Living to love contrasted with living to love with Jesus

Romans 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. I’ll admit that this and the following verses are confusing. Some think Paul was describing his life before He was born again while others think he was referring to the internal spiritual conflict after he was saved. My purpose in the Live to Love scripture encouragements isn’t to give a thorough exegesis, but to show you how we can draw encouragement to live to love with Jesus from any scripture. I believe this is possible because God is love and all the Scriptures are the word of God, “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16). In short, all scriptures are profitable for loving with Jesus. When we get to chapter 8, he’ll contrast the power of flesh and the power and work of the Holy Spirit. However, all of these verses in chapter 7 should be taken in the context of what the law of God can and cannot do without the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit. So what encouragement to live to love with Jesus can we draw from this verse? It is this: trying to live to love or to make the right choices in the flesh will not result in righteousness or good. Why is that? He said it is because in our flesh, no good thing dwells. He’s not saying there’s no power to love within the believer, he will get to that. He was teaching them that the doing of the law by the flesh isn’t able to produce goodness or love. Knowing the law—knowing you ought to love and even having the power of choice to do so will still fall short of the glory of God. The law always speaks to the fleshly conscience to perform, and God never intended to receive glory by man choosing to do the right thing of his own free will. God only gets glory if the good done issues forth from the life of Jesus Christ. Let me say that again. God only gets glory if the good done issues forth from the life of Jesus Christ motivated by love for God. That power doesn’t lie in the free will of man, it only resides in abiding union with Jesus. That’s why I call you to live to love with Jesus and not just to live to love. If I just challenge you to live to love, it will become a law to you that you will try to do for God for your own glory, which is the way of the natural or fleshly person. That doesn’t glorify God and thus isn’t good. The chief end of man, as the Westminster Confession teaches is to glorify God. How is God glorified? Only by the life of Jesus Christ dwelling and revealed in man through love. So today, I encourage you that God doesn’t expect you, in the flesh, to do good, to love Him or your brother or sister. You may want to, and you may have the faculty of will, but the only way for you to glorify God is to live abiding in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit and loving with Him, whoever He puts in your path today. Does Jesus live in you? If He does, love with Him. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com