The English word "love" is one of the most
used and worst abused words in the language. With many people love is
identified with lust. People who have not the remotest idea of what love
is according to God are heard speaking enthusiastically of their
dedication to love. When the "hippie" section of society waxes
enthusiastic over "love", let no one think that they are talking about
the same thing as the Bible is, when it requires us to love one another.
The Bible requires the Christian to "let all you do be done in love"
(I
Cor. 16:14); "owe no man anything save to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law" (Rom. 13:8). These and many
other Bible references give high rating to love and its essential place
in the lives of men, but the thing required by these passages is not
what those characters have in mind, who are wallowing in sex and
blabbing "love, love, love." They are using the word love to describe a
thing which the Bible condemns. The apostle Peter beseeches Christians
to abstain from that which some moderns call "love" - "Beloved, I
beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts,
which war against the soul" (I Pet. 2:11). Lust wars against the soul;
destruction is its goal. Ambiguity, the semantic device of ignorant and
unscrupulous promoters of error and evil, is one of the means which has
been used effectively in bringing society to its present state of soul
rot. Lust has been promoted under the name of love. Precise definition
of terms and an insistence upon correct labeling is the counter strategy
to be employed. Call it lust and strip it of the aura of glamour which
it has gained by masquerading under the "love label."
"Greek is one of the richest of all
languages and has an unrivalled power to express shades of meaning. It
therefore often happens that Greek has a whole series of words to
express different shades of meaning in one conception, while English has
only one. In English we have only one word to express all kinds of love;
Greek has no fewer than four...
"The noun "eros" and verb "eran" are mainly
used for love between the sexes...The predominant connection of these
two words (eros and eran) is with sexual love. In the English language
the word "lover" can bear a lower sense; and in Greek the meaning of
these two words had degenerated so that they stood for lower things.
Christianity could hardly have annexed these words for its own use: and
they do not appear in the NT at all. (Barclay) The "eros" idea is
perhaps the most popular connotation of the English word love. This "hot
and unendurable desire" idea cannot be properly considered as attached
to the New Testament word love.
The New Testament's definition of love will
remove the connotation of lust from the word love. God's love for man is
demonstrated in His gift of His Son to save man for sin. "For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16.)
Man's love for God is demonstrated in his
obedience to God. "For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments: and his commandments are not grievous" (I John 5:3). The
absence of obedience is evidence of love failure. No man can truthfully
claim to love God who fails to obey God.
The New Testament reveals God's love for
man; it also teaches that man must love God in order to have God's
favor. Still another area of the general theme love is the love which
the New Testament requires people to exercise toward other people. This
is the specific subject in which we are interested in this article. The
love which the New Testament requires men to entertain and exercise
toward one another cannot rightfully be equated to lust. To identify
love with lust in one's thinking and action is to reveal a false concept
of love required by God.
Love Defined
The apostle Paul personifies love in the
thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. The attitudes and actions of
the person motivated and regulated by love are set forth by the apostle
in this chapter. Love is presented in action; we are told what it does
and what it does not. The 13th chapter of First Corinthians is the
divine pattern to be followed to "add love."
The first three verses are devoted to
establishing the essential place of love in giving substance to any act.
From these verses we learn that regardless of how fine and noble an
action may be, it is rendered personally unprofitable to the actor who
performs it without love. The absence of love makes vain any act
regardless of its character per se. The following verses answer the
question, what is love?
Love suffereth long. If there were no
trials, no need for long suffering would exist, but the fact of trials
is self-evident, hence, the need of suffering long is established.
Giving up under pressure of evil is a demonstration of faulty love.
Staying under the load, bearing one's burdens is an exercise of love.
