Love in Holiness: Set Apart by Love, Not Lawlessness

From the series “The Love of God: Revealed, Received, and Radiated”

Love is not permission to do what is right in our own eyes.
It is the power to do what is right in God’s.

The love of God is not passive. It is purifying.
It does not lower the standard—it fulfills it.
It does not ignore sin—it rescues from it.

If God is love, and that love now lives in us, then we must live as He lived—in holiness.

“Just as He who called you is holy, so be holy also in all your behavior; because it is written: ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”
— 1 Peter 1:15–16

Holiness is not legalism. It is not asceticism.
Holiness is the character of God reflected through the life of a redeemed person.
And it is inseparable from love.

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The Church was never meant to be known for compromise or cold religion. It was meant to be known by a love that obeys.

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”
— 1 John 5:3

The love of God does not cancel the Word of God—it confirms it. It doesn’t reject commands; it makes them possible. Only a transformed heart can fulfill what God requires. That transformation is the work of His Spirit, not our self-discipline.

We don’t love God by dismissing His boundaries.
We love Him by walking in His ways.

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“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
— John 14:15

These are the words of Jesus—not to enslave, but to awaken.
Holiness is not just abstaining from evil.
It is the pursuit of what is beautiful in God’s sight.

The early Church knew this. They rejected the world’s pleasures not out of pride, but out of devotion. They separated themselves from idolatry, immorality, and deceit—not because they were better, but because they had been born again.

Their love for God was visible in their choices.
Their desire for holiness was rooted in the cross.
They did not earn salvation—they walked in the salvation they had received.

The Didache (c. AD 50–100):
“There are two ways: one of life, and one of death… and this is the way of life: First, you shall love God who made you. Second, your neighbor as yourself… and whatsoever you do, do it in holiness and in the fear of God.”
— Didache, Chapters 1–3

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The love of God is not just a message to receive.
It is a life to be lived.

And if it is truly in us, we will hate what is evil and cling to what is good (Romans 12:9).
We will set aside every sin that entangles, because we have seen something better.
And we will walk in a purity that comes not from self-effort, but from surrender.

“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”
— Hebrews 12:14

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The Church today must remember what the Church once knew:
God’s love is holy.
It does not excuse sin—it delivers from it.
It does not affirm rebellion—it calls us into restoration.
It is not lawless—it is loyal to the heart of God.

To love Him is to walk as He walked.
To belong to Him is to be set apart.
And to be set apart is not to withdraw in pride—but to shine in purity.

We are not called to reflect the world.
We are called to reflect Christ.

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Sources & References

Love in Holiness: Set Apart by Love, Not Lawlessness

Scripture (NASB 1995):

• 1 Peter 1:15–16 – “Be holy, for I am holy.”
• 1 John 5:3 – “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments…”
• John 14:15 – “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
• Romans 12:9 – “Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”
• Hebrews 12:14 – “Pursue sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord.”

Ante-Nicene Source:

• The Didache, Chapters 1–3.
  “There are two ways: one of life, and one of death… and whatsoever you do, do it in holiness…”
  [Available at: EarlyChristianWritings.com/didache.html]