Note: these are devotional posts based on John Piper’s new book What Jesus Demands from the World.
Demand #5 — Love
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (Matt. 10:37)
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God.” (Jn. 8:42)
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (Jn. 14:15)
Love your enemies…and you will be sons of the Most High… (Luke 6:35)
The nature of love
Many have used Jn. 14:15 and other Biblical descriptions of love to conclude that love is an “act of will”. We simply determine to love. Love is an action not a feeling they conclude. Piper argues that while love is certainly more than a feeling, it is definitely a feeling. He describes the feelings inherent in love with this repeated phrase:
….deep feelings of admiration for his attributes and enjoyment of his fellowship and attraction to his presence and affection for his kinship….
In Matt. 10:37, love for Jesus is compared to love for father, mother, son, or daughter. And while love for family members is an action and a determination, it is also very much a feeling. Since Jesus commands us to rejoice and obey from the heart, Jesus is not averse to commanding feelings. Piper in a footnote gave a very good quote from a new book by Matthew Elliott entitled Faithful Feelings: Emotion in the New Testament from which I would like to quote one sentence here: “Not only do Christians live the ethics of the kingdom, they also feel the attitudes and emotions of the kingdom.”
The wellspring of love
So if we grant that love is a feeling, we then find ourselves responsible to love Jesus deeply and truely. How can we who are such diehard sinners do this? Piper stresses that such love flows from our new nature given us in regeneration (new birth — demand #1). Let us quote from Jn. 8:42 again, “…If God were your father, you would love me….” Piper gives a paraphrase of what Jesus is communicating here.
The reason you do not love me is that you are not in the family of God. You don’t have the family nature—the family spirit, the family heart, preferences, tendencies, inclinations. God is not your Father.
Piper also stresses that love for Christ flows from a deep appreciation of the forgiveness of sins Christ provides for us (cf. Luke 7:36-48).
The impact of love
Such a love for Christ results in obedience (Jn. 14:15) and a longing for Christ to be honored and blessed (Jn. 14:28, 5:23) among other things. Such love will also motivate us to forsake sin.
It is at this point that I should stress this love is the immediate fruit of conversion. It is necessary for ultimate salvation. It must be present in our lives. But like all the demands so far, it is a gift of God. It flows from our graciously imparted new heart and new spirit—indeed our new nature.
So, I ask myself. “Am I really loving Christ?” Sure in many ways I obey him. But do I experience in the words of Piper: “deep feelings of admiration for his attributes and enjoyment of his fellowship and attraction to his presence and affection for his kinship”? Am I “in love” with Him? When I read His Word and see His glory revealed, do I treasure that? Do I meditate enough on the glories of His infinite perfections? Does Jesus satisfy my soul?
Oh may the love of Jesus grow deeper and deeper in us as we live life in a constant awareness of our spiritual union in Him. May God graciously enable us to see and appreciate and love Jesus more and more each day. May we be convicted anew of our obligation and our privelege of loving Jesus. May we be challenged to pursue a greater love and at the same time to depend upon God to graciously change our hearts into hearts that love Jesus supremely! And all this for God’s glory. Amen.
—See all posts on, the Demands of Jesus
∼striving for the unity of the faith for the glory of God∼ Eph. 4:3,13 “¢ Rom. 15:5-7
When we reflect on the Person and Work of God in Christ, who God is and what he has done for us by way of common and saving grace, and when we reflect on who Christ is and what he has done for us . . . these are the truths that the Spirit uses to generate the kind of emotional love that motivates the recipient of saving grace, who keeps the truths of the Person and Work of his Creator and Redeemer ever before him, to keep God’s commandments!
Bob,
Sorry just to point out something dumb, when the series has been so substantive and helpful — but the beginning of the lesson has the wrong # (the title has it right). Just in case you wanted to fix it, although it really makes no difference.
Captain,
Thanks for your thoughts.
Nathan,
Thanks for the help! I’ll correct that shortly.