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Love with a Spine: Obedient Walking (2 John 1:6) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reform Thinking. I'm so glad you have decided to
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join us for this deep dive into our source material today.
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If you are listening to this right now, there's a very good
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chance that you are feeling completely overwhelmed by a
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culture that is constantly, relentlessly redefining what is
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true and what is good. You look around and the
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definitions of basic human reality seem to change by the
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hour. We are handed a cultural script
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that tells us love is simply a vague feeling, maybe a private
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preference or a blanket affirmation that refuses to
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judge anything at all. But today our goal is to cut
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through that noise by looking closely at the arguments
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presented in our source material.
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We are taking a massive stack of theological notes and exegesis,
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and we are unpacking one specific staggering verse to
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John 1.6. The apostle John writes, and
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this is love that we walk according to his commandments.
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Right out of the gate. The notes point out how John
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establishes a divine precision that shatters our modern
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assumptions. He pins down a definition of
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love that has a spine. The text argues that love is not
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an ambiguous emotion. It is an objective reality
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tethered to the very character and commands of God.
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That divine precision is precisely what makes this text
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so vital for you to grasp. Today.
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We are living in a moment where the word love is everywhere.
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You see it painted on church signs, plastered across
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political slogans from all sides of the aisle, and written into
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modern wedding vows. It is the reigning buzzword of
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authenticity, Yet our sources highlight that it is almost
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always left totally undefined by the people using it.
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The notes argue that the current age has aggressively reduced
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love to an excuse for infinite tolerance.
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Even within the visible church, this vague concept of love is
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frequently treated as a trump card.
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The materials we are reviewing suggests it is used to silence
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sound doctrine, to dull moral seriousness, and to label
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blatant compromise as compassion.
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But when we look at the biblical standard, specifically the Greek
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word used here, Agapo, we see something entirely different.
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The Holy Spirit made a deliberate authorial choice
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through John to use agapo rather than filia, which denoted
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brotherly affection, or arrows, which described passionate
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desire. Agapo is a volitional self
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sacrificial devotion. It is an act of the will that is
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completely grounded in God's holy character.
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The notes assert that it does not yield to sin.
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It seeks the highest spiritual good of the neighbor according
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to God's standard. I think we need to pause and
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really look at those three different Greek words because
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that distinction is so clarifying.
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We use one English word for love to describe how we feel about
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our spouse, how we feel about our dog, and how we feel about a
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good slice of pizza. But the Greek language is much
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more specific. Eros is that romantic,
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passionate desire. Filia is that warm, brotherly
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affection you have for a good friend.
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But agape is different. It is an action.
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It is a choice. You can agape someone even if
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you do not necessarily feel a warm fuzzy philia for them in
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the moment. OK, let's unpack this.
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What happens to society, or even more tragically to a local
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church, when love floats free from that objective, action
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oriented definition and just becomes a vague?
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Religious emotion. The notes speculate quite a bit
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on that exact scenario, and the conclusions are stark.
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If love is detached from God's commandments, it just becomes a
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religious word for self. Will people start using the
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language of compassion to justify outright rebellion
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against their Creator? You see this described in our
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sources when they critique seeker sensitive movements.
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The argument is that these movements bypass God's law to
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make people comfortable. You also see it in modern
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slogans that insist true care means affirming every desire a
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person has. But the argument John makes is
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that Scripture will not permit us to invent our own version of
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affection. John does not begin with our
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human experiences or our emotional responses.
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He begins with God's revelation. The standard is set outside of
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us. That makes a lot of sense.
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If I can use an analogy. Defining love without God's
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commandments is like handing someone a blank check and
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telling them to write in whatever amount they feel like.
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It might feel generous in the moment, but it is going to lead
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to absolute bankruptcy. John is saying that love is not
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a blank check. It is a very specific currency
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minted by God, and it only works when it is spent according to
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His rules. Love must be defined clearly
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because the counterfeits are incredibly persuasive.
