Empowered by what

Are we empowered to live for God by faith, love, His Spirit, or God's promises? Yes - all the above. Though all of these might seem unique and separate, they are very much connected. 

By faith: No matter how much we are loved by God - and as his children, we are perfectly and infinitely loved - if we do not believe in this infinite love God ¹has for us - demonstrated in sending His Son - that love will never "land," take hold of, transform and empower us. Our faith is vital. God calls us to believe. The expression The just shall live by it is repeated several times in both the Old and New Testament for good reason.

Love: We are designed to be in union with God, who is the God of love as Father and Son gazing upon the beauty and majesty of the other in, by, and through the Spirit. Because we are like God, designed (and able) to take part in this love fest within our triune God, we must receive infinite love - in the same way the Father and Son receive it in and from each other - to operate as He designed us to. Without abiding in Him - who is love - we can do nothing (Jn 15:5); we can not love as God loves and truly honor God and put Him on display according to His greatness. When we receive his love, we come to life and become loving. ¹His love empowers us to love others. We love him because he first loved us and empowers us to love others because of and by this very same love.

His Spirit: How does God's Spirit empower us? It is the Spirit - passion - love of God that flows out of God's love for Himself as Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit. The Spirit - who is the essence of God and is God - reveals God's love to us which moves us to love Him in return and then others.

God's promises: God says - i.e. promises - He loves us. He demonstrated this most clearly and loudly by sending his Son. His Son demonstrated this by giving up his life so we might be restored to his Father's love. God says when we are in Christ, absolutely nothing can now separate us from this love. In all things - including the hard or even evil things we might go through - God still works for our good. That "good" is not necessarily experiencing good circumstances, but becoming more like Christ. 

Becoming like Christ is the best and highest good we can attain. The more we do, the more we partake of God's infinite love set upon us in the same way Christ does. This is what He promises and what we are called to believe. If we do not believe these things (promises), we will never tap into the love that is there and is always being poured out on us in unending abundance. 

Why is this important? To be like Christ is to be in perfect alignment with the Father and experience the perfect bliss of that union between the Father,  Son, and the Spirit who pours out His love in and on us, and out through us to others. These are the promises God makes to us.

What is the common connection between all of these? 

Love! And not just any love, but the infinite and perfect love of God between Father, Son, in, by, and through the Spirit poured out on us, in us, and through us because of Christ. 

For a fuller discussion on the promises of God click here

For a fuller discussion of living by faith click here.

For a fuller discussion on being empowered by God's love click here.

For a fuller discussion on how God uses even our poor choices to achieve our highest good click here.

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¹Which he not only tells us repeatedly but showed us by sending His Son who willingly sacrificed Himself to restore us back to his Father's love.

²If you look closely at the greatest commandment - particularly in Deuteronomy - where the quotes in all the gospels are taken from - it starts with "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." To Love God and our neighbor as we are designed and called to, it starts with God; recognizing he is perfect union (one), harmony, love - i.e. one God but also one being and one purpose among three persons. He is the source - Lord - of all things.

For more on the union of God in being and purpose, click here.