Response:

You are correct when you state that it is all for naught if we do not have love. This is the clear teaching of I Corinthians 13. However, I think many folks don't understand what Biblical love is. My love for my children is not shown by allowing them to do whatever they please. My love to them is shown by my desire that they be in a right relationship with God, which means that sometimes I have to tell them when they are doing wrong. If I see my one-year-old start to stick a fork in an electrical socket, I don't say, "Well, I love him, and so I don't want to offend him, so I'll let him do what he wants." I say, "Well, I love him, and his decision is wrong, and it's going to hurt him, so I have to risk his being mad at me, and stop him." This is real love: risking temporary friendship and fellowship in order to share an unpleasant, vital truth with someone else.

Was Christ unloving when He said "Ye must be born again". No, He was telling people something that they needed to hear, even though they didn't want to hear it, and though He was crucified because of it. Even Paul, who wrote I Corinthians 13, had to ask the Galatian believers, "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" Love always tells the truth, no matter how much the listener doesn't want to hear it. True love would never tell someone that baptism was sufficient to get to Heaven, even though the truth that salvation is by grace through faith might be offensive to that person. True love risks the friendship, risks the offense, because it desires the other person to be in a right relationship with God. True love says, "It is more important that you be right with God than that you be buddies with me."

Of course, the Bible tells us that we must be "speaking the truth in love" (Eph 4:15). We must examine our motives and our attitudes when we speak the truth. Love must always speak the truth, but the truth can be spoken without love. Do I really care about the person to whom I am speaking? Am I harsh in my presentation, trying to make myself look good rather than trying to minister to the listener? Do I want to make myself look more intelligent by defeating them in a debate, or do I really have a burden for their spiritual life? These are important questions, and I must ask myself them regularly so that the truth that I try to speak is not negated by the harshness of my attitude, speech, and behavior.

So, how does this all apply to the textual issue? First of all, I am to love God supremely (Matt 22:37), and therefore I must stand with Him, and for Him, regardless of what others might think. I must stand for the doctrine of preservation, because Christ did, and I love Him. I must stand for the the importance of every Word of Scripture, because Christ did, and I love Him. Christ said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15). My love for Him must be exemplified not simply by my words, but by what I do with His Words.

Secondly, If I want others to be in a right relationship with God, it is important that I teach them what Christ said concerning the inspiration and preservation of His Book. The Great Commission concludes by Christ telling His followers to teach their converts "to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt 28:20). "All things" would certainly include the accuracy and authority of the Scriptures. After all, from where else can we get the teachings Jesus?

Third, the Bible in Its entirety is important as the standard of belief and practice for mankind. In Psalm 138:2, David exclaims: "Thou hast magnified Thy Word above Thy Name". We all know how important it is to reverence the name of Jesus Christ. We would never profane it, nor take it "in vain". It is the name at which "Every knee shall bow" (Phil 2:10). Yet the Word of God is exalted and magnified even more! Is it not imperative for a man to be in a right relationship with the Book that is so highly magnified by God? In John 12:48, Christ Himself stated the following: "He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not my Words, hath One that judgeth him: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day". The final authority for judgement will be the Word of God! I think this makes it pretty important to make sure we HAVE the Word of God, and if I really care about others, I will want to see to it that they have ALL the Word of God, for they will be judged by all of It.

So, true love for God means that I must stand for His Word, and true love for men means that I must direct them to the very Words of God, for they are the source of eternal life, and the ultimate authority for judgement. My attitude and speech must be loving as I speak the truth, but the truth can never be compromised if I have genuine, Biblical love.

By Dr Mark Montgomery Ambassador Baptist Church 1926 Babcock Blvd Pittsburgh, PA 15209 (412)477-3210