Loving God, Part 1: The Imperative of Loving God

8/14/2019 Loving God, Part 1: The Imperative of Loving God

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Loving God, Part 1: The Imperative of Loving God 1999, 2004 by R. W. Glenn

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Redeemer Bible ChurchUnreserved Accountability to Christ. Undeserved Acceptance from Christ.

Loving God, Part One:The Imperative of Loving God

Selected Scriptures

IntroductionIf I had to distinguish what it was about Christianity that was most compelling for

me at my conversion, I would say that it was that Christianity is true. Now this maysound a bit obvious, looking as we do at our faith from the other side of conversion. Butfrom my unbelieving perspective, the idea that the Christian faith was wholly true wasabsolutely revolutionary.

And being convinced of Christianitys truthfulness, I felt compelled from within tostudy and understand the whole of Scripture. In fact, I felt compelled from within almostliterally to devourmy Bible. I read the Scriptures voraciouslya low estimate would bethat I read them three hours a day. I could not put the Bible down. For me it was thequintessential page turner.

Then, about three years after my conversion I became acquainted with the pastorwho would ultimately be my mentor in pastoral ministry, a man named Joe Babij.Pastor Babij, like me, loved the word of God. I was astonished to find out that he spenthis entire week just studying the Bible, preparing lessons and sermons, digging deepinto divine truth, plumbing the depths of the Sacred Writings.

Under his influence, I became even more enamored of Gods word. I began toperceive Scripture in a new way. I came to appreciate its absolute sufficiency for faithand practice, its power for transforming our lives, and the necessity of the churchteaching and preaching its every word. The Bible became to me something that wasexceedingly lovely, excellent, and delightful. Every text seemed more thrilling than thelast one I read, and I found myself affirming with Luther the adage Peace, if possible;truth, at any rate.

For me, the Christian life was all about truth; it was all about doctrine. But then,five years later, something happened. I severely injured my back playing basketball on

my birthday. To this day, I dont know what precisely I did to suffer such; but the resultof my injury was that I had to be carried to my car, I had to use crutches to walk, and Icould not find a position in which I would be free from painsave one. If I prostratedmyself on the flooryou know, face downand put a pillow under my stomach, I feltfine.

Well, in the providence of God, during that time I had a break from my regularpreaching and teaching duties. The result was that I had an opportunity to do some


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2reading that I had been meaning to do, but for one reason or another, had failed toaccomplish. As I read, the Spirit of God got a hold of my heart, and brought about achange that I can only describe as falling in love with God. Of course, this is not to saythat I had not loved God for the first eight years of my Christian life. I mean, whatdefinesthe Christian is that he is one who loves God: If anyone does not love the Lord,he is to be accursed (1 Corinthians 16:22). But what happened to me was that my lovefor God became real and fresh to my soul.

And it became real and fresh to me in two different ways: first, my love movedfrom love for truth in the abstract, to love for truth in the person of God himself. I nolonger loved the Christian faith, as much as I loved the personal God ofthat faith. Ibegan to see God himself, not simply his word, as exceedingly lovely, excellent, anddelightful.

Second, my love for God became real and fresh to me in the sense that it movedfrom my head to my heart. In other words, my love for God was transformed fromapprovalof the truth into affectionfor him.

You see, before this transformational experience, since I had placed a very highpremium on the truth content of the Christian faith, I had unwittingly reduced loving Godto obeying him. After all, hasnt Jesus himself said, If you love Me, you will keep Mycommandments (John 14:15)? And doesnt the Apostle John echo this teaching in 1John 5:3: For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments?

Prior to that time, I took verses like these in an absolute sense: love = obedience.But during the rehabilitation of my back, the books I had read caused me seriously torethink what I have since come to see as unbiblical and reductionisticreducing love forGod to obedience to his commandments and nothing more. The books I had read

challenged me to the core of my being and were used of God powerfully to transformmy life and ministry.

By now, you are wondering what those books were. Well, there were three;three books coming from a trinity of men named John/Jon. The first comes from theprolific pen of the 17th century Puritan, John Owen, called, Of Communion with God theFather, Son, and Holy Ghost, Each Person Distinctly, in Love, Grace, and Consolation;or, The Saints Fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost Unfolded. Hows thatfor a title?

The second book is the product the 18th century New England theologian,Jonathan Edwards entitled, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections: In Three Parts.

And the third is the defining work of the contemporary pastor-theologian, John Piper,called, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist.

Though these are not the only works that the Lord has used to revolutionize mylove-relationship with him, I cannot begin to express my indebtedness to the Lord forallowing these men to influence my walk with Christ. Before encountering these books,although I intuitively understood that there is more to love for God than the carrying outof religious duty, I had always felt uncomfortable saying the words, I love Jesus. Oh, I


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3would say them, but to me it was almost unnecessary. I strive to obey the Lord,therefore I love him. Why do I need to get so mushy?

