EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/23/2026
3:20 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“The
Essence of Kingdom Love”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
6:32-34
Message of the verses: “If you love those who love you, what
credit is that to you? For even sinners
love those who love them. If you do good
to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Fore even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to
receive, what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.”
It seems to me as I go through these verses that the
Lord is opening the meaning of them to me, and I can say that the meaning of
them is different than what I formally thought it was, and that means to me
that the Lord is stepping on my toes.
MacArthur writes that “The transcendent,
supernatural quality of kingdom love becomes most evident when contrasted with
the love of the unregenerate. Hamartoloi
(sinners) refers to unbelievers, those outside of the kingdom of God
(cf. Matt. 26:45; Mark 2:16; Luke 15:7; 18:13; Rom. 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:15). Their love is reciprocal; they love those who
love them.
(cf. Matt. 26:45; Mark 2:16; Luke 15:7;
18:13; Rom. 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:15)
“45 Then he came to the disciples and said to
them, "Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and
the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”
“16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they
saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples,
“Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
“7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in
heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who
need no repentance.”
“13 But the tax collector, standing far off,
would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God,
be merciful to me, a sinner!’”
“8 but God shows his love for us in that while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
“15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of
full
acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am
the foremost.”
“But the love Jesus’ disciples are
to exhibit is very different from that of the lost world. If you love those who love you, Jesus
told them, what credit is that to you?
Such love is indistinguishable from that of the unregenerate. Even sinners—including tax collectors,
the dregs of Jewish society (Matt. 5:46)—love those who love them.”
(Matt. 5:46)
“46 For if you love those who love you, what
reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”
“Similarly,
to do good those who do good to you brings no credit, for again, even
sinners do the same. Such a
self-serving attitude allows others’ goodness to limit one’s own. It also opens the door for people to justify
seeking vengeance of those who fail to do good to them. Finally, Jesus asked, If you lend to those
from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to
receive back the same amount. The
Lord is not speaking here of lending to someone who will never repay the loan
(the word amount is not in the Greek text), since Scripture teaches that
everyone should pay his debts (cf. Rom. 13:8).”
(cf. Rom. 13:8)
“8 Owe no one anything, except to love each
other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
“His point
is that lending to people to create an obligation, such as expecting that they
will in t ruth lend to you, is another example of the reciprocal, self-serving
love of the unregenerate.
“Merely to love like sinners do is
not gospel witness; that kind of love will not convince anyone that the person
manifesting it belongs to God’s kingdom.
It gives no evidence of a regenerated, transformed life. But the supernatural love of God demonstrated
in the lives of believers is a powerful apologetic for the truth of the gospel.
7/23/2026
3:46 PM
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