Eternity Daily Bible StudyThe Importance Of LoveNumber:07er!e!: "oman! #$%&'#0( )ohn #*:+'#7Topic: Love I! , Life Not , La-Date:./th )uly .0##"oman! #$:&'#0Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves another has fulfilled the Law.(9)For: !o not co""it adultery; do not "urder; do notsteal; do not #ear false witness; do not lust; and if there is any other co""and"ent, itis su""ed up in this word, $ou shall love your neigh#or as yourself.(%&)Love wor's no ill to its neigh#or, therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law.)ohn #*:+'#7(s the Father has loved )e, so * have loved you; continue in )y love.(%&)*f you 'eep )y co""and"ents, you shall a#ide in )y love, even as * have 'ept )y Father+s co""and"ents and a#ide in ,is love.(%%)* have spo'en these things to you so that )y -oy "ight re"ain in you and your -oy "ight #e full.(%.)/his is )y co""and"ent, that you love one another as * have loved you.(%0)1o one has greaterlove than this, that a "an lay down his life for his friends.(%2)$ou are )y friends ifyou do whatever * co""and you.(%3)1o longer do * call you servants, for the servantdoes not 'now what his "aster does. 4ut * have called you friends, for all things that *have heard fro" )y Father * have "ade 'nown to you.(%5)$ou have not chosen )e,#ut * have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and #ring forth fruit, and that your fruit should re"ain; that whatever you shall as' of the Father in )y na"e, ,e "ay give it to you.(%6)/hese things * co""and you, that you love one another.You cannot legislate love. Legalism never produces love. Living up to rules never produces love. Indeed you can have total military or monastic discipline and not have love. In fact you can bust a boiler trying to love people out of sheer obedience and willpower and you will get absolutely nowhere at all!Love is a life not a law. You cannot earn love (just as any young man trying to impress a girl and yet failing miserably!.You cannot mae your parents love you" your wife or husband love you or anyone else love you and you cannot mae #od love you. Love is a $%&& #I$'! (nd lie any free gift it can be given or withheld. 'he untold misery of love withheld is the story of many lives!)ut the good news is that #od has not withheld *is love but has freely bestowed it upon us. *is love and forgiveness are absolutely free gifts! *ere are a handful of very many verses that confirm this+)ohn $:#/'#7For 7od so loved the world that ,e gave ,is only8#egotten 9on, thatwhoever #elieves in ,i" should not perish #ut have everlasting life.(%6)For 7od did not send ,is 9on into the world to conde"n the world, #ut so that the world "ight #e saved through ,i".0o!ea #1:1* will heal their #ac'slidings; * will love the" freely; for )y anger has turned away fro" hi".Ephe!ian! .:1'+4ut 7od, who is rich in "ercy, for ,is great love with which ,e loved us(3)(even when we were dead in sins) has "ade us alive together with :hrist (#y grace you are saved),(5)and has raised us up together and "ade us sit together in the heavenlies in :hrist ;esus,(6)so that in the ages to co"e ,e "ight show the exceeding riches of ,is grace in ,is 'indness toward us through :hrist ;esus.((05)(s it is written, For $our sa'e we are 'illed all the day long. =e are counted as sheep ofslaughter.(06)4ut in all these things we "ore than con?uer through ,i" who loved us."oman! *:#&'.#/herefore as #y one offense sentence ca"e on all "en to conde"nation, even so #y the righteousness of One the free gift ca"e to all "en to -ustification of life.(%9)For as #y one "an+s diso#edience "any were "ade sinners, so #y the o#edience of One shall "any #e "ade righteous.(.&)4ut the Law entered so that the offense "ight a#ound. 4ut where sin a#ounded, grace did "uch "ore a#ound,(.%)so that as sin has reigned to death, even so grace "ight reign through righteousness to eternal life #y ;esus :hrist our Lord.Love" forgiveness" righteousness and eternal life are all absolutely free gifts!,e deserve death" we deserve lovelessness" we deserve rebue" we deserve punishment" we deserve curses (from broen moral laws! and we deserve death and *ell - but instead #od freely and instantly gives us eternal life without our having to earn it in any way" shape" or form!'hin of the thief on the cross. *e had lived a violent and brutal life" as a robber he had probably beaten people to death" and even by his own confession he deserved death. (t no point did he say he was framed or innocent or a basically decent human being. *e was not saved because he underwent any religious ceremony of any ind. 'here is not one single good wor attributed to that thief. )ut he was instantly" completely and gloriously saved to be with .esus in /aradise - and on that same day!Lu2e .$:10'1$4ut answering, the other re#u'ed hi", saying, !o you not fear 7od,since you are in the sa"e conde"nation.(2%)(nd we indeed -ustly so, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, #ut this )an has done nothing a"iss.(2.)(nd he said to ;esus, Lord, re"e"#er "e when $ou co"e into $our 'ingdo".(20)(nd ;esus said to hi", /ruly * say to you, /oday you shall #e with )e in @aradise.$or this man to be saved &0&%Y'*I1# has to be a free gift. *is forgiveness was free and unearned" his salvation was free and unearned" his eternal life with .esus in /aradise was free and unearned" the compassion and mercy of 2hrist upon him was free and unearned. ( guilty man" without any natural or spiritual hope" who had no place on the %abbinical spiritual ladder of progress in #od" was found in *eaven by grace! 'he same or similar is true of 3aul4/aul" the 3amaritan woman at the well" and many others.# Timothy #:#*'#//he saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that:hrist ;esus ca"e into the world to save sinners, of who" * a" the fore"ost.(%5)4ut* received "ercy for this reason, that in "e, as the fore"ost, ;esus :hrist "ight display his perfect patience as an exa"ple to those who were to #elieve in hi" for eternal life./recisely nothing is earned 5by the wors of the Law.'he Law only results in condemnation and death (see %omans 6" and #alatians chapters 7 8 9!. 'he Law does not bring justification or eternal life+3alatian! .:#/'.#yet we 'now that a person is not -ustified #y wor's of the law #utthrough faith in ;esus :hrist, so we also have #elieved in :hrist ;esus, in order to #e -ustified #y faith in :hrist and not #y wor's of the law, #ecause #y wor's of the law no one will #e -ustified. A.(%9)For through the law * died to the law, so that * "ight live to 7od.(.&)* have #een crucified with :hrist. *t is no longer * who live, #ut :hrist who lives in "e. (nd the life * now live in the flesh * live #y faith in the 9on of 7od, who loved "e and gave hi"self for "e.(.%)* do not nullify the grace of 7od, for if righteousness were through the law, then :hrist died for no purpose.Love is an outcome of grace and is the result of a promise. Love does not flow from gritty obedience. 1or does love come from following some religious program. Love is a free and gracious gift that is poured out into our hearts by the promised *oly 3pirit (%omans :+:" #alatians 9+;