When you think of the word “love,” what comes to mind, and from your heart? Would you please muse on that a while and see what the Spirit reveals?
I love pizza. I love my dog. I love my wife. I love God. And I love the love of God. What does this all mean as we seek to “love” Him wholeheartedly?
Many of us in the West and in other areas in the world where nominalism is rampant probably have a more one dimensional view of love. That is the one type where most everything is all hearts and flowers, a sort of mushy sentimentalism.
Why might that be? Well, for one we can point the finger at the crass materialism that fosters a too-easy life style for most who are seduced by mammon. I also suspect that the lack of real suffering brings an incomplete view of the real Gospel. Peter recounts our true “calling” and writes under the power of the Holy Spirit.
1 Peter 2:18-21 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
For you have been called (to suffer) for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps…
We know by the Word of God in 1 John 4 that He is “love.” That love is only understandable through the Lord’s main attribute. That is, what does He say is the most important part of His person-ality, His personhood?
And that single attribute, His all-consuming trait, is that He is holy. It is His otherness from the regular, the usual, and the mundane. At His throne, the Seraphim, the four eternal living creatures He designed and spoke into existence, sing one refrain antiphonally night and day.
This is only one of two words spoken in the Word of God that yoke together the same word three times. The other word is woe (cursed), and used only in Revelation 8: woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth…
Notice the word holy in this passage below is always capitalized here. The term describing yoking the same word together in a string is called epizeuxis (e-pi-zook’-sis), meaning to “yoke upon,” coming from the Greek word.
Isaiah 6:1-4 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
Our brother the prophet Isaiah was terrified by this cacophony of action and noise, as we would be as well.
Therefore, love flows from His holiness, as does all the other attributes of our God. But, and big ‘but,’ the Seraphim do not sing “Grace, Grace, Grace,” or “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” or even “Love, Love, Love.” Let us get that clear from the get go.
We know that love is the most important of the trio along with faith and hope.
1 Corinthians 13:13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
The refrain we hear way too often when any person wishes to diffuse a ‘tough love’ act done in the interest of God’s kingdom is, “That’s not 1st Corinthians 13 love!” End of conversation in their opinion. Arrogant irreconcilable sarcastic stonewalling is a terrible sin, no?
Love is patient and kind
We also look at the main words from this wonderful passage used by the current modern culture to redefine the Lord into some cosmic lapdog.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
What an encouraging passage for us all! But the only way we can define these words and act accordingly is to carefully review the acts and actions of God and His people in His Holy Bible.
Was Jesus patient and kind when He cleared the temple? Twice? How about when He cursed the fig tree? Was He arrogant and acting unbecoming when He called out Peter and called Him ‘Satan?’ Did Jesus take into account a wrong suffered when He rebuked the false religious leaders by telling them they would have the more severe punishment? Did the Holy Spirit bear all things when Ananias and Sapphira lied about the real estate deal and He killed them in front of the whole church in Jerusalem?
Hopefully, you get the idea. Most everything the western confessing church calls love is indeed not that at all! It’s more akin to indulgence at the expense of holiness. Patient, kind, and “loving” people today do not get beaten within an inch of their lives, and then marched up to a hill to be nailed to a tree strip stark naked for all to see.
We quote Dan Allender from his book Bold Love: if Jesus has practiced the kind of love we advocate nowadays, He would have lived to a ripe old age!
As an aside, this piece here is not an exhaustive treatise on the doctrine of love by any stretch! But it is our offering in the debate of clearly understanding what God intended for His love to mean in His kingdom.
Love defined simply
So let us define love as we see the Scriptures using the acts and heart of God and His people.
All love between the Godhead and for His creation originates from God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This kingdom love is the emotional affection and action of God, His children, and even lost pagans to protect and provide for the Spiritual maturity, Emotional stability, and Physical preservation (SEP) of His kingdom creation. Therefore, even God’s wrath is His love reacting to evil in order to protect and provide for His creation.
So, if true, then the notion of God’s “loving” discipline toward us makes perfect sense. We may not care for it much, but it is loving. Paul said to his wayward brethren in Corinth the following.
