What exactly is privilege?

You may have heard the expression the "upside-down gospel."  What exactly does this mean? The gospel is counter-intuitive. We are told to become weak is to be strong, to find your life you must lose it and to be exalted you must be humbled. The meek, not the demanding, inherit the earth. This cuts against common sense and everything within us. 

But the gospel is what we are called to build our lives on by Christ himself, no matter who we are or what ethnic group we belong to. Why do I raise the race question? Because the current racial tension is due to men ignoring the essence of the gospel. To self identify or identify others by a certain race is divisive - and I would suggest often intentionally so. Our true identity can only be found in a relationship of perfect love with our Creator, not some group. Race in today's climate is a destructive label unless in reference to the human race. Then it is uniting. We are all made in the image of God and therefore all equal in the eyes of God. And if we are in Christ and under His rule-kingdom, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. This is our identity, not the pigment of our skin regardless of what others think, say, or do to us. 

In God's economy, the gospel takes privilege - used in the present political sense - and puts it on its head. What is that message? In God's gospel ruled kingdom, the 1st shall be last and the last shall be 1st. This says that those who are last - from the

world's perspective - are more privileged than those who are first with all their earthly advantages and benefits. This is not the message we are given by the world, more so now than ever. 

We must be careful not to forget God's ways are not ours, and ours are not his. Man seeks to understand his world independent of infinite wisdom, i.e. God's wisdom, expressed above. Why? Because he seeks to be his own god and believes his own independent understanding of himself and the world around him is right and sufficient, i.e. it alone can lead him to the truth. But only God is infinite in knowledge and ¹in every other way; man is not. Finite man can never gain access to the infinite on his own. He needs help from someone far greater than himself i.e. someone infinite in knowledge and wisdom. The finite - you and I - can not reach up and bring the Infinite down to us. The Infinite must come down and reveal Himself. And He did in Christ! Yet man rejects God's Son and the wisdom and revelation he offers.

To operate contrary to our design - i.e. to ignore our limits - is foolish. This is like trying to care for a delicate plant or rare animal or operate a complex machine to the maximum of its potential and ignore the manual that tells us how to do so. Man can observe himself and the world around him and definitely discover certain things. But can he discover all that needs to be known unaided? Is there a difference between facts and truth? 

There is. Let me illustrate.

We can all see the sun - unless we are literally blind, but even then we can feel its warmth. No one would dispute there is something bright or warm in the sky. Over time, with enough study, we can discover the specifics of how the sun operates; all are important facts, they are just not all the "facts." 

As hard as science tries, science has never been able to answer the why question. This is different from the "how" questions. Why is the sun there? Why are we here to observe it and experience the benefits that come from it? We may try to find the answer to the why questions through science but discovering the facts of what is, is the role of science, why something exists is not. To this day science has not concluded with certainty why anything is, only how it works. The why must be found elsewhere. We must go to the Designers manual and see what He says about the why of His creation. 

There is man's way of seeing and doing things. Depending on one's worldview, those ways could be the polar opposite of each other. Why? Because man is limited in his understanding if left only to his own reasoning and finiteness i.e. we are not all knowing, all powerful, everywhere present of all loving. Hence all the tension in the world today. Everyone thinks their knowledge is absolute, independent of the source of absolute knowledge. There is usually ²some truth in all views, mixed in with some fallacy, some being more or less true than others. Who decides what is true and who is the arbitrator when these differences create great tension and conflict? Man's sole reliance on his own reasoning and resources in determining truth instead of confiding in the Source of all wisdom and truth will not settle a matter, only inflame it.

When there are opposing views, the truth often lies somewhere in the midst of the tension of those views. Both sides are seeing truth the other is not. Then there is God's way or a 3rd way if you will. The way of infinite knowledge. The way none of us as finite beings, can see unless God reveals it. And who does he reveal himself to? Those who know they need to see it-Him i.e. those humble enough to recognize that along i.e. without God who is infinite, man can not see all he needs to see to know with certainty his understanding of the world is correct (remember the why questions). 

