Philadelphia, Treatise · Chapter 8
CHAP. VIII. I come now to the main thing in my Text, and that is Chriſtian-Love: And thence ſhall obſerve,
Sect. I.
Obſerv. THat it is the meſſage and ſolemn charge of God and Chriſt, That Chriſtians ſhould love one another. It is not an Arbitrary thing, That we ſhould love one another, but the Command of God; a great Command, and that which is joyned to believing in his Son Jeſus Chriſt, 1 Joh. 3.23. The one is as truly neceſſary to Salvation as the other. Let men talk of Believing (while they will) on the Son of God; yet if they have no Love one to another, Their Faith is a dead Faith; becauſe God ſtands much upon this, To have his people live together in Love: At the beginning of the verſe he ſaith, it is his Commandment, and at the end of the verſe he ſaith, he gave us Commandment. It is alſo obſervable, that he ſaith of the Commandment of Love, he gave us that Commandment: It is a gift; we ſhould not only ſubmit to it, as being bound by the Authority of it; but we ſhould open our hearts to it, and cheerfully embrace it, as a Gift from God.
Love is an affection of the Heart, ariſing out of an Apprehenſion of God's Love to us, and embracing others in the Lord, 1 Joh. 4.11. If God ſo loved us, we ought alſo to love another. He ſheweth, whence this ſpiritual love ſpringeth, even from an Apprehenſion of God's Love to us. Now from this Love to God, ariſeth our Love to others. Ver. 20. If a man ſay, he loveth God, and hateth his brother, he is a Lyar; and ver. 21. This Commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother alſo. So that, as our Love to God ariſeth from God's Love to us; ſo this ſpiritual Love to men ariſeth, both from God's Love to us, and our Love to God. And it is in the Lord: True ſpiritual Love, carrieth a reſpect to God, and not ſo much to outward things. It loveth others, either with reſpect to God's Graces in them, or with reſpect to God's Command; either, becauſe God hath put his likeneſs upon them; or becauſe God hath commanded them to love them. In the former reſpect, this Love embraceth the Godly: in the ſecond, All men; becauſe God hath commanded us to love all, under the name of our Neighbour: For that anſwer of Saviour to the queſtion, (Who is my Neighbour?) is appliable to any. And Chriſt, who ſpeaketh peremptorily, [I ſay unto you, Love your enemies] excludeth none.
Now that this Love is ſound, only in the ſanctified Soul, is eaſily proved by the Deſcription it ſelf; for it ariſeth from an apprehenſion of God's Love to us. Now whereſoever this is rightly apprehended, there is ſome degree of Sanctification, and the heart is in ſome meaſure purified. For God's Love is apprehended by a ſound Faith, and a ſound Faith purifieth the heart: Yea the Love of God prevaileth ſo far, as to brin… the heart, out of Love with Sin, and ſo to purge and cleanſe out thoſe ſinful diſpoſitions and affections of the heart, which are contrary to the Love of God; and ſo purifieth the heart.
A new commandment I give unto you, ſaith our Saviour to his Diſciples, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye alſo love one another, Joh. 13.34. This is my Commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, Joh. 15.12.
SECT. II.
THere are two remarkable things, about this: Chriſt calleth it a new Commandment, and he calleth it his Commandment.
He calleth it a new Commandment for theſe reaſons.
1. Becauſe it is given after a new manner. The Law commandeth us to love our Neighbour as our ſelves. Wh…e our Love to our ſelves, is the Rule of our Love to our Neighbour. But Chriſt in his Goſpel commandeth us to love one another, ſicut ego dilexi vos, as I have loved you, ſaith he: We muſt Love each other even as he hath loved us. Where Chriſt's Love to us muſt be the Rule and Meaſure of our Love to the Saints, and to all men.
The Law ſaith, Thou ſhalt love thy Neighbour: Chriſt extends it further, and ſaith, Thou ſhalt love thy very Enemies.
Our Love muſt be, like the Sun in the Firmament, that ſhineth upon the Good and the Bad. Our Love (like the Clouds) muſt drop on the barren Heath, as well as upon the rich and fruitful Soyl. We muſt do good to them that do us evil, bleſs them that curſe us.
2. It is called new in reſpect of the excellency of this Grace, and ſo it is an Hebraiſm: It was the Hebrew cuſtom to call excellent things, new: quia nova, aut ſunt, aut videntur meliora quàm vetera; becauſe new things, either are, or ſeem to be better than old. As if our Saviour had ſaid, Many a Commandment have I delivered unto you, but this is inſtead of all; Love one another. Love will make you to keep all the other. Love is the fulfilling of the Law.
3. It is called new, as Maldonat thinketh, not becauſe it is a new command, or delivered in a new manner, but becauſe our Saviour commendeth this above all, and commandeth and preſſeth it to his Diſciples, as if it were a new command brought from heaven; as if they never heard of ſuch Truth before, Love one another. Novitas reſpicit ſtudium diligendi, non mandatum.
4. It is called a new Commandment, as the Goſpel is called a new Teſtament.
5. Becauſe it muſt be renued every day; We muſt love, and yet moreover we muſt pay this this debt of Love continually, and yet ſtill ſtand in debt.
Chriſt calleth it his Command for two reaſons.
1. Becauſe among all the Commands of the Moral Law, he preſſeth this moſt of all; As if he had ſaid, Moſes from God commandeth you many things, I command this, Love ye one another: This is the Royal Law, which ye muſt obey.
2. Becauſe he is moſt delighted in it: It is the joy of Chriſt, when he ſeeth Brethren to dwell together in Love and Unity. Pſal. 133.1. It is like the precious Oyntment of Aaron; How ſweet was that? It is like the Dew of Hermon; How fruitful is that? For there the Lord commandeth his Bleſſing, even Life for evermore. Eternal Life is the Crown; the Reward, the bleſſing of Brotherly Love: How pleaſant, how comly is that?
This is one of thoſe weightier things of the Law, which our Saviour ſpeaks of Mat. 23. Yea, the weight of the Law lieth upon it, as it were: For the Law is fulfilled by Love; not excluding Faith, but preſuppoſing it. This is the order, firſt Faith, ſecondly Love to God, thirdly Love to man. Faith apprehendeth God's Love to us in Chriſt, God's Love apprehended by Faith, makes us love God: Our Love to God maketh us to love our Neighbour. And where this Order is not framed in the Heart and Soul, there is no right orderly frame of Holineſs; but meer diſorder and confuſion. There may be ſome confuſed motions now and then, towards heavenly things, and ſome diſordered purpoſes to lead a new life; but there is not Chriſt formed in the heart, nor holineſs framed there, nor Kingdom of Chriſt ſet up there; nor Image of God imprinted there; nor the Law of God written there.