"Do You Love Me?" Sonship to the Father

Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself says to the Jews, If God were your Father, you would love Me. (John 8:42)  He saw His misguided enemies satisfied with their spiritual condition, on the one single ground that they were children of Abraham.  He saw them, like ignorant Christians of our own day, claiming to be God's children for no better reasons than this: that they were circumcised and belonged to the Jewish Church.  He lays down the broad principle that no man is a child of God who does not love God's only begotten Son.  No man has a right to call God Father who does not love Christ.  Well would it be for many Christians if they were to remember that this mighty principle applies to them as well as to the Jews.  No love to Christ - then no sonship to God.

Hear once more what our Lord Jesus Christ said to the Apostle Peter after He rose from the dead.  Three times He asked him the question,

Simon, son of John, do you love Me? (John 21:15-17)  The occasion was remarkable.  He meant gently to remind His erring disciple of His thrice-repeated fall.  He desired to call forth from him a new confession of faith before publicly restoring to him his commission to feed the Church.  And what was the question that He asked him?  He might have said: Do you believe?  Are you converted?  Are you ready to confess Me?  Will you obey Me?  He uses none of these expressions.  He simply says, Do you love Me? 

This is the point, He would have us to know, on which a man's Christianity hinges.  Simple as the question sounded, it was the most searching.  Plain and easy to be understood by the most unlearned poor man, it contains matter which tests the reality of the most advanced apostle.  If a man truly loves Christ, all is right - if not, all is wrong.

To be continued...

Adaptation from the writings of J.C. Ryle