“For whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23b)
Thoughts of love, the emotion of love, is of no value is there is no action behind it, if nothing accompanies it, it is useless. A man can love a woman from a distance the entirety of his life, yet if he never speaks of his love for her, the simplest of actions, she will be nothing more than a stranger to him, and he to her.
I ask a question of you; can the actions of faith be performed without the emotion of love?
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
Is the following statement true or false?
“If you obey me, that means you love me.”
Is the emotion of love necessary when actions are performed in faith, or can faith move without love and still be pleasing in the eyes of the Almighty?
“Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Gal. 3:6) The verse does not say, or even infer, that Abraham loved God and then righteousness was imputed to him.
We are saved by grace through faith, not love.
Did the actions of Jonah after he had completed that task set before him reveal a love for the Most High?
“And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” (1st Sam. 15:22)
To love without any actions to prove that love, or to perform actions by obedience to His will and Word without any love behind these actions. Is love required in the actions, words and deeds we do for the glory of God, or is obedience to His will enough?
What is the motivating factor of your actions for the Lord, love or faith?
And here is a question you must be able to answer, what must come first, faith or love?
Let the truths of the Word of God be your answer. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb. 11:6)
Can anyone who says they love the Lord our God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength not have an enduring, unquestioning abiding faith in Him?
Contrary to what has been taught the last few decades to those who sit in the pews each Sunday morning, faith and love are not the same thing, and the love that we who have been born-again express for our Savior can never precede faith.
Faith must always come first.
Again, I ask the question, does obedience prove a love for the Living God?
“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” (Matt. 15:8)
Hundreds of millions of people across this planet obey the words of the Most High with not one drop of love for Him in their heart, it has happened before, it is happening again.
“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (Luke 13:35)
“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,” (2nd Tim. 3:2)
Love does not please the Lord our God unless our obedience to His will and Word is done in faith with love, they cannot be separated and obtain, as it were, His acceptance of our actions. If we obey because we are commanded to and there is no love for His commandments, we fulfill 1st Cor. 13:1.
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”
If we say we love Him, yet there are no actions, no words or deeds done by us because of an unquestioning faith in the promises, then Luke 6:46 becomes a truth towards us.
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
They sing songs of praise and love, and then spend the entirety of the week in the world, they say they love Him, but will not speak of Him in public, they say they are faithful because they obey, yet the only love they seek is a self-love that makes them feel better about themselves.
Without faith it is impossible to please Him. Love for the Lord comes from faith in the Lord.