1 Cor. 4:21 What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
Both approaches were “loving.” But in our day seeing a grown person with the rod would most likely be considered harsh, unkind, and “unloving.” Paul only desires the best for the churches he planted through the power of the Holy Spirit.
If we apply this definition to others in and out of the faith, then we should be much more proactive in practicing “love” in our lives if their spiritual maturity, emotional stability, and physical preservation are as, or more, important to us as our own.
This action, these deeds, of ours towards them would cover both “positive” approaches like warm “loving” feelings, and “negative” ones like reproof, rebuke, and admonishment too.
So, let’s put our definition to the Biblical test. Does this type of “love” protect and provide God’s creation and creatures, and the body, soul, and spirit? The physical preservation, emotional stability, and spiritual maturity?
When in doubt, just substitute the phrase “protect and provide” for the word “love” and see if it’s accurate and hits the nail on the head!
A. Our Love
Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, & strength
Jesus Christ is explicit in His declaration that His followers are to love God with all of their being. Many of us are familiar with this passage, first from the Older Covenant, and then the Newer one too.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Mark 12:29-30 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’
Love includes your neighbor
So, we then see that all the Law and the prophets are sewn up in this and the second great commandment too.
Leviticus 19:18 ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
Luke 10:27-28 And he answered (Jesus), “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.”
Christ’s love for us, His beloved, shows in our unity
Love, like Jesus, shows perfection in unity like our dear Lord and Savior has done for us so the world will see the Father’s love for His kingdom, His King, and His creation. Our Lord shows us the way in all things, especially the love of God.
John 17:22-24 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world…”
John 17:26 …and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
Loving others with deliberate action is being obedient
Love, like Jesus, shows great love to others in our own sphere of life.
John 15:12-13 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends…”
Ephesians 5:25-30 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her…So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church…
Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
1 John 2:5-6 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected (perfectly mature). By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
2 Cor. 13:11 Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Ephesians 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
2 Cor. 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died…
Preserving unity and being one with each other in Him
Love, like Jesus, always and forever seeks to preserve the unity of His faith. Again, we look at this wonderful passage in John 17 and then add in the one in Ephesians.
John 17:22-23 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
Ephesians 4:2-4 …with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling…
Love, like Jesus, loves our own disciples to the bitter end of death if need be, and with great perseverance, under all suffering conditions.
John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Sacrificing your physical life
Love, like Jesus, shows the ultimate love to all by sending your closest ones or indeed yourself to die for these ungrateful and hateful men.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 12:24 “Truly, truly, I (Jesus) say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
John 15:12-13 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends…”
Submitting to another is proof of love
Love, like Jesus, submits to another. We submit to God first, then wives to husbands, then to the government, and finally to each other when the situation warrants.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments…”
Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
Romans 13:1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
Ephesians 5:21 …and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Selling all to help the disenfranchised is God’s love
Love, like Jesus, is proclaiming to all in a way that might be called legalistic these days. All excess money and possessions above food and covering are to be jettisoned for the love of others, our neighbor.
Mark 10:21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Luke 12:33-34 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…”
Luke 14:33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions…”
1 John 3:17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
2 Cor. 9:7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Loving our enemies
Love, like Jesus, speaks to sin but will love our enemies. Even Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, and all terrorists types. Remember the apostle Paul was once a mid-eastern terrorist named Saul. And your competition in business and every other human endeavor is an enemy too. Being kind to ungrateful and evil men is love.
Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Luke 6:35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.
Romans 12:14-21 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.
Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.
“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Back to our definition of love
Now that you’re seen these many passages on love, how are we doing with our definition of love? Let’s look at it again.
All love originates from Father God and is the emotional affection followed by the action of obeying Him with our whole heart as well as protecting and providing for the Spiritual maturity, Emotional stability, and Physical preservation (SEP) of His kingdom creation.
Is the definition holding enough water for you so that it may ring true? On a scale of 1-10, how accurate may it be in your opinion?
B. God’s love for His creation
God makes all this love possible, for He is the Source.