Perhaps you are wondering the same thing. How many times have you heardthat love is an action and not a feeling? Or how about this: Love is a choice not anemotion? I had heard this many times in my Christian experience, and many passageswere cited to show that this was in fact the case. Christian love is not sentimentality. Itis not an emotion. It is the activity of self-sacrifice for the greater good of another andfor the glory of God.

Well, this morning I hope to show you with help from Owen, Edwards, Piper, andothers that this conception of biblical love is not true. But knowing you as I do, appealsto great works of Christian theology and devotion will never suffice. Nor should they!Unless what we assert (or what hasbeenasserted) is rooted in the Bible, we havenothing. So although Owen, Edwards, Piper and others will helpus on our journey, theydo not have the last word. God does. So we begin with the Scripture. And we beginfirst with this principle: emotions, feelings, or affections are not optional in the Christian

life.

Emotions Are Not OptionalJonathan Edwards begins with 1 Peter 1:8: And though you have not seen Him,

you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatlyrejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. And he says that the proposition ordoctrine, that I would raise from these words is this, TRUE RELIGION, IN GREAT PART,CONSISTS IN HOLY AFFECTIONS.1

He argues that since the Apostle Peter sets forth love and joy as evidence of thegenuineness of the Christians faith, holy affections (like love and joy) are a necessary

component of true Christianity. And I wholeheartedly agree. Yet, as I said earlier, Idont agree simply because Edwards has said it, but because the Scripture everywhereaffirms that true religion consists in holy affections.

In this connection, we observe two cardinal truths. The first is that the saints ofGod are characterizedas those who are affected by the things of God and especially byGod himself. We have already heard 1 Peter 1:8: And though you have not seen Him,you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatlyrejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. Real love and inexpressible joy areaffections and they are the proof of genuine faith under fire.

In Psalm 51:17 David affirms that that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A

broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. True saints come to the Lordin their sin with feelings of grief and contrition.

1Jonathan Edwards, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections in The Works of Jonathan

Edwards, Vol 1, edited by Edward Hickman (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1998 reprint of the1834 edition), 236, small caps in original.


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4Second Corinthians 7:9-10 says much the same: You were made sorrowful

according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret,leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. God produces in theheart of Christians the emotion of sorrow for sin that leads to a change of life. TheApostle Paul teaches us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).Who would deny that at least some of the fruit of the Spirit is emotional? And sinceemotions like love, joy, and peace are the fruit of the Spirit, and since the presence ofthe Spirit is what defines the believer, it follows that the presence of these emotions arenot at all optional.

In Pauls letter to Titus we are reminded about what Gods salvation has affectedin the lives of the Lords people. Titus 2:14 says that the Lord Jesus gave Himself forus to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His ownpossession, zealous for good deeds. We are not simply a people that doesgooddeeds, but a people that is zealousfor them.

And this is because the nature of the New Covenant is that its participants havebeen born of water and the Spirit. We have received a new hearta heart of flesh toreplace our heart of stone. God puts in us not simply a list of rules to observe, but anentirely new inclination, one that is sorrowful for sin, contrite of spirit, and that respondsto Gods forgiveness and beauty with love, joy, peace, hope, and zeal for him.

I love what the 19th century Scottish divine, George Smeaton says in this regard:

The knowledge of God, taught by the Spirit, is invariably connected with anew spiritual relish, or a new sense, which inclines the mind to rest in God asbetter than the creature,to regard sin as repulsive, and holiness as the elementin which the mind delights to dwell. The heart is weaned by the revelation of thesurpassing excellence of God, and so drawn by the cords of a man, by bands oflove, that the supreme God is not only accepted as its portion, but enthroned asits Lord, to whom every power must be subjected, and who is nearer and dearerthan self.2

So the reason why affections or emotions are not optional in the Christian life isbecause Christians are those who by definitionare affected by the things and theperson of God. If a person is not at all emotionally affected by the truth of God andespecially God himself, he or she is not a believer.

Yet there is another, even more direct reason why emotions are not optional inthe Christian life. God demandsthat we relate to him emotionally.

God Demands Your AffectionsEdwards goes on to say that if you are not moved emotionally by the things of

religion, then your religion is unacceptable to God. He says,

2George Smeaton, The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit(Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1974 reprint of

the 1889 edition), 255.


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That religion which God requires, and will accept, does not consist inweak, dull, and lifeless wishes, raising us but a little above a state of indifference:God, in His word, greatly insists upon it, that we be in good earnest, fervent inspirit, and our hearts vigorously engaged in religion....