If we are to resolve the tensions of differing views, we must recognize our limitations and acknowledge true understanding and correct view of the world must come outside us and from the Source of infinite knowledge, love, life, and all things. To see this, we must humble ourselves and recognize we need to see more than we need to be seen or heard. This same source tells us the 1st shall be last and the last shall be 1st and to find our life we must first lose it.

 

So to bring this back around to privilege, those who complain the most about someone being privileged over them or another is to miss the whole gospel message. If one is a believer they will rejoice in their low standing not be envious of what they think is someone else's high standing. 

For a further discussion on strength in weakness, click here.

For a further discussion on identity politics, click here. 

For a further discussion on the necessity of forgiveness, click here. 

For a further discussion on values, culture and racism click here. 

For a discussion on my personal experience of discrimination, click here. 

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*All the "omni's" Omniscience, Omnipotence, Omnipresence and Omni benevolence. Or to say it more practically, all-wise and all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere present and all good and loving.

**We live in a world of design where we can observe how things operate a particular way. And that is because there is design and a designer who created them to do so. Though we can observe this design and discover to some extent how things operate - some truth about their operation - we can never grasp the full purpose of creations design without acknowledging the Creator who designed them. 

And what is that purpose? All things are from, through, and to God. To him be the glory i.e. He must be recognized as the Creator and sustainer of all things if we are to see them as they truly are.

 

 

 

Render unto Caesar

The following article was originally part of a larger paper on "Obeying the Authorities." Though it is related, we felt it better to break this out as a separate article. If you wish to read the full article click here. 

What does the bible have to say regarding taxes? In this paper, we will look at two key passages; 

 

1. Peter "volunteering" Christ to pay the temple tax and 
2. A quote often heard from a minister during a Sunday sermon..."Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's"...

 Matt. 17:24 and following says,

24 "After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?" 25 "Yes, he does," he replied. When Peter came into the house Jesus was the first to speak. (The idea of “first to speak” in the original suggests Christ spoke before Peter could raise the matter. Other translations and particularly "The Message" give a good sense of the original and render it,” But as soon as they were in the house, Jesus confronted him...") "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes--from their own sons or from others?" 26 "From others," Peter answered. "Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him. 27 "But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours." (NIV)

 

• The temple tax

There are several things to note in the above passage.

1. Christ's quick querying of Peter was a mild rebuke to Peter for speaking before thinking. (A common characteristic of Peter).

2. Christ used this as an opportunity to instruct Peter.

3. Kings do not collect taxes from their own but others and therefore the sons are exempt. Most Christians simply read right over this focusing on a text and ignoring the context. What Christ is saying is both Christ and Peter, who were "sons" of Israel, are not obligated to pay but are exempt from this tax. But if they were exempt this raises the question, why did Christ instruct Peter to still pay it. We will address that shortly. (It just so happens the son's being exempt is also the case in our system when you study what our tax law REALLY says. You may not be aware of this if you have not taken the time to study what the tax law actually says. It is the foreigner, the non-resident alien, the "other" who are required to file and not the sons (sons being the offspring of the country if you will, i.e. its citizens. It makes one wonder how aware the founders were of this passage when writing the Constitution. You could make the argument that they patterned our tax system after these instructions from Jesus to Peter)

4. Christ did not use his or Peters own money or even money from the disciples "treasury" to pay this tax but Peter got it out of the mouth of a fish. (As a humorous aside could we say that it takes nothing short of a miracle to pay taxes? Just a thought.) Why didn’t Christ simply instruct Peter to pay with their own money or the disciples "treasury" fund? In addition, why didn't Christ have Peter pay for the rest of the disciples and not just for Himself and Peter? This is a clear indication it wasn't required of any of them but since Peter volunteered that Christ paid it, Christ instructed him to put money were his mouth had gone, when he didn't need to.

It is also worth noting Christ instructed Peter to "fix" the problem he created through that which he was most familiar with, fishing. 

How Christ handled this whole event, as well as his querying Peter and then accepting his reply, all indicate that paying the tax in this instance was not a requirement. Christ's reason for instructing Peter to pay the tax appears to be for other reasons listed above.

