John has said, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."

Jonathan Edwards, in his book Charity And Its Fruits, was careful to distinguish between acts of charity, better known as benevolence, and love itself.  We must do so as well.

There is a sense in which God works in two ways through acts of benevolence and love to bring comfort to humanity.  Benevolent acts are dispersed throughout all of creation for the good of God's special creation, which is mankind and shows that even in the worst of settings that God has not failed to be merciful in judgment; it is a general mercy that does not save a soul and it resonates with Ezekiel's words that reveal that God does not delight in the death of the wicked. 

These benevolent acts that man is capable of have to do with physical things that are given and made available because there is some kind of earthly need.  But there is also that which is known as love that may or may not be accompanied by physical attributes and is directed at and manifested first through Christ, as we shall see, and then through the beloved ones of Christ.

In the text above, on the surface anyway, there is a certain amount of despair that enters into the mind as it appears that we, the beloved ones of God, are commanded to love.  This is troubling here because if we are to see the statement "let us love one another" as an imperative then it becomes the kind of commandment that if broken leaves us responsible for not having love and we are seen as not being from God.  But this is not the case here, as will be discussed after we look at Jesus' great "new commandment" statement found in John 13:34 that says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another."

Again, it appears here that we have a commandment in the sense of a law that is to be kept, placing a burden on those that have had the burden of law removed.  The law itself is that way but the law of love is not.  Here is why.

This statement of Jesus here reveals love not as an imperative but as a subjunctive.  Imperatives and subjunctives are know as "moods" as they pertain to grammar.  For example, the indicative mood expresses the reality of an event in the past, present, or future.  It confirms that something has, is, or will happen, for sure.  But, both the imperative and subjunctive do not express reality but only the potential of it, which makes them similar.  Imperatives and subjunctives differ in that the potential for action in the imperative is determined by the will of the person receiving the command while the subjunctive simply expresses the future possibility of an action.  Jesus uses a subjunctive form of love in John 13.  This in no way undermines the importance of love.

Since a subjunctive form of love is used here, and not an imperative that would require an act of my will, judgment for not having love is not a part of the equation.  It is something that can and most certainly should be done, but how?

Back to our opening text, we learn that love is of God, literally out of God.  And seeing that God is love we must conclude that the kind of love that God is dealing with here cannot come from man; the love of God is not a simple benevolent act similar to giving to a local charity because of needs.  Love is not a personification of anything and love is not God.  But it is something and we as fallen creatures do not possess it.  We may indeed be extremely benevolent but because of our nature of sin we are incapable of a selfless act.  To even to attempt to deny this would point back to self and therefore be disqualified as love.

When John said here "Beloved, let us love one another" he also used a subjunctive form of love, but it is slightly different than the subjunctive form that came out Jesus' mouth.  Jesus used a second person, plural, subjunctive form of love which is a statement to others that the potential for love exists somewhere in the future.  Remember, He is not telling "to" love but is expressing the potential for it.  John here uses a first person, plural form of the subjunctive and it has a slightly different intent.

Any decent introductory Greek grammar textbook will tell you that a first person, plural, subjunctive is used "to exhort others to join in an action" (see Ray Summers, revised by Thomas Sawyer.  Essentials of New Testament Greek, Revised  {Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1995} ).

This does not give us any excuse for not loving.  However, it gives us an understanding of how love must come about...  It is something that must be entered into...  We do not possess it in and of ourselves.  Whatever kind of substance love is that emanates from God it is of Him and He is love, as the text explains.  It is out there somewhere and we as the beloved ones of Christ must enter into it.  Remember, a subjunctive does not suggest that an act of our will is to be exercised.  That would suggest that we are somehow responsible for love itself seeing that we were able to muster up its qualities.  It is to be passively entered into...

This relieves us from the guilt of not loving.  It does not excuse from all of the acts that we have performed and called love as that is selfish and most certainly sinful.  This humbles us as we have learned that our will has nothing to do with loving and that is from God Himself alone.  Our text tells us that the one who is loving is born of God.  Be very careful not to assume that because you do not love that you are not His.  This would require an imperative use of love as our own will would be accountable for showing love. John here is telling us that if there is any love it is an evidence that we are God's because it can only come from Him.

John further tells us that "he who does not love does not know God."  Do not too quickly assume that this is a knowing unto salvation.  We are saved by His grace alone not because we have experienced His benevolent acts.  John goes on to tell his readers that God manifested His love among us by sending His Son into the world.   This is what we are to come to know but only after He comes to know us as He did what He did while we were yet sinners.

The first exercise for us as the beloved ones of Christ is to learn of Him more fully.  There is nothing that was done by Him towards us that is not love.  We neither wait for love to enter us nor do we run headlong into it as if our will is to dictate the outcome of love.  We enter into love and then love will be love and not acts of benevolence that we cry out about for the sake of recognition or proof that we have love.  We do not have it.  It is from God as He is love and love comes from Him.  That is why we must enter into it.

This requires our rest and faith in the facts that God has presented to us and will produce in us something that is most certainly otherworldly and will leave us without a reason to boast, which in itself is a characteristic of love.