Reference: Love
American
GOD IS LOVE; AND HE THAT DWELLETH IN LOVE DWELLETH IN GOD, AND GOD IN HIM, 1Jo 4:16. Love is a chief attribute of Jehovah, the length and breadth and height and depth of which are beyond comprehension, for they are infinite, Eph 3:18-19. Between the three Persons of the Godhead, love is unutterable full, perfect, and blissful; towards holy angels and Christians, God's love is an infinite fatherly complacency and affection; towards sinners, it is immeasurable compassion. It is shown in all his works and ways, and dictated his holy law, but is most signally displayed in the gospel, Joh 3:16. "Herein is love."
Holy love in man would make the whole heart and soul supremely delight in and obey God, and cordially and practically love all beings according to their character-the good with fellowship of soul, and the evil with a Christ-like benevolence. Such a love would meet and fulfil all the ends of the law, Mt 22:37-40; Ro 13:8-10. Without it, none can enter heaven; and as the affections of every unrenewed heart are all mixed with sin, being given to forbidden objects, or selfishly and unduly given to objects not forbidden, we must be "born again" in order to see God, Joh 3:3; 1Jo 4:7,19; 5:4.
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Then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever.
And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and encamped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.
And this is the reason Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they came out of Egypt.
And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment. read more. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God.
For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ( unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
Keep out of debt and owe no man anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor [who practices loving others] has fulfilled the Law [relating to one's fellowmen, meeting all its requirements]. The commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet (have an evil desire), and any other commandment, are summed up in the single command, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. read more. Love does no wrong to one's neighbor [it never hurts anybody]. Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law.
That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God's devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.
Easton
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 21:16-17). 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 fitly 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 the apostle sets forth the excellency of love, as the word "charity" there is rendered in the Revised Version.
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Again He said to him the second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Shepherd (tend) My sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with a deep, instinctive, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]? Peter was grieved (was saddened and hurt) that He should ask him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep.
Fausets
The fulfilling of the law (Ro 13:8,10), the prominent perfection of God (1Jo 4:8,16), manifested to us (1Jo 4:10) when we loved not Him (Joh 3:16). Passing our powers of knowledge (Eph 3:19), everlasting (Jer 31:3), free and gratuitous (Ho 14:4), enduring to the end (Joh 13:1). The two Greek words for "love" are distinct: phileo, the love of impulse, ardent affection and feeling; agapao, the love of esteem, regard. Joh 21:15, "Simon, lovest (agapas, esteemest) thou Me?" Agapas sounds too cold to Peter, now burning with love; so he replies, "Thou knowest that I LOVE (philo) Thee." "Simon, esteemest thou (agapas) Me? ... Thou knowest that I LOVE Thee." At the third time Peter gained his point. "Simon, LOVEST (phileis) thou Me?" Love to one another is the proof to the world of discipleship (Joh 13:35).
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The Lord appeared from of old to me [Israel], saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.
I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely, for My anger is turned away from [Israel].
For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ( unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
[Now] before the Passover Feast began, Jesus knew (was fully aware) that the time had come for Him to leave this world and return to the Father. And as He had loved those who were His own in the world, He loved them to the last and to the highest degree.
By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves].
When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these [others do -- "with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Feed My lambs.
Keep out of debt and owe no man anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor [who practices loving others] has fulfilled the Law [relating to one's fellowmen, meeting all its requirements].
Love does no wrong to one's neighbor [it never hurts anybody]. Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law.
[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
He who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love.
In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins.
And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.