First, Christ used Peter's presumption and error in judgment as an opportunity to teach Peter an important lesson. As he often did, Peter spoke without thinking, creating a problem. Since Peter created this problem Peter needed to resolve it as well, therefore Christ's unusual instructions for Peter to find a fish and get the money out of its mouth and pay the tax he voluntarily agree (without checking with Christ first) that Christ paid.

Secondly, since Peter had already committed the Lord to pay this tax by saying, "yes he pays it…" obligating both himself and Peter, Christ had Peter pay it to avoid offending someone for the sack of the gospel. (Have you ever had someone volunteer you for something without getting your permission?)

I think it's fair to say if Peter had said, "you will have to ask my Lord", rather than speaking for Christ, Christ would have responded to the inquirers the same way he did Peter by asking them, "From who do the kings of the earth collect...taxes...?" If their response was correct, as was Peter's, their own reply would have acknowledged the tax wasn't required (the sons are exempt) and therefore neither Christ nor Peter would have needed to pay the tax. But for the reasons mentioned, Christ did instruct Peter to pay it, but not because it was required to be paid.

On a separate but related matter, it is worth noting in Luke 19:2-10 that Zacchaeus the tax collector was hated by all and referred to as a sinner. Christ's response was that he had come to save those who were lost, i.e. sinners. This suggests that Zacchaeus was a better than average example. Instead of refuting the crowds' view of Zacchaeus as a sinner, he confirmed it by his reply.

There is not anything necessarily or inherently wrong with taxes or those who collect them, but it is interesting that even in Christ's day the tax system seemed to be a receptacle for the despised and unethical. Do we see any indication this may also be the case today? Zacchaeus was said to be a wealthy man yet his sole source of earnings - supposedly - was the collecting of taxes. He later acknowledged, by his willingness to pay back to those he had collected from, that he had illegally stolen from others by extracting from them more than they owed and using tax collection as a guise. Is there a pattern here we can learn from?

• Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's… 

Those who advocate that any and all taxes should be paid without question, appear to consistently rely upon the superficial translation of the following passage rather than the context in which this story is set. The key to properly interpreting this statement "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" is to understand the context which clearly shows that Jesus was responding to a trap being set for him. How he avoided this trap is actually the focus of this passage, not taxes.

Mark 12: 13-16

¹³Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in  his words. ¹⁴They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth (when your antagonists seek to flatter you, beware). Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? ¹⁵Should we pay or shouldn't we?" ¹⁶But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. (i.e. their question wasn't sincere and the real reason thy were raising it) "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" "Caesar's," they replied. ¹⁷Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." And they were amazed at him.

To be a trap, the intent was that any answer would result in the desired outcome by the trappers. If Christ’s answer was to not pay Caesar the tax (As probably anticipated by the questioners. It is very possible that Jesus was suspected of leading a group of tax rebels who would have disapproved of their leader paying taxes to Rome), Jesus would have convicted himself of a capital crime under Roman law and the questioners would now have an excuse to bring him before Pilot for sentencing. To protest the tax in that day was punishable by crucifixion. The fact that Caiaphas raised this issue later before Pilot to persuade him to crucify Christ supports this. (Lk 23:2 "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.”)

If, on the other hand, Christ had said it was right to pay Caesar, they would likely have tried to accuse him of being unfaithful to God and therefore not truly the Son of God as he claimed but an impostor, worthy of death.

The Pharisees thought they had set a clever, inescapable trap for Christ. No matter how he answered, they "had" him, or so they thought.

However, the response by Jesus amazed them. Christ saw through their guise i.e. ¹⁶… Jesus knew their hypocrisy… and did not give them either response they were hoping for but completely eluded their question and therefore their trap. Christ, instead turned the table and simply put the problem back on them. "Whose portrait is this...?" Christ asked. In essence, he was saying to them, you figure out what belongs to whom and if a tax is due, pay it to the appropriate party.

His answer was not at all an admission of a requirement much less a command to pay taxes to the government of his day - as some often suggest when quoting this particular phrase. To just take the isolated statement, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" without looking at the context is to miss entirely why he made that statement, to begin with. He wasn’t giving a command, He was giving them an answer to their question in a way that avoided the trap they were trying to set.

