![]() ![]() He wanted Israel to understand that they couldn’t separate loving Him from obeying His commandments. God established the connection between loving and obeying Him early in Scripture. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. Love God and keep His commandments (Deuteronomy 7:9) Let’s look at 20 ways that love is discussed throughout Scripture. And the entire biblical narrative is a story about how that love pursues humanity, culminating on the cross with the most beautiful and tragic picture of love the world has ever seen. John tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). To love him is to obey him out of joy and peace.While many religions stress the topic of love, Christianity is unique in the way it describes God as a personification of this virtue. We must suspend love and even belief in order to sin against God. Can you strike your brother? Can you lie, cheat, or steal when you believe in God and love him? No. Truly, what sins can be committed when one is in a conscious state of loving God and each other with deep love? Can you hate while you love? No. #3 “because love covers over a multitude of sins.” And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 Jn 3:16). “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. ![]() It is a deep and abiding state of being that gives the Christian perfect peace and aligned him or her with God himself, who is love. Emotion can be a part of it, but this love is an action, even more, it is an attitude about life, God, and our fellow man. To love each other deeply is easily misunderstood as an emotion. Love exists “above all,” because God is “above all.” ![]() Faith and hope will not be necessary in our eternal glory in heaven, but love will remain forever because “God is love” (1 Jn 4:7). Breaking Down the Key Parts of 1 Peter 4:8 And when one loves another with the love of the Father, it is considered by God as love for the Father. It can be given whether it is accepted or not. It is selfless but also gets something in return because when it is given, it multiplies to the giver. ![]() The love that Peter, and Jesus before him, had in mind was the agape that characterizes the love the Father has. Though he has told them to be alert, sober, prayer, hospitable, generous and faithful in stewardship, it is love, above all that will keep them until the great day of the Lord when he will return to judge the earth. He is giving instruction for the Church to stay focused on the coming of Christ. Peter is speaking of the impending “end of all things” (1 Pt 4:7). We can only sin when we suspend our love for God and people. If one truly loves God and people, it is difficult to sin against God or people. Is this not what was meant by Christ when he said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:37-38)? In fact, he said that the whole law is summed up in these two. “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” Explanation and Commentary of 1 Peter 4:8 ![]()
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