Motive

“Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.” (Philippians 1:15-16 ESV)

The motive for proclaiming Christ is love--love for Christ and love for our neighbor. The best way to fulfill the Royal Law is to proclaim Jesus.

The Royal Law is so-called because it is the Law given by our King. James coined the phrase in his epistle (James 2:8), calling it the Royal Law because it was emphasized by Jesus himself. Witness this passage from Mark's Gospel:

“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” “Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31 ESV)

The Royal Law should be our motive in all that we do. It should shape our thinking about our lives, our purpose. It should dictate how we interact with the world around us. Love for God and neighbor should be our most compelling feature, our distinguishing trait.

We cannot genuinely love God without loving what he loves and purposing what he purposes. We cannot say we are passionate about God until we are passionate about what he is passionate about. To love God is to be passionate about his glory in Jesus Christ. To love God is to wish to see Jesus honored and exalted above all else. We cannot love God without proclaiming Christ to all who will listen. Do we love God? Then we must speak.

Neither can we claim to love our neighbor and be silent about the one who left heaven to save our neighbor from destruction. Sin destroys, but Christ is the sin-destroyer. When Paul says that some preached Christ "out of love" he was pointing out that love for our neighbor compels us to tell him about the only one who can rescue him from eternal calamity. The best thing we can ever do for anyone is point him to Christ.

Love is not always easy. Sometimes love requires us to do and say things that others do not like. Sometimes love is tough, hard to take. But genuine love speaks the truth and is honest about our needs. If we are to love our neighbor we have to be honest about sin, about God's holiness, about the destructive nature of sin, about the cross and what it took to save a fallen race. We have to be willing to point out things that the world does not like to hear. Sometimes love for God means offending fallen men. If the truth offends then we must side with the truth anyway. Love for our neighbor requires us to tell him the truth even if he does not want to hear it.

This is not a license to be rude or divisive. It is simply pointing out that some of what Christ claimed and preached was considered rude and divisive even by the people who heard his message in his day. Preach it anyway.

Lord, help us today to love you and love our neighbor so much that we cannot help but proclaim the wonderful news of the God who came down, became one of us, that he might save us. Help us to love so much that we will not be afraid to tell the truth of Christ even if it offends hardened ears. May love motivate us.