Because we all tend to approach a passage with preset ideas, we have to always be on guard not to read into the passages what we have predetermined (or wrongfully told) but instead prayerfully seek to see what any given passage is actually saying. Our goal should be extracting from passage within the context as well as the text the meaning, not read a predetermined interpretation into it. As my Hermeneutics professor was fond of telling us, "a text without a context is a pretext."

Tied to this is that we are all prone to interpret the bible according to our fears and emotions. By that I mean if we are afraid of the responsibility a passage places on us (such as taking responsibility for our choices) we will interpret a passage in such a way as to avoid facing those responsibilities or subsequent fears. Instead of changing our thinking, we “change scripture” to fit what is comfortable. Interpretation of certain passages often has far more to do with our emotions than our correct understanding of a passage, i.e. our fears and emotions often color our view/understanding of things, including God's very words.

In addition, there is still the matter of WHO is Caesar and WHAT belongs to "him?" As Christians, we are not opposed to Government (when it operates according to God's word) or the necessity of raising revenue under the specific conditions clearly spelled out in the Constitution. Local authorities do maintain "law and order" by preventing evildoers from wreaking havoc on their fellow citizens (though things have often gone upside down of late when addressing the police). However, we are opposed to those in Government violating the law and raising revenues outside of what the law allows. When they do, this is theft, not unlike what Zacchaeus committed. When this occurs we are not obligated to participate in such thievery but in fact, as stewards, we are entrusted to manage the resources God gives us and to resist attempts at interfering with that responsibility. As Jefferson once said, resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. Though Jefferson was just a man, and possibly not even a Christian, I trust you agree his wisdom was sound and scripturally based.

Walk by the Spirit, not under the law

What does it mean to be free in Christ and operate by or walk in the Spirit? 

Are these connected? If so how?

Also, how are the works of the flesh and being under the law tied together? Does this connection give us a clue as to how grace and walking in the Spirit go together, i.e. are these opposite parallels?

To understand the conflict between the law and grace is to understand the conflict between the flesh (human nature's inclination to try to earn love - God's and others - instead of receiving it as a gift) and the Spirit, i.e. experiencing God's love by grace not by works i.e. not causes bondage - it enslaves us. We are enslaved because when our desire for love and acceptance is based on our efforts (vs Christ's) we must always seek approval from others because we never fully obtain it (we only experience it fleeting moments) because we never live righteous enough to gain it. 

Even in our fleeting moments of living well, it ²never truly satisfies our deep longing and need for acceptance (love). As a result, we are on a treadmill of continually seeking love yet never fully obtaining it. This is a spiritual striving that never succeeds but results in burnout. 

You never get perfectly approved or feel perfectly accepted-loved because: 

1. You are never good enough - never perfect enough. 

2.  Our need for love is infinite because we're designed for perfect infinite love - i.e. for God, and His acceptance and approval. 

Like an addict enslaved to their addiction, we must go back, again and again, to constantly replenish our need for love, acceptance, and approval so we might be declared righteous-right by God and others i.e. we are always seeking approval to be told "good job!" We are in bondage to this constant need for acceptance, approval, and praise because we are disconnected from the only true and lasting source of love i.e. God.

Only in Christ are you freed from this bondage because you are fully approved and accepted by God through Christ's efforts on your behalf (vs our own which never work long-term). In Christ, your acceptance is now by grace not works.

2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be (i.e. attempt to be) justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

“Justified by the law…” What does this mean? It is attempting to use superficial "obedience" to a prescribed behavior (spelled out in God's law) to ⁴gain acceptance and approval (that sense of feeling right and approved i.e. righteous) from God first, but also from others. To be acknowledged as right or righteous makes us feel just and justified. But it doesn't mean we actually are. Trying to live "according to the law" is our feeble attempt to be good, righteous - right in the eyes of others - to feel accepted, and approved by God or men.

7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

“Obeying the truth…” And what truth is that? To live according to or by genuine approval and acceptance from God Himself i.e. the only true justification comes by faith in the righteousness God provides in and through Christ, not what you and I attempt to earn through our efforts i.e. good behavior.

