Holy Hormones Bible Study: Teaching — If your book isn’t a buzz, it’s not the Bible.
AGAPĒ IS A PERSON — NOT A CONCEPT
Compare Supernatural Love to natural love.
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.
The progress so far
In this extended word study of the Greek words translated, “love,” in English, it has been shown that: -
1. erōs love (physical) doesn’t appear in the Bible. It is Pagan sex. But there is God sanctioned sex.
2. stourge love (parent-child), is a minor player, it almost doesn’t exist.
3. phileō love (friendship), is platonic. There is no hint of any nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more.
4. agapaō love (devotion) is commitment. This can either be to God, or to man, or to things of the world.
5. Agapē love (divine) is actually the essence of God, Himself. The grammatical construction of the statement, “God is Love,” may be presented, God = Agapē or Agapē = God.
The decision is yours
It is up to you to decide whether it has been established in the post, A STILL MORE EXCELLENT WAY, that Agapē is God Himself, the Essence of His Life inside the Saint, and not just an abstract idea. If not, I recommend that you consider a post comparing the illumination of the Bible using light or LIGHT. Failing that, I have nothing else to offer so it is best that you don’t waste your time here if you don’t want to suffer a bout of cognitive dissonance. It means I’ve failed in my objective.
Christlikeness
There are a number of verses which imply that the Will of God is that all souls choose to become Christlike. (Unfortunately, not all will). One of the most powerful commands concerning this is written in Philippians 2:5–8 || Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it something to be held onto to be equal with God, but emptied Himself of His privileges and made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
The Greek word order of Philippians 2:5 is, This let-mind-be (G5426 — phroneō) in you which was also in Christ Jesus
G5426 — phroneō = to have understanding, be wise. It is a verb having: -
° imperative mood, which is a commandment to the Saint, not a suggestion.
° passive voice, which means the Holy Spirit performs the action — not the Saint.
° present tense, it is happening now and will continue to happen — that is, habitual.
Bringing all that together, it is not something that the Saint can do in human strength but is a commandment to never prevent the Holy Spirit from performing the task.
So, the Fruit of the Spirit verse may legitimately be re-phrased,
But the fruit of the Spirit is Agapē (‘God’s Life in me’)
Agapē, Christlikeness, is infinitely joyful.
Agapē, Christlikeness, is infinitely peaceful.
Agapē, Christlikeness, is infinitely patient.
Agapē, Christlikeness, is infinitely kind.
Agapē, Christlikeness, is infinitely good.
Agapē, Christlikeness, is infinitely faithful.
Agapē, Christlikeness, is infinitely meek.
Agapē, Christlikeness, is infinitely virtuous.
Agapē, Christlikeness, cannot break God’s Law
The most common words used.
Only three Greek words are commonly used in the NT and LXX.
G26 Agapē
G25 agapaō
G5368 — phileō
Agapē is God.
Is there another word for comparison? Agapē is never used in negative sense. (You had better verify that. Don’t believe what I say.)
The other two are neutral words equally applicable to negative and positive situations.
- phileō
Matthew 6:5 || And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love [phileō] to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
John 5:20 || For the Father loves [phileō] the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
- agapaō
John 3:19, men loved [agapaō] darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
John 3:16, For God so loved [agapaō] the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
So, what is the difference?
Agapē is Supernatural Love.
Can you do what God is?
The whole concept of love therefore moves to a higher plane.
God’s Love is a supernatural Love poured into our hearts the moment we invite Him in to take control of our lives. It’s God Himself who comes into our hearts at that moment, and He is that Love! This personal Love is what makes Christianity so totally different from all the other religions in the world. Christianity is the only religion where God Himself (Who is Love) comes to dwell within each one of us. In other words, Agapē is God’s Life radiating from me; my Heavenly Father’s Life in me. Agapē is concerned for the object of His Love and not for Himself.
Characteristics of Supernatural Love
Agapē is the only unconditional, non-reciprocal, freeing, other-centered Love there is.
• It is unconditional because it loves no matter what. In spite of what the other person does or how he responds, God’s Love keeps on coming. Even though the other person tries to stop it from coming, God’s Love still flows to him unceasingly.
• It is a one-sided Love because it doesn’t have to be returned to be kept alive. In other words, it’s not “I’ll love you, if you will love me;” it’s “I’ll love you no matter what!” God’s Love is an initiating and unilateral Love — that is, it’s the first to reach out.
• It is a freeing Love because it not only frees the person loving from his own expectations and presumptions, but it also frees the one being loved by making no demands upon him and allowing him to respond from his real feelings and not from his defenses. In other words, it’s a Love that not only lets us be who we really are, but it also frees the ones being loved to be themselves. All our relationships will be affected when we love like this.
• It is an other-centered Love because it always puts the other person’s interests above and before its own.
Characteristics of Natural Love
• It is conditional because it always depends upon three things: what we think, feel, and desire; what our circumstances are; and how the other person responds to us.
• It is two-sided because it always bargains, “I’ll love you if you love me. But if you stop loving me, then I will stop loving you.”
• It is a bondage love because we become totally wrapped up with our own presumptions and expectations of the other person. Then the other person is not free to respond from the heart but is often pushed into self-defensiveness.
- It is self-centered love because no matter how selfless it looks on the outside, we will always be loving that other person hoping to get in return the love, the admiration, or the notoriety we so desperately need.
But remember, God’s Love has saved no one! It is the Blood of Christ that saves! Forgiveness costs! Christianity is the most exclusive inclusive organisation in existence. God will neither be mocked nor bullied (as if…).
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 regurgitate 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.)
