God’s holy love is perfect love that always pursues the highest good of righteousness, truth, and purity in us.
A year ago I got an ugly cold and sinus infection. My nose ran nonstop for days, I was sneezing and had a mild fever, and my body hurt all over. I carried around a paper shopping bag and filled it with used tissues. I was so miserable I didn’t shower for two or three days. I was unclean. When I finally felt well enough to shower, I experienced sweet relief as I washed away the germs, oil, and sweat, holding my face in the spray to let the purifying water keep rushing over the skin that had been a hazardous material zone. When the shower ended, I wasn’t yet fully healed, but I felt like a new man.
God’s love is like that shower. It is a holy love that sanctifies us. “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11, ESV).
God’s holy love
The holy love of God is displayed in the love Jesus has for his church. “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25–27 ESV).
Uncleanness literally kills our bodies and souls, so true love cleanses.
God’s love is not an unholy love. An unholy love is selfish, exploitative, fickle, ignorant of what is best for another person. Unholy love seeks only pleasure, not purity. A holy love pursues righteousness in the relationship. God’s holy love seeks a holy relationship, marked by the fruits of the Holy Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23).
Models of holy love
God’s holy love is like the love of Jesus for Peter, with an unswerving commitment to truth, the forgiveness of wrongs, a desire to be together, patience and understanding, and the pursuit of Peter’s growth and maturity.
God’s holy love as displayed in Jesus is like the love of Paul for Timothy, marked by testing, challenges and charges, admonishment, and instruction.
On the other hand, we see unholy love in the relationship of King Ahab and Jezebel, marked by manipulation, weakness, a love for evil-doing, and the rejection of the Lord and his ways. We see unholy love in Samson and Delilah, Solomon for his foreign wives, Judas for Jesus.
God’s holy love as displayed in Jesus is like the love of Ruth for her mother-in-law Naomi, marked by a servant’s heart, humility, unselfishness, and commitment.
God’s holy love as displayed in Jesus is like the love of Jonathan and David, marked by righteous loyalty in the face of evil attacks.
God’s promise
God will succeed in his loving purpose of cleansing us entirely. We will someday be perfectly clean and pure, holy in status before God, in nature, and in conduct. God will accomplish this, for we cannot do it by ourselves, though we must cooperate. The great struggle against sin, temptation, and darkness will soon come to an end, and we will be pure people living in a pure world cleansed of all moral filth.
For when Jesus comes again, “He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD” (Malachi 3:2–3).
Our way and God’s way
Our way: Fallen humans want God’s love to be a permissive, indulgent love, to accept us as we are and leave us as we are. We want absolutely unconditional love. We do not want to change and resist becoming clean.
God’s way: He seeks our highest good, so he seeks our purity. Uncleanness corrupts, degrades, and destroys. To leave us in filthiness would not be loving. Holy love always accords with truth and righteousness.
Life principle: The strength of our relationship with God depends on our ongoing pursuit of purity. For, by pursuing holiness we walk in harmony with the holy God.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)