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The notes stress that the stakes are as high as they could
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possibly be. We're talking about the eternal
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state of human souls, the purity of local churches, and the
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public honor of Christ Himself. We need to understand the
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situation John was dealing with. He was not just writing this in
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a vacuum. What's fascinating here is the
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historical crisis that actually prompted the Apostle John to
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write this letter. John is writing to the Elect
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Lady and her children. Now.
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While some throughout history have thought this might be a
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specific individual, most scholars and the theological
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notes we are relying on today read this as a metaphor for a
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local church congregation and its members.
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He is writing into a massive pastoral emergency.
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This church was facing a direct, immediate doctrinal threat from
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traveling deceivers. These false teachers were
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actively denying the Incarnation.
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They refused to confess Jesus Christ's coming in the flesh.
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Our sources point out this was likely an early form of
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Dosatism. Let us break that term down for
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the listener because dosatism is one of those heavy seminary
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words that can easily fly right over our heads.
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Explain it like I am five years old.
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What actually were these false teachers saying about Jesus and
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why was it such a massive threat?
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I can certainly break that down. Dosatism comes from a Greek word
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that means to seem or to appear. These false teachers were
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heavily influenced by Greek philosophy, which taught that
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all physical matter is inherently evil or dirty, and
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only the spiritual realm is pure and good.
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So when they looked at the Christian claim that the
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perfectly holy Son of God became a physical human being, they
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balked. They said no, God could never
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touch dirty physical matter. They started teaching that Jesus
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only seemed to have a physical body.
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He was like a phantom or a hologram.
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He looked human, but he did not actually have flesh, blood and
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bones. I see.
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So they were trying to protect God's reputation in their own
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minds by keeping him away from the physical world, but in doing
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so they were actually destroying the entire gospel.
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If Jesus did not have a real physical body, then he did not
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shed real physical blood on the cross.
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And if he did not shed a real physical blood, then there is no
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actual atonement for our physical sins, and furthermore,
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there is no real physical resurrection to guarantee our
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own future resurrection. They were gutting the Christian
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faith while pretending to offer a more enlightened version of
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it. That is a perfect summary.
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They were destroying the very mechanism of salvation.
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And This is why, from the very first lines of the letter, John
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binds truth and love together. The notes highlight how he makes
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it clear that truths without love is not Christian truth and
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love without truth is not Christian love.
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You cannot separate the two without destroying both.
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The deceivers were attacking the core of the gospel, and they
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were doing so while expecting the normal Christian courtesies
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of welcome and financial support from the local church.
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They wanted the Church to fund their heresy.
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That context of 1st century hospitality is absolutely
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crucial for you to understand as a listener.
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Back then, itinerant teachers and preachers relied heavily on
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the hospitality of local believers.
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There were no hotel chains as we know them, and certainly no
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reliable public funding for traveling ministers.
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To welcome a teacher into your home or your church was not just
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offering them a warm meal. If we put it in modern terms, it
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was like giving them your credit card, handing them a live
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microphone to speak to your family, and giving them the keys
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to your house all at once. It was providing lodging,
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financial funding, public legitimacy and a platform for
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their message. John issues a strict command to
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this local church not to offer hospitality to these false
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teachers. He tells them not to receive
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these conceivers into their house or even give them a
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greeting. This is where the notes suggest
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modern sensibilities completely stumble.
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Today, the general assumption is that the most inclusive posture
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is always the most caring posture.
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We are conditioned to think that drawing lines are closing doors
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is inherently mean spirited, but John completely flips that
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assumption on its head. The exegesis argues that funding
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or platforming A deceiver makes the church complicit in their
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wicked works. Think of it like a shepherd
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guarding a flock of sheep. If a wolf comes to the gate
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dressed in sheep's clothing, the most loving thing the shepherd
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can do for the sheep is to slam the gate shut and lock it.
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Opening the gate to the wolf is not showing love to the wolf, it
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is showing hatred to the sheep who are going to be devoured.
