god is love
(GREEK: ἀγάπη) Unconditional, self-sacrificial love; charity; God’s unconditional, self-sacrificial love for humankind and humankind’s love for a good God and for others. Only when we truly know God are we able to love as He loves. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” – John 4:7-8 ESV. Inspiring each privileged member to smile. Otherwise we do not belong in His presence. (GREEK: ἀγάπη) Unconditional, self-sacrificial love; charity; God’s unconditional, self-sacrificial love for humankind and humankind’s love for a good God and for others. (2020, August 25). God's love is unconditional, and it's not based on feelings or emotions. Deus est amor et hanc ob rem formam sumpsit servi: Deus in famulatu hominis se posuit ut hominem ad plenam afferat cum Ipso communionem. This is helpful up to a point, but not to the exclusion of studying the nouns used to characterize God—God is Spirit, God is One, and God is Love. Over decades of studying the Bible, I’ve noted how much emphasis many scholars place on the adjectives used to describe the biblical God—God is righteous, God is holy, God is merciful, and so on. John 5:13: The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. Clearly enough, the sort of love predicated of God is not any mere human love, certainly not any sort of narcissistic self-directed love, search for personal fulfillment, or expression of strong personal desires. If anyone says, “I love God”, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. BEN WITHERINGTON III (Text Arcana: “What ‘God Is Love’ Actually Means,”) is the Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky and on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University, Scotland. Here, I will focus just on the last of these statements, noting from the outset that it is one thing to say God is loving; it is another to say God is love. About the Author David Sorensen. Love is the true test of Christianity. This, in turn, supports the metaphysical teaching that God alone is real, and sin, sickness, and death are mere illusions sustained only by our belief in them. God is not merely loving; at his core, he is love. They couldn’t be more wrong, because Allah says: { وَهُوَ الْغَفُورُ الْوَدُودُ } 'Translation'{He (Allah) is the All-Forgiving, the All-Loving} [ Al-Burooj: 14]. It was Jesus himself who once said, “Greater love (agape) has no one, than he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13), and Jesus himself was to do this very thing on Good Friday. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:7-8). God’s love is forever and complete; it’s not keeping an eye out for someone or something better. The writers of the New Testament would clearly have nothing to do with any attempts to define God on the basis of merely human notions of love or, worse still, define love “as our god.” For Christians, God is the very definition of self-sacrificial love and what it truly means. And since God is love then we, his followers, who are born of God, will also love. vatican.va . (English Standard Version)Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. There is no fear in love. John 3:16 (NLT) - For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. It was so in the Old Testament and it is in the New Testament, and it will be so in all eternity. 2. This also demonstrates insatiable interest in this fascinating book, by scholars as well as by the general public. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. by Richard Elliott Friedman. God is love and He demands us to live in His love as well. God's love is a gift. The commandment to love God has little to do with that. The character of God is rooted in love. This love described by the author of 1 John 4 implies something fundamental about the freedom of God. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him." We should have long ago stopped trying to define God and the divine character on our very partial understandings of human love and human feelings. 1 John 4:7-8 (NLT) - Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. This abyss is full of warm love which is the love between the three spirits of the Godhead. God did not have to love a world full of self-centered and sinful human beings, but he chose to do this—and this accorded with God’s very nature. Fairchild, Mary. Romans 5:8 (NIV) - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. There, paradoxically, is the place we see most clearly both God’s great love for us all and his holiness as well. (GREEK: στοργή) Familial love; affection; natural empathy for one’s family, country, or team. Dig into the illuminating world of the Bible with a BAS All-Access membership. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Love is a core aspect of God’s character, His Person. A true Christian, one saved by love and filled with God's love, must live in love toward God and others. Selfish motives and wrong thinking limit human love. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. subscriber of BAR for many years. Love Comes from God 7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. God is love, and for this reason he took on the form of a servant: God put himself at the service of mankind in order to bring mankind into full communion with himself. Not love without holiness and righteousness, but not righteousness without love either. God is love, and he invites us: ‘Walk with me and love my way.’ When we love both God and neighbor, Gracious deeds will fill each day. That’s an average of nearly six and a half pages for each verse—and most of these pages are printed in small, densely packed type. But our response is also free. Inspiring. Love cannot be compelled, manipulated, or predetermined if it is to be genuine love. When we receive God's love, we are enabled through that love to love others. by Joseph C. Hough Jr. COPYRIGHT © 2021 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY 5614 Connecticut Ave NW #343, Washington DC 20015-2604. The Bible emphasizes the central role that love plays in our lives. Love comes from God. No, to say God “is love” is to say that God is the most self-sacrificial being in the universe, and as such he was prepared to go to incredible lengths to set humankind right. As children of God, we will also be growing in the love of God—loving as God loves. (New Living Translation)But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. Almost every religion claims that it is the exclusive path to a true knowledge of God, or at least that its path is superior to other religious traditions. Ephesians 2:4–5 (NIV) - But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. A river of living water, flows through God is Love. (GREEK: φɩλία) Brotherly love; friendship; affectionate regard for and loyalty to friends, family, and community, requiring virtue, equality, and familiarity. by Richard Elliott Friedman. He is its source. Christlike love will never fail us; Christlike love through us will speak. 1. God is love! Love comes from God, that is, everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God and vice versa. “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” ()Love is a word that has taken on many meanings throughout the ages. This interpretation does not hold. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son (who also willingly died for … Impressive. In this section of Scripture, we learn that brotherly love is our response to God's love. God is love. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.". Love of truth moves us to action; Love of God moves us to love. (1 John 4:20–21) Love is a commandment. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:7-8). Thanks. I believe that what John was saying is that God’s character is the very personification of love, that in His actions we see His love poured out for us. “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Love is a word that has taken on many meanings throughout the ages. Storgē For love to be genuine, there must be someone whom God could love, and this would necessarily be more than mere narcissism. This is the character of God in both the Old Testament and New Testament. John’s challenge to the churches in his day is the same challenge we face today. Frequently, Christians say to me that “God is Love”, as if the God I know and love is not a loving God. God is love! Therein lies the key to living; Therein lies the life we seek. It has to be freely given and freely received. English, unfortunately, doesn’t have the versality of Greek when it comes to having different words for different kinds of love. Love is not merely an attribute of God, it is part of his very makeup. No one can command their own feelings. 1 John 4:16(New International Version)God is love. Fairchild, Mary. God's love is unconditional; his love is very different from human love that we experience with one another because it is not based on feelings. God’s love is pure. Love Your Neighbor: Only Israelites or Everyone? God is not merely loving; at his core, he is love. True reflection of him have from him: whoever loves God must also his! A full-time Christian minister, writer, and God in him ( Matthew 7:11 ) s vast library plus more. To follow Jesus and to live in God, not God ; for God is love ''... As well as by the general public would necessarily be more than mere narcissism argue... World of the Bible: “ love your neighbor as ourselves each and every one of the 2020! 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