Love Theology #2

Recap

Love & Holiness are two sides to the same coin. They are vital to the existence of the other.

1 John 4:7–12 NIV

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:

Intro

Gaps:

My Muffler - I noticed there is a gap where the tailpipe and the muffler should connect.

Braces - Gaps where teeth should have come in. I had these things called bridges put in my mouth (I have 3 of them)

When we use the word gap we usually imply that something is wrong or missing:

“A break or hole in an object or between two objects. An unfilled space or interval; a break in continuity.”

Credibility Gap

In history and theology there is a concept known as the “credibility gap”

It is the idea that there can be a disconnect and gap between what is seen and what is real. Between what is known and what is actually happening.

Holiness Theology finds this gap most common when it comes to how we come to a place of being sanctified. There was a time in our theological past where the perception of sanctification was that once you had received the “second blessing” you were basically holy. This was a major misconception and a wrongful treatment of scripture. This faulty perception led to a gap. People would say they were sanctified holy but the fruit of the sanctification didn’t look biblical or increasingly like Jesus as it should have. This led to a gap in the credibility of a God who claims to sanctify AND the credibility of a people who claim to have been sanctified by a holy God.

Fortunately for us, the scripture brings this gap to light and the rest of the book often serves as a starting point for how to bridge the gap.

James 2:14–24 NIV

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

V.14-17: If your faith is a logical crutch or a spiritual feel good it is dead. Or a religious obligation.

V.18-19: You can parade your theology around all you want, but all you have to do is watch me to know what I believe. Correct belief is good, but it doesn’t differentiate you from demons.

V.20-24: Made complete. Believing in sanctification doesn’t sanctify you. If you aren’t eventually moved from the inside to love and BE who God has called you to be, then you are we really sanctified? Are we being made complete?

The gap is between believing Sanctification is possible and probable in our lives as Christ followers and actually responding and applying concepts of love within our relationships when we feel the sanctifying work of the spirit pressing in on us.

Application

I have a tendency to logically talk myself out of impactful loving. I tell myself that it is awkward or difficult. The timing isn’t right. I don’t feel good about it. I’ll do it next time.

When we do this, it moves us further away from what God has for us. It creates a gap. We aren’t creating a gap maliciously, but we are doing it intentionally. To turn this around and move toward a completeness we need to be very intentional about the way we love. About the way we act. Not to earn sanctification, but to bridge the gap between God and those next to us. To bring the love of God with us wherever we go so that others may know that we belong to Him.

Have you been sanctified? Have you neglected some of the spaces that God has called you to go personally (internal or external)?

Challenge:

This week, take a few minutes to take stock of your life. Do you think there is a gap people see when they look at you? Where would you see one if you weren’t you? There may be many, but think of one. Take time to truly surrender this space to God and make an intentional move to close in that gap.