Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart.

1 Peter 1:22

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5).  This is what we are aiming for.

We are called to love.  The verse at the beginning indicates our problem.  We cannot love without God (1 John 4:7).  Why?  Because our souls are corrupt without Christ.

We are called to love from a pure heart, because it is only out of pure, sincere motives, that we can truly open up and be open to others, without being hurt.  It is in the place of His perfect love, with no fear, that we are able to truly be brothers.  This is the mark of the authentic gospel.

And, this cannot happen without sincere, gospel faith.  It simply can’t.  When you walk by the Spirit you do not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:16).  It is by faith that we come to know and believe in God’s great love for us (1 John 4:16).  It is in the secret place of Him that we are able to live.

In obeying the Truth, Jesus, His way, His life, His teachings, His example, His heart, nature, and character, in living out that life, we find our souls purified.  When this happens, and only when this happens, we begin to become free.  For, as Jesus said, If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;  and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free (John 8:31-32).

When we are free to love, because He first loved us, what is the command?  Simply to love each other fervently from the heart.

Love makes the heart warm.  Cold love is not love at all, and that which does not move the inner man simply indicates a greater level of purification needed.

We seem to have divided the camp of the Lord into two sections.  The camp that focuses on the need for love stands at odds to what seems to be in excess, is afraid to point the way towards faith, and hence, fails to see real progress made towards the heart.  On the other hand, many of the camps aimed towards faith take it to mean primiarly finance and wealth (many, not all by any means), and do not by faith and obedience proceed towards a purified soul, and to such a gospel love that the world stands up and takes notice that they are Christians because of it (John 13:35).

Because of this, many people fail to see a connection between these two, yet they are inseparable.  You cannot proceed in obedience without increasing faith, and you you cannot love sincerely, fully, and ferently without a purified soul.  What is the answer?

The answer is the path right down the middle, as many have found.  An ever increasing faith, which does, as a by-product bring you health and wealth, but a consecration and a conscious awareness of the temporal nature of this life.  Considering the verse in light of modern church culture.

Hebrews 12:2 (portion)

For you . . . accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.

Why could they joyfully accept the loss of their property?  Because they knew that it was something else that remained, namely faith, hope, and love.

What if we simply believed the Gospel that instructs us to believe for the unseen above the seen?  What if we looked to Eternity for our possessions.  What if we hated our Earthly life as Luke 14:26 says, forsaking it all in our hearts, and looked primarily at the Spirit?  God wants us taken care of, and in general circumstances, He will.  He never leaves the righteous forsaken, or their children begging bread.  Yet, He also said in Matthew 6:33, Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and it would be added, annexed, or put into your possession on no effort of yourself.  He will cause men to pour into your bosom.

A faith that sees the realm of the Spirit, and believes in it, that prizes relationship and right standing with God and men above any wealth of this world, is what has been God’s desire all along.  And, His goal is that this not be a lesson learned, but a basic motivation from within, from the very heart.

Yet, this only happens through the purification of the soul by the cross of Christ.  As it is a finished work, the object is faith.  The only thing we need is faith in the truth.  As Paul writes, he was in travail until Christ was formed within them (Galatians 4:19).  And, it is only by the separation by the Holy Ghost and the Word of God between our soul and our spirit (Hebrews 4:12), the conscious life lived in love of the mastery of the Jesus through His Holy Spirit over us (and with it, the consequential hatred of other leadership — Luke 16:13), and the partaking of God’s divine nature through faith in His promises given (2 Peter 1:4).

As we enter into this, in increasing measures, to the degree that we have been given, we are purified by His Holy fire so that we can simply love.

Love, apparently, is the hardest, and yet, the easiest thing to do in the whole world.  Hardest, because it took all God had to get us to be able to do it, and yet, easiest, because it happens only when all the other stuff has been removed out of its way.

Love from a pure heart and sincere faith is our goal.  As we are purified by obeying the truth, we are able to love sincerely.  As we do this, let us love each other fervently from the heart.