The commandment to Love

lone-traveler · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 3:29 pm Post subject: The commandment to Love

2Jn 1:5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

Did Moses recieve this commandment?
Did he have it from the beginning?

Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Joh 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Deu 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
Deu 10:13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?
Deu 10:14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
Deu 10:15 Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.
Deu 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
Deu 10:17 For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:
Deu 10:18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
Deu 10:19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Deu 10:20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

Love the stranger as if you were the stranger, because you was the stranger and I loved you.

Lev 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Exo 12:49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

There is ONE LAW common to all both homeborn and strangers..

Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

why is this ONE LAW or Commandment so difficult to obey?

hugs
lone
_________________
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

lone-traveler · Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 6:36 am Post subject:

and avoided like a plague.. Rolling Eyes

_________________
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Booky · Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 6:17 pm Post subject: Re: The commandment to Love

Booky · Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 6:22 pm Post subject: Re: The commandment to Love

MoJo · Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 8:25 pm Post subject:

james · Grizzly Bear Joined: 18 Sep 2007 Posts: 720

For myself the commandment to love is the most difficult, it is hard to determine when the act of loving someone has become an act of enableing them. There seems to be a very thin line between love and enableing..............I would like to hear others thoughts on this.

45degreeN · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:14 am Post subject:

The commandment to love is not the same thing as we humans typically use the word love. There is no need to think of the emotional sort of feeling which is rooted in the word of love at all.

The word Agape is the divine love which is devoid of emotional content. It is the sort of thing that always wants the ideal best for the other person even if it is contrary to our own interests.

Today it seems we are hardly able to disengage our own set of mental gears, never see things from the other person's point of view and certainly ever extend ourselves into their lives and truly understand them. The challenge is there but without these abilities there is no divine love.
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lone-traveler · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 6:55 am Post subject:

Easton's Bible dictionary defines Love:

Love
This word seems to require explanation only in the case of its use by our Lord in his interview with “Simon, the son of Jonas,” after his resurrection (Joh_21:16, Joh_21:17). When our Lord says, “Lovest thou me?” he uses the Greek word agapas; and when Simon answers, he uses the Greek word philo, i.e., “I love.” This is the usage in the first and second questions put by our Lord; but in the third our Lord uses Simon's word. The distinction between these two Greek words is thus fitfully described by Trench: “Agapan has more of judgment and deliberate choice; philein has more of attachment and peculiar personal affection. Thus the 'Lovest thou' (Gr. agapas) on the lips of the Lord seems to Peter at this moment too cold a word, as though his Lord were keeping him at a distance, or at least not inviting him to draw near, as in the passionate yearning of his heart he desired now to do. Therefore he puts by the word and substitutes his own stronger 'I love' (Gr. philo) in its room. A second time he does the same. And now he has conquered; for when the Lord demands a third time whether he loves him, he does it in the word which alone will satisfy Peter ('Lovest thou,' Gr. phileis), which alone claims from him that personal attachment and affection with which indeed he knows that his heart is full.”

In 1Co_13:1-13 the apostle sets forth the excellency of love, as the word “charity” there is rendered in the Revised Version.

Strong's dictionary:

G26
ἀγάπη
agapē
ag-ah'-pay
From G25; love, that is, affection or benevolence; specifically (plural) a love feast: - (feast of) charity ([-ably]), dear, love.

Benevolence:

G2133
εὔνοια
eunoia
yoo'-noy-ah
From the same as G2132; kindness; euphemistically conjugal duty: - benevolence, good will.

G5368
φιλέω
phileō
fil-eh'-o
From G5384; to be a friend to (fond of [an individual or an object]), that is, have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling; while G25 is wider, embracing especially the judgment and the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety: the two thus stand related very much as G2309 and G1014, or as G2372 and G3563 respectively; the former being chiefly of the heart and the latter of the head); specifically to kiss (as a mark of tenderness): - kiss, love.

Phileo:

Joh 16:27 For the Father himself loveth (phileo) you, because ye have loved (phileo) me, and have believed that I came out from God.

1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth (agapao) not his brother.

1Co 16:22 If any man love (phileo) not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.

So Agapao is a matter of principle, duty, and propriety.
The judgement and deliberate assent of the will.

where Phileo is affection, personal attachment, and a matter of sentiment and feeling.

Rev 3:19 As many as I love (phileo), I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

So how are we supposed to love each other as we are loved by the Lord.

with affection or by duty or principle or both?

hugs
lone
_________________
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

YLTYLT · Ferret Joined: 06 Apr 2007 Posts: 120

In Ephesians 5:25, Men are called to Love(Agape) their wives. As Christ loved the Church.

But interestingly enough and sort of contrary to that, Women are only called to Love (Phileo) their husbands (Titus 2:4)

I do not see a verse where Women are called to Love (Agape) their husbands.

In other words Because men love women first then women love them back.

In the same way because Christ first love us we should love him back.

I think possibly the actions could be the same for both types of love, but the motivations are definitely different.
Agape love is unconditional, regardless of the way we actually feel. Phileo love is a response to and fondness toward someone because of their qualities, whether they be physicqal, spirtual or emotional qualities.

Finally, it is when we first recognize His love for us, that we start to change. That is the moment if justification. When we realize we are sinners in need of a saviour and that Jesus is it, and then acting on that belief (faith) by calling out for Jesus to save us by His Grace.(Rom 10:13)

Romans 2:4 says "...the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"

The greater our understanding of the goodness of God, the closer we get to him and increase our phileo love towards Him, because we repent of the sins that are hindering our relationship with Him. This is the sanctification process.

And also because God's love is an Agape love towards us, there is no condition on our salvation other than trusting Christ to save us.