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That is a brilliant way to frame it.
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Drawing firm doctrinal boundaries is actually a fierce
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act of protection for the flock. It is not about being a grumpy
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gatekeeper. It is about keeping the sheep
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safe from predators. The notes make it clear that
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true Christian love has a protective edge to it.
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It knows how to say no to lies in order to say yes to the
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truth. And this protective boundary is
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why John's specific choice of words in 6th and John 1.6 is so
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vital. He uses very deliberate grammar
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to build his case. Let us dive into the actual
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Greek syntax of the verse. When we break down the Greek
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syntax as our sources do, we see a brilliantly constructed
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argument. Let us look at the word walk,
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which in the original Greek is parapatio.
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John uses the present active subjunctive tense here.
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We do not need to get bogged down in a grammar lesson, but
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that specific tense choice is incredibly significant.
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It indicates A continuous habitual lifestyle is not
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talking about a sporadic stroll. It is not a momentary phase of
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obedience that you try out for a few weeks and then abandoned.
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And it is certainly not an occasional heroic act of charity
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that you do once a year to feel good about yourself.
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It is describing A subtle pattern of life.
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I really appreciate how the notes phrase that they call it
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love with feet. It is an ongoing practice
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demonstrating that genuine affection can be tested in the
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realm of daily obedience. Anyone can claim to have love in
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their speech. Anyone can post a nice slogan on
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social media or make isolated gestures of kindness, but John
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ports us to the long obedience of an embodied life.
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The physical mechanics of walking require you to put 1
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foot in front of the other over and over again, carrying your
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entire body weight forward. John is saying that biblical
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love requires that same kind of steady, forward moving
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endurance. Yes, and John does not just tell
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us to walk, he tells us precisely where the path is
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located. He uses the phrase according to
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his commandments. The Greek preposition here is
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kata. Our exegesis notes explain that
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this little word functions as a measuring line for our lives.
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It proves that love is never self authored.
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It is strictly regulated by an outside standard, which is the
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divine authority of God. You cannot invent the rules as
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you go. You have to measure your steps
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against the standard God has already laid down.
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I love the analogy of a path. Here.
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A walk implies direction, forward movement, and
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perseverance over a long period of time.
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You cannot legitimately claim to be walking a specific path if
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you are constantly veering off into the woods of your own
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personal desires. If you were bushwhacking through
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the wilderness of cultural trends, trying to carve out your
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own unique trail based on what feels right in the moment, you
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are no longer on the path of love.
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You're just lost in the woods. Notice also how the notes point
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out John's use of plural and singular words.
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Here he uses the plural word commandments, referring to the
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whole moral will of God, and then immediately shifts to the
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singular phrase. This is the commandment.
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That shift from plural to singular is a very deliberate
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rhetorical move. John is taking the vast,
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comprehensive ethic of God's law, all the various
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instructions about how to treat God and how to treat your
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neighbor, and he's summarizing it under the single heading of
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love. The law of love does not replace
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obedience. It summarizes the supreme aim of
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all our obedience. It is as if he is saying, you
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want to know how to fulfill all these various commandments.
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Do this one thing, walk in love. And the anchor for all of this
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is found in John's next phrase from the beginning.
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Let us look closely at that phrase from the beginning.
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Our sources make a big deal out of this.
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When John writes, just as you have heard from the beginning,
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what is he pushing back against in that specific historical
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moment? He is making a deliberate appeal
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to Apostolic continuity. The notes argue that he is
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entirely rejecting any spiritual innovations, modern updates, or
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novel revelations. He is drawing a thick,
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unyielding line between the stable path of Christian
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discipleship and the restless spirit of innovation that
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constantly promises us supposedly higher, more
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enlightened spirituality while quietly subtracting the demands
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of obedience and truth. The false teachers were coming
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in and saying we have a new secret knowledge.
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We have moved past those old primitive teachings about a
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physical Jesus. John says no, we do not do
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updates. We stick to what was delivered
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from the very start. That establishes a massive
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litmus test for the Church, especially today.
