“And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” (1 Thessalonians 3:12–13)
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Last week, the Holy Spirit presented the example of Paul and his invested interest in the believers of Thessalonica. He prayed unceasingly (night and day) that he might see them in person. What was his reason? He wanted to ensure that they were maturing in their faith. And, as we stated last week, as followers of Christ, we must pursue and invest in the spiritual development of those we lead to Christ. It is not enough to see them know Christ personally. We must also assist in their spiritual growth.
It is thought that continues in verses 12 and 13 of today’s passage. However, there is a slight shift of emphasis. You can see that shift in verse 11.
“Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.” (1 Thessalonians 3:11)
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Paul understood that his desire for their spiritual growth came from God. And, rightly so, Paul gave himself to whatever God desired by asking Him to “direct our way unto you.” A thought that leads us to verses 12 and 13, along with the shift away from man’s involvement to God’s divine development. It is God Who does the work in a person’s heart.
Note again verse 12.
“And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:” (1 Thessalonians 3:12)
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Here the Holy Spirit makes it quite clear that the Lord makes a believer “increase and abound in love.” Interestingly, there is no mention of men doing it. We cannot. Our righteousness is as filthy rags making us quite incapable of increasing righteous acts. It is the reason we need the Holy Spirit in our lives. He is the One Who works in us.
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)
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In verse 12 of our text, you will also note that love is the focus. It is not faith. Earlier, in verse 9, Paul’s desire centered on their faith. However, now that God is involved, He centers on love. Why love and not faith? That is a great question.
I believe the answer goes back to the words of Christ in Matthew 22.
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37–40)
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Our ability to grow in faith must germinate from our love for God. If we love Him and pursue Him as we should, there is no doubt that our faith will grow. Consequently, the Holy Spirit is focused on our love. This is something we see repeated throughout the entire Word of God. In the Old Testament, God constantly challenged all Israel concerning their love for Him. It does not stop in the New Testament. Even today, God desires His people to love Him with all their hearts, souls, and minds. Unfortunately, we allow too many worldly things to capture our hearts, soul, and minds causing us to turn our love to them instead of God. By the way, a person who loves God will always be a person who loves others if they truly love God the way they should. It is a natural projection of a person’s true love of God. It is no wonder God desires to “increase” our love for Him. He yearns for us to “abound” in love.
What is the goal of increasing our love for Him?
“To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” (1 Thessalonians 3:13)
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As our love for Him and others increases, He establishes our hearts. In other words, He strengthens our faith as we resolve to trust Him. This is why our love is the determining factor in spiritual growth. If we truly love Him, we will trust Him. However, that is not all.
Increasing our love for Him will strengthen our faith and lead to living free of guilt. The word “unblamable” means to be free of guilt or not subject to blame. Whenever we do not love the Lord as we should, we are often prone to committing sin. Consequently, our sin triggers the Holy Spirit’s convicting power. All of which results in tremendous guilt. However, if we allow God to “increase” our love towards Him, we are committed to living righteously before Him through obedience. The more we obey, the less guilt we experience. One delightful by-product of living a guiltless and holy life is hearing the Lord say the following words to us at the Bema Seat of Judgement.
“…Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matthew 25:23)
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In closing, let’s bring this back to our original thought. We, as believers, are to be effective witnesses for our Lord, Jesus Christ. As we obey, the seed of God’s Word will fall on fertile soil bringing about a harvest of new believers. When it does, we must help those new believers grow spiritually. We must teach them the importance of loving God. Every believer must begin their spiritual journey committed to loving the Lord with all their heart, soul, and mind. If they will, God will do tremendous work in their life, increasing their love for Him and others. As He does, a believer’s faith is strengthened, and their chances of living guilt-free significantly improve. For this reason, we must pursue and invest in the spiritual development of others.