I think I would have made a great Pharisee. You see, I love rules. They provide a check-list of sorts to measure my life against, to prove that I am a “good Christian.” Read the Bible every day: Check. Go to church every week: Check. Don’t get drunk, don’t swear, don’t steal: Check. Give a tithe of your first fruits: Check…usually. Love your neighbor as yourself: Che… Wait a minute, where did that one come from?
As kids, we needed rules to help us know the difference between right and wrong, as well as to keep us safe. Rules were good. Even as adults, having a few rules is a good thing. But if our entire pursuit of God becomes a long list of dos and don’ts, shoulds and should-nots, then we have distorted the Gospel. In fact, the closer we draw to God, the farther we should get from legalism. Grace becomes the new “law” of our hearts, and it manifests itself as love for God and His people.
The last section of Hebrews 5 addresses a group of people who have not been pursuing spiritual maturity. They have remained babies of the faith and have stopped trying to understand anything beyond the basics of the Gospel. The writer of the book (likely Paul) urges them in chapter six to step it up and start pursuing maturity. One sign of that maturity is loving God by loving and serving other believers. Hebrews 6:11 reads, “Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.”
I am pretty good at digging in and searching out some deep truths of God’s Word. In fact, sometimes I get so wrapped up in these “deeper” things that I have to remind myself to go back and look just at Jesus. But when I read in Hebrews 6 that maturity shows up in how we love each other…well, then I have a little trouble. Because, like I said, I like rules and I like people who play by the rules. So much that I forget that my Christian brothers and sisters are real people: imperfect, struggling with sin just the way I am.
Hebrews 6:11 says that I need to focus on loving others as long as I live in order to make certain that what I hope for (salvation) will come true. This would be easy to use to distort the Gospel of Grace, taking the burden of salvation on ourselves, but that’s not what the author is getting at here. Instead, he is saying that our love for people will be an indication of what’s going on in our hearts. Galatians 5:22 says that when the Holy Spirit is guiding your life, He will produce in you fruit – evidence – of His presence. Love is part of that fruit. Thus, a life abundant in love for others is evidence of a life governed by the Holy Spirit, Who is God’s guarantee of our inheritance of eternal life (Ephesians 1:14), and a life governed by the Holy Spirit is one that is constantly striving for deeper spiritual maturity. And so it makes a full circle.
I will probably always be a person who likes rules. But I am learning to live my life by only two: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength;” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And in this, I pray I begin to look less like a Pharisee and more like my Savior.
By Angela Clark Logan, My Heart Ministry
Leave a Comment
Bev Duncan @ Walking Well With God says
Angela,
I have often struggled with legalistic thinking…that the Bible is just one big book of “do’s and don’ts”. I get down on myself when I can’t follow all the rules to the letter of the law, but then it dawns on me…if I could follow all the rules on my own, I wouldn’t need a Savior. Jesus wouldn’t be necessary. But, because I can’t do this on my own, I am drawn into an utter dependence on the Lord and I am blessed to live under His beautiful grace. Thanks for a great post and reminder!
Blessings,
Bev
Angela Clark Logan says
Thank you!
Jen Stults says
I am a rule-follower and perfectionist at heart, so I appreciate this post. 🙂 The older I get, the more I learn to love Grace. I really like the connection you made between maturing in Grace and loving others. I want to love others like Jesus did, not in my selfish, judgmental human way. I want to look less like a Pharisee, too. 🙂
Joanne Viola says
Great post & reminder!! May we live by the two rules: love God with your whole heart, mind & soul & love your neighbor as yourself. And may we look less like a Pharisee & more like Him. Thank you for this post!
Blessings,
Joanne
Debbie says
Thanks for the post. You stated “One sign of that maturity is loving God by loving and serving other believers.” Shouldn’t it be by serving others? Believers and non-believers?
Angela Clark Logan says
Debbie,
Yes, I do believe that we should serve believers and non-believers alike. However, this passage in Hebrews speaks specifically about serving other believers. When we serve non-believers, we do so in order to let Christ shine through us and thus draw them to Him. According to this passage of Scripture, our service to other believers is evidence of our love for God and our pursuit of spiritual maturity.
Blessings!
~Angela
Angela Clark Logan says
Forgot to mention…the reference to loving other believers comes before the verse I quoted in the article: Heb. 6:10 — “…how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers…”
Debbie says
Angela,
Thank you for your reply. You are absolutely right. I am so sorry I thought you was just stating a sign of maturity I didn’t realize you were referring to the passage of Scripture. Sorry. Thanks for the post.
Debbie
Angela Clark Logan says
No, problem! Thanks for reading! 🙂
Vanessa says
Love this post….thank you.
Jessica says
I love this! You’ve touched my heart strings today. Thanks so much for that! 🙂
Bomi says
Amen! Thank you for this reminder! Amen.
Hope says
I loved this post. And I have a new favorite bible verse – Luke 10:27.
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”
Heather M says
God seems to be really pointing me towards loving others today as this, the bible study im going through and some major life events are all about this. Way to be used by the holy spirit 🙂
Vicki says
Yes, everywhere I turn I’m getting a message about the importance of loving others.
This is a wonderful post, filled with truth!
Blessings!
Angela Clark Logan says
Thank you!
Vanessa says
This is a wonderful reminder of God’s command to love each other – above all else. And He didn’t just mean other Christians, he meant everyone – our friends, our enemies, those who do good and those who do heinous evil… in fact it’s our enemies and the evil who need our love and prayers more than anyone else. Bonhoeffer has some amazing words to say on the matter 🙂 I struggle with loving others as well… but thanks be to God for His patience, grace and mercy.
Angela Clark Logan says
I agree…we ARE called to love even our enemies and we are told to pray for them. And we love them in order to allow God to shine through us and draw them to Himself. However, this passage of Hebrews specifically calls us to love and care for other believers (back up from the verse I quoted to Hebrews 6:10). As we pursue spiritual maturity — a Christian walk with TRUE depth — it will display itself in how we love (serve) other believers.
Thanks for reading!
Debbie Barringer says
Hi Angela.. I remember you from “back in the day”… you used to play the piano at FRCC when you lived here! I was so excited to realize that you were the writer of one of my favorite (in)courage blogs I have been following! You hit the nail on the head for me almost every single blog. I have struggled with my “rule following” mentality for my entire life. It not only keeps me from loving others as I should, it also keeps me from the freedom Jesus offers through his grace! I create a tension within myself when I am into my “rule-following” mode, and that tension keeps me from relaxing in God’s grace.. AND keeps me from being an instrument of his love. Thanks for this reminder! (I am a little behind reading this week.. I work in the local school district. Enough said!) Blessings!
Angela Clark Logan says
Hi, Debbie! Boy, how God has moved me since those days at FRCC!
Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for any of the posts here at (in)Courage other than this one; I am just a guest writer. 🙂 They have an incredible staff of writers here, and I was so honored to be allowed to be their guest for a day. I do have my own blog; if you click on my name it should take you there. Otherwise you can go to http://www.myheartministry.blogspot.com to find me. Stop by for a visit sometime!
I’m so glad you took the time to comment. It was good to hear from you!