God’s love for His Son, and consequently our knowledge of His love for those who believe in Him, is not something with which we are born. We may know about God’s love, but our personal knowledge of His love becomes a reality only after we are born again. Our knowledge of God’s love is not innate simply because we exist. The love of God is revealed to all who follow the Risen Lord as His Spirit takes up residence in the lives of those who are redeemed and His presence in saved people reveals the full dimension of the new birth.
Let’s look a little more carefully at what Jesus said, since it is a revelation of truth that we might otherwise never know. Notice, the close association between knowing God’s Name and the love which He reveals to those who know Him. Jesus told the disciples many things. We know that He told them on multiple occasions what would take place during the days of the great tribulation [see MATTHEW 24:3ff.]. He prepared them for His return to the Father, revealing the purpose of His return by telling them that He would go before them to prepare a place for His disciples [see JOHN 14:1-4]. He invested considerable time in telling them that He would send the Spirit of God to them after He was gone [see JOHN 14:25-29]. And as witnessed in this text, the Son of God told His disciples of His love, love that would flow through them to a lost and dying world. We are focused at this time on the love the Master has for His disciples, love that is witnessed to this day among those who are born from above and into the Family of God.
Remember how Jesus spoke of love as the defining mark of those who follow Him. Recall that Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another” [JOHN 15:12-17].
The love of Christ that we who are His followers are charged to reveal is not a matter of mere words. Love defines who we are as followers of Christ the Lord of Glory. Logic would lead us to conclude that an absence of love indicates we are dealing with people who do not follow Christ. At best, an absence of love will indicate people who are ignorant of the Master’s will. And that should give pause to every individual who seeks to follow the Risen Saviour. Within the membership of almost any assembly of the faithful, there will be witnessed far too many instances of fighting as members squabble and argue, jockeying for power over the congregation. There are far too many angry accusations resulting in damage to fellow church members witnessed among the churches of our Lord. And there is far too often within the churches scandalous speech and actions witnessed that will inevitably drive away people who would seek to share our worship.
Such tragic situations give witness that one of the fundamental, crucial aspects of a biblical congregation is being ignored! I’m speaking of discipline of unruly members. Among too many of the churches of our Lord, gathering a crowd takes precedence over discipleship. I understand that whenever the pastor speaks of discipleship our thoughts turn to telling people of Christ and instructing them about baptism.
A few dear souls will understand that we must then teach people what is expected in the manner of life that we live out before the eyes of the watching world. And I wouldn’t want anyone to imagine that I am depreciating these aspects of discipleship. However, we must never lose sight of the fact that discipleship means acceptance of discipline. Self-discipline enables the disciple to avoid church discipline. Discipline for the Christian is administered by the Spirit of Christ living in us, always urging us. It is as Isaiah has written, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left” [ISAIAH 30:21].
If the one who follows Christ heeds the voice of the Spirit, that one will endeavour to do what pleases the Lord, avoiding speech and actions that dishonour God. However, if the spirit of this dying world prevails in the life of that individual, conflict, schisms, slander, and other such evils will mark that life. If the spirit of this world is tolerated within the congregation, it will spell ruin for the people. Because the spirit of the age is such a serious threat to godliness, the congregation must take responsibility to administer the discipline that is lacking.
Years ago, the Baptist theologian J. L. Dagg said, “When church discipline leaves a church, Christ soon goes with it.” [3] If a church fails to practise discipline, that congregation undermines the very message it seeks to proclaim. Refusal to administer discipline enervates the message of Christ, insuring that the church looks just like the world. And if the church is indistinguishable from the world, why should the lost want to listen to what is said by that congregation. Without holding those who are members accountable, the congregation is just another philosophy competing with the attractive philosophies popularised throughout the world.
Church discipline shows love for the Christian blinded by sin. Sensitive souls may demure that it may hurt the one disciplined, but failure to discipline the errant saint surely hurts the reputation of the congregation, and it hurts the cause of Christ. Weaker members of the assembly will be stymied in their growth in Christ. Tragically, we have forgotten that a little yeast works through the entire batch of dough, as the Word says.
You may recall an incident so egregious that it required the Apostle to verbally confront a congregation. Listen as Paul writes what must be done. “It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, the kind of immorality that is not permitted even among the Gentiles, so that someone is cohabiting with his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you have been deeply sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this from among you? For even though I am absent physically, I am present in spirit. And I have already judged the one who did this, just as though I were present. When you gather together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of our Lord Jesus, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast affects the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough—you are, in fact, without yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. So then, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of vice and evil, but with the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth” [1 CORINTHIANS 5:1-8 NET 2nd].
What is witnessed in this instruction is love—love for Christ and for His people, to be certain, but it is love for the one who is undisciplined in how he was then living. Note the Apostle’s words: “You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” [1 CORINTHIANS 5:5]. If the one so disciplined is a follower of Christ, though living without discipline, then he will be victimised by Satan. If that one is not a follower of Christ, nothing will happen since he belongs to Satan and he is only going home to daddy. Hold this thought in your mind: self-discipline reveals our love for Christ; church discipline reveals our love for Christ and our love for the one who is disciplined.
You will do well to always keep the words of the Master foremost in your mind: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” [JOHN 14:15-17]. Love for the Living Saviour is not seen through ignoring what He commands! Love for Christ is revealed through your obedience to His commands. And because you love Him, you will love the presence of the Spirit He has placed in you; you will make every effort to heed the guidance His Spirit provides as you live out your days in this present life.
You may recall Paul’s admonition delivered to Titus that cautioned against succumbing to the attitudes marking this present age. The Apostle wrote, “Avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned” [TITUS 3:9-11]. The people of God are not to tolerate divisive behaviour. We must warn those who are determined to have their own way that they must yield to the Spirit of Christ Who always leads His people into peace.
