Increase and Abound in Love

"Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. ¹² And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, ¹³ so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13

This is one of many prayers Paul spoke according to the will of God for the Thessalonian church.  I appreciated the connection Paul made between walking in love to one another and holiness.  Holiness is not obtained by attending church services, wearing sacred vestments, offering sacrifices or tithes, but is demonstrated by love for God and one another.  Jesus gave His disciples the new command to love one another as He loved them, and this would distinguish them as children of God having been born again by the Holy Spirit.

Another truth which stood out to me is Paul prayed for the LORD to make them "increase and abound in love to one another and to all."  This implies there is room for an increased capacity to receive God's love as well as better expressing it.  Those who trust in Jesus Christ are born again, sanctified unto God for good works.  We are also being sanctified, growing and maturing in faith.  It is easy to fall into the trap of assuming we are loving or we are not; we are right or wrong.  This false dichotomy is at best an oversimplification and at worst a deceitful lie.  The reality is much more complex, messy, and personally confronting.  At the same time it is from God the promise of growth and maturity beyond where we are now, the certain expectation of changing more into who God desires we be.

No matter how much God has transformed you until now, there is room for you to increase and abound in love to one another and to all.  The only way this would be impossible is if you are already as infinitely loving like Jesus Christ is.  Would you admit that at your best you recognise inconsistency, contradictions, even hypocrisy in yourself?  We may say the "right" thing but later realise our motive or timing for saying was selfish and impatient.  Our love flourishes for certain people but the same affection is withheld from others.  God never intended following Jesus to be easy or to become easier over time as we are further sanctified.  I believe the opposite is true, for if it ever became easier to always walk in love towards all there would be less need to consciously seek the LORD in faith and fall upon His mercy--and God's love is not of us.

Our need to increase and abound in love makes us feel like failures and to give up, but the Spirit of God prompts us to look to Jesus with thanksgiving, knowing we are beloved by Him.  Rather than being mired in our past failures which seem to haunt us, we are called to forget the things that are behind (having repented of sin and received forgiveness) and to labour in our pursuit of Christ.  The presence of our loving, merciful, and powerful Saviour Jesus Christ washes clean all sin which seems permanently etched into our past.  Considering how far we have come leads to pride, and obsessing over how far we still need to go can be depressing.  It is far better to praise Jesus we have been granted today in God's presence, that He will help us to press on, and He will never leave or forsake us as HE makes us increase and abound in love to one another and all.

The Folly of Discontent

Every good gift comes from God (James 1:17).  The LORD who causes the sun to rise and the rain to fall supplies our every need, and the capacity to enjoy anything about life on this planet is also a gift from Him.  Because of our selfish and greedy nature, we can begin to worship self or the creature more than the Creator, the gift rather than the Giver.  When we make stuff, fame, money, or anything that is passing away our desire rather than God, we are not grateful for what we do have.  The one thing we don't have that we want can sour the very things we enjoy.

A perfect example of the folly of discontentment is seen in wicked Haman, enemy of the Jews.  He found favour in the eyes of King Ahasuerus and was promoted to a high station.  He was given privileged access to the king and everyone on the street bowed before Haman in reverence.  However, there was one man named Mordecai who refused to bow.  When Haman discovered Mordecai would not pay homage to him due to his Jewish faith, Haman schemed to destroy all Jews.  The king was not privy to all the details of Haman's intentionally vague plan but was guaranteed to be rid of a trouble-making people while enriching the treasury.  The date of the destruction of the Jews was publicised and moved Mordecai and many others to mourn and cry out to God for deliverance.

After Haman attended a private banquet of wine with the king and queen, consider Haman's perspective in Esther 5:9-13:  "So Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, and that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. ¹⁰ Nevertheless Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh. ¹¹ Then Haman told them of his great riches, the multitude of his children, everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and servants of the king. ¹² Moreover Haman said, "Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king. ¹³ Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate." (bold emphasis mine)

Isn't this astounding?  Haman boasted over his accomplishments and privilege, but when one man refused to bow before him in acknowledgement his view was, "All this avails me nothing."  Haman's seething selfishness, pride, and greed expressed itself in anger and hatred.  Seeing one person sitting and not kowtowing ruined all the good he should have been grateful for.  This is like the person who has a closet full of clothes but with nothing to wear; a person depressed over the shape of their nose that functions perfectly well.  It is fury over a scratch or dent in a car instead of being glad to have a quality vehicle for transportation.  A person who is having a "bad hair day" should be glad they have it.  We complain over how the meat isn't as tender as it was last time when there are people who haven't been able to afford steak for years.  Do you see what I mean?  All the great things provided by God's grace can instantly evaporate in the flames of our selfishness and greed.  Killing Mordecai or all the Jews would never have satisfied Haman because his wickedness was insatiable.