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True faith does not chase after theological novelties.
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It remains resolutely faithful to what Christ originally
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commanded and what the apostles delivered.
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If someone comes along and says we finally figured out what the
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Bible actually means and surprise it perfectly aligns
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with whatever the culture decided was acceptable 5 minutes
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ago, we should be incredibly suspicious.
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The path was laid down from the beginning.
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We do not need a new map, we just need to walk the old one.
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If we connect this to the bigger picture, we see that this entire
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argument in Junan 1.6 is a direct, unmistakable echo of
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Jesus's own teaching. John is not inventing a new
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ethic here in his letter. Our theological notes prove that
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the human author's argument flows straight from the mouth of
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Christ. This is canonical continuity.
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The Bible interprets the Bible. That is right.
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Let's breakdown those canonical connections.
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If you recall the Upper Room discourse in the Gospel of John
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spanning chapters 13 through 17, Jesus gives the new command to
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love one another. He makes that mutual care the
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public badge of true discipleship.
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He says, by this all people will know that you are my disciples
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if you have love for one another.
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But He ties that affection directly and inextricably to
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loyalty to Him. In John 14.15, Jesus says
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plainly, If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
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He does not say, if you love me, you will feel a warm glow in
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your heart during worship. He demands concrete obedience.
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You also see this beautifully displayed in the imagery of the
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vine of the branches in John chapter 15.
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The nose point out that Jesus teaches that abiding in His love
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is actively expressed through keeping His commands.
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The branch does not abide in the vine by simply having warm,
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positive thoughts about the vine.
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It abides by drawing actual life from the vine and producing the
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specific fruit the vine was designed to yield.
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If a branch is not producing the right fruit, it proves it is not
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truly drawing life from the vine.
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The obedience is the proof of the connection.
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And the roots of this concept go back much further than the upper
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room. The notes trace the straight
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into the Old Testament. The Bible presents a highly
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consistent ethic from Mount Sinai all the way to the Upper
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Room and into John's epistles. Let us look at Deuteronomy
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chapter 6. Yes, Deuteronomy 6 contains the
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Shema, which is the central confession of the Jewish faith.
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It calls Israel to love the Lord their God with all their heart,
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soul, and might. But it does not stop with a
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feeling. It immediately commands them to
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keep His words near, to teach them diligently to their
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children, and to bind them as signs of their hands and
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foreheads. The love is expressed in the
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keeping of the words. Furthermore, in Leviticus 19.18,
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love for neighbor is strictly commanded.
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It says, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
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I am the Lord. The standard for how to treat a
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neighbor is not left to human improvisation.
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It is anchored in the identity of God Himself.
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Our sources also mention the ancient Hebrew concept of halak.
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Let us explain that for the listener, because it ties
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perfectly back to John's use of the word walk.
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Halak is a Hebrew word that literally means to walk or to
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go, but in the Old Testament it functions as a covenantal
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metaphor for total life devotion to God.
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When the text says that Enoch walked with God or Noah walked
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with God, it means they live their entire lives in conscious
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submission to God's will. Their daily conduct was
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regulated by God's character. The notes highlight that the
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character of God is immutable. He does not change.
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Therefore, the way His people relate to Him through a devotion
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that submits to His holy standard does not change either.
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The God who redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt and taught them
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how to walk in the wilderness is the exact same God who redeems
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us through the blood of Jesus Christ and teaches us how to
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walk today. The method of salvation has
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always been grace through faith, and the result of salvation has
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always been a life that walks in obedience.
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So what does this all mean? How do we take all of this
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biblical data from the Old Testament, from the Gospels, and
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from John's letter and organize it into a structured theological
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framework? This is where the notes lean
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heavily into Reformed theology. In the Reformed tradition, which
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aligns with the Westminster Confession of Faith, we find a
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beautiful harmony between the absolute call to obedience and
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the glorious doctrine of justification by faith alone.
