Chapter # 7 Paragraph # 6 Study # 4
December 7, 2008
Lincolnton, N.C.
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<490> Thesis:   Love arises out of the experience of grace. Introduction:   In our study last week we made the claim that Luke was attempting to reveal to his reader the most fundamental principle of a life of faith. Beneath "faith" is "love". On the human side of things, when "love" reaches to a certain point in its development, "faith" in the Beloved is more or less "automatic". The two are seriously intertwined like food and drink. Food without sufficient moisture is indigestible and water without nutrients cannot keep one alive. Even the Lord's Table tells us that the "Body" alone is not sufficient, nor is the "Blood" alone; it is only by the Body and the Blood that we possess the Life of God. This means that we need to understand where "love" comes from if we are to understand how "faith" works. This is at least a part of Luke's intention for his record of Jesus in the house of Simon the Pharisee. Another of our "points" last week was this one: that we can often grow in our understanding by having a "contrary example" to use as a contrasting background. The intricacy of the design of a snow-flake is far easier to see if the flake rests upon a frozen piece of black construction paper than if it rests upon other flakes of snow. Simon the Pharisee serves us as a piece of frozen blackness as we look at the issue of "love for Jesus". This morning we are going to pursue this study by looking into Jesus' response to Simon.