[Sissy]

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is 1) love, 2) joy, 3) peace, 4) patience, 5) kindness, 6) goodness, 7) faithfulness, 8) gentleness, 9) self-control; against such things there is no law.

1) love - (agape - αγαπη): This word was just coming into existence in the first century and only had a loose and general definition of "love." Jesus apparently siezed upon this new, and relatively undefined, word and decided to coopt it to describe a character trait, and corresponding behavior, that He would make central to understanding Christian theology and living a Christian lifestyle. He could not use any existing and well defined word as none existed which adequately explained it. And for good reason: this character trait was a completely brand new concept never before posited by any human religion or philosophy.

Thus, Jesus Himself gave us the best definitions of what He wanted this word to mean. Because Jesus, and future Christians, were responsible for defining this word, its definition is not found within most Greek lexicons, but rather, within the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. There are several words in Greek in which their inclusion in the NT altered or changed their meanings (permanently) from what they were in classical Greek. Since almost all modern Greek lexicons reference classical Greek usage to help define most Greek words, they often contain incorrect (or incomplete) definitions. These words (which altered their meanings from the traditional ones found in classical Greek literature) include (but are not limited to) "love," "grace," "faith," "spirit," "angel," "soul," "life," and "death."

With that in mind, let us see how they used the word "agape," and what that tells us about what Jesus wants it to mean.

Matthew 5:43-47 "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 . . . 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?"

Luke 6:27-36 "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 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. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

First observation:

• This kind of "love" extends to those who show you nothing of love in return, and may even be hostile to you. It is about giving, in a very real and concrete way (including the giving of money with no strings attached). Thus it has no expectation of being returned, repaid, or rewarded, and the full expression of it is NOT dictated by whether or not it is returned in kind. Further, even if the "return" is hateful, ungrateful, mean spirited, hurtful or evil, there is no lessening or reduction in the giving of this kind of "love." It is completely and totally "SELFLESS," with nothing but the wellbeing of the other person as the goal, focus and purpose.

Second observation:

• This kind of "love" goes beyond our emotions. Since it may be literally impossible to FEEL loving toward a true enemy (say, for example, someone who has just tortured and slain your entire family, as was experienced by the Jews in WWII), this love has something to do with "loving" others DESPITE how you feel about them. This does NOT mean there is no "emotional" element, but rather, that the emotions are made subject to the mind (or more accurately, to the Spirit of God). In other words, this "love" is more about what you DO than about what you FEEL.

Mark 12:30-31 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.' "The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

In Matthew, we are also told that Jesus also added this at the end of this statement:

Matthew 22:40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

In another place at another time, Jesus summarized both of THESE commands with one:

Matthew 7:12 "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Third observation:

• This "love" is all-encompassing. It involves your whole being. It includes what you feel (heart), what you believe (soul), what you think (mind), and what you do (strength). It consumes your person and focuses that person completely on God. But, despite the complete focus on God, such a love is NOT monastic (focused on God to the EXCLUSION of the rest of the world) as . . .

Fourth observation:

• . . . it ALSO focuses all of that on others, showing them exactly the same kind of "love" that we show and wish for ourselves. This means that the intensity of heart, soul, mind and strength focused on God is redirected by God, and becomes focused on those around us. In fact, we fulfill the command to "love" God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength when we show this new kind of "love" to others completely selflessly.

Fifth observation:

• This kind of "love," when put into full application, is the summation of everything God has been communicating to the human race over the years. Even more, it is the fullness of everything God wants us to be and to do. In fact, when truly living this love in our daily lives, and showing it without reservation to all of those we encounter, we are closer to God than at any other time, because John tells us . . .

1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Sixth observation:

• This kind of love is only available from God. It does, in fact, form the closest thing we have to a one word definition of what and who God is. It is, in fact, an attribute of GOD, not humanity. Since it is only found in God, it is only in turning TO God that we can find it and live it ourselves.

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."

Seventh observation:

• At the first glance, this doesn't seem like a new commandment at all. However, after closer inspection, we see there are two things about it that make it new. First, keeping this in light of Jesus other teachings, we find that WHO we have to love is completely new. Jews were not commanded to love their enemies, only their "neighbors." For us and for them, this would be no problem if WE could define who the "others" are, but given Jesus' previous teaching on loving enemies and such, we realize that GOD gets to define who the "others" are, and THAT makes this completely new (as well as completely impossible without God's help). Second, we find the little addition of "as I have loved you" attached. Now we have an example of someone who went to greater lengths to love us than anyone has ever gone to love ANYONE. The full ramifications of of this command are mind boggling. Paul touches on the extreme lengths Jesus went to in order to love us here:

Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped*, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

*the idea here is to "cling to something you already own with all your strength to keep it from being taken away or stolen." Jesus did NOT cling to His equality with God, but voluntarily emptied Himself of what He already owned, so that He could pay a price we could not pay. It was only by humbling Himself in this manner that an infinite, eternal God of Spirit could die in physical form.

Eighth observation:

• Jesus took "loving others" to lengths never even imagined before. He who was eternal, sinless and deathless made Himself mortal, a sacrifice for sin, and subjected Himself to something that does not happen to God: He died.

Which leads to the question, so how far should a person exhibiting this kind of love be willing to go? What is the limit of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength - and then through God, doing the same with others?

Joh 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends*. "

*this word literally means "loved ones."

Ninth observation:

• The ultimate expression of this selfless, all encompassing "love" is found in being willing to give your own life for that of "loved ones." And WHO are we supposed to love? Others. All others. Particularly those who hate us and want only to hurt us.

And as Paul points out, this, too, Jesus modeled for us . . .

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Tenth observation:

• "Loving others," as the full and complete summation of the message of God to the human race, can be summarized into two elements: giving of ourselves selflessly, even sacrificially, to the point of being willing to die for another - and sharing that which gives us LIFE with each and every person we meet in order to bring LIFE into their lives. In short, "loving" others means being JESUS to this generation.

As we can see, everything we need to know about what "agape" means is found within the teachings of Jesus. Is it any wonder, then, that Paul, having studied these teachings in great detail, was able to sum everything He had learned about agape in the teachings of Jesus. If you look carefully, you will see there is nothing new in Paul's discussion on "love." Each and every point he makes can be found within the teachings of Jesus.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 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. Love never fails;

The best definition of what agape means is found in the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I cannot define it any better than He already did. If I had to choose one phrase, I'd probably pick "completely giving and selfless love," but even that fails to capture how all-encompassing this word really is.


Grace and peace to you,

Rhomphaia


NOTE*
Other words will be in following posts.