The Law & Gospel of Love (From the Other Love Chapter) | 1 John 4:7-10

Okay, turn with me in your Bibles to 1st John chapter 4, and we're going to start in verse 6 today.

1st John chapter 4, starting in verse 6. And I encourage you all to bring your

Bibles and to follow along with me when I read Scripture, because sometimes, as is my custom,

I sometimes add my own commentary in there. So, 1st

John chapter 4, verse 6. We are from God.

The one who knows God hears us. The one who is not from God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows

God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

By this, the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten

Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved

God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

And this is God's word. Amen. So, we're going to be reading lots of Scripture today.

This is a really good passage here. And the reason

I read verse 6 as well, even though I covered that last week, is because you'll note here there's a transition.

There's a transition in the subject matter that the Apostle is dealing with in verse 7, which we're going to look into further.

But also because this is referring to, obviously, to the men that God uses to teach us

His word, and which we as God's church are instructed to listen to and to learn from.

Right? And so I say this in light of the recent news that many of you might have heard about John MacArthur passing away.

And I wanted to share a few thoughts about that, because there's no question that he was an extremely influential pastor, author, teacher, etc.

Both positive and negative. Both positive and negative aspects. And when

I first became a Christian, I listened to MacArthur's teachings on Roman Catholicism, which helped me a lot to make better sense of what the

Bible teaches about salvation, especially, versus what Rome teaches about salvation.

And along the way, I've read a number of his books, as well as Ian Murray's biography of MacArthur, Shepard of the

Word and Flock, and read several sections of his study

Bible, his devotional Bible, his three devotionals. I've read most of his

Fundamentals of the Faith, which is like an introduction to the Christian faith. His Bible studies on James and Acts, and even his books on parenting.

So I've had lots of exposure to MacArthur myself. I've listened to probably well over a hundred of his sermons, including several on lordship salvation.

And so, if I do and when I do disagree with him, it's not due to ignorance or secondhand knowledge.

This is like firsthand, straight out of the horse's mouth. And one thing that I also appreciated about MacArthur is that he frequently took a stand on issues that were and still are affecting the church today.

That was something that you don't see a lot of men of his stature and recognition doing, because they're afraid of losing influence or all that pressure that they gave into the world and things like that, popularity.

And this is something he wrote about in The Jesus You Can't Ignore, which I've also read. And even though I don't always agree with his views, even though sometimes

I strongly disagree with his views, he nevertheless was bold enough to take a stand when he felt it was right to do so, especially against people within the church.

And this is something that I've learned myself throughout the course of being a Christian and also being in pastoral ministry, where you frequently have to fight a lot of the battles within church walls, within people who claim to be

Christian and claim to be sound, when in fact they may not be. And which is exactly what 1

John warns us about in this letter, right? Those who claim to be from God, but in fact are not.

And as I continued to grow in my faith and in learning more about church history and the

Reformation and Reformed theology, I started relying less and less on MacArthur and developed stronger disagreements with him, so I kind of gradually moved away from him.

But even though he had imbalances and inconsistencies, it's still nevertheless very edifying and useful for us to study his life, to study his life, his teachings, as well as the issues and the controversies that he was involved in as a prominent leader.

And I actually taught a series of classes on Lordship Salvation to lay out this very thing, because it's very helpful to compare and contrast the different opposing views and make better sense of the

Scriptures. It helps us to study the Bible and understand it better. So it's important for Christians to study men with MacArthur's influence, with that level of influence, just as it is important for Christians to study church history, because it allows us to see the good and the bad consequences of their theology and actions on a much larger scale.

You get to see it play out more, and what your view or your theology leads to.

So that gives us greater insight and clarity as to what the truth and falsity of a position might be.

And the Bible speaks to this. It says, you know, Paul says, that's why there must be heresies among you, so that the lines can be drawn, and we can identify who is in the right and who is in the wrong.

So, and you know, I kind of was, there's many, on social media, you'll see many in the church that are kind of despairing and saying things like, well, now that R .C.

Sproul and John MacArthur are gone, who will replace these great men? You know, who's going to replace them?

And this is actually not a new sentiment. If we look back into church history, we'll see that there are others who have raised these concerns before, when influential men of old died.

