By Camille Russo
God’s love is Agape.
Agape is not a feeling or emotion, but an action. Agape is a sacrificial love that will willingly suffer for the benefit of the one that’s loved, without expectation, it does not come naturally to us humans. Because of our fallen nature, we are incapable of producing such love of our own accord. The flesh can only profit the flesh.
If we are to Love others as God Loves (Agape), we can only attain the ability from its Source: God’s Holy Spirit. This is the Love that has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which God alone is able to give us, by His Will. We become His children by His Grace.
Paul says,
“God poured His Love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who He has GIVEN us.”
Romans 5:5
“The fruit of the SPIRIT is LOVE, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness”
Galatians 5:22
How do we know what Love is? The Book of 1st John clearly tells us how we know:
“By this we know Love, that He (Jesus) laid down His life for us, & we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”
John 3:16
Therefore, it’s obvious that it is only because of God’s Love towards us that we are able to Love one another. Our works don’t win God’s favor, God works in us to bring us to Himself through His Son, because of His Love. God is the definition of Love.
John says:
“Anyone who does not Love, does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4:8
Have you ever felt the pain of incomplete sanctification, the depth of sadness & guilt that comes from having the desire to honor Jesus with your actions, but the failure to attain that perfection?
We live on this side of Heaven still. It deeply hurts sometimes; feeling & knowing the Truth; I am unworthy of God’s Love & Grace because God is Perfect, Holy & Righteous, Yet Jesus says:
“I will never let you go. I will not turn you over to what you deserve, but I will lavish My GRACE on you. I will walk with you. I will NOT leave you.”
He didn’t die for the good nor the perfect. He died for the rejected & broken. A healthy person has no need of a physician, as Jesus said.
Paul says,
“God demonstrates His own Love for us in this: while we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
Christ died for the sinful us, the struggling us, the broken & ugly us. He will be there for His sheep, ALWAYS leading our footsteps back on the narrow path into Eternity.
Why? Because His Love for His sheep was never given based on our own good works, deeds or merits. God The Father, Loved us, wanted us & sent His Son to die for us while we were in rebellion. He will NEVER leave His Sheep, Jesus is the Good Shepherd as reiterated, repetitively, in John 10.
“So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep…” “…I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own KNOW Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep…” “…And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they WILL listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again…”
John 10:7, 11, 14-17
The only Hope we have is in the Power of what God did on the Cross. As Paul says:
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me & the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me & gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20
Jesus says that He does not deal with us according to our sin, but abounds in steadfast (long suffering) Love & Mercy. We need Mercy! The Lord forgives our iniquity, He says He forgives ALL of them…
“If we confess our sins He is just & faithful to forgive us of ALL our sins.”
1st John 1:9
God delights in forgiving His sheep. Jesus said:
My sheep hear My voice, & I know them, they follow Me. I GIVE them eternal life, they will NEVER perish, no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father has given them to Me, He is greater than all, no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
John 10:30
God can & does forgive, it’s who He is. If we confess our sins to Him, He lifts the burdens we carry deep within our souls. Why? Because as Paul said… (for our sake):
“He (God the Father) made Him (Jesus Christ) to become sin, even though Jesus knew no sin, so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21
Not only are we forgiven, but the pit we’ve put ourselves in, He will redeem us from… Paul says:
“He (God) rescued us from the dominion of darkness & brought us into the Kingdom of His beloved Son (Jesus), IN WHOM we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Colossians 1:13-14
And not only are we forgiven & redeemed from our own sinful wickedness, but then we are going to be crowned with His steadfast Love & Mercy, undeservingly. His Love will be our crown… Timothy says:
“…in the future there is laid up for us The Crown of Righteousness from our Righteous Judge…”
2 Timothy 4 8
James says,
“…the man who perseveres under trial will receive the Crown of Life which the Lord promised to those who Love Him.”
James 1:12
Though I have sinned against God & belittled His Name through my corrupt words & hypocritical actions & I have not trusted Him as I ought to… & even though I have spat in His face with my rebellion & ungratefulness… even still, because of His Love, His Agape, He is tender towards me, He is tender to us who are His. We are sinners, yet He doesn’t place His wrath & judgment on those of us who trust in Him (because we are in Him), though we absolutely do deserve His hate & Wrath, I know I do… Paul says:
“There is no one righteous, NOT ONE.”
Romans 3:10
John says,
“If we say we have not sinned, we call God a liar & His Word is not in us”
1 John 1:10
Imagine: Jesus received a crown of thorns, although He deserved a crown of glory. In contrast, I receive a crown of righteousness & mercy, though I deserved the crown of thorns. The Love of God surpasses all human understanding, if we truly explore the depths of God’s Love.
The contrast is profound between recognizing the weight of my sinful nature & also accepting how loved I really am, despite my sinful nature & my depraved thoughts. When we are able to be honest & stand boldly in His Light & actually see our sins, as bad as they are, we can begin to feel like we can’t accept His forgiveness, why would I be forgiven? Because I wouldn’t forgive myself if I were treated as badly as I treat God. With our thoughts, it can feel as if we somehow lessen the gravity of our own sin, or it can feel like we’re abusing His Grace. Does God hate us for a period of time until we get our attitude together, & then we are forgiven? No! He loves us if we are truly His… Scripture says:
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”
Psalm 103:8
We see that we’ve rebelled against God:
“All have sinned & fall short of the glory of God. “
Romans 3:23.
