Come to Understanding

They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding,

and they that murmured shall learn doctrine. — Isaiah 29:24

So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense,

and caused them to understand the reading. — Nehemiah 8:8

November 14, 2010

Volume 9 Number 22

God Commends His Love Toward Us

Paul wrote these words to the Romans:

6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time the Messiah died for the ungodly.

7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die.

8 But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, the Messiah died for us. -Romans 5

How can we possibly grasp the magnitude of the love that God has for us? Yahshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) did not die for us because we are strong, godly, righteous, or even good. He died for us while we were yet sinners!

God shows His love for us through His grace. Yahshua came to the world as the Word of God in the flesh, full of grace and truth:

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. -John 1

The unselfish and unlimited love of God is called "agape" in the Greek language. God expressed His love for us through Yahshua, "His only begotten Son:"

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. -John 3

He did not come as the condemner, but as the forgiver, saving us from our sins:

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. -John 3

We are already condemned because, as much as we hate to admit it, we are all sinners and in need of a savior:

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in the Messiah Yahshua: -Romans 3

Who is the "only begotten Son of God" that is able to save us from our sins? Paul explains that this is a "mystery" that has now been revealed. He says that Yahshua is "God" who was "manifest in the flesh:"

16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. -1 Timothy 3

Yahweh declares that He alone is God and that He is the only Savior:

10 You are my witnesses, says Yahweh, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

11 I, even I, am Yahweh; and besides me there is no savior. -Isaiah 43

There are many that are called the "sons of God:"

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. -Genesis 6

 

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan came also among them. -Job 1

 

38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. -Luke 3

Paul explains that those who are led by the Spirit of God are called the "sons of God:"

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. -Romans 8

Yahshua, however, is unique from all others who are called "sons of God." He is the only one that is "begotten" of God. That means He is the very essence of God. He is not created because He, as God, always existed as the Word of God:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. -John 1

That explains why He carried the name of God (Yahweh in its short form Yah) with Him when He manifested Himself in the flesh to save us from our sins:

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name YAHSHUA: for he shall save his people from their sins. -Matthew 1

It is because God loves us that He came to us to forgive us for our sins. His name alone, as Yah the Savior (Yahshua), has the power to cover us with His love to forgive us and to save us from our sins:

12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. -Acts 4

Until we can accept the forgiving love of God by believing in His name, we stand condemned in our sins:

18 He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. -John 3

If we believe in the name of Yahshua, then we believe that Yahweh is our Savior. If we confess this belief, then God will dwell in us and we will also dwell in Him:

14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

15 Whoever shall confess that Yahshua is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God. -1 John 4

John says that "God is love." Therefore, if God dwells in us, then love must also dwell in us. Furthermore, if we dwell in love, then we dwell in God:

16 And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. -1 John 4

If we think we have received God’s love, but we don’t love God and also love others as He loves us, then we don’t even know Him. Again, "God is love:"

7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God.

8 He that loves not knows not God; for God is love. -1 John 4

If we say we love others, but condemn them, then the love of God is not in us. Just as He loves us, we must love others. Likewise, just as He forgives us, we must also forgive others. His forgiveness is a demonstration of the grace and love that God has toward us. In a similar manner, our forgiveness of others is also a demonstration of the grace and love that we have toward them.

As Yahshua taught what has become known as the "Lord’s prayer," He told us to ask the Father to forgive us for our "debts," those which we incur through our sins and offences against Him. He did not, however, stop there. He tied our request for His forgiveness to our forgiveness of others:

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. -Matthew 6

He then instructed us to ask the Father to not lead us into temptation, which may include trials of our faith in Him, and to deliver us from evil, as we proclaim His everlasting power and glory:

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. -Matthew 6

Then, after Yahshua said the final "Amen" in that prayer, He continued on, emphasizing and clarifying the importance of forgiveness. He avoided using parables or any hard-to-understand language as He said plainly that we must forgive others. Our forgiveness of others is absolutely essential for our salvation. That is because, unless we forgive them, our heavenly Father will not forgive us!

14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. -Matthew 6

The dictionary definition of the word "forgive" is:

1 a : to give up resentment of or claim to requital for ‹~ an insult› b : to grant relief from payment of ‹~ a debt›

2 : to cease to feel resentment against (an offender) : pardon ‹~ one’s enemies› (see "forgive." Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus, In Encyclopaedia Britannica Multimedia Edition, Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010)

If we say we have love, but our hearts are unforgiving, then we are deceiving ourselves. The strife that we kindle in our hearts or in others is not from love, but from hatred. Love, however, "covers," or blots out, all sins:

12 Hatred stirs up strife: but love covers all sins. -Proverbs 10

We know that God loves us because He offered Himself through His Son to cover and forgive our sins:

10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. -1 John 4

The more we are forgiven, the more we feel the love of God and the more we love Him. As Yahshua said of the sinful woman that washed and anointed His feet:

47 Therefore I say unto you, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.

48 And he said to her, Your sins are forgiven. -Luke 7

If we have received the love of God, so must we also give that love to others, even to those who, like us, are sinners.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. -1 John 4

As we forgive others, our love "covers" all their sins.

 

 

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Scriptures are taken from the Proper Name Version of the King James Bible.

 

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