Prologue
This blog is intended to be a study of the central importance of godly love in the life of a Christian. I will draw my conclusions by examining the root meaning of the relevant Greek words recorded in the New Testament Scriptures.
What troubles me is that in the world in which we now live, there has developed a great misunderstanding of what real love is. Not only is ordinary worldly love misunderstood, but people especially misunderstand the love that applies to those who call themselves Christians. Not only is “love” misunderstood, however; the word “Christian” is so often misused it might be better for those who are born again through the shed blood of Jesus Christ simply to identify themselves as “Christ Followers”.
Since I am not a biblical Greek scholar, the definitions I am using to define and better understand “love” as used in the New Testament Scriptures come from Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Thomas Nelson Publishers) which is keyed to Strong’s reference numbers.
From Vine’s (both the printed book and the online version) we gain an understanding of the Greek meaning of love as it applies to our English translation of the New Testament Scriptures. In fact, I have found a fuller understanding of godly love by seeing how these Greek words have been used within the context of Scripture.
The Free New Testament meaning of love
From Vine’s we are informed:
The verb “agapao” and the corresponding noun “agape” present “the characteristic word of Christianity,” and since the Spirit of revelation has used it to express ideas previously unknown, inquiry into its use, whether in Greek literature or in the Septuagint, throws but little light upon its distinctive meaning in the New Testament.
Love that the world knows:
- The Greek verb phileo (5368)* denotes “tender affection”.
Some of the noun forms of phileo are;
- Philadelphia (6360) denotes “brotherly love”.
- Philandros (6362) denotes “fond of man” as in love of a wife towards her husband.
- Philanthropia (5363) denotes “love for man” meaning all mankind regardless of gender.
- Philarguria (5365) denotes “love of silver” meaning money, to covet.
- Philautos (5367) denotes “fond of self”.
Godly love:
- Agapao (25) A verb that describes the “attitude of God towards his Son”, as in John 3:16-21. This is sacrificial love in action.
- Agape (26) The noun form of agapao.
- Agapetos (27) The adjective form meaning “beloved”.
*Note; The Greek Strong’s numbers have been provided in parenthesis.
The Great Commandment
In Matthew 22 we find the Pharisees challenging Jesus:
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love (agapao) the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love (agapao) your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:34-40).
In this response, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:5-9 as He answered the lawyer’s question. Then He summarized Leviticus 19:9-20 by adding a second command to go with the first. Jesus, quoting from the Greek Septuagint, used of the Greek word agapao. When we understand the meaning of this word, we see that Jesus was saying that the greatest commandment was that God’s people love God with a love like God’s own love. Furthermore, they are to love their neighbors—the people around them—with that same godly love. In other words, Jesus is not commanding them to love with worldly, human love. They are to love with love like God’s.
Our unique identity as Christians
A new commandment I give to you, that you love (agapao) one another: just as I have loved (agapao) you, you also are to love (agapao) one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love (agapao) for one another” (John 13:34-35).
In John 13, Jesus drove home this point of loving like God, not like a natural human. He told His disciples that they were to love one another as He has loved them—sacrificially. In fact, Jesus loved His disciples to the point of dying for their eternal rescue from sin. This kind of sacrificial love, He explained—love that would selflessly lay everything on the line for the sake of others’ eternal life—would make them as His disciples.
THE IMPORTANCE OF AGAPE LOVE
In First Corinthians chapter thirteen the Apostle Paul stresses the vital importance of godly love in the life of Christians by using the Greek agape:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love (agape), I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love (agape), I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love (agape), I gain nothing. Love (agape) is patient and kind; does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love (agape) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. So now faith, hope, and love (agape) abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love (agape) (1 Cor. 13:1-7 & 13).
Paul is saying that while faith and hope also endure, if we lack agape love we are nothing and gain nothing.
God’s Agape Love
Our understanding of agape love as used in the New Testament is defined in this passage through the use of the Greek verb agapao, by proclaiming what God has done because of his own agape love for the world:
“For God so loved (agapao) the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved (agapao) the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:16-21).
The magnitude of God’s agape love for the world is far beyond our understanding when we consider that he knew from before time began that he would give his only Son Jesus who would and did die for the sins of all the world. Yet God also knew that most sinners would reject His agape love rather than surrender their evil works. They would actively cling to their darkness instead of receiving God’s sacrificial love.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit includes agape Love
The Apostle Paul informs us that the “secret” for not gratifying the desires of the flesh is that we must be led by the Holy Spirit. Within this context we learn that part of the many-faceted fruit of the Holy Spirit is agape love:
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love (agape), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal. 5:16-24).