Is kind. This quality is sometimes absent in
the one who is long suffering. It is a pity that some neutralize their
long suffering by unkind attitudes and expressions. It is not difficult
for most people to be kind to those who are kind to them, but
reciprocity does not establish the presence of love. The exercise of
kindness in our long suffering is the area where kindness must be
cultivated - it doesn't just "come natural." Christ said, "For if ye
love them that love you what reward have you? Do not the publicans the
same?" (Matt. 5:46) Who would be so bold as to express the sentiment
that kindness is not essential, in the Christian's character? Yet there
are probably more unkind people in the world than there are unbaptized
people. Many baptized people manifest, in practice, as little regard for
the Lord's requirement to "be ye kind one to another" as do unbaptized
people for the Lord's requirement to "repent ye and be baptized every
one of you."
Love envieth not. This begins a series of
eight negatives. The description of love is begun with two positive
qualities; following is a series of eight negatives; the description is
then completed with four positives. Some have concluded that the New
Testament de-emphasizes the "thou shalt not", because it does not employ
the' precise terminology of prohibition that the Old Testament employs.
But the precise idea of "thou shalt not" is in the language of these
eight negatives. "Thou shalt not envy" is clearly the thought here. This
word, envy, is from the Greek word which means "to seeth." Chagrin,
discontent, mortification on account of the good fortune of another, is
a feeling forbidden the Christian. Any time a Christian "seethes,"
because of the superiority or advantages of another, one of the "shalt
not's" of the New Testament is violated.
Love vaunteth not itself. Love personified
is not on dress parade. Jesus said, "Take heed that ye do not your
righteousness before men, to be seen of them: else ye have no reward
with your Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 6:1) The mature Christian
takes heed to avoid crude display of piety; he does not boast of his
righteousness or brag of his accomplishments. Gospel preachers, as well
as all other Christians, need to realize that bragging on one's self,
regardless of how subtle it maybe, or how well it may be camouflaged, is
a deficiency in love and is seen by God. Too many fail to recognize the
sin in "giving out that himself was some great one."
Love is not puffed up. Conceit or an
over-development of self-esteem is here described as "puffed up."
Swelling is to the physical body what conceit or pride is to the soul.
Neither is healthy growth, but in each area is symptomatic of disease.
Conceit is a barrier between the puffed up person and his associates and
between himself and further growth.
These three characteristics of lovelessness
are closely related. Lenski comments this way, "From envy to boasting,
from boasting to puffing oneself up is a natural sequence in the
psychology of lovelessness." Envy in a person is evidence that he
considers another as occupying a superior place or having some superior
possession. If not, why the envy? Instead of pursuing the healthy course
of filling up on their part that which is lacking; many allow the fact
of their personal lack to develop into an inferiority complex. The
defensive mechanism supplied by Satan is, bragging to build oneself up
with society, and conceit to build oneself up with self. It is
difficult, if even possible, to distinguish between an inferiority
complex and a superiority complex. Maybe that which we call "superiority
complex" is only that point of development where the person has fed his
ego till he believes his own biased reports; his rationalizing to
himself and bragging to others has come to be believed by himself.
Love doth not behave itself unseemly.
Discourteous behavior is the antithesis of love. Unseemly behavior is
the only kind that can properly be expected from an envious braggart who
is swelled with conceit. Behavior is the index to character of the soul.
It is the fruit by which the character of the man is determined.
Love seeketh not its own. The unselfishness
of love is set forth by the Holy Spirit in the clause, "seeketh not its
own." The old "looking out for number one" philosophy is contrary to
love. "Love seeketh not its own" is equal to "not looking each of you to
his own things, but each of you also to the things of others." (Phil.
2:4) But interest and efforts for the welfare of others can only exist
in the ones who have "this mind in (them) which was also in Christ
Jesus; who existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an
equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the
form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death,
yea the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:5-8) Our love is disposed to waver
when great personal sacrifice is involved; it will help us to remember
what our Saviour gave up. The mind of Christ is not "grasping", neither
can we tenaciously hold on to our position or possessions and at the
same time personify love. Humility is an integral of the mind of Christ
which we are to have in us - "he humbled himself." His humble obedience
took him all the way from Deity to death. The road from equality with
God to a human death was a humiliating journey every step of the way.
