1 Corinthians 13:13 English Standard Version (ESV) So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 John 4:15-17 English Standard Version

¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

Some are of the “seeing is believing” mindset. The problem with that vision is judging ourselves by a standard we never could keep before Christ. The abiding love is God and God is Lord and the Lord is in charge. We are in fact helpless to control God, control love, and that means we cannot stop God from loving others.

Our failure in “seeing is believing” is self-effort. That effort has performance issues because it seeks to please self, to prove that we are acceptable rather than to believe we are accepted. The motivation is self-interest rather than to just love God and let God be the motivations of our hearts.

At the core of the “seeing is believing” viewpoint is insecurity, having never been good enough, we think we are still not good enough. This is why having a right understanding of justification is the only cure for that insecurity.

“How could God love a sinner like me?”

This is the root cause of spiritual insecurity. It is a spiritual matter and like all things spiritual, they are by faith. What God has done for us is how He can justify abiding in us. Justification makes that possible.

Romans 3:23-24 English Standard Version

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Deuteronomy 32:4 English Standard Version (ESV) “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

Psalm 33:4 English Standard Version (ESV) For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.

Psalm 145:13 English Standard Version (ESV) Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.]

Romans 3:27 English Standard Version (ESV) Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.

James 2:17 English Standard Version (ESV) So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Faith is described in the scripture first as God’s faithfulness, then becomes a law unto itself, and finally seen as a living entity within us.

The danger in seeing faith as a law is seeing obedience of faith as a demanding element of salvation. When we say we have no works it is a faith killer and a lie of the enemy. The truth is that faithfulness is still God’s possession alone.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 English Standard Version

²³ Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

2 Corinthians 13:3 English Standard Version (ESV) since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you.

This passage is included because seeking proof of Christ in us is not by works but rather by the power of His abiding love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 English Standard Version (ESV) So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.