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1 John 3:4 – Is There A Law in Christ?
Have you noticed husbands are told to love (agape) their wives; wives are told to love (phileo) their husbands; but children are not told to love their parents? Unless I am unaware, they are simply told to honor and obey. Why? That is how children learn to love, through their actions of submission. We are children of God. Spiritually we learn to love the same way as our biological children. Through obedience and honoring God. How to we do this? Have you noticed in just a few verses after John says, “Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children” (1 John 3:1); he writes, “Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law” (1 John 3:4); and “This is how the God’s children – and the Devil’s children – are made evident. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10). We learn how to love God and one another by imitating our Father and Brother. We learn how to imitate God by watching Jesus submit to His Father and our Father. Learn God’s ways, learn God’s laws, learn to love by honoring and obeying. And then try to tell me that obedience is unnecessary. You can’t, because that is how children learn to love.
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