“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35). Love is the way others will know that we are of Jesus the Christ. Love is our identifier, if we are of Christ. In Peter’s first letter, he reminds us of a proverb, “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins’” (1 Peter 4:8). Isn’t it the understanding of Christians that the blood of Jesus covers all sin? Jesus said, as recorded in John 13:34, our love for one another should be, “as I have loved you.” The love of Jesus covers our sins. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things (Matthew 12:35). Out of love, Jesus poured out His blood – out of His heart came forth good things; both His love and His blood.

So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God (Luke 18:19). Jesus was not saying, “Do not call me good,” He was saying, “You can only call me good if you recognize me as God or having God in Me” It is written, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19). Those things did not come out of the heart of Jesus. But from, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things.” Jesus said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14:10). Out of the heart the mouth speaks; God was in the heart of Jesus and out of His heart preceded good things, for God alone is good.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). What is the fruit? It is the same love that is the identity of being His disciple. If we do not dwell in Him and Him in us, then we are not His disciples. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:5). Jesus said, “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). Then He did. “And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). That is the only way that we may be good, if goodness dwells in our heart. The only way that we can be righteous is if righteousness comes to dwell in us. We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away (Isaiah 64:6); for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:23-24).

Paul knew that he must abide in Christ and Christ in him, “and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith” (Philippians 3:9). For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). Jesus Christ died for the ungodly, to be our righteousness. We cannot be Holy separate from the blood of Jesus. Only God is good; we cannot even be good without God being in us. How could we ever hope to reach Holy? Because, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5). The love is what sets us apart – sanctifies us – makes a difference in our lives that others can see and know us by. We are not a godly people but ungodly people, covered by the blood of Jesus and set apart by His love; flowing from us only if we dwell in Him and He dwells in us.

Our works do not make us righteous. Abstaining from sin does not make us righteous, or holy, or sanctified. Abstaining from sin is not our identity – it is not how we are known. Purity, righteousness, holiness, and sanctification come only from the grace of God – delivered by the blood of Jesus the Christ. Our works are only attempts to live up to the blessing God has given to us. If God did not come and dwell in us and give us grace to dwell in Him, we would be dressed in our filthy burial cloths; rotten and decaying. Our righteousness, just like our salvation, is a gift from God. The love we need to be identified as a disciple of Jesus the Christ is a gift from God. We must accept the righteousness of Jesus the Christ or we have no righteousness. Without God, we are not even good. But fear not, there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love (1 John 4:18). That is the only way we can be perfect; we must be made perfect in love – by dwelling in love and letting love dwell in us. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16).

© 2008, Tim D. Coulter Sr.