Fellowship: The Believer Practicing God’s Love is Experiencing Fellowship with God Lesson # 8

If the believer is going to experience fellowship with God, they must exercise or demonstrate the love of God in their lives.

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Sunday August 27, 2017

www.wenstrom.org

Lesson # 8

If the believer is going to experience fellowship with God, they must exercise or demonstrate the love of God in their lives.

The believer who exercises God’s love toward their fellow human being is experiencing fellowship with God.

If they are loving their fellow believer as Jesus Christ has loved them and is loving them, then, they are experiencing fellowship with God.

If they are not exercising the love of God in their lives, then, they are not experiencing fellowship with God.

It is an eternal spiritual truth.

The Bible teaches that God as to His nature, is love.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (NASB95)

The fact that we are beneficiaries of God’s divine-love before justification and objects of His personal love after justification will serve to encourage us when we go through adversity in life and also serves to challenge us to advance to maturity and execute the plan of God.

The believer who comprehends and acknowledges and accepts by faith that they are the object of God’s love will receive the capacity to love others, even the obnoxious.

It is only when the believer realizes and accepts by faith the extent to which God loves them that they can in turn love like God.

This gives the believer the capacity to love others as God has loved the human race.

God commands the believer to love his fellow believer and fellow human being.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you self-sacrificially love one another, even as I have self-sacrificially loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have self-sacrificially love for one another.” (My translation)

“This is my commandment, that you self-sacrificially love one another, just as I self-sacrificially loved you.” (My translation)

The love of God has many characteristics: (1) Loyal (, , ; , ; ) (2) Self-sacrificial (; ; ). (3) Eternal (). (4) Kind (). (5) Not self-centered (bragging, jealous) (). (6) Immutable (). (7) Unconditional (, ). (8) Faithful (, ). (9) Compassionate (). (10) Merciful (). (11) Righteous and Just (). (12) Thoughtful and Considerate (). (13) Truthful or Honest (). (14) Long-suffering (). (15) Enduring (). (16) Confident in the Future (). (17) Forgiving (). (18) Tolerant (). (19) Giving (; ). (20) Encourages Others (; ). (21) Prays for Others (). (22) Considers Others More Important Than Self (Phlp. 2:3). (23) Considerate Others (Phlp. 4:10-18). (24) Shares Another’s Burden in Adversity (). (25) Delights in Being Obedient to God (). (26) Reciprocates (Phlp. 1:3-7). (27) Sincere ().

In the Greek New Testament, agape, “divine-love” has two directions: (1) Vertical: Love directed toward God (). (2) Horizontal: Love directed toward man ().

illustrates for us the directions of love.

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD.’ 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’” (NASB95)

The believer who obeys the Lord demonstrates their love for the Lord.

If they love the Lord they will obey Him.

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (NASB95)

Obedience to the following prohibitions will enable us to fulfill the mandate to love one another as the Lord loved us:

Do not judge one another: Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. (NASB95)

Do not have lawsuits with one another: Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? (NASB95)

Do not bite and devour one another: But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another. (NASB95)

Do not challenge and envy one another: Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. (NASB95)

Do not speak evil or complain against one another: Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother, or judges his brother, speaks against the law, and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it. (NASB95) Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. (NASB95)

Do not seek glory from one another: How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? (NASB95)

Obedience to the following commands will enable us to fulfill the mandate to love one another as the Lord loved us:

Be devoted to one another: Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor. (NASB95)

Be of the same mind toward one another: Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. (NASB95)

Build one another up: So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. (NASB95)

Accept one another: Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. (NASB95)

Wait for one another: So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. (NASB95)

Tolerate one another: with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love. (NASB95)

Kind, tender-hearted and forgiving to one another: Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (NASB95)

Speak to one another with spiritual songs: speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.

Be subject to one another: and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. (NASB95)

Regard one another as more important than yourself: Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. (NASB95)

Bear with one another: bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. (NASB95)

Comfort one another: Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (NASB95)

Encourage one another: Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. (NASB95)

Stimulate one another to the performance of divine good: and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. (NASB95)

Pray for one another: Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (NASB95)

Hospitable to one another: Be hospitable to one another without complaint. (NASB95)

Serve one another: As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Humble toward one another: You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. (NASB95)

Loving and caring for one another is not an option for the Christian but rather it is a mandate, or in other words, a command.