If you don’t yet know or have not responded to the biblical gospel message, you don’t have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Without the indwelling Spirit, you have not experienced godly agape love within your life.
Jesus questions Peter
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love (agapao) me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love (phileo) you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love (agapao) me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love (phileo) you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love (phileo) me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love (phileo) me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love (phileo) you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17).
Finally Jesus says: “Follow me” (verse 19).
From this dialog between Jesus and Peter, I get the impression that Peter didn’t yet understand what the meaning of agape love was and could only say phileo. In other words, he would not personally understand agape love until the Day of Pentecost when he would be filled with the Holy Spirit and would have God’s active love indwelling him (Acts 2:1-4).
Be imitators of our Father in heaven
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved (agapetos) children. And walk in love (agape), as Christ loved (agapao) us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5:1-2).
All Christians are commanded to have an ongoing display of agape love in their lives. As Paul says in Galatians 5:29: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Born-again Christians have been made alive and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Since we have the life of Christ in us, we must live our lives in submission to Him, allowing His active, godly love to motivate and inform us.
Husband and Wives
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Husbands, love (agape) your wives, as Christ loved (agape) the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love (agape) their wives as their own bodies. He who loves (agape) his wife loves (agape) himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love (agape) his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband, (Eph. 5:22-24 & 25-33).
The distinction between a wife’s and a husband’s commands is significant. A wife is commanded to submit to and respect her husband as to the Lord, whereas the husband is commanded to give his wife sacrificial, agape love in the same way Jesus has agape love for the Church.
Love and pray for those who persecute you
In Ephesians chapter six Paul culminates this epistle by stressing the importance of putting on the full armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. He then ends with this greeting:
Peace be to the brothers, and love (agape) with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love (agape) our Lord Jesus Christ with love (agapao) incorruptible (Eph. 6:23-24).
Yes, we are to have on the full armor of God, but we should understand that the love we are to have is the love that only comes from God. This loves what we are to have for all people, including those who persecute us. In the words of Jesus, this is who we are to love:
You have heard that it was said, “ You shall love (agape) your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love (agape) your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love (agape) those who love (agape) you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matt.5:43-48).
Several thoughts come to mind as I study these passages of Scripture. First, since agape love only comes from God only those who have been born again of the Holy Spirit through the shed blood of our Savior can obey this command of Jesus. The second is that, as a believer obeys these words, our Father in heaven reckons our submission to His love as righteousness and counts us perfect—yet only God is truly perfect. He credits His righteousness to us when we live in submission to His love.
The craving to be rich
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love (philarguria) of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs (1 Tim. 6:9-10).
It isn’t money that is evil; rather it is the philarguria (craving) for it that is evil. Certainly any person or organization guilty of this craving isn’t expressing agape love. If we step back and consider the previous verses, we learn that this evil is actually part of something even more evil:
If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content (1 Tim. 6:3-8).
The doctrine Paul is teaching here, and throughout his other epistles, begins by knowing the one and only gospel message of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection for the atonement of the sins of the world. The craving of money, however, is a root cause of all kinds of evils, and according to the context of this passage from 1 Timothy, greed and the craving for power are related to false teaching, manipulation, and deception. Therefore it is vital not do what Adventism does: to believe or teach another gospel.
Summary
I began this study for personal reasons. I wanted to separate the new covenant meaning of the word “love” from the common use of the same word in the world around me. I especially wanted to understand how the Scriptural usage differs from the ways the media or entertainment industry talks about love. Initially I didn’t see the use of “love” as another example of the problems with Adventist doctrine; however, I quickly changed my mind.
I have discovered that we cannot have or receive agape love unless it is given to us as part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
There is only one way to receive the indwelling Holy Spirit, however; Jesus made it very clear that we cannot enter into the kingdom of God unless we are born again by the Holy Spirit. In other words, as we are convicted of our sins by the leading of the Holy Spirit, we confess that we are sinners and humbly accept the gospel message of Jesus Christ (his death, burial, and resurrection for the full completed atonement of our sins). It is only by believing this gospel of our salvation that we can be born again and sealed by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14). There is no other way into the kingdom of God.
At that moment of belief, the Savior Jesus Christ gives us the promised indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Only then will we receive God’s agape love through the Holy Spirit who now indwells us.
The display of agape love among Christians, both for each other for all the lost and perishing world, is so important the Apostle Paul says we are “as nothing” if we do not have this love. In fact, Jesus said; “By this all people will know that you are my disciples.” Agape love is the mark of a true Christian!
Finally, Adventism teaches “another gospel”. It does not produce the fruit of true belief. We must confront its false doctrines so they, too, may know agape love, but we must do so through our own display of God’s agape love.
(All biblical quotes taken from the ESV)
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