I used to work with a guy we called Goose. You would have to know him to appreciate how well that nickname fits him. He’s a great guy, but sometimes he opens his mouth without thinking. (People who know me would probably say the same thing about me.) When his wife called him at work, he would always say “I love you” at the end of their conversation. He did it so much it became automatic, something he said without thinking. One day, he was leaving a voice mail for a female engineer at another company, and he said “I love you” at the end of the message. Then he realized what he had said and proceeded to make it worse. “I mean no, I don’t love you, uh, not that you’re not a nice person, I just didn’t mean it like that” etc etc. Did he really love this female engineer? No. When he said “I love you” on that voice mail, it was just something he said without thinking.
I think we’re all guilty of saying “I love you” without thinking about what love really means. Love is a verb. It’s not something we say, it’s something we do. What if I tell a dear friend “I love you” when he’s struggling with some burden in life but I don’t ever call him or visit him? What if I tell my wife “I love you” but I don’t go to work every day to provide for my family? What if I tell my kids “I love you” but I don’t discipline them or teach them or hug them? Did God just say “I love you” to mankind and then say “ok, see you later, good luck with that sin thing”? Or what if Jesus came to earth and said “I love you” but refused to die on the cross? In Romans 5:8, we see that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. Notice that the words “shows” and “died” are action words. Both God and Christ demonstrated their love by their actions. Again, love is a verb.
James chapter two gives us great insight into the relationship between faith and works. As you read these verses, imagine the word “love” substituted for “faith” because either word fits the context well. James 2:14-18: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Both faith and love lead to action; otherwise they’re just empty words. Love is a verb.
Addendum
After I wrote this post, I realized some people will read it and think “he’s saying we’re justified by works, but that is clearly contradicted by Romans 3:28 and Galatians 2:16”. That’s not what I said at all. Faith and love lead to action, not perfection; otherwise we could be justified by observing the law and Christ died for nothing. But we know from Romans 3:23-24 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”. So yes we are ultimately justified by grace but that does not imply inaction on our part.