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To understand this, we have to clarify the relationship between
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the indicative and the imperative.
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Let us break those terms down, the indicative and the
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imperative. These are grammar terms, but
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they carry massive theological weight.
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Explain them like I am 5 and how they relate to our salvation.
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In grammar, an indicative statement is a statement of
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fact. It indicates something that is
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true. An imperative is a command.
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It tells you to do something and reform theology.
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The indicative is what God has already done for us in Christ.
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The fact is, Christ died for sinners.
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He rose from the dead and He imputes His righteousness to us.
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That is the indicative. The imperative is what we are
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commanded to do in response. Walk in love.
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Keep his commandments. The notes argue that believers
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do not walk in obedience in order to be saved.
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That would be works righteousness.
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It would be trying to earn our salvation by our own effort.
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Right. And if we try to earn our
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salvation by our own effort, we will fail miserably because
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God's standard is absolute perfection.
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We walk in obedience precisely because we are already saved.
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Christ perfectly fulfilled the law on our behalf.
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His perfect obedience is credited to our account by faith
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alone. Our obedience, therefore, is not
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the ground of our peace with God.
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It is the visible, undeniable evidence of a new heart that has
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already been brought into peace with God through the finished
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work of Jesus Christ. We obey out of gratitude, not
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out of a desperate attempt to earn wages.
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This brings us squarely to where the Westminster Confession,
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specifically in chapter 19, calls the third use of the law.
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The notes point out that Reformed theology rightly
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understands that while the ceremonial laws of the Old
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Covenant, things like animal sacrifices and dietary
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restrictions, are abrogated because they were fulfilled in
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Christ, the moral law of God remains.
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We are no longer under the moral law as a covenant of works for
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our justification. We do not obey it to get right
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with God, but the moral law remains a perfect rule of
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righteousness for the Christian life.
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It shows us how a saved person is supposed to live.
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I think this is a huge sticking point for a lot of people.
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They hear the word grace and they think it means God no
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longer cares how we behave. But our sources argue that grace
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does not train us to ignore God's commands.
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On the contrary, Titus 2 says that the grace of God has
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appeared, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly
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passions and to live self controlled, upright and godly
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lives. The strength to actually love
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and obey comes exclusively from our mystical union with Jesus
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Christ. Let us look at what the
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Westminster Confession says in Chapter 13 regarding
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sanctification. Chapter 13 details that the
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dominion of sin is destroyed in the believer.
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Before we are saved. We are slaves to sin.
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We do not have a moral ability to truly please God.
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But when we are united to Christ, we are quickened and
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strengthened to true holiness. Solely because of that union,
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the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us.
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Think of that branch on the vine again.
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The branch does not try to produce its own independent life
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in order to earn its spot on the vine.
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It bears fruit specifically because the life, the SAP, the
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vitality of the vine is already flowing through it.
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That theological framework is incredibly helpful.
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It keeps us from falling off the horse on either side.
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We do not fall into the ditch of thinking.
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We earn our salvation, and we do not fall into the ditch of
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thinking. Our behavior does not matter,
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and when love is properly tethered to God's commands in
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this way, the false versions of love completely fall apart.
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Our source notes spend a considerable amount of time
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exposing some very specific spiritual frauds that constantly
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threaten the church. Let us unmask these
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counterfeits, starting with sentimentalism.
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The notes describe sentimentalism as the tragic
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reduction of affection to a mere mood or a pleasant tone of
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voice. Sentimental religion tests love
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by asking if a conversation felt gentle or if people felt
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sufficiently affirmed in their current state.
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It looks at the hard, unyielding commands of scripture, commands
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about repentance, self denial, and holy living, and calls them
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unloving. The argument here is that
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sentimentalism equates biblical conviction with harm.
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It assumes that if someone feels guilty after hearing a sermon,
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the preacher must have done something wrong.
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I want to give an analogy here to show why sentimentalism is so
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dangerous. Imagine a parent with a young
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child. The child loves eating candy for
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every meal and hates eating vegetables.
