Love, the Sum of All Virtue

biblebb.com ^ | Jonathan Edwards

[CondoleezzaProtege]

All the virtue that is saving, and that distinguishes true Christians from others, is summed up in Christian love.

That love is the very life and spirit of a true faith…the apostle tells us in Gal v. 6, "Faith worketh by love."

Divine knowledge and divine love go together …True discoveries of the divine character dispose us to love God as the supreme good; they unite the heart in love to Christ; they incline the soul to flow out in love to God's people, and to all mankind. When persons have a true discovery of the excellency and sufficiency of Christ, this is the effect. When they experience a right belief of the truth of the gospel, such a belief is accompanied by love.

Hence it is no wonder that Christianity so strongly requires us to love our enemies, even the worst of enemies (as in Matt. v. 44); for love is the very temper and spirit of a Christian: it is the sum of Christianity. And if we consider what incitements thus to love our enemies we have set before us in what the Gospel reveals of the love of God and Christ to their enemies, we cannot wonder that we are required to love our enemies, and to bless them, and do good to them, and pray for them, "that we may be the children of our Father which is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

If love is so great a thing in Christianity, so essential and distinguishing, yea, the very sum of all Christian virtue, then surely those that profess themselves Christians should live in love …

[CondoleezzaProtege]

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13

[Jedediah]

ping

[Quix]

AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!

THX THX.

[MarkBsnr]

The Two Commandments of Christ. Very good and very appropriate. Thanks for the ping.

[ravenwolf]

Sure can,t argue with that at all. AMEN.