Ultimate love – the Father sends His Son for wretched sinners
When the Father sent the Son, He proved He loved us first; therefore He commands us to really love another just like He does us. When we abide in Jesus and are obedient in this, the love of God becomes perfect.
1 John 4:9-11 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
Romans 5:7-9 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
God’s mercy predestines and sets us in heavenly places
His love was in play as He predestined His body through the Son, resulting in praise to His name due to grace’s glory.
Ephes. 1:4b-6 In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
When still in our sin, His great love made us alive with Jesus and seated us in the heavens – so that for all time in eternity His grace of surpassing riches will be seen – praise God!
Ephes. 2:4-7 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
God’s mercy helps save us, with His kindness and love playing a key role.
Titus 3:4-5 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit…
Comfort and strength come as a result of God’s love
Our hearts are made strong by God’s grace in all our work for Him, receiving everlasting comfort and hope, for His love is ever present for those living in active faith.
2 Thes. 2:16-17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.
God Himself will direct and pour out His love to us
When obeying His Word, He Himself will direct His own love into our hearts, and into the perseverance of our Savior. What a promise!
2 Thes. 3:4-5 We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.
Romans 5:5 …and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Discipline is love too
His love is shown by His discipline (discipleship = training, correcting, chastening), as well as punishing (NIV) every one of us who He accepts.
Hebrews 12:6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
Rev. 3:19 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
God indeed plays favorites at times
God is “no respecter of persons” with regards to salvation says the old King James. But He plays favorites in other situations. Jacob is favored much more highly over Esau. Many think God loves all people the same. Not so proclaims the holy Scriptures.
Romans 9:13 Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, BUT Esau I hated.”
Nothing can separate us from Christ, except our persistent sin
Absolutely nothing, except ourselves, can separate the true, faithful, overcoming believers from this love of God, which is in Christ, no matter how tough the going might be.
Romans 8:35-39 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Timothy 2:11-13 It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, (then) we will also live with Him (in total obedience); if we endure (to the end), (then) we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him (like an unbeliever that refuses to overcome the world), (then) He also will deny us (before the Father at the end); if we are faithless (and do not endure), (then) He remains faithful (to deny us before the Father), for He cannot deny Himself (and the ultimate truth of a so-called believer walking away from the faith).
1 Timothy 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away (turn to apostasy) from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons…
1 Corinthians 9:26-27 Therefore I (the apostle Paul) run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified (a lost reprobate).
C. And…the Father’s love for His Son
The Father’s love for Jesus moves Him to give all things to Jesus, showing Him all the Father does, and the great works in the Spirit.
John 3:35 “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand…”
John 5:20 “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel…”
Love certainly is a verb fueled by the grace of our Lord
Love is an active passion of God, as it should be in us who are created in His image. By His multi-faceted grace, we can understand that His love is not just a feeling, but real mercy and compassion worked out on a daily basis. By His great and graceful love for us, we can cleanse ourselves from all defilement, perfecting our personal holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1).
This is rich, isn’t it, dear brothers and sisters? I for one am becoming much more thankful for the love of God toward all mankind, my family and friends, and myself personally.
Paul bended his knee to the Father in prayer so that his brethren would know the love of Jesus, which is far, far greater than mere knowledge, so we may be full of Him.
Ephes. 3:19 …and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Finally, we know without a shadow of a doubt God is love, and for those of us who abide there, we’ve come to know and believe in that love.
1 John 4:16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
Lastly, we can keep ourselves in this love, as His mercy will someday transform us into our eternal state in Him! Praise Jesus and our Father.
Jude 1:21 …keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
Hallelujah!
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To view the Difficulty With The Love of God, click here.
To view the Conditions For 100% of God’s Love, click here.
Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.
Your friend and brother in fighting the good fight,
Marc
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Saints, we’re one day closer to Home, and Him! Love Him wholeheartedly!
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You may view our Archives here: RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD – ARCHIVES; Complete Archives. May our Father richly bless you with His grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in order to walk worthy of His name.
Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.
Marc White, Director, Walk Worthy Ministries, www.WalkWorthy.org
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