What the Bible says about Love's Importance and Source
(From Forerunner Commentary)
Notice "unafraid" because it has much to do with where the power of government resides. In the King James Version, it reads, "Will you not be afraid of the power?" Laws are stated and have penalties, but in most cases, that does not keep people from breaking them almost with impunity as long as nobody responsible for governing is looking. The government's power largely lies in coercion. Coercion means "forcible constraint or restraint, whether moral or physical." In other words, government functions largely through force—power. Paul is saying, "Will you not be afraid of the power of the government?”
Consider this simple illustration. Most people flagrantly disobey the speed limit on freeways and interstates, especially when they are not crowded. It is easy for the mind to say, "Hey! The way is open and clear. Why don't I go faster?"—until we spot a patrol car with a trooper or two in it. Suddenly, the speed limit becomes the norm—until the police care is out of sight. What are we afraid of? The power of the police! That government employee, the policeman, has the power to pull us over to the side of the road and fine us. Because of the fear that enters our mind—because suddenly we see the government's representative—we slow down and go the posted limit. Why do we not keep the speed limit whether the trooper is around and looking or not?
It is common knowledge that the power of the law, all by itself, is not enough to motivate us to keep it, even though we know the law well. We know a penalty is connected to that law. Yet we will still flagrantly disobey it until someone from the government is watching. Then, we are very conscious of the government's power to hurt us.
So, the law on the books is not of and by itself enough to make us obey it. But what Paul is getting at is that love toward God and man can motivate us to do what the law says. It can make us do what the law cannot do.
Paul claims that if we do this—that is, we are motivated by love—then we will automatically keep the commandments. A somewhat different, though weaker, conclusion is that Paul is saying that if we do not break the commandments, then we are acting out of love. This is why he lists the commandments shortly after this (Romans 13:8-10). So, within this context, the apostle is explaining that we cover every facet of our responsibility to God and man if we ensure love has its proper place as the motivation for all we do.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Love's Importance and Source
Only by knowing God we can have this love—and it is only by loving that we can know God. If that sounds like a riddle, it is not intended to be. Nor is it intended to sound like a vicious circle.
It is, though, somewhat like "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" We know that God is Creator—that the chicken came first—but science disputes this. There must be a beginning of the cycle because one depends on the other. In terms of knowing and loving God, knowing Him is dependent on loving Him, and loving Him is dependent on knowing Him. The two cannot be separated.
Only by learning to love God do we learn what His nature is like, that is, what He is like. Yet, we cannot have that love until we first come to know Him. It is through fellowship with Him that we come to know Him and receive the love. In using that love, we come to be like God, and only then do we really know Him.
John is saying that it is only in experiencing God's love ourselves that we come to know Him. This kind of love is something that we have to practice. All of this is possible because God—at the beginning of the cycle—by His love initiates the relationship with us. At that point, by His love, He is the primary sustainer of the relationship. If He were not the primary One sustaining it, we would not have enough love to continue the relationship. So, Paul writes in Romans 5:10, we are saved by His life. He takes the burden of our salvation primarily on His shoulders. And that is very comforting indeed.
God calls us and grants us repentance, each being an act of love. He then forgives us because we repent. That, too, is an act of love. He then gives us His Spirit, by which we can fellowship with Him and live in His presence. This is also an act of divine love.
By His giving us His Spirit, we begin to have elements of His love in us, so now we can begin to love Him. We are in fellowship with Him and can give that love back to Him. We experience it, and in experiencing it, we begin to know what He is like. The cycle is working! And as we give love back to Him, He gives more to us because we are growing. God's love in us starts to be perfected.
Thus, God in His love begins the cycle, and He in His love keeps the cycle going. However, it requires a response on our part: We must return to Him the love He sheds abroad in our hearts and give it out to others.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Love's Importance and SourceRelated Topics: Knowing God | Knowing God: Source of Love | Love's Importance and Source | Perfecting Godly Love