Elsewhere, Paul contrasts the spirit of the age with the Spirit of Christ as witnessed in the conduct of those who profess Christ. The passage to which I now point is found in the Ephesian Encyclical, where we read, “Don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ” [EPHESIANS 4:30-32 CSB]. Obviously, bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting, and slander grieves the Spirit of Christ. Regardless of the name over the door, where these attitudes are permitted and tolerated reveals a people that are not walking in the Spirit.
Another truth that we must note is that Jesus stated that He would continue to make the Name of the Father known to His disciples. Obviously, this would be an impossibility if Jesus were not alive. What we should understand is that our knowledge of God and our knowledge of His love is dependent upon Christ Jesus being alive. Twice, Jesus spoke of His disciples living because He was living. Earlier in His ministry, Jesus was speaking to Jews who were looking for a handout rather than seeking a transformed life. At that time, the Master testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever” [JOHN 6:53-58].
Later, as He neared the cross, Jesus spoke directly to His followers, saying, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” [JOHN 14:18-20]. And He has come in the presence of His Spirit living in each one who follows Him; and He works powerfully in congregations that seek His honour.
THE KNOW-SO LOVE OF CHRIST — “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” [JOHN 17:26]. The one who is born from above knows the love of Christ because the Risen Saviour has made known the love or God to His followers. What is more exciting still for each one following Christ in this present day is His statement to the Father that He would continue to make the Name of God known. Jesus used the future active indicative verb gnorizo. You may remember that I have emphasised in other messages that Paul often speaks of the confidence we have that we are saved, noting that he uses the root of this verb as he speaks of our intuitive knowledge.
Jesus is saying in a powerful fashion that His followers will intuitively know the Father’s love, because the Master Himself will be revealing that love to His own people. This is the basis for Paul’s statement, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” [ROMANS 5:5]. Candidly, no follower of Christ ever need guess whether the Saviour loves her—she knows His love! This is the testimony we are given when the Apostle of Love writes, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” [1 JOHN 4:10]. The sacrifice of Jesus is powerful, positive evidence of God’s love!
In that same missive John continues in the identical vein as he establishes a crucial test meant to encourage each Christian, especially as that follower of Christ endeavours to express the love of Christ—love that reflects the divine love we have each received. John writes, “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” [1 JOHN 5:3]. Of course, if we keep the commandments of Christ, we will love the brotherhood of believers and we will love the lost, telling them of Christ. If you’ve paid attention to the Scripture verses cited earlier, you will recall that Jesus said something quite similar to what John writes here in this brief letter. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” [JOHN 14:15].
Consequently, this essential test is iterated in his second missive when John writes, “This is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it” [2 JOHN 6]. Obviously, this teaching delivered by the Master made a great impression on John, and it should impress us! John heard what the Master said concerning love, and thus the Apostle of Love teaches us that the definitive evidence that one has experienced the love of God is that that person obeys the Son of God. The one who has experienced the love of God wants to know what the Saviour commands and wants to do what the Master commands. The one who has known the love of God wants to honour Him Who redeems the lost soul. No matter how “nice” the disobedient may appear to us, when they dishonour the Lord we realise that they are neither representative of God nor do they reflect knowledge of His love! The lack of obedience to the commands of the Son of God is powerfully effective evidence that the disobedient person is not a child of God.
Voluntary obedience is the surest evidence of love for the Saviour. Set in opposition to this statement is a statement that warns of animosity toward the Saviour. Jesus said, “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me” [JOHN 14:24]. As you might expect, John echoes this dark truth when he writes in his first missive, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” [1 JOHN 4:8].
The Apostle to the Gentiles provides insight into the reason we who are saved live in obedience to the Saviour when he writes, “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” [ROMANS 5:1-5]. When the Spirit of Christ takes up residence in the life of the twice born child of God, God’s love is poured into the heart of that one. And if God’s love is poured into the heart of one who is born from above, it is not possible for that one not to reveal that love through obedience to the Son of God.
Allow me to be practical so that this essential teaching is incorporated into our hearts. If the Spirit of Christ has taken up residence in my life, I will obey the commands of the Saviour. And to know what Jesus commanded, I will diligently search the Word He has given, making an ongoing effort to know what He has said. Speaking in a practical sense, I will be sensitive to what the Spirit of Christ is saying so that I will not dishonour the Saviour. I will both listen by reading the Word and by giving thought to what is written therein. Because I am investing time in discovering the will of Christ and working to fulfil that will, I will be growing more like Christ with each passing day. The one who follows Christ should be able to review her or his life now, seeing definite progress in holiness with each passing year. And if I am still where I was when I first came to faith, I need to assess who I have believed and what I have believed!
Refresh your understanding by recalling what is written concerning the purpose of your salvation. Paul informs us, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” [ROMANS 8:26-30]. We were saved so that we could be conformed to the image of God’s own Son. And the process of conforming to His image began with our salvation! Though the process of conforming to Christ’s image will not conclude until His return, it is taking place now!
The lost need not remain excluded from God’s love, because we hear the Word testify, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” [JOHN 3:16]. Unsaved friend, Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice so that you need not be condemned by Holy God. He calls you to believe this truth, knowing that Christ has been raised for your justification. Believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved today. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Bob Morrison, Patti Ryan, Wanda Mallette, “Lookin’ For Love,” ©Bluewater Music Corp., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
[3] Cited by Jonathan Leeman and Timothy Gatewood, “10 Questions with Jonathan Leeman: From Ecclesiology to Preaching to a Theological Mount Rushmore,” Credo Magazine, 2019
