What’s Love Got to Do With It?

There’s a song from the 1960’s that posed a most profound question, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” The lyrics are secular, but the refrain is hauntingly provocative:

What’s love got to do, got to do with it?
What’s love but a second-hand emotion?
What’s love got to do, got to do with it?
Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?

Is love a second-hand emotion?

According to God, it’s not. Love is of utmost importance and significance. In the Holy Bible, love is shown to be the ultimate bond between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Love is the “glue” in the unity of the Trinity and in the union of Jesus with those whom He has saved. Even in human relationships, love is the bond that holds us together, and when love diminishes relationships break down. We are so blessed that God’s love for us can never diminish. God IS love, and the fullness of His love abounds to us. It is our job to fuel our love for Him. We must feed our minds with His word, so our knowledge of Him increases; spend time in prayer, so our communion with Him deepens; and engage in fellowship with other Christians, so our hope is strengthened and our joy overflows as a testimony of His great love.

The Royal Law

Love is referred to as the Royal Law in James 2:8. It is the Law of Love that commands us to love our neighbors. We can only do that when we receive the love of Christ and respond in love to Him and for God.

Got to do with what? I would venture to say the “it” is life. And love has everything to do with life. All humans are looking for love, and many are looking in all the wrong places (now that’s another secular song….maybe for another day).

True, unfailing and unbounded love is from God and we receive it by faith when we trust in the One True God (BCV), the Saviour of all mankind (BCV), the Lord of all Creation (BCV). Our trust is based on hope and our hope is built on Jesus (BCV). We love because He first loved us (BCV). Faith (trust), Hope, and Love. And the greatest of these is Love. (1 Cor 13:13). Now, let’s now address these three.

What’s Faith Got To Do With It?

Our hearts are purified by faith (Acts 15:9)
We live by faith (Hab 2:4, Ro 1:17, Gal 3:11, Heb 10:38)
We are sanctified by faith (Acts 26:18)
We have the righteousness of God by faith (Rom 3:22, Phil 3:9)
We are justified by faith (Rom 3:28, Rom 5:1, Gal 3:24)
We have access into God’s grace by faith (Rom 5:2)
We stand by faith (Rom 11:20, 2 Cor 1:24)
We walk by faith (2 Cor 5:7)
We have the promise of Jesus Christ by faith (Gal 3:22)
We are children of God by faith (Gal 3:26)
We wait for the of righteousness by faith (Gal 5:5)
Christ dwells in our hearts by faith (Eph 3:17)

What’s Hope Got To Do With It?

We rest in hope. (Psa 16:9, Acts 2:26)
We believe in hope (Rom 4:18)
We stand and rejoice in hope (Rom 5:2)
We rejoice in hope (Rom 12:12)
We abound in hope (Rom 15:13)

1 Cor 9:10 Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.

Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;