Holy Hormones Bible Study: Teaching — If your book isn’t a buzz, it’s not the Bible.
A STILL MORE EXCELLENT WAY
God is love. What does that mean?
NOTE: The next few posts are significantly influenced by Nancy Missler’s book “The Way of Agapē”, The King’s High Way Ministries, Inc, © 1994. They will contain a number of extracts from the book, many of which have been expanded on by me. For what it’s worth coming from me, this is the seminal work on Agapē.
Introduction
There have been other posts in this opus about the Greek words translated as “love” in English. If I do my job well, this one will reveal El Elyon, (Most High God, the Name above all names, the Name before Whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess … )
The progress so far
Physical/sexual love, G1097 — ginōskō (from H3045 — yāḏaʿ) is sex sanctioned by God. It is often mistakenly named erōs (romantic) love but that Greek word doesn’t appear in OT(LXX) or NT. Erōs has already been mentioned in an earlier post. But it will be expanded on later.
Friendship/common interest love, G5368 — phileō.
Devotional love, G25 — agapaō .
All of these loves are verbs.
As is written in John 3:16 || For God so loved (G25 agapaō) the world (G2889 kosmos) that He gave His only begotten Son …
G25 agapaō = devoted
G2889 kosmos = the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ
God didn’t just feel fuzzy — He acted!
G26 — Agapē is a noun with an interesting story.
In the Greek language, God’s Love is called Agapē.
Grammarians simply write this off as being the noun form of the verb agapaō but Nancy Missler made some interesting discoveries.
(An aside: The book goes a lot deeper than the title initially conveys. It is available in CD format for home group study. For what it’s worth coming from me, I couldn’t recommend it more highly.)
Agapē represents something greater than what most of us can even imagine because Agapē is God, and no one can really fully comprehend God. Every time it’s used in Scripture it means, without exception, God’s pure and divine Love. Unlike agapaō, Agapē is never used as a negative term.
(Another aside: Anyone who has read my posts may remember the famed North American Bible teacher/scholar, A.W. Tozer, who described God as the only infinite anything. If He could love any more, He is not yet God. If He could love any less, He would no longer be God.)
Some boring grammar
It is written in 1 John 4:16 || And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
But Agapē is a noun
God is love = Theos (G2316 — theos) esti (G2076 — esti) Agapē (G26 — agapē)
Greek θεὸς G2316 — theos is translated as both אלהים H430 — ‘ĕlōhîm and יהוה H3068 Yᵊhōvâ in the LXX, indicating that it is the Name of God.
(In Hebrew, אהיה = I exist and יהוה = He exists.)
G2076 — esti = verb to be, or verb of existence = English verb ‘is’.
Agapē (G26) is equal to Theos so it is a proper noun — a Name. But this is a Name like no other.
I was taught back in primary school that a property of the ‘verb to be’ was that “it took the same case after it as before it,” and could be represented as an = sign.
So, God = Love and Love = God. Agapē and Theos are one and the same. They can be interchanged.
So Agapē is a big deal. It is God’s Essence of Life and it is abiding in each Saint!
There is no other word for comparison
Being the Name of God there is nothing with which it can be compared. The Greek word Agapē was coined exclusively for its specific use in the New Testament. Besides the Bible, there is no other usage of the word Agapē in literature other than one exception — which, as is about to be shown, is a counterfeit from the Pits of Hell.
Therefore, since there is no precedent upon which to define Agapē, the true meaning, nature, and purpose of God’s Love is not easily understood. This is why there is so much confusion in this area and why the enemy of our souls rejoices. Let’s be educated, then, and learn exactly what God’s Love is, and how to love and be loved as He desires.
The counterfeit
The only other usage of the word agapē appears in literature as a perfect counterfeit to the Trinity of the Bible. agapē was another name for the Egyptian goddess, Isis, whose centre of worship was Rome. Isis, along with her husband Osiris (known as the word logos — another counterfeit), and their son Hermes were classically called the trinity throughout history. It is said that Isis’s supernatural and divine powers superseded that of all the other deities combined.
Isis was said to have resurrected her husband, Osiris, and to have brought him back to life. After this incident, Isis became known as the giver of life. People believed she held in her hands the power of life and death.
Isis was also said to be the “I am” in the beam of the sun and a direct emanation from god. The truth, of course, is: The God of the Bible is the only true I AM (Exodus 3:14–15). This is discussed in another post.
Enough about pagan gods. You now have enough information to verify this claim on the internet — if you are interested.
