make of our words, not actually in the words themselves. Paul gives us some excellent definitions of love in I Corinthians 13, as does our Lord Himself in the 15th chap ter of John. He reminds us, "Great er love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for a friend" (15:13). This is a picture of sacri ficial love. This is a foreshadowing of Christ's sacrifice upon the cross for all mankind who place their personal faith in Him. BASIC CONCEPT Today, Christian love is signifi cant, not because of a particular Greek word, but because of the Bible's definition of the basic con cept of love. Love is always seen in relationship to other qualities. Love is certainly a most important aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. Paul says it is greater than faith or hope. Christ simply, yet forcefully, stated that His commandment is to love one another. It is through love that we walk in the light and in fellowship with Christ (I John 2:7-11). Here we see that our re sponsibility in love is to show the strongest affection, concern and compassion for our brother. If we do not, quite frankly, we are walk ing in darkness. Are there people who irritate you? Then you are certainly not displaying love. It is through love that we demonstrate the positive fact that we are really walking with Christ. Love is an ac tual necessity in the Christian life. If you would walk in the Spirit and not succumb to living on the hu man level as mere animals, you must display love. If faith without works is dead, as James states in his epistle, then love without its companions in the fruit of the Spirit is not only greatly weakened Page 23
that love can mean almost anything one wants it to mean. So, with such breadth of meaning, what does it signify when we say that Christians ought to display the primary virtue of love? The distinctions we often try to make on the Greek words for love are not always borne out either in classical Greek usage or even in what we find in the original Greek New Testament. Some say that the general Greek word for love, "phileo," is supposed to lack the depth of the popular concept of Christian love. Most prefer the word "agape." Frankly, the latter is not always used as a special kind of Christian love, even in the Bible. These words are used in a peculiar way. As an example, in John 5:20 we read that "the Father loveth the Son." Now this relationship be tween God and Christ one would expect to be pronounced as the very highest kind of love. Yet, the simple word "phileo" is employed. The fact is that there is nothing magical in the Greek word at all. The basic understanding comes from how it was used. Similarly, in Luke 6:32 Christ declares, "For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? For sinners also love those that love them." He is simply saying, "If you return love only when love is given, there is no real advantage. Even sinners or unbelievers would do that." Here the word "agape" is seen as basic. It is not held out for a divine connotation. The important thing is the meaning for us today. The Bible now has given these words special places of understanding. We would do well to abide by the old linguistic adage which reminds us that meanings are in the use we
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