If we be not in good earnest in religion, and our wills and inclinations be

not strongly exercised, we are nothing. The things of religion are so great, thatthere can be no suitableness in the exercises of our hearts, to their nature andimportance, unless they be lively and powerful. In nothing is vigour [sic.] in theactings of our inclinations so requisite, as in religion; and in nothing islukewarmness so odious.3

And throughout Scripture, this is precisely what we see. We see the saints ofGod being commanded to be affected by the things of God and to be affected by Godhimself. Turn with me to Romans 12:6-15:

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each ofus is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his

faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he whoexhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, withdiligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy.Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherlylove; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence,fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation,devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those whorejoice, and weep with those who weep.

Here we have a series of commands, some of which are simply commands tofeel certain things; others are commands to do things with certain feelings. Look at all

the feelings in this text: cheerfulness, hatred, love, fervency, joy, hope, and weeping.

The psalmist commands the people of God to Serve the LORD with gladness;and to Come before Him with joyful singing; and to Hope in God (Psalm 100:2; 42:5).

Paul commands the Philippians and the Thessalonians to Rejoice in the Lordalways (Philippians 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16). He commands the Colossians inColossians 3:15 to let the peace of Christ rule in their hearts.

And how could we fail to consider the Jesus summary of the Law of Moses: Youshall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your

mindAnd you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).

So then, not only are we characterizedas those who are affected emotionally bythe Lord, but we are also commandedto express such feelings. This much is clear.

3Edwards, Affections, 237-38.


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6Now even though you may be convinced that holy affections are a necessarycomponent of true religion, you are not yet convinced that biblical love is emotional, thatit involves the affections.

Biblical Love Is AffectionateAfter all, we have already heard this from Johns first epistle: For this is the love

of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are notburdensome (1 John 5:3). This is the love of God: doing what he says. And when itis recorded in Johns gospel that God so loved the world, the text does not say that Godso loved the world that he felt, but that God so loved the world that he gave. He gavehis only Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Even the Apostle Pauls magnificent definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 showsthat love involves action. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and isnot arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not

provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice inunrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things,hopes all things, endures all things.

Every facet of love that Paul delivers in this powerful text is active. Perhaps youhave heard that Paul uses no adjectives when describing love, only verbs andparticiples. In his Study Bible, John MacArthur is quick to point out, for instance that[i]n these verses, the fullness of love is described, in each case by what love does.Love is action, not abstraction.4

Although this is true, as we unpack this text just a bit, well find that an appeal tothe verbal definitions of love is no argument for the emotionlessnessof love. Look

down to verse 3: If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender mybody to be burned, but do not love, it profits me nothing. Paul is saying here thatdonating all his possessions to feed the poor and even surrendering his bodytomartyrdom can be loveless deeds. What does this say about the nature of love?

Well, at the very least it says that we cannot rightly equate love with sacrificialaction. If love and sacrificial action were the same thing, then you could never giveaway all your possessions or give up your life withoutbeing loving. You would alwaysbe loving by doing so. But Paul says that if I do these things but do not love, it profitsme nothing. Put a bit differently, he says that we can do these sacrificial thingsunlovingly.

This idea runs counter to the common notion that love is not what you feel butwhat you do. This is not to say, however, that the idea is entirely without merit. In fact,the popular teaching does affirm two thoroughly biblical realities: (1) feelings of love areno substitute for acts of love. Listen again to the Apostle John: Whoever has the

4John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible(Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997), 1750.


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7worlds goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how doesthe love of God abide in him? (1 John 3:17).

And (2) the popular teaching also affirms that we must be diligent to make effortsof love even when we lack the proper emotions. We are not free to disobey God simplybecause we dont feel like it, or because were not in the mood. To do so would beto complicate our sinful state. Rather than simply sinning by lacking love in theperformance of a good deed, we add to that sin failing to perform the deed. We turnone sin into two: lacking proper emotions + neglecting a good deed.

But even though it is true that feelings of love are no substitute for acts of loveand that we must be diligent to make efforts of love even when we lack the properemotions, it would be woefully inaccurate to conclude that love is not what you feel butwhat you do.

In fact, Pauls very definition of love in this chapter shows that love is much morethan our actions, but involves our feelings as well. Verse 4 says that love is not

jealous. Verse 5 says that love is not provoked. Verse 6 says that love does notrejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. Verse 7 says that lovehopes all things. What are all these things but feelings?!

So although it is true that love is more than feelings, it is not less than feelingseither. So if you feel things such as unholy jealousy and irritation, and take joy inunrighteousness; or if you do notfeel things such as joy over the truth and hope in allthings, then you are not being loving no matter how many selfless acts you perform.

