The desire to live – to stay alive – is hardwired into the human brain. Even those who have experienced a lot of suffering and problems in life will still strive to stay alive. The desire to live is also seen in another way. Since the beginning of recorded history, we see evidence for the quest for immortality. The pyramids, tombs, and golden coffins of the ancient Egyptians and many other cultures bear striking witness to these peoples’ attempts to maintain their existence after death. Ancient stories such as the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh also focus on the heroic quest of individuals to find eternal life – the same quest still followed today by much modern medical, genetic, and cryogenic research.
But the story always ends in the same way. Eternal life is sought in many ways, but always lies beyond the grasp of humanity. The Bible clearly indicates that this is because humans have been looking in all the wrong places and do not naturally grasp how immortality could be gained. The apostle Paul puts it this way: “but it has now been revealed through … Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).
This fact underscores something else the Bible is adamant about – that immortality and eternal life is not something we can get, it is something that we can only begiven. We see this mistake in the biblical story of the young man who approached Jesus saying “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16, emphases added here and below).
The apostle Paul speaks to this truth when he writes to the Christians in Rome “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23) and “To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life” (Romans 2:7). Notice that Paul is clear that we do not have eternal life – it is something that must be granted to us.
Paul is just as explicit in writing to the Corinthians “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory’” (1 Corinthians 15:53-54).
So, the Bible is clear that this gift of immortality is not something we can earn, rather it is the result of the undeserved grace of God that he bestows on us. Nevertheless, that does not mean that there is nothing we must do in order for God to choose to give the gift. We are not granted eternal life automatically simply because we want it and God desires to give it to us – as Jesus himself confirmed: “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:40). Here we see the primary prerequisite to receiving the gift – faith in the Son of God.
Paul wrote about another prerequisite “To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life” (Romans 2:7). This is not a teaching of gaining immortality through works – Paul is perfectly clear that we are not saved through our own deeds (Ephesians 2:8-9; etc.). But he acknowledges that doing good is the outward fruit that proves we have inwardly turned to God and accepted his will in our lives. That is a truth as old as the Old Testament proverb “In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality” (Proverbs 12:28). We do not earn eternal life, but God will not give it to those who do not show they have accepted his will in their lives.
It is then, and only then, that humans will find the eternal life they so deeply desire. Not because we have earned it, or get it in some way through our own efforts, but – as the apostle John wrote – because “this is what he promised us – eternal life” (1 John 2:25).
“All you need is love, love, love is all you need, love is all you need …” – The Beatles.
It may have been a smash hit in its day, but the Beatles’ 1967 song “All you need is love” is not exactly good theology! When we think of the biblical importance of love, many scriptures come to mind – ranging from “God so loved the world …” (John 3:16) to the apostle Paul’s great summary statement in 1 Corinthians 13:13 – “now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Love, of course, is of supreme importance because it is perhaps the central defining characteristic of the nature of God himself – “God is love” (1 John 4:7) – so its centrality in the Christian faith cannot be argued.
But does the supreme importance of love mean that love is all the Christian needs? Many actually think this and go about their lives thinking that as long as they have love, they are “good Christians.” The Bible, however, shows that this is not really true at all. To imagine God as only as God of love is to limit his nature and to entirely miss the fact that the God of love is also, for example, the God of Justice (Isaiah 30:18, Psalm 33:4-6, Isaiah 61:8; etc.) as well as light or truth ( 1 John 1:5; etc.) and many other things. When we remember this, we can better understand what Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Philippian church:
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11).
Paul had already told these Christians he knew they had love (verse 8), but then he emphasized the knowledge they needed. The word “knowledge” that Paul uses in this passage is not gnôsis which connotes simply “knowing” but epignôsis, which is used in the New Testament to connote full discernment and spiritual knowledge. Paul echoes the need for this kind of knowledge that guides love in his letter to the Colossians:
“we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10).
These two passages both show that we need to grow in the knowledge of God and his will if we are to please him and bear the fruit of good works based in love. It is perfectly possible to have love in our lives – to be sincere, dedicated, loving – and still wrong. We can love mistakenly or unwisely and as Paul and many other biblical writers show, our love should be coupled with the spiritual knowledge that guides us in seeing how, when and where to show love.
If we were to believe the advertising of this world (especially around Valentine’s Day), we would believe that all a relationship needs is love (and perhaps expensive gifts to “demonstrate” that love). But any married couple can confirm that a healthy and strong relationship needs far more than just love. Our relationship with God is no different. We cannot be truly “one” with God by simply having love that we “demonstrate” through sacrifices, gifts, or other works. The Old Testament prophetic books are full of statements to this effect, and the principle is clear in the New Testament also.
When the Bible tells us that “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:5) it shows that we must come to know – and know deeply – how to love. Saying “all you need is love” is like saying “all you need is air.” Of course we need air, and of course we need love, but they are not the only things we need. As the apostle Peter summarized, we must “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). We must have love, but to be effective Christians we must always remember that love is not all we need.
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