Love is a Verb
sermon by Manfred Schreyer

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(1 John 3:1-21 NIV) How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. {2} Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. {3} Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. {4} Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. {5} But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. {6} No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. {7} Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. {8} He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. {9} No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. {10} This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

{11} This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. {12} Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. {13} Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. {14} We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. {15} Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

{16} This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. {17} If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? {18} Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. {19} This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence {20} whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. {21} Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God

      Some of us observe that others continue to sin, even though they are proclaiming that they have found Christ in their lives.

      This concept has aroused many questions among Christians, as to what happens to people who contiguously sin.

      The easiest answer is this; Once saved always saved. . .and in fact that is the message we read in the New Testament.

      But, it raises the question if we can do whatever we want to do once we are saved? And the answer is NO! I am not even willing to spend much time on this issue, because it should be clear to all of us, that God did not simply gave us a free ride into eternal life and we are by the death of Christ ALLOWED to break God’s law.

      Some time I counseled a married Christian woman who had a long lasting relationship with another man. After I asked her if she or her lover felt any guilt she said: "Yes", but her lover believes that Once Saved always Saved"

      I want you to know that God Himself took actions, because He loved us. He did not sit in heaven and said to Himself: "Boy I really like my creation, and they are just a little lost. . .too bad. . ., No, He took action - Love is a verb-. He knew that the Love He had for us demanded action. And the action was that He had to give His son for the sins we committed. And he took the action of love to let Him die for us. . .fully human. Make no mistake His son did not die for us to give us a free ticket to sin. He paid the price for a ticket toward eternal life. . .if we accept that ticket.

      As on every ticket you ever purchase there are rules for the game.

Rule # 1: You will win the race on earth, if you are willing to admit you are a sinner

Rule # 2: You will win if you ask Christ for forgiveness

Rule # 3: You must be willing to take up the cross of Christ, you must be willing to follow Christ.

      What does that mean?  It means that the rules in this life change.

How do you know that you are part of the heavenly game?

{9} No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. {10} This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

      That is all! There are no hidden rules. All of this is plain for all to see for all.

      So what happens if I break these rules? Will I still win? Will I still got to heaven?

(Heb 6:4-8 NIV) It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, {5} who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, {6} if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. {7} Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. {8} But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

      What this means is that we first of all must be enlightened. We become enlightened by giving our life to Christ (we must be willing to say: "yes, I am willing to accept God as the only God and I am willing to follow God’s will for me" . . .and then we must study the word of God.

      The importance here is because in order to follow "the Truth" we must find out what the "Truth" is. We must be willing to be transformed into a new being. We must be born again!

      We must cleanse ourselves of the barrier which lies between us and God. We must be willing to and able to listen to our conscience again.

      You may say: "Well, but we are all sinners and we will always sin!" I understand! Yes, we are all sinners, but the price of Christ is paid to in order to provide a path to God. There are NO manmade detours we decide to go on. In other words once we are able to experience the Grace of God we avoid sin, because the destiny is too precious to lose.

      In the end you will really be able to be the judge if you understand your own salvation. The process is similar to a self-salvation test: Am I taking a detour or the road God has in mind for me"

      Here is the danger: If you/we take a detour, and we will die and if we knew (we deliberately sin we are in great danger to be cursed and not to reach eternal life.

      The other great danger is that if others (unsaved) see us sin they will never find hope in the price Christ paid for us. The are unable to see Love as a verb! They see Love as a confession only given by lips that mimic and synchronize religious correctness.

Allow me to be more precise, so that there is no mistake in my preaching here today:

(Heb 10:26-31 NIV) If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, {27} but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. {28} Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. {29} How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? {30} For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." {31} It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

      Because Love is a verb, because God took actions to free us and to give us salvation, God demands love from us. Sometimes He demands tough love as He also passes out tough love. - He demands from us to make correct choices that please Him and not circumstances or people in this world. - He demands to uphold his laws and share His love for us. Love is a verb!


 

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