Lesson 20

LOVE BASED SALVATION

Table of Contents

– Love Based Salvation

Scriptures Cited:

John 20:30-31, John 3:3, John 3:5, John 3:14-18, John 15:12-14, Galatians 2:20, 1 John 4:16-20, Matthew 24:9-12, 1 Peter 4:7-8, John 14:15, John 14:21-23, 1 John 3:23, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38

In the previous lesson, we saw that the name of Jesus is the most important word. And just to add one more piece to that, we will look at a summarizing statement towards the end of the book of John. In chapter 20, verses 30 and 31, it reads:

John 20:30-31
³⁰ And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: ³¹ But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Throughout the last lesson, we saw many scriptures that show us the importance of the name of Jesus. In this lesson we will look at another very important word in the Bible, and that word is love. Many times you might hear the back and forth in ‘Christian circles’ about whether salvation is “faith-based” or “works-based”. And I say neither; salvation is based on love. And so, we’re going to take a look at that in this lesson.

We will approach this theme from three different angles, to see what the scriptures have to say about:

– The love of God towards us
– Our love towards each other
– Our love towards God

For our first scripture, we will stay in the book of John, focusing on chapter 3 verse 14. Earlier in this chapter, Jesus tells Nicodemus “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). As Nicodemus is trying to make sense of this, Jesus explains further that unless a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God (John 3:5). As Jesus continues explaining, we get to verse 14, which reads:

John 3:14-18
¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: ¹⁵ That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Note: Verse 16…

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.¹⁸ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

This is where we begin to understand why Jesus came and did all that He did – it was because of God’s great love for us. 

Jesus coming and sacrificing Himself was the Father’s expression of love towards man; giving us a way to be saved. It was God’s expression of love to give His Son. And so staying here in the book of John, we will go to chapter 15. We have just read about God’s love, and next we will see Jesus expressing that same love for those that He will give His life for. Shortly before the time came for Jesus to sacrifice Himself for our sins, He explained this to His disciples in verses 12 to 14:

John 15:12-14
¹² This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.¹³ Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

This is a very interesting verse. We see Jesus talking about the great love that He has for those He would soon die for. And He says that He is actually going to die for His friends, and that there is no greater love than this. But then in verse 14 He qualifies who these friends are. Jesus says ‘Ye are my friends, IF you do whatsoever I command you’. So now we see more clearly, how this love of God is expressed towards us. Yes, Jesus is the expression of that love, but here we see Jesus saying that this love is towards those who do as He commands – these are His friends.

Going now to the book of Galatians, we have one of my favorite verses. The apostle Paul speaks of this love in a deeply personal way, writing of who it is that Jesus died for. He adds this comment about himself in chapter 2 verse 20:

Galatians 2:20
²⁰ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

I love it. And that’s exactly it – as much as we understand that ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only Son’ – we also have to realize that it is a personal thing. If we do what He commanded, He died for us – He died for each of us individually, He died for me.

Our next scripture that tells us about God’s love is in 1 John chapter 4. We will see how God’s love towards us, our love towards God, and our love towards each other – are all woven together. Beginning in verse 16 we read:

1 John 4:16-20
¹⁶ And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. ¹⁷ Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

¹⁹ We love him, because he first loved us.

²⁰ If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

And so like I said, in those few verses there we can see all three of those aspects of love. We can see God’s love towards us, as it says – He first loved us, which is why we love Him. And then as we get to the end we read that if any man loves God, he will also love his brother; it is clear that we are to love each other. The importance of love is shown over and over throughout the scripture. Not only is our salvation love-based, but our Christian walk as a whole is also love-based.

So, I wanted to look at a few scriptures that really highlight our love towards each other. In the book of Matthew, chapter 24 the disciples were asking Jesus about the end times. Many people debate whether or not we are living in the end times now. It has probably always seemed like “the end is near” but in chapter 24, starting at verse 9 Jesus explains to His disciples what it will be like as the end approaches.

Matthew 24:9-12
⁹ Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.¹¹ And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

¹² And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Notice, Jesus says that because of iniquity abounding, the love of many will wax cold. This is something that we see in the world today, and it is worth taking a moment to consider. Many times we see so much iniquity or evil in the world, and we have to be careful not to let this affect our hearts, turning us from our walk of love. But even more importantly, the iniquity that we have to be most mindful of, is our own. We must be mindful to always lead with love in our dealings with each other.

