THE PROOF IS REAL
“Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.”
1 John 4:11-13 NLT
Once again, John comes back to one of his main themes, loving each other because God first loved us. Much of our assurance of salvation hangs on our response to God’s love. This response, in turn, has everything to do with the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. These three truths are indissolubly linked together.
1. God loved us while we were still sinners and while we were His enemies.
“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners…. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.”
Romans 5:8, 10 NLT
2. We responded to His love by believing in His Son, a response that the Holy Spirit both activated and acted on by raising us from spiritual death to spiritual life.
“… Even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:5-6 NLT
3. The Holy Spirit now lives in us and fills our hearts with God’s love.
“And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
Romans 5:5 NLT
When these three realities happen and coincide in our lives, God’s love in us will reach out in expressions of love to others which is a very real part of our new nature in Christ.
This love of God is in us in seed form but needs to be cultivated and encouraged to grow as we obey to Jesus’ commands and respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit in us.