Compelling Love

God is the source of all mercy, truth and love, as exemplified in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Psalm 85 declares, “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.” This is a prophetic description of how mercy and truth would meet together in the cross of Jesus Christ. Righteousness and peace kissed as Jesus bore the judgment of sins for all who believe in him. Now through the Holy Spirit, the risen Lord makes His footsteps our pathway.

Psalm 85
A Psalm of the sons of Korah
¹⁰  Mercy and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed.
¹¹ Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
¹² Yes, the Lord will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.
¹³ Righteousness will go before Him,
And shall make His footsteps our pathway.

God’s love for the world is revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus was the first missionary. Pastor Blenn Ramos writes, “The purpose of missions is joining God in His passion to redeem and reach the lost by giving Himself to the world for the glory of His name”. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

David referred to the Son of God as “my Lord” in Psalm 110, where he declares in verse 1, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool’”. In Psalm 108, David worships God with his whole being, praising Him for his mercy and His truth, and praying for His glory to be over all the earth.

Psalm 108
A Psalm of David.
¹ O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
² Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
³ I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
⁴ For Your mercy is great above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the clouds.
⁵ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth;

In Psalm 25 David declares that because God is good and upright, He teaches the humble His way, and guides them in paths of mercy and truth.

Psalm 25
Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
9 The humble He guides in justice,
And the humble He teaches His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

Psalm 115 sets our priorities in order, giving God all the glory, because of His mercy and His truth.

Psalm 115
1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth.

Chapter 1 of John’s Gospel describes how grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1
The Word Becomes Flesh
¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
¹⁶ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

In John 13, Jesus sets a new standard of love for his followers:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Paul encourages believers to grow together by speaking the truth in love.

Ephesians 4
¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Peter urges believers to love one another fervently with a pure heart, in keeping with their new life in Christ.

1 Peter 1
The Enduring Word
²² Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, ²³ having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

Paul prays that believers would abide in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 13
¹⁴ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

John prays for believers to abide in grace, mercy, peace, truth and love:

2 John 1
³ Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Paul offers a key in Ephesians 1:6, urging believers to live “to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/  2/14/2016