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The child also loves playing near a busy St. and hates
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holding the parent's hand. If that parent operates by
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sentimentalism, they will give the child candy for dinner and
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let them run into the street because saying no would make the
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child cry and the parent wants to keep a pleasant tone.
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That is not love. That is horrific indulgence.
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A parent who truly loves their child will enforce boundaries.
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They will feed them healthy food and yank them back from the edge
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of the busy St. Even if the child throws a
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massive tantrum in the moment. Biblical love cares more about
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the eternal reality of the person than their temporary
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emotional comfort. That is a highly effective
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analogy, and it perfectly illustrates the notes critique
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of sentimentalism. Another dangerous counterfeit
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the sources identify is antinomianism.
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The word literally means anti law.
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This is the false claim that grace somehow nullifies the need
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for obedience. It treats God's law as if it
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were a threat to our joy. The notes point out that
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antinomianism often masquerades as being heavily gospel
21:40
centered. It speaks constantly about
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forgiveness and grace, but it remains completely silent about
21:45
the necessity of holiness. Right.
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It suggests that calling sin sin is a failure of grace.
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It treats Jesus like a cosmic mop who just cleans up our
21:53
messes while we continue doing whatever we want.
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But John flatly contradicts this in his letter.
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The exegesis shows that biblical love is not freedom from the
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commandments. It is a joyous walk.
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According to the commandments, Jesus did not die just to
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forgive us for breaking the law. He died to give us a new heart
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that actually wants to keep the law.
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Now let us look at the complete opposite end of the spectrum.
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The notes identify the counterfeit of legalism.
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Yes, the notes refer to legalism in its historical context,
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sometimes called the Romish error, referring to the
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theological debates of the Reformation regarding merit
22:25
based salvation, legalism treats obedience as the required price
22:29
of acceptance. It turns God's holy commands
22:31
into a performance ladder that you must climb to secure God's
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favor instead of resting in the finished work of Christ.
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The legalist believes their own strict adherence to rules is
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what makes God love them. Let us breakdown that Romish
22:45
error phrase for the listener so they understand the historical
22:48
context the notes are using. During the Reformation in the
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16th century, the Protestant reformers were pushing back
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against the medieval Catholic teaching that a person had to
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cooperate with grace and essentially earn their
22:59
justification through a system of merits, penance, and
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sacraments. The reformers, looking at
23:03
scripture, argued that justification is a one time
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declaration by God based entirely on Christ's merit
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received by faith alone. So when the notes call legalism
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A Romish error, they are pointing back to that historical
23:15
debate. They are saying that turning
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obedience into a ladder you climb to get saved is a
23:19
rejection of grace. Precisely.
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The notes argue that this false version of love produces only
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two things arrogant pride or crushing despair.
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If you think you were successfully climbing the ladder
23:31
of obedience, you become intensely proud and judgmental
23:34
of everyone below you. You become a modern Pharisee.
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But if you were honest about your own sin and realize you
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were failing to climb the ladder, you fall into crushing
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despair wondering if God could ever love you.
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Legalism shifts the believers confidence entirely away from
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Christ and places it squarely onto their own performance.
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It is a miserable way to live. It truly is.
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We also have to unmask the counterfeit of doctrinal
23:57
indifferent ISM which the notes often pair with pragmatism.
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This is the cultural niceness that minimizes objective truth
24:03
for the sake of an artificial unity.
24:06
It is the seeker sensitive mindset that looks at a
24:08
theological issue and asks, will teaching this specific truth
24:11
offend people and shrink the crowd?
24:13
Instead of asking, Does this teaching obey Christ?
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It welcomes deceivers because it cannot stomach the idea of
24:19
drawing a hard line. It values a big, unified crowd
24:22
over a pure, obedient church. And finally, the notes detail
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the counterfeit of mysticism. This involves substituting inner
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impressions, feelings of peace, or supposedly new words from God
24:34
for the plain written word of Scripture.