One noticeable example is Philip Melanchthon. Philip Melanchthon was one of Luther's prominent successors when

Martin Luther died. And on his funeral, Melanchthon said this about Luther.

We resemble orphans bereft of an excellent and faithful father. So he was kind of sad that the fact that Luther had passed away, and now we don't have a father in the faith like Luther was.

But in light of the passing of these men, I want us to be encouraged, and I want you to be encouraged as well, beloved, that while these men had enormous influence that had, again, good and bad consequences,

God has never abandoned his church, and never will abandon his church.

Amen? Because remember the words of Christ himself. He promised that the gates of Hades will never overpower

God's church. Never. From Matthew 16, 18. Right?

So God will always look out for his people. He will continue to look out for his people. He will never leave us nor forsake us.

And he will continue to use his means, his people, that he has called and raised up these faithful men for such a time as this.

Just for such a time as this. God knows exactly what he's doing.

So it's not, I don't think it's right to look at things that way. Because God never fails, and his love never fails, and his church will always be preserved until the very end.

Now, with that said, I also wanted to provide a brief correction or clarification from last week's message, because I was making a comparison between the word confess in Titus 1 .16

and the word profess in 1 John 4 .2. And I kind of,

I may have implied that these words were used in a similar sense, but actually they're not. In 1

John 4 .2, God's word says,

Every spirit that confesses, homologate, Jesus Christ who has come in the flesh and his doctrine is from God.

And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. Right?

So that's talking about confession. And Titus 1 .16,

however, says they, these antichrists, they profess to know

God. They homologusin. So it's the same word. It's the same word. They profess to know

God, but by their works, they deny him being detestable and disobedient and unfit for any good work.

So these words actually mean very different things in these two verses.

One of them is a sincere confession of true faith.

Right? In 1 John 4. It means a true, sincere confession of faith.

While the other sense in Titus 1 .16 is that it's referring to a hypocritical profession of faith.

It's a false faith. And it actually correlates with what 1 John says.

Those who do not confess Jesus are not from God. And they may profess to confess

Jesus, but by their works end up denying him. Right? So this is, once again, yet another example of why it's important to know how to define words carefully.

Because sometimes they can have opposite meanings that are, in fact, contrary to each other.

Like right here. Right? Same word. Same Greek word. But they mean the opposite thing.

So, always important to keep those things in mind when we're interpreting Scripture. Now, with that in mind,

I want us to dive into the main passage for today in verse 7.

In verse 7. 1 John 4, verse 7.

God tells us, speaks to us and says, Beloved, let us love one another.

For love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows

God. The one who does not love does not know God. Does not know

God. Because God is love. Because God is love.

So, now you see a bit of a transition.

And the main subject of this passage, and much of this chapter, as a matter of fact, is obvious.

It should be obvious. Right? There's a word there that stands out above all the rest. And that is love.

Love. And it's interesting to note that the word love used in the

Greek in this entire chapter is the word agape. Agape.

Which, again, that word can mean different things. But here it means, it's referring to specific meanings.

It's the word agape in all its various inflections and forms. And just in these two verses alone, verses 7 and 8, you'll find six mentions of love.

Six of them. Starting with the very first word. Beloved. Right? Beloved. You who are loved by God.

Agapeitoi. Agapeitoi. Let us love one another. Agapomen.

Let us love one another. That's a command. For love, agape, is from God.

And everyone who loves, agapon, has been born of God and knows

God. That is, loves others. Loves others. Because it says, let us love one another.

Let us love specifically, especially, other believers. And by extension, obviously,

God as well. And has been born of God and knows

God. The one who does not love, does not know God. Does not and never did know

Him. Never did know Him, like the Amplified says. Because God is love.

Because God is love. It's a gospel indicator there. So, very, very important things that the

Apostle is teaching us. Other things as well. But especially with regard to the subject of love.

Now, you may have heard of, I had a hard time naming this sermon.

Because I had like three different titles for the sermon. And you may have heard of the famous love chapter.

People refer to this as the love chapter, which is 1 Corinthians 13. Where the

Apostle expounds on what love is. You know, love is patient. Love is kind.