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Once we are in Christ we are free from trying to earn God's approval because we already fully have it in and through Christ. Once we have it, the love of God becomes the driving force behind true obedience, not our impotent attempts to be lovable and therefore acceptable through right conduct. 

 Obedience matters but not superficial obedience that gives the appearance of righteousness but true submission and allegiance that springs forth from the heart out of love for God i.e. a heart already captured by his love and submitted to God.

True faithfulness and obedience are evidence (fruit) of knowing you are perfectly loved i.e. accepted and approved by God in and through Christ. To know this is to be freed in Christ, which is also to operate in the Spirit. We are free because we are moved to action from within - by love i.e. the Spirit - and not pressured from without to gain approval. 

In Christ, we have God's perfect acceptance and approval, i.e. His love. We are freed from trying to earn these by our efforts. 

The love and Spirit of God are directly tied together if not one and the same. The more we understand that God’s love is based on Christ’s performance (not ours) the freer we become, and the more we are driven-moved by that love - i.e. by the Spirit - to love God and others - to fulfill "the law of love."

Keep in Step with the Spirit 

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

"...walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh..."

Walking in the flesh is the opposite of walking by the Spirit. It is seeking to gain the approval of God and man through our good deeds. Walking in the Spirit (to be in and under God's perfect and infinite love-acceptance-approval) moves us to love others – and do good deeds - because we already know we are fully loved in and by Christ. When our conduct is driven by God's acceptance and approval - i.e. His love/Spirit - we will not pursue (or desire) acceptance-seeking behavior i.e. the "desire of the flesh." These two approaches - Spirit vs flesh or grace vs law - are truly opposite and opposed to each other.

Also, note in v 18 that the opposite of walking in the Spirit is being under the law. You would think Paul instead would say this was living by the flesh. And this would also be correct according to v 17. How is this so? Being under the law i.e. seeking approval through obedience to the law is walking in flesh i.e. it is approval-love-seeking behavior. 

Living by the flesh and being under the law are the same thing. Again, this is an attempt to live by the law in order to gain God's acceptance and approval. 

So when Paul says walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh or not under the law, he is saying the same thing.

The desire to serve God because you know you are fully loved by Him already (the essence of the gospel of grace), eliminates the need to gain the approval of others through "right" i.e. righteous living. When you are moved by love i.e. the Spirit, you will fulfill the “law of love.” You are not under a requirement to win God's approval through obedience to the law i.e. you are not driven by the need to gain love-acceptance-approval through your own good-righteous deeds. You already fully have this in Christ as a gift (earned by Christ's good deeds and credited i.e. given to you). 

Along with that acceptance and approval, you have God's infinite love. It is already fully and perfectly yours and not something to be striven for (earned or worked for).

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

“sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies...” are all the result of seeking to feel loved and gaining a sense of acceptance, approval, significance, value, etc. through our efforts i.e. operating in the flesh. This is a list of what we either do to feel loved or what we experience when we fail to gain it e.g anger, strife, etc. All of these are "works of the flesh" i.e. actions we take to earn anothers approval and acceptance in order to feel good about ourselves.

Spiritual fruit is a byproduct of proper sun(Son) light, rain, and soil. When given these proper ingredients, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, are the outcome. 

Not some of these, but all of them. It is not fruits of the Spirit but fruit (singular) of the Spirit, the byproduct of operating under the umbrella of God’s perfect acceptance - love i.e. grace.

This is also not a checklist of things to do, it is who we are when operating in and by the love-Spirit of God. There is no pressure to perform. This is why it brings freedom. This is our organic, supernatural state of being when we understand we already have the perfect love, approval, acceptance, and care - Son light - of God. No law - i.e. our attempts to obey it for approval - can or will create these characteristics ("...against such conduct, there is no law"). When we are "in Christ" we are the objects of God's perfect and infinite love. This love fills up, overpowers, and eliminates the need to seek love, acceptance, and approval through feeble attempts to live righteously i.e. through the law. We will not be hungry for love horizontally (from our fellow creatures) when we are full of perfect love vertically...i.e. God’s love.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

"If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit..." To live under the blanket of God's love is to operate in and by God's love i.e. it is to operate in and by the Spirit - of love - resulting in right-righteous living i.e. the fruit of the Spirit-love. If we are in Christ, we are in the Spirit - in and under the status of being perfectly loved and approved by God - let us align or keep in step with this status i.e. walk and live according to it. Let us live in and by the Spirit-grace-love of God, not under the law. Let us live in the understanding (by faith) that we are already fully loved, accepted, and approved in Christ, not try to gain theses from God or men through so-called "righteous" deeds.

