Topical Bible: The Love of God: Abiding

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The concept of the abiding love of God is a central theme in Christian theology, emphasizing the enduring and unchanging nature of God's love for His creation. This love is not merely a transient emotion but a steadfast commitment that permeates the entirety of Scripture. The abiding love of God is both a comfort and a call to believers, inviting them to dwell in His presence and reflect His love in their lives.

Biblical Foundation

The abiding love of God is rooted in His very nature. 1 John 4:16 states, "And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him." This passage highlights the intrinsic connection between God's love and His essence, affirming that to abide in love is to abide in God Himself.

In the Old Testament, God's abiding love is often expressed through His covenantal faithfulness. Deuteronomy 7:9 declares, "Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments." Here, God's love is portrayed as enduring and reliable, extending across generations to those who remain faithful to Him.

New Testament Revelation

The New Testament further reveals the abiding nature of God's love through the person and work of Jesus Christ. In John 15:9-10 , Jesus instructs His disciples, "As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love." This passage underscores the reciprocal relationship between abiding in God's love and obedience to His commandments, reflecting the unity between the Father and the Son.

The Apostle Paul also speaks to the abiding love of God in Romans 8:38-39 , where he writes, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." This assurance of God's inseparable love provides believers with confidence and hope, regardless of life's circumstances.

Practical Implications

The abiding love of God calls believers to a life of intimacy and communion with Him. In John 14:23 , Jesus promises, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him." This invitation to abide in God's love is both a privilege and a responsibility, encouraging believers to cultivate a deep and personal relationship with the Lord.

Moreover, the abiding love of God compels believers to love others. 1 John 4:11-12 exhorts, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us." The love of God, when truly abiding in the heart of a believer, manifests in acts of love and service toward others, reflecting the character of God to the world.

Conclusion

The abiding love of God is a profound and transformative truth that shapes the life of every believer. It is a love that is constant, unwavering, and eternal, inviting all who believe to dwell in its fullness and to share it with others. Through the abiding presence of God's love, believers find their identity, purpose, and hope, anchored in the unchanging nature of their Creator.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Zephaniah 3:17
The LORD your God in the middle of you is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over you with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over you with singing.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Abiding in Love
... they are deep"unfathomably deep, thank God!"but connected ... talk about communion with
Jesus Christ, and abiding in Him, in possession of His love, and all ...
/.../expositions of holy scripture st john chaps xv to xxi/abiding in love.htm

1 John iv. 14-16
... Abiding in love is represented by the Apostle: as the condition and the token
of abiding in fellowship with God. By love he doubtless ...
//christianbookshelf.org/neander/the first epistle of john/1 john iv 14-16.htm

God the Holy Spirit the Love which Dwells in the Heart.
... Love, is wrought by the selfsame Holy Spirit who in all ages, among all nations,
in all tongues and languages, enters into the hearts of God's elect, abiding ...
/.../kuyper/the work of the holy spirit/xx god the holy spirit.htm

1 John iv. 17, 18
... V. 1 John iv. 17, 18. The Apostle then characterizes the habitual temper of mind,
which exists where this abiding in the love of God has reached its maturity. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/neander/the first epistle of john/1 john iv 17 18.htm

Twenty-Eighth Day. Committing Our Way to God.
... His unswerving confidence, even when the sensible tokens of the Divine presence
were withdrawn; the realized consciousness of God's abiding love sustained Him ...
/.../macduff/the mind of jesus/twenty-eighth day committing our way.htm

More Light and Less Love
... But they did not appear to be aware that this abiding in Him, this obedience, and
this power of ... A "Friend of God" could say with deepest love and adoration ...
/.../bevan/three friends of god/chapter xlviii more light and.htm

Outward and Inward Morality
... the whole life of man is to be elevated from temporal selfishness to the spring
of all love, to God: man will again be master over nature by abiding in God and ...
/.../eckhart/meister eckharts sermons/vii outward and inward morality.htm

The Life of God
... And then, if we have God abiding with us, and filling us ... we shall live in and with
and by God, who can ... die or change, an everlasting life of love, whereof St. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/sermons for the times/sermon xv the life of.htm

1 John iv. 12
... But as God is love, we are assured of union with him and of his dwelling in us,
by his abiding self-revelation among us as love; through love we abide in union ...
//christianbookshelf.org/neander/the first epistle of john/1 john iv 12.htm

On the Discoveries of Faith
... he is a child of God." "The love of God ... still remain, even in a child of God, while
he ... is strengthened, when he receives faith's abiding impression, realizing ...
/.../wesley/sermons on several occasions/sermon 110 on the discoveries.htm