Biblical Love Pt. 1

What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Love is an interesting concept.  A milieu of thoughts, ideas, feelings and emotions come to mind when I consider the word.  It is a word that is tossed around rather frequently and loosely in our culture and perhaps even in our own lives.  We give little thought to what it actually means or what it might entail.  Media, philosophy, our sinful nature and much, much more have all contributed to what I believe is a fundamental misunderstanding of the definition of love - at least in the eyes of God.

Our culture would likely define love as an emotional feeling of pure bliss and joy.  In fact, the dictionary on my computer lists the following definitions:

1. “an intense feeling of deep affection.”
2. “A deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone.”

It’s no wonder then that our concept of love is often all about experience and feelings.  It’s not uncommon to hear love used in the context of tolerance, a sort of default rebuttal given to those who are accused of being too concerned with truth.  Love is often thrown around as being conditional and something that can be earned and lost based on the conduct of the individual.  We often confuse lust or infatuation with love.  Let’s face it, the media has had a tremendous impact on our understanding of love.  They have succeeded in shaping our concept of love as they portray false notions of romantic love on the big screen.  The world has programmed our understanding of what true love is and what it looks like - it’s high time we took it back.

Love:  Profoundly Important

The only way to truly understand love is to go to God’s Word, for it is there that we see the very mind of Christ.  In Matthew 22:35-40, we read that the Pharisees were looking to trap Jesus yet again.  Their question was rather interesting, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”  Thinking they had put him between a rock and a hard place, having to rank the laws of God as one being of greater importance than the other, Jesus astounds them with his answer.

“You shall LOVE (emphasis added) the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it:  You shall LOVE (emphasis added) your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt. 22:37-40).

Did you catch that?  The two greatest commandments revolve around the concept of love!  I imagine it’s fairly important that we get this right then, don’t you?  So, how should we define biblical love?

I would suggest to you that the concept of love flows out of the very character and nature of God.  It’s a divine attribute, something that inseparable from who God is.  In fact, 1 John 4:8 and 4:16 state, “God is love.”  It’s important here to briefly address a common error that is floating around in evangelical Christianity. Love is perhaps one of the most distorted and maligned attributes of God.  Many point to God’s love as the divine attribute that trumps all others.  It’s not uncommon to hear, “God is far too loving to send anyone to hell and he is far too loving to punish sinners for eternity”, or, “I just can’t believe that a loving God would do that.”  God’s love is often played as a trump card that negates his anger, justice and wrath.  Fortunately, Scripture is clear on this matter - God’s love, as great as it is, does not impede or prevent the existence and exercising of his other divine attributes.  

The god that is all love and no justice is no god at all; he is a mere invention of the sinful human mind that is trying to escape the consequences of sin.  The God who punishes sin is not unloving, rather He is true to his character and a God whom we can trust to uphold His righteous standard and perfect promises.  Yes, there is tension that is hard for our finite human minds to comprehend, but we must strive to honour God’s Word by embracing that tension instead of recreating God in a manner that is more pleasing to us.  We cannot recreate God because we don’t like something we see or understand something we read.  We must embrace what He says about himself, found only in His Word (John 17:17).

Love: God’s Definition

Wayne Grudem, states in his systematic theology that “God’s love means that God eternally gives of himself to others”

That’s a great statement, but can it be supported biblically?  Let’s test it by some of the most conclusive biblical texts we have.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ESV)

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;  and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:14–15 ESV)

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV)

Those three verses alone make it clear that God’s love is demonstrated in that He gave himself for us.  The greatest expression of God’s love, therefore, is seen in the cross of Christ.  The quality, character, and magnitude of love is not determined by the emotions or feelings, but by the expression of that love.  In other words, love is demonstrated in selflessness and the sacrificial giving of ourselves to others - that’s what the cross demonstrates.