"Love seeketh not its own." How fortunate that Christ loved us.
The selfish person can never know the
satisfaction of enjoying another's happiness; he is unlikely to have a
lively awareness of either the happiness or the sorrow of others due to
his attention being concentrated on self. He cannot truly "rejoice with
them that rejoice and weep with them that weep." Unselfishness is
neither accidental nor hereditary; it is a disposition that must be
cultivated.
Love is not provoked. Occasions of
provocation are plentiful. But the feelings of exasperation stirred up
by these provocations are curbed by the Christian. Paul wrote to the
Corinthians, "love is not provoked", and yet his spirit was "provoked
within him" (Acts 17:16) at what he saw in Athens. The apparent
inconsistency evaporates when we know the meaning of the term. Vines
defines "provoke", "to sharpen, is used metaphorically, signifying to
rouse to anger." The noun form "denotes a stimulation." The thought is
that Paul's spirit was stirred. When the apostle urges Christians to
love and further points out that love is not provoked, his is not
recommending complacency, but is demanding poise.
Every member of the Lord's church has the
duty of provoking every other Christian "unto love and works."
(Heb.
10:24) If the Holy Spirit had said for Christians to provoke one
another, and had left it there, many more would have been able to
qualify on this point than do qualify. No, we do not fill the bill by
merely stirring a person's spirit up, we must stir them up to love and
good works.
Love is poised; it is not constantly fuming
and out of sorts. When worldly minded people learn that a person is
easily provoked, they oft times make him a target for their darts of
provocation. There is a type mind that enjoys seeing a person lose his
composure. Against such the Christian must exercise constant vigilance.
If the bull in the ring could restrain himself from becoming provoked,
the matador would not have the opportunity to thrust the sword into his
heart and the spectators would be deprived of their pleasure. Stirring
up a person's temper, stimulating him to anger for no worthy end is not
love; neither is it love to allow oneself to be provoked.
Love taketh no account of evil. This is a
positive prohibition against holding a grudge. Expressed negatively, it
would read, "Thou shalt not hold a grudge." does not make entries in
memory's table of the slights and wrongs done it for the purpose of
rendering a statement of account to every captive audience he can impose
upon. We are not to render evil for evil, hence, do not need an account
book to keep record. This, of course, is not to be interpreted as an
encouragement to gullibility. The Christian certainly needs to remember
in order to avoid providing opportunity for the evil person repeating
his wrong.
Love takes no pleasure in seeing sin
committed nor in the downfall of those who are overcome by sin. Love
knows that the sinner will suffer endless punishment but it is not happy
in contemplating the lot of the wicked. This does not in any way cause
the Christian to resent truth but enables him to rejoice in the
victories of truth. No Christian should ever be found rejoicing in
unrighteousness, nor resentful of truth.
Love bears provocations, ingratitude,
adversities without murmuring. It takes the charitable view of other's
mistakes. It believeth all things consistent with evidence. Love is
always hopeful for improvement. It will not become so discouraged by the
lack of "visible results" that it gives up. Love endureth all things -
it endures the heaviest assaults of ill-treatment. The heavy assaults of
persecution never cause love to doubt the love of God. It does not take
personal misfortune as evidence of God's displeasure. This word endureth
"has reference to heavier afflictions than those sustained by the 'beareth'
of verse 7."
Faith and hope are human exercises but love
is not only a human exercise, it is divine. "God is love." Love is the
greatest by reason of its being a divine attribute as well as a possible
and necessary human attribute.
Gospel Guardian – October 19, 1967
Other Articles
Text, Context and Secondhand Coats
Hypocrites in the Church
It Can't be Done
The Widow's Mites
A Mixed Up World
Isolationism
Why No Instruments of Music?
Seven Faces of
Failure
A Matter of Choice
- Caffin,
B.C. (1950), II Peter – Pulpit Commentary, H.D.M. Spence
and Joseph Exell, eds. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans).
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