The uniqueness of Christian charity, or Christian love, is manifested in the following signs:
First, all Christian charity and love come from the same Spirit that influences the heart. True Christian love comes from the breath of the same Spirit, either for God or for man. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love, and when he enters the soul, love also comes with him. God is love, and he who has God in himself through the Spirit will also have love in him. The nature of the Holy Spirit is love; and it is by communicating in its very nature to the saints that their hearts are filled with divine charity. From there we discover that the saints participate in the divine nature and that Christian love is called?Love of the Spirit? (Romans 15. 30) and? Love in the Spirit?(Cl 1. 8), and the very bowels of love and mercy seem to mean the same as the communion of the Spirit (Fel 2. 1). It is also the same Spirit who instills love for God (Rom 5:5); it is through the permanence of this same Spirit that the soul remains in love with God and man (1 John 3:23, 24; 4:12, 13).
- Second.
- Christian love.
- Whether for God or for man.
- Is operated on in the heart by the very work of the Spirit.
- There are no two works of the Spirit of God.
- One to instill a spirit of love for God and the other to instill a spirit of love for men; but by producing one.
- The Spirit also produces the other.
- In the work of conversion.
- The Holy Ghost renews the heart.
- Giving it a divine character (Ephesians 4:23); it is.
- Therefore.
- A single divine disposition that operates in the heart.
- Manifested in love.
- Either towards God or towards man.
Third, when God and man are loved with a truly Christian love, they are both loved for the same reasons. When God is loved correctly, he is loved for his excellence and for the beauty of his nature, especially for the holiness of his nature; And does this come from the same reason that saints are loved? for holiness. Everything that is loved with a truly Christian love is loved on the basis of the same respect for God. Love of God is the foundation of kind love for men; and are men loved, or because they resemble God in some way, in possession of his nature and spiritual image, or because of their relationship to him as his children or creatures? as those who are blessed by him, or to whom his mercy is offered, or in some other way out of consideration for him. Suffice it to say that if Christian love is one in its beginnings, it is nevertheless distinguished and named according to its objects and the modes of its exercise and its degrees.
In addition to these marks, charity will also be proof of the true saving faith that distinguishes true Christians, which can be seen in two ways:
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Excerpt from Jonathan Edwards’ book “A Caridade ea Seu Frutos”, published in June 2015 by Editora Fiel.
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