In deciding whether love is conditional or unconditional, may we read Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God Almighty loved us while we were still engaging in sin. However, the Almighty made the first move of allowing man to escape from condemnation (John 3:16). And, from that point onward, we next move to the “Keys of the Kingdom” opening up the opportunity to be added to the “church.” This relates to Acts 17:30, the command is for humanity to repent. Next, this takes us to John 14:15 where love is a reciprocal action. I read an anecdotal story concerning certain parents who were going to leave their grown children out of the will. The reason for this was because they never came to see their parents and only did so when they wanted something. These selfish children did not show any concern for the ones who brought them into this world and cared for them. Resulting in these parents feeling unloved. Why? Because they are unloved! The actions tell the story. Equally, I read about grown children who did not want to have anything to do with their parent’s alcoholism, drug abuse, child abuse, incest and exploitation. Instead of receiving the love and discipline they so desperately needed in their lives, all they received was negligence. Christ gave a new commandment—“that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:34-35). Now for the penetrating question: If God is love and there is no doubt about that, then what does God demand in return for His love? Obedience! It is through our obedience that we show our love for Him (John 3:16). Just as we are born into this world in a tabernacle of human flesh in which the spiritual meaning can sometimes escape our understanding. Philip the evangelist said to the Ethiopian eunuch “understandest thou what thou readest?” (Acts 8:30b). The question is “do you need help understanding what you are reading?” The eunuch’s reply is “How can I except some man should guide me?” (verse 31a). He knew that he required help to understand the meaning of these scriptures. Even the prophet Jonah had difficulty understanding some things. “And should not I spare Ninevah, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand.” (Jonah 4:11). God pleads with us to know and understand His great compassion. Jonah could not understand the fact that since God is sovereign of Heaven, land, and sea, this meant that this great city was also His. Yes, God cared for the Gentiles back in Old Testament days. And so, when the Passover feast was ended and Jesus rose up in preparing to wash the disciples feet, we see the encounter with Peter (John 13:4ff). However, Peter’s understanding was rather lacking at this juncture as on other occasions (John 21:15-17; Acts 10:9-17). The Lord said he would understand later on about the teaching. In aiding our understanding and changing, we need to allow the mind of Christ to influence us (Philippians 2:5-9). Training the mind to think properly in the first place is very important. It starts with the child. In the book of Deuteronomy, we read about parents being commanded to teach what they have been taught to their children (Deuteronomy 4:9-10, 40; 6:1-25). Teaching and remembering will train the mind properly toward God. By having the mind of Christ, we must renew our mind (Romans 12:1-2). Changing from our self interest to God and His interest (which is His Kingdom) and having others led into that Kingdom. Now, the lesson to be taught to the disciples was to become a servant showing humility. The master-servant relationship truly takes us unto higher ground. The Greek word for servant is doulos, which comes from the verb deō, bind, and means a bond servant—what we would refer to as a “slave.” The spirit of service demands that we fully accept the assignment which is placed before us by the Lord. When we are more concerned with our image than with the image of Christ, we do not display the spirit of a servant. Next, there is the word “example”—that which is shown, whether for imitation or for warning. “…ye also ought to wash one another’s feet, for I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you (John 13:13-15). Paul’s suggestion to young Timothy regarding criticism is to “be an example of the believers” (1st Timothy 4:12). One may dispute a counterfeit or suspicious theological point, but no one can argue with a godly example. And so, by having a God approved love through understanding His will, we will train our mind to be Christ-like and to humble ourselves as a servant because the example has been demonstrated. “For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2nd Peter 1:8). Yes, even Peter understands! Just Five Words: love, understanding, mind, servant, example. May we try and do them to the glory of God.
