I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here – so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything, but come back and add your voice in the Comments! >>>
Chapter 9: God Is Love
I love this chapter. Seriously.
Torrey proposes:
- God is love. He is the source of all love.
- God loves His Son. God’s Son is the original and eternal object of His love.
- God loves those who are united to the Son by faith and love.
- God loves the whole world, and each person in it.
- God loves the sinner.
- God’s love manifests in providing for the need, joy and protection of those He loves.
- God’s love manifests in correcting the one He loves.
- God’s love manifests in His being afflicted when His loved ones are afflicted.
- God’s love manifests in His never forgetting those He loves.
- God’s love manifested in the sacrifice of His Son.
- God’s love manifests in forgiveness of sin.
- God’s love manifests in the redemption of those in Christ.
- God’s love manifests in calling the redeemed, “children of God.”
- God’s love manifests in His rejoicing over His people.
God’s love is such a huge idea. And the hugeness is exacerbated by the fact that most of us don’t even really know what love is.
Torrey addresses this, “What is love?” idea (biblically). He quotes 1 John 3:16-17 and Matthew 5:44-45, and concludes that:
Love is a desire for and delight in the welfare of the one loved.
That’s not really what the world believes about love, and it makes God’s love even more astounding.
We long for love in our relationships because of what it does for us. We want to feel in love. We want to feel special, adored, important. We withhold love from difficult people, from people who don’t love us back, because we think love is about us.
Scripture suggests that love is not something we feel, it’s something that we do. It takes effort.
Which makes it even more staggering that God loves me at all.
Thoughts? Which of those 14 propositions speaks to you, or challenges you the most?
“Scripture suggests that love is not something we feel, it’s something that we do. It takes effort”
That is such an awesome statement.
It’s kind of a relief – ’cause I don’t have to try to make myself feel good about everyone, but kind of a responsibility at the same time – it doesn’t matter how I feel. Only God can do that in someone.
[…] I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here – so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything, but come back and add your voice in the Comments! >>> […]
[…] I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here – so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything, but come back and add your voice in the Comments! >>> […]
[…] I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here – so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything, but come back and add your voice in the Comments! >>> […]
[…] I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here – so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything, but come back and add your voice in the Comments! >>> […]
[…] I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here – so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything, but come back and add your voice in the Comments! >>> […]
[…] I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here – so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything, but come back and add your voice in the Comments! >>> […]