Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Love that Issues from a Pure Heart

1 Tim. 1:5 (ESV)
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
The aim of our charge, the purpose of the stewardship with which we have been entrusted, is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. This is what pastors are about, bringing out love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith in those that hear them. Love such as this is the result of the Gospel. Proclaiming the Gospel brings people to love, causes them to love. This love isn’t the same as the love that the world knows. I wish there was another word for this. Too often people think love is feeling. This isn’t it. The love of this world is a selfish love that is out for one self. It doesn’t issue from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith, but it issues from a scared conscience that knows nothing but this world of death. Christians enjoy life for tomorrow they live. Epicureans abuse life for tomorrow they die. Others hold on to life with all they have to try avoid dying for yet another day. Christians know that tomorrow they live even though they die, because we have died in Christ already. We know we live tomorrow because our sins have been forgiven in Christ. So we learn to love, and in loving to enjoy life. Love your neighbor as yourself, does in fact hide a command to love yourself. We learn to love ourselves because Christ has loved us with his death and resurrection. In loving ourselves we learn to love others for whom Christ has also died. This love issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith, because our hearts have been cleansed of sin our consciences have been quieted by a sincere faith that believes the words of Christ, “your sins have been forgiven.”

1 comment:

Brigitte said...

Luther has a great big long sermon (28 pages) on that verse, found in Luther's Works, Vol 51, p. 259 and following. "On the Sum of the Christian Life", 1532, recorded by Cruciger. You probably know it. I think it's a wonderful piece of work.

It seems that he liked the pastoral epistles, too.