Holiness That Lives in Love

Summary

Preaching from Ephesians during a Monday prayer livestream, Pastor Pletnev anchors the message in Ephesians 1:4: God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him in love. For this Christ shed His blood on Calvary, so that we would be set apart from the world, crucified and raised with Him into a new life.

The word many people overlook is the last one - in love. Holiness without love decays into cold Pharisaism. From Ephesians 3:18-19 he shows that God leads His holy people to grasp the breadth, length, depth, and height of Christ's love that surpasses knowledge, so they are filled with all the fullness of God. As 1 Corinthians 13 teaches, even great works and knowledge mean nothing without love.

Ephesians 4:14-15 warns us not to stay infants tossed by every wind of teaching, but to grow up in love into Christ the Head. And Ephesians 5:1-2 calls us, as beloved children, to imitate God and walk in love as a fragrant offering. Like Mary breaking the alabaster jar, the Spirit-given love within us must be poured out, especially toward enemies. The pastor recalls a brother imprisoned for the gospel who carried an injured, hostile fellow prisoner to safety, and that love led the man to repentance.

Key Points

• God chose us before creation to be holy and blameless, but always in love (Ephesians 1:4).
• Holiness without love drifts into cold Pharisaism; love is the whole point.
• We are called to grasp the immeasurable love of Christ and be filled with the fullness of God.
• Do not remain a spiritual infant tossed by every new teaching; grow up into Christ by holding truth in love.
• As beloved children, imitate God and walk in love, becoming a pleasing fragrance to Him.
• Spirit-given love must be poured out, like an opened jar of perfume, especially toward those who wrong us.
• The whole law is fulfilled in one command: love your neighbor as yourself.