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The sources we are reviewing maintain a strict cessationist
24:39
viewpoint here. Let us explain that term as
24:42
well. Explain a cessationist viewpoint
24:44
like I am 5 and why the notes apply it to this verse.
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The cessationist viewpoint is the theological position that
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the miraculous sign gifts of the early church such as prophecy,
24:55
speaking in tongues, and direct divine revelation ceased with
24:58
the the death of the original apostles and the completion of
25:01
the New Testament. The argument is that these gifts
25:03
were given temporarily to lay the foundation of the church and
25:06
to authenticate the apostles message before the Bible was
25:09
finished. Now that we have the completed
25:11
Bible, those specific foundation laying gifts have ceased.
25:14
So applying that to our text, the notes are arguing that the
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Holy Spirit does not give novel new revelations today.
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The Canon of Scripture is entirely closed.
25:23
We do not need a new prophecy to tell us how to live.
25:26
The Spirit's job today is to illuminate the written word that
25:29
we already have so we can understand it and obey it.
25:33
He does not bypass the Bible to give you a private mystical road
25:36
map for your life. When someone says God told me to
25:39
do this and it contradicts scripture, mysticism says follow
25:42
the feeling. John says follow the written
25:44
commandment. The text makes it clear love is
25:47
not a private mystical experience.
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It is a public, objective walk in God's revealed will.
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This brings us to the boots on the ground.
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The notes are very clear that we have to apply walking love
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practically to your head, your heart and your hands.
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It has to impact the mundane everyday spheres of your daily
26:05
life. It cannot just be an abstract
26:07
theological concept starting with the head.
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Applying this text means totally rejecting the intellectual idol
26:12
of autonomy. Autonomy is a big word.
26:14
It means being a law unto yourself.
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It means thinking you have the right to define your own
26:19
morality or interpret the world according to your own inner
26:22
compass. The notes say that walking in
26:24
love requires you to crush that idol.
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You must let Scripture interpret Scripture.
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You must submit your mind to the authority of the Word, even when
26:33
it contradicts your preferred way of thinking.
26:35
You have to say God is right and I am wrong.
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That is where it starts in the head.
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Moving to the heart. The notes explain that walking
26:42
love means cultivating deep, genuine affections for God's
26:45
law. It means moving away from being
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a weary, resentful St. who views obedience as a heavy, annoying
26:51
burden. Instead, it means finding
26:53
massive joy in the covenantal reality of your union with
26:56
Christ. You obey because you love the
26:58
Commander. You delight in the law because
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it reflects the character of the Savior who rescued you from
27:02
death. The law becomes a song you love
27:04
to sing rather than a tax you're forced to pay.
27:07
I love that imagery, a song you love to sing versus a tax you
27:10
were forced to pay. And when we look at the hands,
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we are talking about actual behavior.
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We are talking about personal holiness.
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The notes are uncompromising here.
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Walking love requires actively repenting of secret sins.
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You cannot claim to walk in biblical love if you are
27:25
harboring pornography, impurity, hidden greed, gossip, or slander
27:29
behind closed doors. You cannot say you love God
27:32
while actively nurturing the very things that nailed His Son
27:35
to the cross. Biblical love fears God and
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seeks the pure good of the neighbor.
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The notes also apply this to your church relationships.
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Walking love means bearing one another's burdens and practicing
27:46
genuine forgiveness when you are wronged.
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But it also means engaging in truthful confrontation and
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gentle correction. It means valuing and supporting
27:54
church discipline when a brother or sister is wandering into
27:57
destructive sin. If you see a fellow believer
27:59
walking toward a Cliff, true love requires you to warn them,
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even if it makes the relationship awkward.
28:05
And what about our daily callings?
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The notes get very specific here about how this applies to the
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home and the family. Yes, the sources argue that in
28:12
your daily callings, walking love means entirely rejecting
28:16
the ethical norms of the surrounding Pagan culture,
28:19
particularly regarding sexual ethics and family structure.
