Without love, it gains me nothing.

 

Without love, it gains me nothing.

 

1 Corinthians 13:1-3: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have no love (agape), I am a resounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have no love (agape), I am nothing. If I give all my possessions to the poor and give my body to be burned, but have no love (agape), it gains me nothing.”

 

Agaphen (ἀγάπην) is the love of the cross of Jesus Christ. In other words, the love of the cross revives a dead spirit. This means that no matter how much a person speaks in tongues or imitates the words of angels in tongues, it is meaningless. Among the gifts given by God, speaking in tongues is ultimately a means to preach the gospel.

 

Agape (ἀγάπην) is love for value. The most valuable thing is to revive a dead spirit. Therefore, the dead spirit can establish a relationship with God through the love of Christ's cross. Agape love is not something humans can do; it is God's unilateral love. Thus, humans simply need to repent and accept Agape love.

 

Agape (ἀγάπην) is God's love. Does a believer possess Agape love? Those united with Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, possess Agape love within Christ. This is because believers can revive their dead spirits by relying on the power of the Holy Spirit. If a believer receives light from God within Christ, they can shine that light.

 

If Agape love is understood as relational love with humans, then God is understood as a God of love who forgives and loves humans. However, God neither loves nor forgives sinners. God loves only those who enter into Jesus Christ, who died on the cross. Because God looks to Jesus Christ, those who are in Jesus Christ receive the benefits of that grace.

 

The Gospel is the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross. When a believer believes that they have died in union with Jesus Christ and have been resurrected in union with the resurrected Christ, they receive the amazing grace of being freed from sin. This grace is received solely through the faith of a sinner who repents and enters into Jesus Christ. This faith is not obtained through the believer's own efforts; it is simply a matter of repenting and entering into the faith of Jesus Christ.

 

In justification by faith alone, justification by faith alone without repentance cannot lead to complete salvation. Repentance means realizing that the believer is a being who must die to God, and dying to sin in union with Jesus. Repentance is precisely the death of the old self. Romans 6:6-7: "And we know that our old self was crucified with Jesus so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin and declared righteous."

 

Sanctification is synonymous with holiness and holiness. However, most believers today believe that although they have been saved by justification by faith, they have not yet been sanctified, but must instead gradually become sanctified through the help of the Holy Spirit. They think of sanctification as something achieved through the help of the Holy Spirit and their own efforts.

 

However, sanctification is a grace given by God to those who have repented and been justified by faith. Believers today are confusing spiritual growth with sanctification. They consider sanctification to be spiritual growth. Therefore, they cause confusion by saying that while they believe they obtain salvation through faith, they must still strive to achieve sanctification. Ultimately, achieving sanctification inevitably leads to an emphasis on legalistic behavior.

 

It is as if they believe that while they obtain salvation by believing in Jesus, they must demonstrate the commandments spoken of in the Bible through their actions to attain righteousness. Therefore, legalists emphasize that faith without action is not salvation.

 

Those who repent and obtain salvation through faith are by God's grace, but true repentance means whether one has died with Jesus on the cross. This death is death to sin and death to the world. Galatians 6:14 states, "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

 

To those who have died with Jesus to the world, God gives the Holy Spirit, causing them to be born again as a new creation. This is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and one in whom the Holy Spirit dwells becomes a saint. Therefore, a saint always keeps the commandments given by God in their heart and acts according to the heart given by the Holy Spirit.

 

Although a saint has already been made holy and pure through the power of the Holy Spirit, they are spiritually immature like a child and are bound to make many mistakes. What believers misunderstand is thinking that this means they have not yet become holy. One who has the Holy Spirit with them must be described as someone who has already become holy but has not yet achieved spiritual growth. Therefore, for spiritual growth, more effort, such as Bible study and prayer, will be required.

 

Since God has personally experienced the flesh, He is well aware of the spiritual difficulties of believers caused by their weak flesh, and thus He has made promises to believers in advance. In Romans 8:1-2, it states, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death."

 

Furthermore, it promises in Hebrews 10:16-18: "The Lord said, 'This is the covenant I will make with them after that day: I will put My law in their hearts and write it on their minds.' Then He said, 'I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.' Since these have been forgiven, there is no longer any need to offer sacrifices for sin."

 

A believer who trusts in God's promises is one who is spiritually born again. This means that a believer is one who has been put to death in the flesh and made alive in the spirit within Jesus Christ. In Romans 8:10, it says, "And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness."

 

Now, the saint does not act according to the letter of the law, but rather keeps the law in their heart and acts according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. While the letter of the law consists of commands such as "do" and "do not," a saint guided by the Holy Spirit is not one who moves by commands while imprisoned, but one who acts with freedom. That freedom will increase with spiritual growth.