1 PETER 1:22-23 – Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.

THEME OF THE DAY. SAVED TO LOVE. Why did God save us? What is the chief goal in our salvation? How is the genuineness of us being Christians manifested? Now there may be multiple “right” answers to those questions. For instance, “Why did God save us?” and “What is the chief goal in our salvation?” may be “rightly” answered “for His glory.” And the question of how our profession of faith in Christ is validated as genuine might be rightly answered “by being separated from the world and worldliness leading to a life of Biblical holiness.” I am sure we would be able to add other “right” answers to those questions, but there is one answer that is the best answer. It is that we might love. Yes, the end of salvation, the chief goal in salvation, and the greatest evidence we are saved is our love; for God and for people. Jesus would tell us what the two greatest commands are – “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:34-40). And what salvation has done is enable us to obey them. Apart from being born again, we have neither desire or ability to love God or our neighbor. Sin has done such a destructive work in the human heart that the only type of love possible is self-love. Yes, we can show human affection, but that is not divine love. No human being, apart from being in union with Christ through salvation, can obey the greatest commands. But praise God for His Gospel because in Christ, we can not only obey them, but delight in doing so.

Now that we have established that we are saved to love, in today’s scripture, the Apostle Peter gives some insight on what that love looks like flowing from our lives into those of other believers. Two things He tells us . . .

First, a saved individual will not “cut corners” in loving other believers – “love one another earnestly.” The word “earnestly” does just mean “with great effort”. In this context it means “consistently, constantly”. Think about that for a minute, then ask if that characterizes our lives. We are to be known by other Christians as those who faithfully give of ourselves in loving acts of service, encouragement, and prayer for other believers. When our name is spoken, there should be an immediate response by those in the conversations of affirmation of our love for God and His people. And this life and reputation is built one day, one act of love at a time. Is that occurring in us? It should. That is why we are saved; to love.

Next, a saved individual loves other believers without any thought or desire to benefit from its expression – “love one another earnestly from a pure heart.” To love sincerely from a pure heart is to do so with one single goal in mind – the good of the one being loved. A saved person loving another Christian with Christ’s love never thinks “What will I get out of this?” Nor do they seek to be affirmed, recognized, or even thanked for the act of love. Saved individuals love for Jesus’ sake exclusively. Again, we must evaluate ourselves . . . do our lives consistently reflect this type of selfless, self-denying love to other believers? They should. It is why we are saved; to love.

So, salvation. It is far more than forgiveness and going to heaven. Far more. It is a call to love; love God and love His people. May the Lord help us live out the purpose of our salvation in tangible acts of love, properly motivated, to His people.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to show forth the genuineness of my faith by my active love for You and people.”

QUOTE: “Salvation never leaves a person self-centered. It is the start of living a life of self-denying.”