Love is the mark of an abiding disciple of Christ
I can't understand how someone cannot have some kind of degree of love for the One who saved them and keep them saved.
I agree.
But it is quite another thing to say that someone who is born again will always love Jesus. Jesus makes it clear that only those who are obeying His commondments love Him. The Westminster Confession tells us:
Chapter 17, Article 3
Nevertheless they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalancy of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their perseverance, fall into grievous sins; and for a time continue therein: whereby they incur God's displeasure, and grieve his Holy Spirit; come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts; have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and prevalancy others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.
The Canons of Dordt tell us:
Article 4: The Danger of True Believers' Falling into Serious Sins
... those converted are not always so activated and motivated by God that in certain specific actions they cannot by their own fault depart from the leading of grace, be led astray by the desires of the flesh, and give in to them... not only can they be carried away by the flesh, the world, and Satan into sins, even serious and outrageous ones, but also by God's just permission they sometimes are so carried away...
Article 5: The Effects of Such Serious Sins
By such monstrous sins, however, they greatly offend God, deserve the sentence of death, grieve the Holy Spirit,
suspend the exercise of faith, severely wound the conscience, and sometimes lose the awareness of grace for a time--until, after they have returned to the way by genuine repentance, God's fatherly face again shines upon them.
Notice that Westinster states that one may fall into grievous sins, staying there for an indefinite time and have their hearts hardened. Dordt asserts that true Christians may suspend the exercise of thier faith!
Needless to say, at the time a truly converted soul falls into grievous sins, having his heart hardened, and their faith suspended, they are not at that time following Christ's commandments, therefore are not loving Christ.
It can be thus deductively shown that not all true Christians love the Lord.
The syllogism would be like this:
A) True converted Christians may fall into grievous sins, have their hearts hardened, suspend the excercise of faith, and for a time continue therein. These backsliders are in a present state of disobeying and failing to keep Christ's commandments.
B) In John 14:23-24 we read that those who presently love Jesus are keeping His commandments and those who do not presently love Jesus are not keeping His commandments.
therefore
C) Those true coverted Christians who are presently in a time of grievous sin, hardened hearts, and suspended faith, are not loving Jesus.
Remember what James said!
James 4:4-5
4Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain,"The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?
James is addressing true Christians here. He is warning them to keep from making friends with the world, because that would make them enemies of God. The Spirit of God dwelling in James' intended readers is yearning jealously!
Love is the mark of an abiding disciple of Christ. The one caught in grievous sin is not at that moment abiding.
