Imputed and Imparted Love

In our usage, there is the concept of imputed and imparted righteousness. This is a very important definition of what happens in the life of every believing person when they turn from darkness to light. One concept cannot be separated from the other. They define a process in which stages are sequentially changed, and it is very important to know what happens at the very beginning of the path to God, and what the Lord does in the lives of those who have long been in faith.

This process has a name - Righteousness by Faith.

Something similar is true for love. Despite the fact that there is no such concept as imputed and imparted love in the Bible, the corresponding principles can be traced in the life of a loving person. And when I know what to expect in my time, then I can very easily navigate what is happening.

Righteousness, wisdom, and love come from one Source and are sold in one set in a place called "the Laodicean store". These properties have One author. They have a single spirit and are always present together everywhere. If something is removed from this series, then we get a counterfeit that the enemy of the soul will certainly use for his own interests.

The problem for each of us is that we do not possess any of the above on our own, and sometimes we cannot distinguish the right hand from the left. The assessment of my miserable state simply aggravates my position so much that without God's intervention, I have absolutely no chance of salvation. But most of all, at first, I am frightened by the price that the Lord expects in exchange for what is offered. I understand that no one will sell me anything until I make the first installment by my decision.

But the Lord has an interesting plan that He has already implemented at the very beginning of my conversion. He imputes to me what is not rightfully mine. In fairness, I have only one right - to die for my sins and thereby bear the curse of the law. But the Lord forgives me by His mercy and satisfies the requirements of the law, paying His death as payment for my sins and imputing His righteousness to me. And then He educates me and, as I grow, endows me with His righteousness as a consequence of our relationship and my life with Christ.

Something similar happens with those who decide to love and ask God for it. The thirsty person does not yet know how this Heavenly quality of character works from within and how it can be eternally retained in one's heart. But, wanting to have love and relate to all my people with it, I give God the authority to begin a new chronicle of our relationship with Him called "agape to my neighbor".

This property of the soul is imputed to me. I am not involved in it, but I begin to realize that I love. It is impossible to confuse this with anything. This is something new and great inside me. I try to love, and it works, I take another step and again see success. I plan to treat the enemy this way, and again victory. But with all my success, I do not have knowledge of the laws of love, but only look at how the Lord does it through me. It is difficult for me to plan various strategies, as I do not yet understand how love will behave, and what else it will conquer, and where it will not establish its banner of victory.

Jesus personally comes to my house every evening, stands and knocks, offering new knowledge about His agape, and I, letting Him into a relationship with me, begin to comprehend at the level of personal revelations the laws that drive Eternal love. And the more I comprehend this science of love, the better I understand how it works in me, and how I can give it the power to control me. I also begin to see how I can control it myself. The power of love, its endless resource and potential are revealed to me. I comprehend the boundless ocean of Heavenly origin and use all this to build up the body of Christ, remaining only some small but important member in a large church.

My receiver is tuned to God's wave, and my thoughts and feelings are imbued with love, making me a loving person.

And I no longer love blindly, but understanding what I am doing, how this mechanism of interaction between people works, what role my human will plays, and where God intervenes.

The Lord, seeing my effort and my growth in love, produces in me both the desire and the action according to His good pleasure. He no longer has to impute His love to me, He simply endows me with it, seeing my growth in such thinking. I myself understand that without Him I can do nothing, especially love. But our hearts with Jesus are already so intertwined and imbued with love for each other that I take the liberty of stating that in my love for my neighbor - I love.

We do not undertake to introduce a new concept into our lexicon, such as imputed and imparted love, but all these patterns of love are so similar to imputed and imparted righteousness that it creates the impression that the words were confused there. Such a topic is very simple for personal comparison and research, but it will be quite difficult in theological analysis, especially for those who do not have this love.

Agape love has its own stages of touching, penetrating, and developing with the human mind. This is similar to the growth of a seed, which, having fallen into good soil, must go through certain stages of development before it begins to bear fruit. But God's plans do not include a long wait for the maturation and action of His love in me, but a quick bringing of its fruit and gaining victory. Therefore, at the very beginning of my journey in knowing agape, I need unlimited Heavenly Credit, which will cover all my debts and enrich the Heavenly treasury of my experience of victory in the Lord.

And as I grow and transition from one stage of love to another, I am already so prepared by God to bear fruit that He now does not impute His strength to me in the form of an advance, but endows my fruit with Himself and joyfully harvests as the results of my victories under God's guidance.

I cannot say exactly at what moment the transition from one stage of growth to another begins to act in me, because all this happens at the very depth of God's heart and is covered by the innermost secret of our personal revelations and relationships, where it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

It is impossible to express these relationships humanly, and I do not yet know how to do it in a heavenly way.

I can acquire all Heavenly treasures only from the Faithful Witness, Who advises me to buy them. If I enter into such eternal trade relations, then all the advantages of a regular customer, which other people simply cannot have, will be revealed to me on a personal level. Having entered through this door, I may not understand all the intricacies of trade relations with Jesus, but the fact that they have begun gives me the right to special preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. And I have chances to get into the mysterious group called 144,000. If I do not understand what kind of love I have, imputed or imparted, it is not so important, but if I do not have this love, then I will see that the last time will become the last sorrow in my earthly life for me.

Oh, if we could understand what a treasure of love Jesus offers us! We would stand in a big line and get everything He advises, and become rich, enriching others.

Questions for reflection on this chapter

1. Please read Eph. 5:32; John 3:12; 1 Tim. 3:16; Gen. 15:6; Phil. 2:5,12-13; 3:8-9; Rom. 5:5,17-19; 9:30-33; Mark 4:26-32; Rev. 3:18-20; 10:7; Isa. 64:6-8; James 1:5-7; 2:23; Prov. 10:12; 15:17; Song of Sol. 2:4; 8:7; Matt. 5:20; 24:12; John 13:34-35; 17:26; 1 Pet. 1:22; 4:8; 1 John 4:8-16 in light of this chapter.

2. What did you understand from this chapter?

3. What important thought from this chapter resonated with you?

4. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind?

5. Is everything clear to you in God's actions and plans?

6. If someone only pays off my debts, will I become richer from this?

7. Did you notice that the gold from Rev. 3:18 enriches? How do you think, how and whom?

8. What happens to the heart when I ask for love and then decide to love?

9. Why does God want to enrich us and offer us this way out before we understand it ourselves?

10. Is there a similarity in the development of righteousness and love in the human heart? How do you understand this?

11. What to do if I don't understand how and what love produces in my life? Should I ask for it?

12. Do you need love? If so, for what?

13. Do you understand the importance of the message to Laodicea?

14. What part does God take in my love for a friend?

15. Do you plan to love and love always? What is needed for this?