Child of God, may contentment, thanksgiving, and gratefulness for our God and His goodness towards us mark our lives rather than the folly of discontent.  In stark contrast to Haman, let us heed the exhortation of Colossians 3:12-15:  "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.¹⁴ But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. ¹⁵ And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful."  Our circumstances should never take the shine off the fact we are chosen, made holy, and beloved by God.  As His children the peace of God is to rule our hearts, and we ought to be thankful to be called in one body the Church.  If we fall into idolatry Haman shows us nothing will ever be enough.  When we bow the knee to God in worship and thanksgiving, we can choose gratitude over discontentment.

Jesus and Assurance

This morning I was impressed by Paul's praying for the Thessalonian believer who had been born again through faith in Jesus Christ.  Their response to the Gospel was not an emotive response but reflected marked personal transformation as real as Jesus rising from the dead.  Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 1:2-5:  "We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, ³ remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, ⁴ knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. ⁵ For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake."

Paul addressed followers of Jesus he called brethren because their changed conduct provided evidence they were indeed elect of God.  This assurance came not through willpower or because of good works but because of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who came upon them in power.  The preaching of the Gospel moved these Gentiles from the worship of idols to serve the Living God and to look expectantly to Jesus Christ (verses 9-10).  Their manner of life was described as a work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope in the LORD Jesus.  The condition of their hearts was not like the soil in the Parable of the Sower that the seed sprang up quickly and withered under the blazing rays of the sun, nor was it choked by the cares of the world and rendered unfruitful.  The good Word heard by their ears and received into their hearts by faith in Christ was bearing fruit all could witness.

The testimony of a transformed life reveals the power of the Gospel no amount of church attendance, seminars, conferences, books, or checklists can produce.  We can make the mistake of justifying ourselves as acceptable before God because our efforts and what we have done rather than simply trusting in Christ and His promises in the scripture.  Genuine faith will be expressed in living according to God's will, but the works we do are never the basis of our acceptance before God nor proof we are saved:  the proof is in our risen Saviour Jesus Christ!  As a Lamb of God without blemish His life was laid down as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world, and all who have been called can now come to Him for forgiveness and eternal life.  Knowing we are loved, knowing we are undeserving yet chosen by God spurns us on to desire to humbly please Him.  The praise for a transformed life goes all to Jesus, for by His grace our life is now hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).

Freedom and Security

"As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ⁷ rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."

Colossians 2:6-7

Christians have received Jesus Christ by grace through faith, and thus it is by faith we walk in Him.  Freely have we received, so freely we give and live.  No longer are we governed by the Law of Moses written on tablets of stone but by the righteousness of Christ in faith, love, and obedience to God.  Forgiveness and salvation is a free gift we receive through the Gospel, and having been established in the faith by God we are to abide in Christ.  Paul went on to explain the impact of receiving Christ by faith in verse 10:  "...you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."  The Law is the shadow and the Light of the World Jesus Christ has made it obsolete.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:17, "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."  The liberty believers have through Jesus Christ does not foster lawlessness because the Holy Spirit always leads us to do righteously.  Jesus has freed us from the power and penalty of sin.  He has freed us from the bondage to our flesh, the fear of man, and eternal damnation.  Jesus has also freed us for His good purposes:  to make us fit for the kingdom of God as forgiven, righteous children of God by faith, to serve and praise Him, to boldly enter His throne room of grace to find help in time of need.  For people brought up in religion where their standing with God and the church is based upon their good works or personal sacrifice, the idea of freedom can be disconcerting. It reminded me of the following Garfield comic by Jim Davis:

Our perception of God and how we relate to Him can be a cage which confines us like the animals in the pet shop.  Jesus has come and set us free from bondage to rules and regulations of Law, and we shrink back from the freedom He offers because it is without the structure and security we are accustomed to.  Similar to how the animals preferred security over freedom, we can prefer the security of tradition or even ignorance--feeling like a fish out of water.  Now where the analogy falls woefully short is Garfield is a cat and not able to adequately provide for the needs of animals conditioned to be kept indoors.  Jesus sets us free from the bondage of sin and works-based relationship with God to a life of freedom in His grace and says, "I will never leave or forsake you."  The Law resembled a list a homeowner gives a house-sitter to know what his or her responsibilities are when they are away, but when they return the list is overruled by their guidance in person.

It is true in the excuse of "freedom" people have been given over to excess and even used their freedom to justify what God deems sin.  God's grace is not a cloak for our sin but true freedom is possible because God has made us new creations, born again by grace through faith.  The security in this freedom comes from the presence and promises of Jesus Christ Himself who loves us, gave His life for us, and lives!  We are called to serve one another and for all our actions to be governed by love, for love is the fulfillment of the Law.  Love goes beyond the letter of the Law and sacrifices self for the good of others and the glory of God.  Through Christ we are kept secure in His love, free from sin and free to serve.  Jesus said in John 8:36 that if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.  Galatians 3, Colossians 2, and many other places affirm how Jesus has set us free from the ordinances of Law He nailed to the cross and the establishment of the new Way and covenant by which we relate to God.  It is not a list of rules but a real relationship where God transforms us into who He created us to be.