“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” – 1 John 4:7-8 (NASB)
John the Apostle of Jesus Christ is often known as “the apostle of love.” He wrote about love in his letters and it is a point of focus in the Gospel. He identifies himself in the gospel he wrote by the phrase “disciple whom Jesus loved” four times. In the original Greek, there were multiple words which are translated into our English word ‘love’. The marks of Christians are Christ’s love for us and our love to Christ. By faith the seal is set upon the us by enabling ourselves to say with the apostle, “Christ loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) Love gives the countersign and stamps upon our heart gratitude and love to Jesus in return. “We love because he first loved us.”(1 John 4:19) In the heroic period of the church, this double mark was clearly seen in all believers in Jesus; they were men who knew the love of Christ and rested upon it. They were true children of God ruled in their innermost being by love. The love of Christ constrains us; we rejoice in that divine love, and by force of gratitude we love the Savior with a pure and fervent heart.
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Esengo Mingi 