It does not boast. It, you know, endures all things, hopes all things, believes all things. Those things.

And so that's the famous love chapter. But I want to call this chapter, 1

John chapter 4, the other love chapter. Because love is so prominent in this very passage, in this very chapter.

So, I like to call it the other love chapter. Very important chapter to study the topic, the subject matter of love.

It's not the only two places that the Bible talks about love, obviously. There's other places in the Gospels and so on.

But these are very prominent ones. And some, there are in fact,

I counted at least 29. At least 29 mentions of love in the entire chapter.

That's way more than I believe what 1 Corinthians has.

And some are implied, but most of them are explicit. And love even pours over into the next chapter as well, in chapter 5.

You will find that. So, you know, love is of God, for God is love.

And one question that is always important to ask ourselves, especially with passages like this, is, does this passage teach us law or gospel?

Law or gospel, right? Is it commanding something or is it indicating something?

Is it promising us something? Law or gospel? And this is why one of the titles that I thought of was,

The Law and Gospel of Love. Why is that? Because both are taught here.

Both are taught here in this very passage. Law and gospel. So let's dive into that.

The very first verse 7 starts with law, right? Beloved, let us love one another.

Let us love one another. And every time I read that verse, I get reminded of that Veggie Tales movie that me and my kids have watched over and over again.

But let us love one another. But then there's gospel, right?

Then there's gospel shortly thereafter. Because it says, for love is from God.

Love is of God. And that's a beautiful thing, folks, that God is loving.

God is loving. God is love. And not only that, but everyone who loves has been born of God and knows

God. Has been born of him. God has regenerated him. That's a powerful gospel promise right there.

Now you'll see a little bit of a transition in verse 8 to more law and warnings.

It warns us that those who do not love do not know God, right?

That's law. It's a warning. If you do not love, that means that's an indicator that you do not know

God. Why? Because God himself is love.

God is love. That is gospel. That is gospel truth and promise.

Now, important question to consider. What does that mean? What does it mean that God is love?

What does that mean that God is love, right? And I want us to look at, you know, in verse 8, it says,

God is love. Now, many people twist these passages and they erect entire false religions based on misunderstandings of what love are and what

God are. We obviously have to know what both mean. Because they are prominent themes in scripture.

The Bible is all about God. And it is all about God's love for us and the love that we are commanded to have for one another, for God, for our neighbor, even for our enemies, right?

So, these are some of the most important doctrines in scripture and law of scripture.

So, what this really means is that God is the source of love.

God is the source of love. He is the originator of love. Like the Amplified says.

And it is an enduring attribute of His nature. It is who He is. It is who

God is because God is loving. God is loving. That's what it really means.

God is loving because He loves us. And He demonstrates His love for us as we will see further on in this passage.

But like I said, you will find many Christian cults who base their religion by misinterpreting verses like these and what

God means and what love means. Gordon Clark points out Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, which is a false cult that has a wrong understanding of this passage.

And therefore a wrong understanding of who God is. And I also recently had an encounter with Jehovah's Witnesses.

And, you know, they were walking around, going door to door, and they were spreading their gospel.

And I got into it with them. I told them, hey, you know, are you guys Jehovah's Witnesses?

And they're like, yeah, yes. And I told them, hey, well, I'm sorry to hear that. You know, because the

Bible says that you must repent to believe in the true gospel by faith alone and believe in the true

God. And you have neither. And that is the truth of the matter. They have neither. And so an older gentleman and a younger one came up to me and we started talking.

And it was interesting because they have no understanding of God's love.

Because they don't understand who God is, who the true God is, because they deny that Jesus is

God, the one true God. And a very powerful verse that utterly refutes

Jehovah's Witnesses is Acts 20, 28. Because in Acts 20, 28, and there's a hymn that we sang that, there's a hymn that we sang, can

I borrow your bulletin? There's a hymn that we sang that actually reflects what this verse teaches in Acts 20, 28, which says that it refers to the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

And I didn't know this, but the Jehovah's Witness was telling me that the church belongs to God the Father and not to Christ.

