[Truth and Love] the Reflectionنموونە

A Vision of Truth and Love

Out of His great love for us, God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place. Through simple belief in Jesus, we can have everlasting life, forgiveness of sins, and blessing upon blessing! That is how much we are loved.

The truth is that to love God, we must follow His commands. The commandment of Christ is that we love one another. This is the theology behind everything John wrote, not only in his gospel but also in his three letters. John teaches us to believe the truth and walk in the truth, which is love.

In the gospel that he wrote, John teaches us how to come into the Kingdom of Christ. In the First Letter of John, he urges us to be on the lookout because false teachers will deny the person of Jesus Christ within the church that He built.

The Second Letter of John is a charge to the church to practice walking in the truth and to express it by loving one another. This letter warns that those who will deny the Incarnation and Jesus' full humanity and divinity are found even within the church.

The Third Letter of John is the apostle’s charge to the individual to rejoice in the truth and respond with love. If we don’t, in the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation, we will see Jesus standing outside His church, knocking on the door and asking to be let in.

In John's time, the new generations had moved so far from the truth that, in many ways, they were not living or abiding in it. This meant the expression of love wasn’t coming out of that church or those believers. We see that even in John’s time, churches had fallen away from the truth of who Jesus Christ was; they had lost the world’s greatest promise about the love of God.

In his third letter, John encourages us to rejoice in the truth and respond in love.

Lord, thank You for this simple and profound message. Please, help us to abide in the truth of Jesus Christ and to respond sacrificially and selflessly with love.