Loving in Word and in Deed

2 John 1:4-6 

4 I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. 5 And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. 6 This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

Not everyone follows Christ who knows or at least claims to know Him.  When we find those who are living disciples who have been told the gospel, have been transformed by God’s working through it, and who have been taught all things Jesus spoke through the apostles (Matthew 28:19-20) and follow what they heard, then we find real followers.  This should not only be in what we see to be right, but should give us great rejoicing because it is right to God!  Of course if we are taught all these things from scripture, part of those things is to love others practically and with sacrificial action and not just a cold evangelistic effort.  Though helping others alone is not the gospel, it is part of the resulting life we should be living as called (1 John 3:17-18), with truth reflected in action.  To say we only love and help others for them to come to Christ through “friendship” evangelism is like telling our spouse we love them, and then never saying anything more.  We are called to love in both word (speaking the gospel) and deed to meet the need.  If we only speak the gospel truths and do not help others, it rings hollow even if God can still use that message to convert them.  Romans 10:14-17 tells us that saving faith comes from hearing God’s word which someone must speak out loud; we are called to love then in both words to faith and practical love to meet needs as a whole package.  Our personal living of love is not only to others, but also to God as seen here.  We must obey God’s word in following Him after regeneration to show our love for Him in response to all He has done and continues to do for us.  John reminds us that is the commandment we have heard from the beginning (1 John 2:7, 24).  Let us walk in it.  Let us live as called to call others out as someone called to us in deed and in truth.