"We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth…" — II Thess. 1:3-4
We read in I Corinthians 13:13, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity (love), these three; but the greatest of these is love." This verse will, I trust, justify our taking another look at this remarkable virtue called love, so signally emphasized in the New Testament.
The original language of the New Testament employs three distinct words that are translated by the less precise English term, "love." The word "eros "denotes sexual love and is never used in the New Testament. "Phileo" refers to a fraternal love sometimes defined as "brotherly love;" it is legitimately exercised between two men, two women, or between a man and a woman without any sexual connotation. It is the love of genuine friendship, stimulated by a responsive cordiality in its object.
The third term is "agape." This is a love which stems solely from the character of the lover, and the term used consistently in the New Testament for the love of God. God loves us ("the world") not for the gratification He derives from it, nor for any reciprocity on our part, but out of His own nature and initiative. Whoever you are, whatever you are, it can be affirmed that God loves you, because it is His nature to love. "God is love [I John 3:8,16]."
Having recognized that, it is important to note that this love of God does not override His holiness, nor undermine His justice. While God loves the sinner, He hates the sin, and the very nature that finds it possible to love sinners makes it necessary to punish sin. "For the wages of sin is death [Rom. 3:23]." It is the tension between love and holiness that gave rise to the incarnation: the birth of Christ and His subsequent crucifixion. His love for sinners prompted God to pay the sinner's debt through the death of
"His only begotten Son," so that He could forgive our sins and restore us to himself without compromising the demands of His justice. The penitent sinner who trusts the Savior is fully and freely pardoned and restored to fellowship with God, but the debt accrued by his sin is not "whitewashed;" it was "paid in full" by God, in the person of His Son "made sin for us" on the cross. "Jesus paid it all… "
Where this becomes relevant to our study is that it is this kind of love that is urged upon us to be exercised toward "one another," and is commended here as evident in the Thessalonian believers. It is love that arises as a result of faith, not feeling. It is an altogether unselfish love, willing to endure negative responses if necessary. It is not "natural," but supernatural, resulting from the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us [Rom. 5:5b]."
This is the love that was "abounding" in the Christians in Thessalonica, and should abound in every congregation. Where it prevails, it will survive affronts, abuse, personal injustices, etc., just as does God's love for sinners in this sinful world. It will not ignore those faults, and will make every effort to confront and correct them, but it will be sustained through it all.
The supreme example of this love in action is, of course, in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. "… Having loved His own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end [John 13:1]." Judas, who would presently sell the Savior for thirty pieces of silver, was included! Judas eventually moved out from Christ, but the Lord never moved away from him.
As we have noted before, it is this love that is the distinguishing mark of Christian discipleship. "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another [John 13:35]." "Discipleship training" may include many things, but this is the zenith. And this kind of love is not learned in the classroom, but only at the feet of the Lord Jesus. It is love that never fails, and is greater than faith! How is your love life?
For the glory of His Name,
"Pastor" Frasier
We read in I Corinthians 13:13, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity (love), these three; but the greatest of these is love." This verse will, I trust, justify our taking another look at this remarkable virtue called love, so signally emphasized in the New Testament.
The original language of the New Testament employs three distinct words that are translated by the less precise English term, "love." The word "eros "denotes sexual love and is never used in the New Testament. "Phileo" refers to a fraternal love sometimes defined as "brotherly love;" it is legitimately exercised between two men, two women, or between a man and a woman without any sexual connotation. It is the love of genuine friendship, stimulated by a responsive cordiality in its object.
The third term is "agape." This is a love which stems solely from the character of the lover, and the term used consistently in the New Testament for the love of God. God loves us ("the world") not for the gratification He derives from it, nor for any reciprocity on our part, but out of His own nature and initiative. Whoever you are, whatever you are, it can be affirmed that God loves you, because it is His nature to love. "God is love [I John 3:8,16]."
Having recognized that, it is important to note that this love of God does not override His holiness, nor undermine His justice. While God loves the sinner, He hates the sin, and the very nature that finds it possible to love sinners makes it necessary to punish sin. "For the wages of sin is death [Rom. 3:23]." It is the tension between love and holiness that gave rise to the incarnation: the birth of Christ and His subsequent crucifixion. His love for sinners prompted God to pay the sinner's debt through the death of
"His only begotten Son," so that He could forgive our sins and restore us to himself without compromising the demands of His justice. The penitent sinner who trusts the Savior is fully and freely pardoned and restored to fellowship with God, but the debt accrued by his sin is not "whitewashed;" it was "paid in full" by God, in the person of His Son "made sin for us" on the cross. "Jesus paid it all… "
Where this becomes relevant to our study is that it is this kind of love that is urged upon us to be exercised toward "one another," and is commended here as evident in the Thessalonian believers. It is love that arises as a result of faith, not feeling. It is an altogether unselfish love, willing to endure negative responses if necessary. It is not "natural," but supernatural, resulting from the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us [Rom. 5:5b]."
This is the love that was "abounding" in the Christians in Thessalonica, and should abound in every congregation. Where it prevails, it will survive affronts, abuse, personal injustices, etc., just as does God's love for sinners in this sinful world. It will not ignore those faults, and will make every effort to confront and correct them, but it will be sustained through it all.
The supreme example of this love in action is, of course, in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. "… Having loved His own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end [John 13:1]." Judas, who would presently sell the Savior for thirty pieces of silver, was included! Judas eventually moved out from Christ, but the Lord never moved away from him.
As we have noted before, it is this love that is the distinguishing mark of Christian discipleship. "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another [John 13:35]." "Discipleship training" may include many things, but this is the zenith. And this kind of love is not learned in the classroom, but only at the feet of the Lord Jesus. It is love that never fails, and is greater than faith! How is your love life?
For the glory of His Name,
"Pastor" Frasier
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