is thus that Christ dwells with us, in our hearts.
Only so can he be embraced; for he is not an inanimate thing, but the
living God. How does man lay hold of the Saviour in the heart? Not by
embracing him intellectually. It is accomplished only by living
faith. Christ will not permit himself to be received by works, nor to
be apprehended with mental vision; he will consent only to be
embraced by the heart. If your faith be true and on a firm
foundation, you have and feel Christ in your heart and are aware of
all he thinks and does in heaven and on earth--how he rules through
his Word and his Spirit, and the attitude of those who have Christ
and those who have him not.

42. Paul desires Christ to be efficacious in the hearts of his
followers unto the full realization of the promises of the
Word--liberation from sin and death, and assurance of grace and
eternal life. It is impossible for the heart having such experience
to be other than firm and courageous to oppose the terrors of the
devil and the world. But the heart which has not yet arrived at this
point is here advised what course to take, namely, to pray God for
such faith and strength, and to avail himself of the prayers of
others to the same end. So much in regard to faith; now follows the
mention of love.

"That ye, being rooted and grounded in love."

LOVE, THE EXPRESSION OF FAITH.

43. This is an unusual way of speaking. Is it not in faith that we
are to be rooted, engrafted and grounded? Why, then, does Paul here
substitute "love?" I reply: Faith, it is true, is the essential
thing, but love shows whether or no faith is real and the heart
confident and courageous in God. Where one has an unquestioning
confidence that God is his Father, necessarily, be his faith never so
weak, that faith must find expression in word and deed. He will serve
his neighbor in teaching and in extending to him a helping hand. This
is what Paul calls being rooted and grounded in love--having the
conscious experience of possessing true faith. Love is the test that
determines the reality of faith. Peter says (2 Pet 1, 10), "Give the
more diligence to make your calling and election sure." That is,
proceed to good works that others may see and you experience that you
have true faith. Until you do, you will always be uncertain,
vacillating, superficial in heart, not rooted and grounded. So by
these two clauses Paul teaches, first, that we should have in our
hearts genuine faith to