And that threw me for a loop because I was like, what? But you're contradicting this verse right here. Because the

Bible says the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Now, who is that referring to,

I wonder? Who purchased the church with his own blood? Christ is the only one who did that.

Not the Son, not the Father, and not the Spirit. It was Christ who purchased his church, the church of God, of Christ, which he purchased with his own blood.

And it's no surprise that if you look at the New World Translation, they completely butcher this passage and say that the church of God, which

Christ purchased with his own blood. They try to separate the two. But the original is clear that God here refers to Christ.

It's very clear. So because of the hypostatic union, the teaching that Christ is both

God and man, that's a very clear teaching. And that's how this hymn, that's why this hymn says,

Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Right?

God cannot die. God is immutable, unchangeable, eternal. But because God became a man in Jesus Christ, the

Son, he was sent by God to die for our sins.

And that's what this passage, precisely what this passage talks about.

So that's very fascinating how, you know, it's sad.

But another thing that came up was, well, see, are you evangelizing?

Are you going door to door? Are you doing these things because they believe that you have to do those things to be saved? That you need to go spreading their gospel around?

And I told them, hey, well, don't think for a second that spreading your false gospel with others is going to save you.

Spreading a false gospel is only going to condemn you more. And that's sad when people don't realize this, that they think they're earning

God's favor by sharing their false gospel. But it is just that, a false gospel, because they don't have the true

God and what true love is. Because God's love saves us.

And because God's love saves us, then we do good works, but not to earn a right standing before God.

That's what Jesus did for us. Amen? So we must understand both of these things, especially in light of today's culture as well.

All the pietism and the emotionalism, even what's plaguing the church today. False notions of love and of God.

So these cults and the like, including, you know,

Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, they miss the utter reality of God's love.

Because God's love justifies the ungodly. That's what

Romans 4 and 5 says. God justifies the ungodly. He doesn't justify the righteous.

That's what Jesus said. I did not come to call the righteous, that is, the self -righteous. I came to call sinners to repentance.

Right? God justifies the ungodly. We are all ungodly, apart from the righteousness of Christ.

There's nothing we can do to earn his favor. That is the gospel. That is the true gospel.

All these righteousnesses that these false religious cults claim are filthy rags in the eyes of God.

Like Isaiah 64 says. So this is basic, the most basic teaching in scripture, law and gospel.

And so this passage then gives us many illustrations of this.

And it's also, some people say that it's a sharp transition from the previous verses in verse 6 and before that.

But I don't think that's quite the case. Because there is a continuation of thought from the previous verses.

Because just as we know who belongs to God, if they have the spirit of truth and confess his son, like I just read from verse 2.

And because the spirit of truth being the mindset that agrees with God's word and with those whom he has called to teach it to us.

Right? From verse 6. And the spirit of error being the mindset that rejects God's word and his teachers.

And instead follows the world and its antichrist deceivers. So likewise, we further know who belongs to God.

He's still telling us how we can know who belongs to God. Just like in the previous verses. Because they demonstrate their love for God by their love for one another.

It's more of an indicator to help us to know and judge who truly is a believer and who is not.

Because believers will love. Because God is love. And if God is love and we belong to God, we will reflect

God's character and nature to others. Because God's love changes us.

Which is what this very passage teaches us. So that's what this beautifully teaches us in a very powerful way.

Now, obviously, we don't love perfectly. Because only Christ loved perfectly. But the spirit of God works in us believers the fruit of the spirit.

The fruit of the spirit in contrast to the works of the flesh.

Which are worldly. They are of the world. They are anti -Christ. And which believers instead now actively mortify.

They put the flesh to death. So that being said, turn with me now to Galatians chapter 5 verse 19.

Where we learn explicitly what the apostle teaches concerning the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit.

Galatians chapter 5 verse 19. Now, the deeds of the flesh are evident.

They are obvious. Which are sexual immorality of all sorts. Impurity.

Sensuality. Idolatry. Sorcery. Magic and all that stuff.

Enmities. Strife. Witchcraft included. Jealousy. Outbursts of anger.

Selfish ambition. Dissensions. Divisions. Unbiblical ones.

Factions. Envying. Drunkenness.

Carousing. Parting. And things like these.

