People mistake charity for love in Paul’s epistles but it’s
actually “love in action,” says Jordan: “Charity is the motivation of the love
of Christ and not all these other kinds of things constraining us in our Christian
life.
“In Colossians 3, Paul says charity is the ‘bond of
perfectness.’ It’s the thing that binds maturity together. When you have
perfected saints, what binds them is the fact that they instinctively look out
for the benefit of the other, not for themselves.
“To walk charitably with a saint means to put his needs, his
concerns above your own. Now, where does the motivation for that come from? The
motivation is an understanding of God’s charity to us. Charity has to do with
the motivation behind your good works.
“Charity isn’t a braggard, it’s not proud, it’s not
covetous, doth not behave itself unseemly. It’s patient and suffereth long.
“Boy, you read those things and you think, ‘Wow! That’s
quite a mental attitude to have!’
“Paul says ‘charity never faileth.’ So what charity is is a complete
lifestyle that puts the interests of the other ahead of your own.
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“I Timothy 1:5 says, ‘Now the end of the commandment is
charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.’
“The heart is the mentality of your soul. It’s
single-minded; it’s a heart that just goes on sound doctrine. It’s not living
on emotions; it’s living on the application of the truth of God’s Word rightly
divided.
“We’re to have a system of norms and standards that reflects
God’s thinking. You’re able to walk by faith and not by sight. That verse is a
beautiful description of a mature Christian walk. And not just an individual
walking that way, but a group of people gathered together and working together
in the work of the ministry.
“Paul told the Corinthians, ‘As unknown and yet well known.’
I love that verse because that’s exactly what you’re . . . your spiritual power
and influence far outweighs your appearance.
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“When Paul talks about ‘in spirit’ that’s the idea of your
disposition; your attitude that you do something by.
“In Ephesians 1:17, for example, he writes, ‘That the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.’
“He’s not talking about the Holy Spirit. That’s not the
initial giving; it’s not a later ‘re-giving.’
“He talks about the spirit in the sense of the ‘spirit of
slumber,’ or the ‘spirit of bondage.’ When you have the spirit of slumber, you
have this disposition of being asleep at the switch. Bondage is the disposition
of being controlled.
“Paul’s saying, ‘I want you to have the spirit of wisdom and
revelation God has given you right here in this text. You get it in the Book.’
“The attitude with which you do things affects an awful lot.
He’s saying, ‘I want you to walk around with this attitude and disposition
that’s produced by understanding this great cosmic plan God has in His Son.’ ”
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