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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
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1 | MEANIG FOR LOVE WISDOM AND LIGHT FROM AB | Bible general Archive 2 | markaalchapman | 124981 | ||
MEANING FROM A BIBLE DICTIONARY FOR LOVE ,WISDOM AND LIGHT THANT YOU GOD BLESS | ||||||
2 | MEANIG FOR LOVE WISDOM AND LIGHT FROM AB | Bible general Archive 2 | EdB | 124982 | ||
markaalchapman LOVE Chiefly represented in the Scriptures as an attribute of God and as a Christian virtue. Its consideration, therefore, belongs to both theology and ethics. An Attribute of God. According to the Scriptures, God has feeling, affection, although rationalistic theologians (e.g., Schleiermacher, Bruch) have asserted the contrary. We must derive our conceptions of God from the special revelation that He has given of Himself, and this declares His love as strongly as His existence. It is held by some to be inadequate to speak of love as a divine attribute. ¡§God is love¡¨ (1 John 4:8, 16). The Scriptures contain no equivalent statements with respect to other qualities of the divine nature. Love is the highest characteristic of God, the one attribute in which all others harmoniously blend. The love of God is more than kindness or benevolence. The latter may be exercised toward irrational creatures, but love is directed toward rational, personal beings. The eternal love of God has never been without its object, a fact upon which we receive some light from the Scripture revelation of the threefold personality of God (see Trinity; see also Matthew 3:17; John 15:9; John 17:23-26). The gracious love of God to men, even to sinful men, is most strongly declared in both the OT and NT (e.g., Exodus 34:6; Isaiah 63:9; Jeremiah 31:3; John 3:16; 1 John 4:10). The love of God underlies all that He has done and is doing, although many facts exist that we cannot reconcile with His love on account of our limited understanding. The highest disclosure and most complete proof of divine love is in redemption (see Romans 5:8; Romans 8:32-39; 1 John 4:9-10). The reality and power of this love are properly apprehended only under the influence of the Holy Spirit. ¡§The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us¡¨ (Romans 5:5). A Christian Virtue. Love (Gk. ¡¦agapeƒ¤; NASB and NIV, ¡§love¡¨). The only word in the Bible translated charity means love. It is affection, tender and passionate attachment, a sentiment of our nature excited by qualities in a person or thing that command our affection; a virtue of such efficacy that it is said to be the fulfilling of the law. Its absence invalidates all claim to the Christian name. It is the antithesis of selfishness. Luther calls it ¡§the shortest and longest divinity.¡¨ It is active, and dissatisfied if not blessing others. Christian love is piety, the greatest boon that God can give, for ¡§God is love.¡¨ ¡§In it all human duty is summed up¡¨ (Matthew 22:37-40; Romans 13:8; 1 Cor. 13:13). Love is the first named element in the composite ¡§fruit of the Spirit¡¨ (Galatians 5:22). Charity, in modern speech, has other meanings: first, that sentiment that prompts us to think and speak well of others, judge their acts kindly, and make them happy; second, generosity to the poor; third, that which is thus given; and fourth, a benevolent foundation. Love is the preeminent virtue inculcated and produced by Christianity. The whole law is summed up in love, not in the sense of rendering all other requirements as inconsequential, but in the sense that love is fundamental, expresses the spirit of all others, and with enlightenment will lead to the observance of all others (Matthew 22:37-39; Matthew 5:43-48; John 14:15, 21; John 15:12-14; Romans 13:8; 1 Cor. 13; Galatians 5:14). Accordingly, love is declared to be the chief test of Christian discipleship (John 13:35; Matthew 5:44; 1 John 3:14). Also, love is the highest motive or ground of moral actions. Without this all other motives fall short of furnishing the true stimulus of Christian living. As all sin roots itself in selfishness, so all virtue springs out of love; and yet the love that is presented in the NT as the mainspring of holy living is grateful love as distinct from the love that is wholly disinterested. ¡§We love, because He first loved us¡¨ are words that rightly express the whole matter (1 John 4:19; see also 2 Cor 5:14; Romans 12:1-2). The contention of Fenelon that true Christian love should be disinterested, that we must love God exclusively on account of His perfection, so that if He did not bless us, but were to cast us off, we would love Him still, finds no support in the Scriptures. It contains a measure of truth inasmuch as it emphasizes the warning that we are certainly not to love the gifts of God more than the Giver and that we are not to love God wholly on account of His gifts. In reality, grateful love includes adoring love, or that which loves God for His own sake. Christian love, it is also important to note, is made possible only by divine grace. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22; see also 1 John 3:14). New Unger's Bible Dictionary |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Bible general Archive 2 | Author | ||
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markaalchapman | ||
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dizzyrea | ||
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jackb1959 | ||
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Patts | ||
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worknprogress | ||
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lgsb737 | ||
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lgsb737 | ||
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markaalchapman | ||
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EdB | ||
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markaalchapman | ||
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markaalchapman |