To say that we would have to stop sinning for God to save us would not be an Agape love, and would be contrary to scripture. (I am not stating that anyone on this post has claimed this yet, just pointing it out as a logical conclusion)

lone-traveler · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:59 pm Post subject:

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

This is difficult, no?:

Love in these verses is:

G25
ἀγαπάω
agapaō
ag-ap-ah'-o
Perhaps from ἄγαν agan (much; or compare [H5689]); to love (in a social or moral sense): - (be-) love (-ed). Compare G5368.

Wikipedia:

Agapē (IPA: /ˈægəpiː/[1]) (Gk. αγάπη [aˈɣa.pi]), is one of several Greek words translated into English as love. The word has been used in different ways by a variety of contemporary and ancient sources, including Biblical authors. Many have thought that this word represents divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love. Greek philosophers at the time of Plato and other ancient authors have used forms of the word to denote love of a spouse or family, or affection for a particular activity, in contrast to philia—an affection that could denote either brotherhood or generally non-sexual affection, and eros, an affection of a sexual nature. The term 'agape' is rarely used in ancient manuscripts, but was used by the early Christians to refer to the self-sacrificing love of God for humanity, which they were committed to reciprocating and practicing towards God and among one another (also see kenosis).

Agape has been expounded on by many Christian writers in a specifically Christian context. Thomas Jay Oord has defined agape as "an intentional response to promote well-being when responding to that which has generated ill-being."

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

in this verse we are told to agape love our enemies.

Enemies:

G2190
ἐχθρός
echthros
ekh-thros'
From a primary word ἔχθω echthō (to hate); hateful (passively odious, or actively hostile); usually as a noun, an adversary (especially Satan): - enemy, foe.

We are still taught this:
Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

But now we are told to do this:
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Was he kidding?
How are we supposed to Agape love our enemy (especially Satan)??.. Confused or disgusted

and why?

Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

What does it mean he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good?
Is he speaking in a parable?

Ecc 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
Ecc 3:17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

Job 38:22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
Job 38:23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
Job 38:24 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
Job 38:25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
Job 38:26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
Job 38:27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
Job 38:28 Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
Job 38:29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
Job 38:30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

Is the reason why we are told to love our enemies, so that when we are judged we will not be found guilty of the same things that the enemies are found guilty for?
Is it so we will be found blameless?
Is this for our benefit?

But if we hate our enemies as we are hated of them, then doesn't that make us as guilty, if not more because we know better?

Rom 2:3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

remembering that God causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the evil and the good and the just and the unjust.

And there is no respect of persons with God.

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

And I believe these are the works which will be judged:
I believe these are the "books" and the "book".

Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law(books), but by the faith of Jesus Christ(book), even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

and these are the works of the law in the flesh:

Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now this is important..because if our enemies are doing these things to us..even (hatred, strife, envyings)..the things that aren't as blunt as witchcraft and idolatry and murder and drunkeness..
(and we know that these are spiritual..such as hating ones brother is murder, or lusting after one in the heart is a good as adultery..because God looks at the heart and not the flesh)..
Then if we do the same things we are just as guilty as those who we protest against.
so then the only way to be not judged according to the works of the flesh is to not do what they do or be like they are, because God will judge everyone who lives by the flesh by the books.

But we are called to bear fruit and to walk in the spirit. To be seperate from the world. And they will hate us because we love them. They can't understand why we don't play the same way they do. It's because we know, that only those who do not do such things are written in the book of life. And we walk by faith that if we do that which is good and right we are accepted of God.

This is what seperates us from the world:

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Love:
G26
ἀγάπη
agapē
ag-ah'-pay
From G25; love, that is, affection or benevolence; specifically (plural) a love feast: - (feast of) charity ([-ably]), dear, love.

Joy:
G5479
χαρά
chara
khar-ah'
From G5463; cheerfulness, that is, calm delight: - gladness, X greatly, (X be exceeding) joy (-ful, -fully, -fulness, -ous)

Peace:
G1515
εἰρήνη
eirēnē
i-rah'-nay
Probably from a primary verb εἴρω eirō (to join); peace (literally or figuratively); by implication prosperity: - one, peace, quietness, rest, + set at one again.

Longsuffering:
G3115
μακροθυμία
makrothumia
mak-roth-oo-mee'-ah
From the same as G3116; longanimity, that is, (objectively) forbearance or (subjectively) fortitude: - longsuffering, patience.

Gentleness:
G5544
χρηστότης
chrēstotēs
khray-stot'-ace
From G5543; usefulness, that is, moral excellence (in character or demeanor): - gentleness, good (-ness), kindness.

Goodness:
G19
ἀγαθωσύνη
agathōsunē
ag-ath-o-soo'-nay
From G18; goodness, that is, virtue or beneficence: - goodness.

Faith:
G4102
πίστις
pistis
pis'-tis
From G3982; persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: - assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.

Meekness:
G4236
πρᾳότης
praotēs
prah-ot'-ace
From G4235; gentleness; by implication humility: - meekness.

and
Temperance:
G1466
ἐγκράτεια
egkrateia
eng-krat'-i-ah
From G1468; self control (especially continence): - temperance.

against such there is no law.

There is no accusation which will stand against these things. There is no law which condemns us from doing these things.

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

By this shall ALL MEN KNOW that ye are my disciples,

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Heb 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Heb 12:18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
Heb 12:19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
Heb 12:20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
Heb 12:21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

Is it possible to keep just this One Commandment?

Mar 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

_________________
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

45degreeN · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:03 am Post subject:

Paul's treatise on love (1Corinthians 13)

lone-traveler · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:42 am Post subject:

Amen 45..

_________________
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.