John 15:12-13

[Blue Lulu]

John 15: 12-13 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

So my question is:  Jesus’ great love for us sent him to the cross for us.  It would be the greatest love.  But if we lay down our life for a friend it would not be as great as the love Christ showed us, would it?  And why?

[Blue Lulu]

1 minute ago, Yowm said:

It wouldn't due to the fact that ours was an offense against God compared to man. The gulf is wider than if we just laid down our life for another.

 

I guess my second question is what should this sacrificial love look like in me?

[4LdKHVCzRDj2]

25 minutes ago, Blue Lulu said:

I guess my second question is what should this sacrificial love look like in me?

Repentance, forgiveness, and grace. A whole new life in Christ Jesus.

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." - John 15:13

"We love him, because he first loved us." - 1 John 4:19

"and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer
    for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again." - 2 Corinthians 5:15

 

Just as He gave His life for us, we should also give our lives for Him.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
    that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
        acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." - Romans 12:1

 

This simply means: To have life. Because to live for ourselves is actually death.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life,
    and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." - John 5:24

 

Start loving Him today, He will change your life.

"Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,
    as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious." - 1 Peter 2:1-3

[SerenSunflower]

Hi Blue. You have gotten some great responses, but I am not sure they answered your question. You wanted to know what sacrificial love looks like, how to apply all these wonderful scriptures you are getting. Fortunately, the answer to that is also in the Bible. Jesus was very clear and practical about what He wants people to do to love Him. Matthew 24:35-40 says the following:

³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

The Bible also says there will be a penalty for those who do NOT do this. Matthew 25:41-46 says the following:

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

The Bible is quoting Jesus here, so take these verses VERY seriously. Works cannot save you; only faith in Jesus can do that. But James says that faith which does not PRODUCE works is dead. Faith saves you; but if you don't live out the faith, that faith is dead.

James 2:14-22 says:

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God.Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

²⁰ You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^[a]? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

So that is very practical advice and clear instruction from the Word. How everyone applies it depends on life situations. I don't have the ability to go out and do stuff, nor much money to give, so I pray. I also crochet blankets to keep people warm. Do what you can...but do it.

 

[4LdKHVCzRDj2]

7 minutes ago, SerenSunflower said:

The Bible is quoting Jesus here, so take these verses VERY seriously. Works cannot save you; only faith in Jesus can do that.

It is Jesus Christ living in us. The Lord Jesus become the Lord of our lives.

"Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." - 1 Corinthians 11:1

 

It is all about being free in Christ, free to do what is pleasing in the sight of God.

 

Just repent of all your sins, and welcome Him to your life: "Lord Jesus, please forgive me! Give me life!"

And a whole new life is in you.

"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." - John 8:36

 

Glory to God! Amen.

[frienduff thaylorde]

1 hour ago, 4LdKHVCzRDj2 said:

It is Jesus Christ living in us. The Lord Jesus become the Lord of our lives.

"Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." - 1 Corinthians 11:1

 

It is all about being free in Christ, free to do what is pleasing in the sight of God.

 

Just repent of all your sins, and welcome Him to your life: "Lord Jesus, please forgive me! Give me life!"

And a whole new life is in you.

"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." - John 8:36

 

Glory to God! Amen.

My friend of many letters ,   Praise the LORD , you loved brother .   keep on pointing to Christ .   Blessed be the name of the LORD .   

[Neighbor]

On 3/7/2018 at 7:46 PM, Blue Lulu said:

I guess my second question is what should this sacrificial love look like in me?

Hi,

Sacrificial love looks like the result of putting God first in all matters, physical and spiritual, keeping in mind what the saint in Christ Jesus battles against is not mere flesh and blood and earthly authority of kings and principalities.

Within the Bible are advance alerts/warnings of the trials  and consequence of putting Jesus, who is God, first in all matters of one's life, and in  putting life itself forward, not for self, but instead for the cause of Christ Jesus. 

It is not a mantra calling  for everyone to be  filled with the gift of martyrdom and then up and dying. Instead, it is the warning that  life for a Christian is not easy and in fact can and will be rather hard to maintain as it is  seriously difficult  in many circumstances, as is alerted within Luke 14: 24 through 33.

The Cost of Discipleship

 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,  “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.  Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.  For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,  saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’  Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

There is sacrifice to be made by being  a Christian, and one must be willing to make it! To carry one's own cross as Jesus did, means family an even one's siblings and parents will not see the Christian the same way as they did before. They will not necessarily welcome the change. In fact they might  shun, and even kill socially if not physically a new born again Christian over it. Employers may fire, a friend may turn away, and family disinherit, communities may no longer do business or trade.

Just as the high priests and officers  rejected Jesus and screamed for Barabbas* to be freed, so will the elation over one's  being turned about to repentance by the Holy Spirit onto being born again in Christ Jesus will be one side of two extremes to come, and the other side must be withstood, tolerated, and done so  even in meekness, for Christ's sake.  

It is the manner of  the servant of Christ to give up all that was previously sought out as good for self first for the greater testimony that Jesus is Lord God and savior. As the good servant, each born again saint must also understand he  or she will hear the cry of "crucify him" in many ways, much as Jesus did from the crowd, from even the high priests and officers of the order that does not bow before Him, that are not of Christ. For all who reject Jesus will also reject his servant.

With that  alert and warning, the person that sees, via the reveal by the Holy Spirit, that Jesus is Lord, God, and savior, will know the cost of obeying that call. The servant of Christ Jesus must be willing to put God first at all cost even the flesh, in all situations, and not count the cost as anything but joy for the privilege of making that sacrifice day after day  after day, no matter how loud the crowd of nonbelievers chants against, rails against, and even physically strikes out against, the very faith in the gospel of Jesus.

The bond-servant must be willing to stay  and stand in faith of Jesus the Son of God.

 

* Barabbas means Son  of God

[wingnut-]

On 3/7/2018 at 7:37 PM, Blue Lulu said:

John 15: 12-13 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

So my question is:  Jesus’ great love for us sent him to the cross for us.  It would be the greatest love.  But if we lay down our life for a friend it would not be as great as the love Christ showed us, would it?  And why?

 

It would not.  The why is because Jesus laid down His life for all, not one or two, or even a hundred.  The other difference is because Jesus is blameless, whereas the rest of us are not.  We all deserve death, He did not.

God bless

[SerenSunflower]

15 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Just as the high priests and officers  rejected Jesus and screamed for Barabbas* to be freed, so will the elation over one's  being turned about to repentance by the Holy Spirit onto being born again in Christ Jesus will be one side of two extremes to come, and the other side must be withstood, tolerated, and done so  even in meekness, for Christ's sake.  

Thank you for this great post. I loved the whole thing, but this the most.

[Christine]

On 3/8/2018 at 12:37 AM, Blue Lulu said:

John 15: 12-13 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

So my question is:  Jesus’ great love for us sent him to the cross for us.  It would be the greatest love.  But if we lay down our life for a friend it would not be as great as the love Christ showed us, would it?  And why?

‘This is My commandment, 
that you love one another as I have loved you.  
No one has greater lave than this, 
that a man lay down his life for his friends.’
(John 15:13-14)

Hello Blue Lulu,

If you were to lay down your life ( or give your life ) for your friend, it would be to die in her place, as the Lord Himself did for us, wouldn't it? There is no greater love than that, to be willing to forfeit your life so that another might live, is there? Like the good Shepherd who gave His life for His sheep, lying down across the entrance to the fold, barring the way to any who would seek to harm the flock.

Just further thoughts. 
In Christ Jesus
Chris