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It means husbands leading their home sacrificially, putting the
28:25
needs of their wife and children above their own comfort, just as
28:28
Christ leads the Church. It means wives offering
28:32
steadfast, respectful help to their husbands.
28:35
It means parents taking the absolute responsibility to train
28:38
their children in absolute truth.
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That point about parents is so convicting.
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The notes argue that walking in love means parents cannot
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outsource their children's eternal souls to secular
28:46
entertainment, public institutions, or worldly peers.
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You cannot just hand your kid a tablet, let the culture
28:52
catechize them for 8 hours a day, and then wonder why they do
28:55
not love God's commandments when they grow up.
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Walking in love means doing the hard daily work of discipleship
29:00
in the home. It means opening the Bible at
29:02
the dinner table. It means answering their hard
29:05
questions with biblical truth. Sustaining this kind of obedient
29:08
walk requires relying heavily on the means of grace that God has
29:11
provided. The notes are very clear that
29:14
you cannot maintain this lifestyle on religious
29:16
adrenaline, emotional highs, or sheer willpower.
29:19
You will burn out. You are sustained through the
29:22
ordinary rhythmic practices of the Church, the faithful
29:25
preaching of the Word, and the right administration of the
29:27
sacraments. Think about how this application
29:30
ties directly into the Lord's Supper.
29:32
Let us look at that connection. How does the Lord's Supper serve
29:35
as a picture of this entire theological framework we have
29:38
been discussing? When we come to the table, the
29:41
notes point out that we are looking at the ultimate visible
29:43
word displaying love. We see bread broken and wine
29:47
poured out. We see Christ's body broken and
29:49
his blood shed to satisfy the very commandments that we failed
29:52
to keep. We commune with the risen Christ
29:54
by faith, receiving spiritual nourishment to continue our
29:57
walk. The label shows us that the law
29:59
is fulfilled in Christ and through Him we are nourished and
30:03
empowered to walk in love. We look back at His obedience to
30:06
fuel our ongoing obedience. This raises an important
30:09
question. As we wrap up the steep dive,
30:11
the main thesis of the note stands crystal clear before you.
30:15
Biblical love is inextricably bound to joyful obedience.
30:19
It is love with a spine. It does not yield to the
30:22
shifting sands of culture. It yields to the solid rock of
30:25
Christ. The challenge for you today,
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based on everything we have unpacked from these sources, is
30:31
to rigorously evaluate your own walk.
30:34
Are you simply speaking the language of affection?
30:36
Are you just using the buzzwords?
30:38
Or are you proving your love through act of repentance, the
30:40
pursuit of holiness, sharp discernment, and daily
30:43
perseverance on the path God has laid out?
30:45
The notes provide a massive reality check.
30:48
They force us to ask if our definition of love is handed to
30:50
us by the apostles or by the algorithms of social media.
30:53
The text of to John 1.6 demands A verdict.
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Will we walk according to His commandments, or will we walk
30:59
according to our own desires and try to slap God's name on it?
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I want to leave you with a final, unscripted concept to
31:04
ponder long after you finish listening.
31:07
Think about the broader implications of our culture's
31:09
chosen path. If a society fully embraces a
31:12
definition of love that demands total, unquestioning tolerance
31:16
and systematically removes all objective truth from the public
31:19
square, does that society actually create a more
31:21
compassionate world? Or does it in reality build a
31:25
brutal, chaotic culture where the most vulnerable have
31:28
absolutely no moral protections left?
31:30
Think about how an unbelieving, chaotic world might react when
31:33
they finally encounter a local church that actually practices
31:36
this bold, truth anchored, obedient love.
31:39
It will be an absolute shock to their system.
31:41
It will look utterly alien to them.
31:43
And by God's grace, that sharp contrast might just be the very
31:46
thing that draws them out of darkness and into the light of
31:48
Christ. Thank you for joining us on the
31:50
Steep Dive. Keep walking in the truth.