Do you remember the command that God gave to Micah in Micah 6:8? Its this:He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to

do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? This is not simply acommand to do kind things, but to lovekindness, to delight in it.

Thus I conclude that we will not properly love God if our feelings are notengaged. The fact of the matter is that we are commanded to love God with all that weare, and this love must include our emotions. It must be felt. Matthew 22:37 says, Youshall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all yourmind. Here the term heart refers not to mans inner constitution generally, but to theseat of his emotions, to his affections.

So if we attempt to love God with obedience apart from a heart that delights inhim, we do not honor him. God is not pleased by this kind of love. He wants our

religion to be heartfelt. God loves a cheerfulgiver.

Would you say that I loved my wife if I came home on our anniversary withflowers in hand and she said, You shouldnt have! and I responded with I had to; itsour anniversary? Would you say that I loved my kids if I took a day off to spend timewith them and they said, Oh Daddy! Were so glad youve done this! and I said inreturn, I had to; youre my kids? No way! In both cases, you would think me very coldindeed.


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Well, then why are we so quick to think it is fine for us to love God by the dutieswe perform without having to engage our hearts? Duties without delight are nothing butdrudgeries. And if I miserably perform my duty of obedience to God without any senseof delight in serving him, would anyone ever think that I loved the Lord? Would I?

ConclusionSo then, let us begin our series on loving God this morning with this: Loving God

is carries with it an emotional imperative. We must love God and our love for him musthave emotional content.

In what has become a classic of Christian devotion, The Life of God in the Soulof Man, Henry Scougal, writing in the late 17th century defined love for God so biblicallyand so comprehensively that it is worth repeating:

The love of God is a delightful and affectionate sense of the Divineperfections, which makes the soul resign and sacrifice itself wholly unto him,

desiring above all things to please him, and delighting in nothing so much as infellowship and communion with him, and being ready to do or suffer any thing forhis sake, or at his pleasure.5

And this is where we are going. For this is what we need. We need to love Godfrom the heart. We need to have a sense of God that is full of delight and affection forhim.

You may be wondering why you have been feeling dry lately, you may really bestruggling in your relationship with the Lord; you may have crawled in here this morning.We are so burdened.

And yet the greatest burdens are not our personal problems or difficultcircumstances, our greatest burden is singular: a failure to love the Lord as we should.For when we are loving the Lord with all we arewith heart, soul, mind, and strengthwe are able to see above the clouds of our despair to enjoy the rapture of the brightnessof the sun.

John Owen has said, Many saints have no greater burden in their lives, than thattheir hearts do not come clearly and fully up, constantly to delight and rejoice in God.6 Iwould go one step further and say that allthe saints have no greater burden in theirlives than that their hearts do not come clearly and fully up, constantly to delight andrejoice in God. We have no greater burden than the weakness of our love for God.

5Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man(Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2001

reprint), 53.6

John Owen, Of Communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Each Person Distinctly, inLove, Grace, and Consolation; or, The Saints Fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy GhostUnfolded, in The Works of John Owen, Vol 2, edited by William Goold (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of TruthTrust, 1997 reprint of the 1850-53 edition), 35-36.


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9If we do not truly love God, if we are not endeared to the Lord as a child is to his

or her loving parent, every duty of the Christian life we attempt to fulfill will become ahideous burden. And we will feel as if the Lord is a taskmaster no better than thoseappointed by Pharaoh in the days of Israels captivity. We needto love the Lordforour own sakes. And our love for the Lord has to be affectionate.

I want to ask you a very serious question. Do you feellove for God? Or are youemotionally detached from him? Remember, Im not asking if you obey God. Imasking you if you love him. I really dont need to ask you if you obey him, because ifyou love him you will obey him. But there is a sense in which you canobey him withoutloving him. And this is what we must avoid if we are to ascribe to him the honor due hisname.

Some of you may be so dry right now in your Christian life that you feeloverwhelmed. You dont know where to begin. You recognize the truthfulness of what Ihave been saying, you deeply desire a relationship with the Lord that is more than duty,but you are at a loss as to how you might cultivate a heart that loves him. That,

brethren, is what this series is all about.

In the meantime, let us begin our journey to loving God with a simple prayer; asong, really:

More love to thee, O Christ, more love to thee!Hear thou the prayer I make on bended knee;This is my earnest plea,More love, O Christ, to thee,More love to thee, more love to thee!

Elizabeth Payson Prentiss (1818-1878)

Redeemer Bible Church

16205 Highway 7Minnetonka, MN 55345

Office: 952.935.2425Fax: 952.938.8299

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Loving God, Part 1: The Imperative of Loving God