Christ’s love for us

1. A person’s love for another person is no stronger than the character of the person who initiates the love. In other words, when someone says “I love you” it is just as strong as that person is. If the person is weak you have nothing. Love is no stronger than the person who declares it.

2. The character of Jesus Christ is both perfect and impeccable. Therefore Christ has perfect love. When Christ loves someone that love is perfect because the one who declares it is perfect.

3. The perfection of Christ’s love cannot be matched by the believer (No one loves Jesus Christ without Bible doctrine in his soul), therefore we cannot return to Him perfect love. We are imperfect, we cannot love perfectly. Consequently, His love for us does not depend upon our love for Him.

4. Therefore the love of Christ does not depend on us but it does depend on who and what Christ is.

5. Therefore the love of Christ expresses itself for us always through the principle of grace. We do not earn, deserve, or work for it. Someone has worked for it, however, and that takes us right back to propitiation.

6. Consequently, Christ must provide a way for the believer to respond to the perfect love He has initiated from His perfect character.

7. Doctrine is the mind of Christ — 1 Corinthians 2:16. Doctrine has been provided for the believer as the means of responding to the love of Christ and to fulfil the principle of 1 John 4:19. “We love him because he first loved us.”

8. But doctrine must be in the soul of the believer before the believer can respond and initiate love toward the Lord Jesus Christ.

9. We cannot love Christ unless we know Christ. We cannot know Christ apart from Bible doctrine in the soul. Therefore our most important function under the royal priesthood is the daily function of GAP.