All other related sins to these. They're all condemned as works of the flesh.

Worldliness of all sorts. Of which I forewarn you. That's law.

Just as I forewarned you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is, what is it?

Love. That's the first fruit of the Spirit listed. It is love.

Then joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness.

Gentleness. Self -control. Against such things there is no law.

The law does not condemn you. Now, those who belong to Christ crucify, past tense, the flesh with its passions and desires.

Sharp contrast here. Again, it's more indicators that helps us to identify, do you belong to God or do you belong to Antichrist?

The devil. Right? Either or. And these are the indicators that will reveal your heart and where your allegiances lie.

So, these indicators help us to identify those who belong to him and his son and those who do not.

Because those who believe are being sanctified for good works. Sanctified for good works.

Which is exactly what 1 John chapter 4 verse 9 says. It teaches us that God sent his only begotten son into the world so that, so that we might live through him and bear the fruit of his spirit.

Right? These all are teaching us the same thing. It's the same system of doctrine that this is teaching us.

Now, I want to, for emphasis, I want us to actually read the entire rest of the chapter so we can see just how much the apostle is emphasizing love in this chapter.

Starting in verse 7. This is where he begins talking about, the apostle begins talking about love.

Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God. And everyone who loves has been born of God and knows

God. The one who does not love does not know God because God is love.

By this, the love of God was manifested in us. That God sent his only begotten son into the world so that we might live through him.

And this is love. Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has beheld God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

By this, we know that we abide in him and he in us because he has given us of his spirit.

We have beheld and bear witness that the father has sent the son to be the savior of the world because of his love for us.

That's an implicit reference. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God, God abides in him and he in God because God loves him.

And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love.

There you go again. And the one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him.

By this, love has been perfected with us, completed with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment because as he is, so also are we in this world.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves punishment and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

We love because he first loved us. Gospel power there.

Amen. If someone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar.

Remember, that's a work of the flesh. Jealousy, hatred, all those things. For the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love

God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him that the one who loves

God should love his brother also. And even continue on in chapter five.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God and everyone who loves the one who gives new birth loves also the one who has been born of him and so on.

So you can tell right off the bat this chapter is all about love.

All about love. Now, true love is in some ways a two way street.

Or it has a double meaning of sorts. Two different meanings. Because there is the love of God on the one hand and on the other there is the love that we as God's image bearers are to have for him and for each other.

Right? And as is often the case, Scripture teaches us both what love is and what it is not.

What it is and what it is not. It's important to know both. To compare and contrast both.

Because love, true love, is not an emotion. It is not an emotion.

And this might disturb some folks, especially pietists, but God doesn't have emotions.

God is impassable. He does not change. So if God is love, that has to mean something else.

It is not an emotion. It is not a feeling. It is not fickle or unstable.

It is not something that changes constantly and goes back and forth. And it does not give up at the first sign of hardship or trouble.

None of that is true love. That's all false love. It's not love at all.

Like 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter says in verses 4 through 6 and on,

Love is not jealous. It does not brag. It is not puffed up.

It does not act unbecomingly, improperly. It does not seek its own.

It is not provoked. It does not take into account a wrong suffered.

It keeps no record of wrongs committed against you.

It does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. Love never fails.

True love never fails. That is what true love is not.

And there are people who may have claimed to love us.

They may have claimed to love us, and maybe for a time it seemed like they did.

But in the end, it may have resulted in being a shallow, superficial, unbiblical love.

And as a result, they walked away from us. They turned their backs on us. In some cases, they may have even turned against us.

Hardship comes. Trouble comes. Issues come up. And oftentimes, issues in their lives manifest themselves, and it causes a distortion of reality.

And the very people that are trying to help them, they end up becoming the target.

They end up blaming them for their problems. It's sad, but it happens very often.

That's not true love. True love never fails. It never fails.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Amen? True love doesn't constantly go back and forth and then just give up.

That's what the Bible is telling us. True love does not give up. So even though others may give up on us, we cannot give up on them.

Because true love does not give up on them. That is the love that we are called to love others with.

