“And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I can remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2
In the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus says: “I am the vine, and ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing.” (v.5) Is the Apostle Paul, writing about the necessity of “having” the love of Christ, then, the Lord Jesus, speaking of the necessity of abiding in Him, saying much the same thing? They are if we look at the essence and substance of what they are saying, for both are speaking of the Life of Christ, by the Spirit. How can this be so, and why is it so very important?
When Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers concerning the body of Christ, the living church, he spent a good deal of time and space to the matter of spiritual gifts. These spiritual gifts are God-given, specific capacities and enablements, by which the believer can serve God and live for Him in a certain way, fulfilling God’s will and purpose for his life. These are essential if one would truly “apprehend that for which he is apprehended.” It must be noted that every believer possesses at least one gift, and possibly more. But are having the gifts alone, and the opportunities afforded the believer to use them, enough to truly glorify God? Paul writes that one can have the best gifts, specifically that of prophesy, making the greatest of sacrifices of health and wealth, spending and being spent, and yet, still fall short of God’s standard, and measure of acceptance and blessing. Why? It is because of the essential element of the very life of Christ, His presence, and Him “dwelling in the heart by faith.” The Lord Jesus, in His description of our union with Him, as depicted in John’s gospel, by the vine and the branches, makes so very clear that the believer lives by the very Life of Christ. He derives this life by faith in Christ. Paul speaks of the same thing, when he writes of how the believer has been placed into Jesus Christ, baptized into Him, made one with Him. The believer, though he lives in this world, only truly lives by the eternal life of Christ as he abides in Him. We may exist, or live, but God has placed us in living union with Christ, that we should live by the Spirit of Christ. It is, regardless of gifts and opportunities, as we abide in Christ, and He abides in us, that His life, and love, permeate all that we do and say. The life of Christ is that which God the Father accepts, approves, and blesses, for it is His life that honors and glorifies the Father. At this point, we need to ask another question: “Why does the Apostle Paul, led by the Spirit of God, declare that love is the great manifestation, and highest expression, of the life of Christ? And can we say, in answering this question, that we truly walk with God, if this specific fruit of Christ’s life does not dominate us?
It was Catherine Booth-Clibborn who wrote in one of her hymns: “Before this vast sea of suffering, that spreads itself out from day to day, there must be an immense remedy, there must be an immense love.” What is it that moved God to save men from sin, and this, at the cost of His Son’s life? It was His love, the greatest and clearest expression of His nature. It is that love of God, that very fruit of the Spirit of God, of Christ, that He desires and wills to give every one of His children. It is not a love that has its origin in the “goodness of men,” nor in their capacities to give themselves in apparent selflessness. It is a love uniquely of God, in Christ, by the Spirit.
Dear Father, Give us to abide in Thy love, and Christ in us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.