In summary, walking by the flesh is living to gain the approval (love) of God and others. Walking in or by the Spirit is knowing we already fully have God's love and approval in Christ and being empowered to live righteously by it i.e. by love, by the Spirit (of love). 

Inward motivation and outward behavior.

The outcome of "right living" can look exactly the same with both approaches on the outside, but under the hood what drives our conduct is completely different. In fact, they are the opposite of each other.

For a further discussion on what righteousness is click here. 

For a further discussion on the gospel vs. religion, click here. 

For a further discussion on the definition of flesh, Spirit, law, etc. click here. 

For a further discussion on legalism, click here. 

For a further discussion on cultural Christians and followers of Jesus, click here. 

For a further discussion on how and why were are wired for love, click here and here.  

For a further discussion on how God's Spirit stirs our spirit-love click here.

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¹As God's image-bearer you and I are the closest to being like God (we have the greatest capacity for a relationship with God) more than anyone or anything else in creation and therefore other God-like beings are sought hardest by us for acceptance and approval. Praise from God is most desired, but since most reject God they look for praise, approval, and love from the next best thing - those who are like God i.e. our fellow image bearers of God.

²Only perfect acceptance by God through Christ satisfies our need for perfect love.

³We may experience tiny snippets of approval on occasion, but never permanently. The love we are able to scratch out by our feeble efforts is never great enough to satisfy our infinite need for love nor is it lasting. Which is why we're constantly seeking it. We are a spiritual bottomless pit with an emotional black hole at the core of our being. 

So we have two problems.  

The quantity of love i.e. its permanence and the quality of love i.e. its depth or greatness. 

We are looking to others who can not love us with perfect love - love that is deep enough (quality) or permanent (quantity) - because of their limitations. We are all in the same boat - lacking, wanting, needing, and seeking infinite love. 

Infinite love can only come from an infinite Source. We or others are not that Source (though we can be the conduit through which infinite love can flow...and that is because we were designed that way by the Creator-Source of infinite love).

Infinite love can not and will never be met by a finite source i.e. other image-bearers, including ourselves and our own self-love. 

We were created to be filled with infinite love, not limited, temporary, fleeting love. Only God's love is infinite; man's is not. 

Infinite love can only come from an Infinite Source because only an Infinite Source addresses the depth or greatness of love and the extent or permanence of it, that we need and must have. And we must have it because God created us to have it i.e. To have Him, the only Source of infinite love.

Also, even though God is the only Source of Infinite love, we can never do enough or be good enough to gain it by our efforts. 

Thank God we don't need to because Christ secured this for us by His righteous efforts and will assign them to us if we will receive it.

In summary

1. Other fellow image-bearers are finite and can never give us infinite love; in depth (quality) or extent (quantity). 

2. Even if their love were infinite - which it isn't - we can never perform well enough to gain it.

3. We can never perform well enough to gain the Infinite love that is from the only Infinite Source - God. 

⁴To earn infinite love was never the intent or purpose of the law. The law is the owner's manual on how to live to our maximum capacity (how to best flourish) by and out of love for God. This is why Christ told us "If you love me you will obey my commandments" and that all the commands hang on loving God and our neighbor i.e. are about love and loving others not seeking to gain love. The heart's reason (motivation) for living the right way - i.e. as we are designed to - is love, not seeking to win the love of others - i.e. living by the Spirit, not under the law.

⁵Something that apparently, we are all easily inclined to do, hence an entire letter by Paul to the Galatians is included in the Bible for everyone's instruction and benefit throughout the ages.

⁶Desiring love (and approval) is legitimate. We are designed for love (for God who is love). Trying to gain it through our performance is our problem, not our desire for it.