“The wages of ALL sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life IN Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23
We spit in His face. In moments of weakness we walk our own way saying through our actions, “I don’t care what you say God.” & we run to selfishness, greed, laziness, gossip, crude language, idols, self-righteousness, lies & every other desire of the flesh, to avoid the Truth. As we run towards these things that seem so normal in our society, we are actually running away from God. Running away from the ONLY One who has ever TRULY Loved us & done what is best for us… A very important Doctrine that Paul teaches:
“The death Jesus died He died to sin once for all, loving Life to God. You also must consider yourselves dead to sin & alive to God IN Christ Jesus. When slaves of sin, were free from righteousness. Those things are death. You are set free from sin & are slaves of God, we get Fruit leading to sanctification, then eternal life. The wages of sin is death, but the FREE GIFT of God is Eternal Life IN Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:10-11, 20-23
Jesus went to the cross because of THIS, to buy our eternal Life back to His Father. My sin put Jesus on the cross. Our sin put Jesus on the cross. Simultaneously, His Love for us put Himself on the cross. My sin drove the nails into His hands. It’s too easy to blame the ‘OTHER’, be it Pharisee, roman, ‘them’, etc… But it was human nature, the flesh, it was you and me. Sin is not small. It’s an active proclamation that I don’t care about God or His authority over my life.
But notice, who is receiving the punishment for our sins on the cross? It’s not us. It’s Jesus. As we see the evilness of our sin, so the beauty of God’s grace and forgiveness becomes clearer and clearer. The Lord is merciful, gracious, slow to anger & abounding in steadfast Love. At the Cross we see the evilness of our sins & the beauty of God’s Grace showing us what lengths God is willing to forgive & be merciful to His sinful people. The seeming contradiction was met with a beautiful exchange. Our sinful unrighteousness is exchanged for the righteousness of Jesus.
“He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor does He repay us according to our iniquities.”
Psalm 103:10
God will not deal with us according to our sins. When I am choked by my own guilt and shame over what I’ve done or said, feeling beyond unworthy of God’s Love and grace, I remember Jesus said He will not let us go. He will not let you go. He will not turn us over to what we deserve, but lavish His grace on us. He will walk with us. He will not leave you nor forsake you.
I know the pain of guilt & shame after sinful behaviors & actions. I know the temptation to dwell in that pit of despair, because it feels like you deserve it, & you do. But the Gospel doesn’t ask you to dwell in those feelings, but gives us hope for a brighter tomorrow. Jesus has taken your punishment on the cross. He’s exonerated you from the consequence of those sins and Graced you with His own righteousness, which is required to be with our Holy God.
“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2nd Corinthians 5:21
After sinning and becoming the devil that we hate becoming; The only comfort is looking up at Jesus. Remembering His body broken for me. Blood shed for me. His Life was sacrificed for our sinfulness.
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
Christ died for the sinful you, the struggling you, the broken & dirty you. Go to Him as you are, perhaps for the hundredth time. He will be there with open arms. Why? Because His love for you was never given based on your own goodness… He loved us, wanted us, and sent His Son to die for us while we were rebellious. He’s not going to leave us now.
God’s love is agape love, the love of self-sacrifice. He demonstrates this sacrificial love by sending His Son to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. God doesn’t just love; He is love. His nature and essence is love. Love permeates His very being and infuses all His other attributes, even His wrath and anger. Because God’s very nature is love, He must demonstrate love, just as He must demonstrate all His attributes because doing so glorifies Him. Glorifying God is the highest, the best, and the most noble of all acts, so, naturally, glorifying Himself is what He must do, because He is the highest, and alone He deserves all glory. God’s love is powerful & active, nothing can separate His People from His love, nothing!!! No powers, no actions, no authorities, no Spirit’s, nothing…. God loves His people & knows who we are. Through the good and the ugly.
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us. 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.”
Paul says:
1 John 4:15-21
“Who is to condemn? (Not I) Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised? Him who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loves us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:34-35, 37-39
God does not love us because we are lovable or because we deserve His love, the opposite is true. The state of humankind since the rebellion, the fall is one of rebellion and disobedience.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17:9-10
“None is righteous, not one; All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
Romans 3:10, 12-18, 22-26
God justifies us by His love, to show his righteousness, the flesh fails & is wicked, anything good within me is by His Spirit Alone.
“… the righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are JUSTIFIED by his GRACE as a GIFT, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
1 John 4:15
GOD DISCIPLINES ALL THOSE HE LOVES. If we are His we will endure discipline because we are His… When we fall, He will show us our error in love and He will never stray from our thoughts and hearts. Shame can’t keep His sheep from Him. God knows when we will be tempted and knows when we will fail… but as His children, we will never be given anything that He can’t guide us out of, He teaches us and shows us our weaknesses so we will trust him. ⬇️
“Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:26 —>
“Consider Christ, who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself in LOVE. So that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. Remember the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives. ”For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it…”
Hebrews 12:3-8, 11-15
The following Psalm is so comforting to us sinners who have a heart desperate to trust in the Lord and desire to please Him, but know our flesh will never please Him, the only One strong enough to get us through the valley of the shadow of death is God, Jesus, through the Spirit, His love is made perfect in our weakness.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who CROWNS YOU WITH STEADFAST LOVE and mercy, The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him. ” For He knows our frame our weakness; He remembers that we are only dust.
The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all, ALL…”
Psalm 103
Trusting in ourselves is where our flesh nature comes out, we are untrustworthy, but He is trustworthy. He knows our weakness… But He is our strength He is our Salvation. He loves us unconditionally. Who the father calls, the Son WILL keep.
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, He is good, His steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way till they reached a City to dwell in. Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man! For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things. Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High. So He bowed their hearts down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man! For He shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron. Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man!”
Psalm 107:1-19, 21