Also, when a brother, sister or friend does something wrong, we must be mindful not to let their iniquity turn our hearts hard and cold. We have to still remain forgiving and keep a posture of love towards each other, even if ‘iniquity abounds’. In many cases, evil and iniquity come from selfish motivations, but we have to remember that our love towards others is not based on what they have done. Our love is literally based on what God has done for us.

Another place that tells us the importance of having love towards each other is in 1 Peter chapter 4, beginning in verse 7. Peter also makes reference to “the end” and gives sound instruction for us as we live out or faith in Christ. Keep in mind what Jesus said about how things would be at end; that iniquity would abound and love would grow cold. Here we read:

1 Peter 4:7-8
⁷ But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

⁸ And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

The word “charity” here is translated as “love” in some translations of the Bible. When we look at the etymology for the English word “charity”, we see that it goes back to the Greek word charis – (χάρις), which means grace. But in this verse the Greek word is agape – (ἀγάπη), which means love. The words grace, goodness, and love are all in the same family and share related meanings.

But what we see here is that since the end is near, we should be sober, watching unto prayer and fervent in charity – in other words, fervent in love towards each other. And it lets us know that agapē – (love) covers a multitude of sins.

As stated earlier, when it comes to interacting with each other, we are going to get it wrong at times. But if we can stay in that attitude of love, the Bible lets us know here that love will cover a multitude of sins. This keeps those sins from doing any more damage than they have already done. By responding to evil with love, we prevent evil and bitterness from growing and spreading into us. And in turn, it allows us to overcome evil with love and forgiveness.

Lastly, I want to look at the aspect of our love towards God. And where I want to go is back into the book of John, the 14th chapter. We are once again looking at what Jesus commanded and some of the last instructions given before He went and paid the ultimate price for us on the cross. In verse 15, Jesus says:

John 14:15
¹⁵ If ye love me, keep my commandments.

And He continues by saying in verse 21:

John 14:21-23
²¹ He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. ²² Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world.

²³ Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. ²⁴ He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

We can see here what it means to love Jesus. He says that ‘the one who loves me is the one who keeps my commandments, and keeps my words.’ We can all think of situations where someone says that they love you, but their actions don’t show it. Here Jesus lets us know that the way to truly love Him is to do what He says. Some people mistake obeying the words and commandments of Jesus, as “works” but our faithfulness towards Him is really based on love. We do what He says because we love Him, and we love Him because He first loved us.

We really need to understand what a great price Jesus has paid for us. It is actually mind boggling to think about. The one who had no sins of His own, took it upon Himself to suffer that death for all of us who wouldn’t get it right. That’s how much He loves each and every one of us. Just as Paul said – ‘He loved me, and He gave Himself for me’. Each of us personally needs that love and for that price to be paid on our behalf.

One final place that I want to look at in regards to our love towards God, is in 1 John chapter 3. And I really do believe that John understood this subject of love more than any of the other apostles, because we see it throughout all of his writings. And here in verse 23 it says:

1 John 3:23
²³ And this is his commandment,

Note: Remember what Jesus said earlier ‘if you love me, you keep my commandments.’ The verse continues…

That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

So there we see it again, His commandment is to love. If we understand those three aspects of love, the result is that we keep His commandments and love one another.

Here we also see the commandment to believe on the name of Jesus Christ.

The importance of this is made evident in that, it is tied to the last commands given by Jesus before He ascended – and in the first command given by Peter after the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost.

– In Mark 16 Jesus tells His apostles right before He ascended, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved…”

– And in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost, when the people asked ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ the first commandment given was “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

This command given to those who had believed the gospel, still applies to us today. After hearing the gospel, we should respond to that love by obeying the words of Jesus and the commandment given. That is the first step in our walk of love with God. And after that, we continue on loving God, and loving each other. And our love for one another is not just in caring for the physical needs, but also in caring for our spiritual and eternal needs; caring for each other’s souls.

With that in mind, feel free to contact us if you have any questions as we walk together in love with God.