Love is not just a sentiment. Love is a great controlling passion and it always expresses itself in terms of obedience.
MartynThere is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than the fact that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret it to mean that it really amounts to thisโthat because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do, that you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will abound all the more to the glory of grace. That is a very good test of gospel preaching. If my preaching and presentation of the gospel of salvation does not expose it to that misunderstanding, then it is not the gospel.
MartynThe Christian must abstain from sin. It is as simple and direct as that. You have no right to say, 'I am weak, I cannot, and temptation is very powerful.' The answer of the New Testament is, Stop doing it!
MartynThe man who is meek is not even sensitive about himself. He is not always watching himself and his own interests. He is not always on the defensiveโฆ To be truly meek means we no longer protect ourselves, because we see there is nothing worth defendingโฆ The man who is truly meek never pities himself, he is never sorry for himself. He never talks to himself and says, โYou are having a hard time, how unkind these people are not to understand you.
Martyn