Because that is God's love. That is a reflection of God's love. You know, 1st

Kings in the Old Testament, chapter 18, verse 21 says, referring to the chapter in Elijah with King Ahab and the prophets of Baal, Elijah came near to all the people and said,

How long will you be limping between two opinions? Back and forth.

If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him. But the people did not answer him a word.

They couldn't commit. The people could not commit. That's not love.

That is not love. Love is the opposite of this. It is not like picking petals from a daisy.

You know, the game that people play, Oh, he loves me. Then you pick another one. He loves me not. He loves me.

He loves me not. That's not true love. True love never says,

I don't love you anymore. True love is not unstable like that.

Right? This has obvious implications for us who are married, for us who have family, and for us who are believers, obviously.

This is all informing our understanding of what true love is, how

God loves, and how we are called to love as He does. And that's the power of rightly knowing and understanding what love is and what it is not.

This is, beloved, what we must come to understand. And as we just read, this other love chapter in 1

John 4 goes into some detail about love and what it truly is and what it looks like in God and in us.

In God and in us. Just as, if you turn back with me in 1

John 4, verse 9. In verse 9, the apostle begins defining what love truly is.

True love is God's love. Because, as he says, by this, the love of God was manifested in us.

That God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

In this is love. In this is love. This is true love. Not that we have loved

God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

To be the propitiation, the wrath -satisfying sacrifice for all our sins.

And God's people said, Amen. This is the beauty of God's love.

And that goes far beyond the perverted notions of love that we find in our society today.

That it's an emotion that comes and goes. You fall in love and you fall out of love, which never was love in the first place.

God demonstrates His own love through the death of His Son. That is true love.

This is true love. It is gospel, gospel, gospel.

Good news gospel. Because God's love is both redemptive, it redeems us from His wrath, from our sin.

And it is regenerative. It works in us to love like God.

It changes us to love God and love others.

Not perfectly, but by His grace and His means and His Spirit, we grow in love for each other, for our neighbors, even for our enemies, and for God.

Beloved, and I want to close today with this thought here.

That while there are strong law warnings in this passage about how we ought to love, how we ought to love

God and others, there are even stronger gospel promises and encouragements about what

God's love has already done for us and is working in us.

Because God's love is redemptive and regenerative. Restorative. And I appreciate what

Gordon Clark says about this passage as well. He says, Surely it is false to say that everyone who experiences emotional highs is born of God, but everyone who exhibits

Christian love knows God, for only by knowing God can our conduct then be

Christian at all. So contrary to what these

Jehovah's Witnesses are doing, they're not truly loving others because they don't know the true

God. And that's what 1 John literally tells us. Those who know God love

God and love because God is love. Amen?

So with that, beloved, I want us to close out this powerful message from God's word in 1

John 4, the other love chapter regarding the subject of the law and gospel of love.

Let us close with a word of prayer. Our precious Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for your divine, powerful love.

Your love, Lord, that redeems us, redeems us from the wrath and the punishment that we deserve, that redeems us from the power of sin, from the consequence of sin, and from your judgment,

Father, that not only redeems us, but also transforms us, regenerates us, restores us, and conforms us to your son, your word, your words, and your law.

As we gradually seek to grow and seek to strive and to endeavor, and purposing to endeavor in all the new ways of obedience according to your precious law of love.

We thank you so much, Father, for this powerful word that teaches us what true love is and what it is not, and how important it is for us to understand true love, your love, and the love that you have called us to love one another, and you as well,

Father, and even our enemies, our neighbors. We thank you, Father, for these precious truths, and we ask that you help us,

Father, to also learn to balance and distinguish the law and gospel, the law and gospel of love, how to understand and apply these things biblically and in our lives.

Father, we thank you for your love, and we ask these things in your precious son's name, who you sent to be a propitiation for our sins.

Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermons of Thorn Crown Covenant Baptist Church, where the

Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety has applied to all of faith and life. We strive to be biblical, reformed, historic, confessional, loving, discerning

Christians who evangelize, stand firm in, and earnestly contend for the Christian faith.

If you're looking for a church in the El Paso, Texas area, or for more information about our church, sermons, and ministries, such as Semper Reformanda Radio and Thorn Crown Network Podcasts, please contact us at thorncrownministries .com.