The Name of God
There is only one Name for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Rabbinical Tradition is that He states, “I AM the God you need when you need Me”. It shows the reputation, fame, glory, authority, ability, and willingness (read ‘eagerness’) of the Name to do what the Name has revealed.
• It is always the correct name for the situation.
• It is always singular.
• It always shows His person.
• It always shows His qualities.
• It always shows His doctrine.
• It always shows His ethical and moral standards.
• It is not always the Name we would expect for that situation.
The Name of God is His Promise. When we pray in His Name we remember His Promise — therein lies the Power of Prayer.
A more excellent way
In the middle of his teaching on the Spiritual Gifts, Apostle Paul apparently goes off-script to highlight the BEST Spiritual gift. It is written in 1 Corinthians 12:31|| But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent (G5236) way.
Excellent G5236 — hyperbolē = beyond measure by any mortal
Hyperbole is overused in today’s conversations to describe extreme emotion in order to signal (usually) the excruciating agony experienced by user. Normally it is used to describe a first-world problem like the thickness of the froth on the cappuccino. For instance, a member of an exclusive cricket club in London having a disagreement with the club committee, compares the club to North Korea.
But the Greek meaning — beyond measure by any mortal mind — enhances A.W. Tozer’s description of God as being Infinite.
This gives a new throb to 1 Corinthians 13:1–10
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not Agapē (God’s Life in me), I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not Agapē (God’s Life in me), I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not Agapē (God’s Life in me), it profits me nothing. 4 Agapē (God’s Life in me) suffers long and is kind; Agapē (God’s Life in me) does not envy; Agapē (God’s Life in me) does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 Agapē (God’s Life in me) does not behave rudely, Agapē (God’s Life in me) does not seek its own, Agapē (God’s Life in me) is not provoked, Agapē (God’s Life in me) thinks no evil; 6 Agapē (God’s Life in me) does not rejoice in iniquity, but Agapē (God’s Life in me) rejoices in the truth; 7 Agapē (God’s Life in me) bears all things, Agapē (God’s Life in me) believes all things, Agapē (God’s Life in me) hopes all things, Agapē (God’s Life in me) endures all things. 8 Agapē (God’s Life in me) never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
POW! POW! POW!
(If that doesn’t give you TINGLES you weren’t paying attention. Go back and read it again, and again.)
This is good news because it is written in John 15:5 || I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Consequently, what we do without Him is nothing. No mere mortal can love like God loves! For the Saint to try and do it by human strength is like trying to lift yourself out of the water by your own hair.
Read what is written in Matthew 7:21–23 || “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Then meditate on the potential danger in the statement, “I follow the teachings of Jesus.” Then do a deep study of Galatians 5.
But is there a problem with the English translation of Galatians 5:22–25?
Every Saint knows about the Fruit of the Spirit.
I may have it wrong but understand from multiple sources that there are no punctuation marks in Koinonia Greek; it is self-parsing. So the punctuation in the English translations reflects the understanding of the Translators.
Because of the inherent difficulties when translating, the influential Jewish scholar, Amy-Jill Levine, makes the statement, “All Translators are robbers.” This is confirmed by the Karaite Jewish scholar, Nehemiah Gordon, who states, “The Translator is a traitor.”
So, using English misunderstanding of Agapē, and English punctuation, it is written in Galatians 5:22–25 || But the fruit (G2590) of the Spirit is love (Agapē G26), joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
G2590 — karpos = singular noun = fruit. But there is then a list of 8 or 9 fruits.
Once it becomes apparent that Agapē may be defined as, God’s Life in me, love has much more grunt. Could I be so bold as to offer a variation on this translation.
But the fruit of the Spirit is Agapē (God’s Life in me), the characteristics of which are:-
joy,
peace,
longsuffering,
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
gentleness,
self-control.
Surely there can be no Law of God against God Himself. It defies the first law of logic.
Perhaps that’s just a babble on? I have been known to do that.
I love learning about love so there is a post or two yet to come.
The forgoing evidence has not been presented to convince any reader but to allow a personal decision to be made. There is much more to know about this subject. Perhaps you’ll pay another visit, sometime. If you have seen something you like, I encourage plagiarism. So, always check everything I say first, then please re-cycle, re-brand, re-structure, re-issue, re-label, or re-gurgitate in any manner you please. No need to acknowledge me because the Holy Spirit Who holds the Intellectual Rights.
All Glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
(We all have a plank in our eye. It’s bigger than we think.)
