More Articles     

Home

Bible Forensics

4 Words for Love in the New Testament

UNDERSTANDING AGAPE

What is CHRISTIAN LOVE?

There are 4 different words translated "love" in the Greek, but we want to look at Agape, which is the kind of love required by all Christians...even for their enemies. According to Christ, this special kind of love brings spiritual reward.  What is Agape? 

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

It is not based on whether it is deserved or not.  This is the kind of love that good parents have for their kids.  This is the kind of love God has for us.  Let's did deeper.  Who else should we have it for?

Christ said, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love (Agape) your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?"

The apostle Paul again described this special kind of love in 1st Corinthians 13,

"Love (Agape) is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 

Agape is an unfailing love.  It can't be shut down.  It is a self-less kind of love.  Most of us love anyone who loves us....but we hate those that hate us.  Natural.  But, Agape love is like the love that God has towards us.  When we imitate God and also have Agape love, we replicate God's character and personality.  In fact, when the Bible says, "God is love."  The word for love used in this scripture is Agape.  Because God is unconditional love.  (Thankfully for us.)  God did not choose us because we are so close to perfection, one step away from perfection and so easy to love because we are "good."  Christ said "no man is good."  When someone called Him good, He basically answered that no human being is good.  True that.  But, a lot of people think they are, and the devil thinks that he is good too.  We truly do not deserve Agape love from God, but we receive it because of who God is, not because of who we are.  The church has a problem in that people actually think God called them because they are better than others.  No, if we were on a conveyer belt of apples, those of us that are called are the defects, the culls, and those are the ones that God calls.  We need to remove pride from our mindset.

The Corinthian church was a church that was very proud of their spiritual gifts, so proud, that at a certain point they were even turning away the Apostles from their door.  And Paul tried to set them straight.  He tried to explain to them that they weren't so "hot", he told them that God chooses the foolish things of the world.  I looked up "foolish things" and it comes from the Greek word "moros." (Moron?) It literally translates the "block heads" of the world.  I didn't make that term up either, blockheads is actually the meaning they used.  Not exactly a complimentary term, by far. 

But, true, our calling from God is not based on how "great" we are, but on Agape.  That is o.k.  He called the blockheads to confound the wise! Which means to "disgrace them," "to make them blush." And the wise of this world will someday blush, when they realize how truly foolish they have been.  Because, the wise of this world do not for the most part, even recognize God as creator.  Even though it is more than obvious that there had to be a creator.  An old analogy used is that you don't see a Swiss watch and say that it evolved, and the human body is much more complicated that a watch.  Someone had to design it and make it work.  Even male and female reproduction is so complicated that it didn't have a million years to evolve.  It had to work from day one or there would be no people.  The "wise" of the world deserve to be shamed for sure....  Paul tried to explain to the Corinthians, that they were called, not because they were so "fabulous," as they thought, but, for the opposite reason. 

1 Corinthians 1:26-29
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are:

29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.  KJV

Paul was making a point.  It is true, we are not the great ones of the world.  We are not the higher ups, the fabulously wealthy, the rocket scientists, the A-listers or the world's intelligentsia, but it is a blessing to be called by God.  More importantly, we are the recipients of wonderful Agape, undeserved love from God.  We as Christians, should also dispense this kind of love to others, even our enemies and back to God, as well.  We shouldn't love God or anyone simply because they've been nice to me and they "deserve it."  We need to give Agape love to all, even though, that is against our very human nature sometimes.

"When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus said, "'Love (Agape) the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-41  This tells us that the law itself is simply based on love, for God and for our fellow man.  Those that want to do away with the law simply want permission to sin or they have a lack understanding of the purpose of the law. 

The first 4 commandments show us how to love God, and the last 6 show us how to love our neighbors. When you keep the Sabbath, you show your deep love and respect for God as creator.  The Sabbath was made on the 7th day of creation, and keeping it tells you that you recognize that the true God is the creator.

THE LAW IS ABOUT LOVE FOR GOD AND FOR OUR NEIGHBOR

The whole Bible, referred to as "the law and the Prophets" by Christ, hangs on these two commandments.  This, He said, is what the whole Bible is about.  Boiled down, it is about learning how to get our minds off ourselves (not easy) and how we should have true unconditional love for all men....and for God Himself.  That is what we want ourselves, and what we need from God.  And that is what He wants and needs from us too.....

Christ said as much when He said, "Love (Agape) the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."  God wants us to love Him with unbreakable Agape love, just as He loves us. 

                   www.thechurchesofgod.com