What Love Isn’t

At one point when Hillary Clinton was testifying before congress about the events that led up to and followed the attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi, she got so frustrated with the accusations being made and the desire to find blame for what happened, that she exclaimed, “What difference at this point does it make?” That response became the focus of news shows for the next several weeks. To some it was an indictment against those who thought an investigation of those events was even necessary; to others it was an indication of the callousness with which the situation had been handled. Either way, the answer to the question, “what difference does it make,” was important.

When talking to people outside the Church, one of the criticisms I hear about Christians is that they are a bunch of hypocrites. When my mentor Charlie “Tremendous” Jones heard that he always replied saying, “Well come on down anyway, one more won’t hurt!” I always liked that response…

While we might need to ask why this is so often the view people outside of the Church have of the Church, it becomes more serious when people within the Church begin to ask the same question. I have shared before that research shows that the average evangelical Christian’s life bears little difference to those outside the Church. It begs the question, what difference does it make? If our walk doesn’t match our talk, what is the point of telling people that Jesus makes any kind of difference in our life? What we do, and just as importantly, what we don’t do, speaks more loudly than what we say. As I heard one person say, “What you do speaks so loudly that what you say I can’t hear.”

1 Peter 2:1-3 (NIV), reminds us of this.

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Let’s take a look at these verses in context. God has made us His children through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1:3-5). Because of that, with minds that are alert and fully sober, we are to set our hopes in that reality and the promise of His return. Until Jesus returns, our Father expects us, like our Elder Brother Jesus, to be obedient children. We are to be holy as He is holy (1:13-15).

Holiness can mean two things in Scripture: first, it can mean to be set apart for God’s use; having been justified (legally cleared of guilt) by the grace of God because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have indeed been set apart for God’s glory and are holy in that sense. But holiness also has a second meaning—having godly character, i.e., being obedient children (1:14). Things can only be holy by being set aside for God’s use and glory. People can be both, they can be set apart and morally reflect God’s character in life and relationship. In fact, when we are talking about believers, as Peter is addressing in this letter, they are holy in both ways. The one leads to the other. Being set aside by God through Christ leads to godly character. Justification leads to sanctification (growing of godly character). Sanctification is the intended effect of justification. We are to be holy as He is holy. That is not talking about being set apart, that is talking about living for God as Jesus lived for God, it is talking about obediently living for God through Christ.

While justification is something that God does alone, sanctification is something that is done that requires that we work together with God. In verses 1:17-20 Peter encourages us to put in the effort that such a life will take since we have been given a grace that is so rich in its provision and was so costly to acquire. The fact that this grace has been so freely and lovingly given should motivate us to respond in love to the Father by being obedient children. But Peter also stresses that since the price of that grace was so great, not to do all we can to be holy as He is holy, is in effect, to not respect the greatness of the cost.

In verse 22, Peter expresses this holiness, this obedience, in having love for one another. This love is to be sincere, deep and from the heart. This is the kind of love that comes from having been born again as he says in verse 23. Since God’s Word dwells in us, His love dwells in us—and it cannot stay shut in, it must come out in sincere, deep, heartfelt love for one another.

Thus, we come to our passage. Therefore rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. If we are to show love that is sincere, deep, and from the heart (1:22), we must rid ourselves of habits, behaviors, and thoughts that are contrary to it.

The way to do this is to crave pure spiritual milk (2:2). The meaning of “milk” here is not beginning truth vs. advanced truth, or simple things vs. things that are harder to understand, but pure spiritual things. A baby knows where to go to get good milk, and so should you.

When we do, the result is that we will grow up in our salvation (2:3). Now, growing up in your salvation doesn’t mean getting more saved. There is no such thing as a little bit pregnant, either you are, or you are not. Likewise, there is no such thing as a little bit saved. If you are in Christ you have salvation—you are justified. What he means is that saving grace shows itself in the sanctification of the life of the believer, as 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV) says, And we all…are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.

The point I want to focus on is that the love that God’s grace produces is proved as much by what we don’t do as it is by what we do do. Specifically in 1 Peter 2:1 it is proved by not being malicious, deceitful, hypocritical, envious, or slanderous towards one another. If it is true that what we do speaks so loudly that what you say I can’t hear, it is also true that what you don’t do speaks so loudly that what you say I can’t hear. Knowing what love looks like is important. Knowing what it does not look like is equally important.

More tomorrow…