Love
Summary
The supreme Christian virtue and the very essence of God's nature, expressed in Scripture as the love of God for humanity, the commanded love of humans for God, and the love believers are to show one another.
☩Greek Terminology
The New Testament employs three primary Greek words for love. Agape (noun) and agapao (verb) denote the highest form of love—selfless, sacrificial, seeking the good of the beloved regardless of worthiness or response. This distinctively Christian term was rarely used in classical Greek but became the dominant word for love in the New Testament, appearing over 250 times. Phileo denotes affectionate love, friendship, and natural human attachment. Eros (romantic love) does not appear in the New Testament. The significance of agape lies in its focus on the will and deliberate choice to love rather than merely on emotion or attraction.
☩God's Love for Humanity
Scripture declares not merely that God loves but that 'God is love' (1 John 4:8, 16)—love is the essence of His being. This love is demonstrated supremely in the gift of His Son: 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life' (John 3:16). Paul declares that 'God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us' (Romans 5:8). Divine love is not based on human worthiness but flows from God's gracious character. This love is 'shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost' (Romans 5:5), enabling believers to comprehend what passes knowledge (Ephesians 3:18-19). Nothing 'shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord' (Romans 8:38-39).
☩Human Love for God
When asked which commandment was greatest, Jesus identified love for God as first and supreme: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment' (Matthew 22:37-38). This command, drawn from Deuteronomy 6:5, calls for total devotion engaging every faculty of human personality. Love for God manifests in obedience: 'If ye love me, keep my commandments' (John 14:15); 'For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments' (1 John 5:3). Such love responds to God's prior love: 'We love him, because he first loved us' (1 John 4:19). Believers demonstrate love for God by loving their brethren: 'If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar' (1 John 4:20).
☩Love for One Another
The second great commandment is 'like unto' the first: 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself' (Matthew 22:39). Jesus gave this as a 'new commandment' in its intensified form: 'That ye love one another; as I have loved you' (John 13:34)—making His own self-sacrificing love the standard. Such love identifies His disciples: 'By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another' (John 13:35). Paul declares that 'love is the fulfilling of the law' (Romans 13:10), summarizing all moral obligations. The famous 'love chapter' (1 Corinthians 13) describes love's characteristics: patient, kind, not envious or boastful, not seeking its own, bearing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things. Faith and hope will pass away, 'but the greatest of these is love' (1 Corinthians 13:13).
☩Love in Practice
Scripture insists that genuine love must be demonstrated in action, not merely professed in words. 'My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth' (1 John 3:18). Love motivates practical service: caring for the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned (Matthew 25:35-40). It 'seeketh not her own' but puts others' interests first (1 Corinthians 13:5; Philippians 2:4). Love extends even to enemies: 'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you' (Matthew 5:44)—the distinctively Christian ethic that transforms natural human patterns. As the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), love is produced in believers by God's indwelling presence, enabling what human nature alone cannot achieve.
Related Verses445 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Love," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. V (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Love," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.James Hastings (ed.), "Love," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).