As we saw last time, as we are progressively sanctified and conformed to His image, our natural emotional response to fellow Christians can mature from philia, or brotherly love, into self-sacrificing agape love. Christ's indwelling Holy Spirit lets us love unconditionally and sacrificially, not only other believers but also the unsaved (1 Pet. 1:22).
2 Peter 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
Peter explains the progression of how Christians can develop agape love to one another. We have to work at it and be passionate about this transformation! It doesn’t come naturally. It starts by being saved, i.e. having faith in Christ, which allows us to be obedient in our desire to please Him. Obedience makes us more likely to be virtuous and less likely to sin, and more likely to study His Word and gain Biblical knowledge and Godly wisdom. That will improve our self-control, or temperance, and give us more patience toward others when they disappoint us. That makes us more conformed to Christ’s image, first showing philia or brotherly kindness toward other Christians, and finally showing charity, or self-sacrificing agape love for one another and also for the lost (John 13:35).
Jesus Himself showed how philia can become agape when He said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). Jesus even called Judas “friend,” who betrayed Him (Matt. 26:50), but Jesus went from philia to agape as he paid for the sins of Judas and of all men. The self-sacrifice of Christ did not end with His pain, suffering, and even death, but, it led to His joy at being the means of salvation for all mankind (Hebrews 12:2).
Similarly, the friendship and kindness we show to others will be returned to us many times over, and even acts of self-sacrifice for our friends will reap eternal rewards. An excellent Bible example of this transformation from kindness and respect, to sharing a common belief, to self-sacrifice without expecting anything in return and ultimately to blessings beyond measure, is the story of Ruth.
Naomi and her two sons lacked faith in that they left Bethlehem, where God had promised to provide for them, during a time of famine (1:1). They traveled to Moab, where Naomi’s husband died and her sons each married a Moabitess woman, one of whom was Ruth and the other Orpah (1:4). This also was an act of disobedience to God’s command of not intermarrying with pagan people.
When Naomi’ two sons died about 10 years later , both her daughters-in-law initially offered to stay with her, but she encouraged them to return to the homes of their parents so that they could stay in their home country of Moab and find new husbands there (1:8-13). This is agape love on Naomi’s part, because she is now a sad, old woman who has lost her husband and sons, yet she is willing to risk traveling alone back to Bethlehem so that she would not be a burden to Ruth and Orpah and so that they could make new lives for themselves. Orpah willingly agreed, but Ruth’s friendship toward Naomi went far deeper, and she begged her to let her accompany her to Israel (1:14-16).
16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
Ruth pledges her life to Naomi, not only accompanying her on the journey, but wanting to go wherever she goes and to live wherever she lives, accepting Naomi’s people as her own even though she has never met them and knows nothing about the country and its customs. She even accepts Naomi’s God as her own, which shows that the agape love of a believer toward an unsaved person may lead them to the Lord.
But the blessings she reaped back in Israel, along with the barley she gleaned in Boaz’ field (Ruth 2), were not only the faithful friendship, love and good advice of Naomi (3:1-5), but provision for her physical needs (3:15), a loving marriage to Boaz (4:13), and even giving birth to a son who would be a forefather of to Jesus Christ Himself! (4:17). She gave up all she knew, but she gained faith in the only true God, and with that, the blessings that only He can offer.
Love in Christ,
Laurie Collett
Showing posts with label Bible Christ Jesus salvation faith grace agape philia love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible Christ Jesus salvation faith grace agape philia love. Show all posts
Sunday, June 12, 2011
How Do You Love Him?
The Greek words used for love in the Bible include philia, or brotherly love (Romans 12:10; 1 Thess. 4:9; Hebrews 13:1; 1 Peter 1:22; 2 Peter 1:7). connoting friendship; and agape, or self-sacrificing love, of which the best example is Jesus suffering and dying on the cross to pay all our sin debt in full. Phileo means to have an affection, sentiment, kindly feeling, or fondness based in the heart toward another person. Philia is based on a natural emotional response toward another, whereas agape is based on the will, volitionally doing what is best for another even when he is unloveable. Thank God that He shows agape toward us even though we are sinners with wicked hearts (Jer. 17:9; Rom. 5:8).
Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament contrasts many aspects of philia and agape. Philia is a natural, emotional response of the heart, but agape is learned through studying God’s Word and following Christ’s example, and applied through the will. Philia is discriminatory and conditional, shown toward those who please us, bring us delight, or do nice things for us. Agape is non-discriminatory and unconditional, shown toward everyone because we consider them to be precious in God’s sight and esteemed more highly than we value ourselves.
Philia is bound to fail, as it occurs because of what someone does or because of what he is like. Ultimately those conditions change and people displease us. But agape never fails (1 Cor. 13:8), as it occurs in spite of what people do or what they are like.
The difference between philia and agape is seen in John 21:15-17, when the resurrected Jesus calls aside Peter, who is filled with remorse over denying Christ 3 times, just as Jesus as predicted he would. To reconcile Peter to Himself, Jesus asks Peter 3 times, “Do you love Me?” Twice the word Jesus uses is “agapeo,” but when Peter says that he loves Christ, he uses the word “phileo,” which implies a lesser intensity and commitment than the self-sacrificing agape love Jesus has shown to all of us.
It is as if a wife asks her husband, “Do you love me so much that you would risk your life to save mine?” and he answers, “Well, you know I have warm, fuzzy feelings for you when you serve me breakfast in bed.” Each time Peter avoided the real issue of what Christ asked him, Jesus gently explained what agape love means, by saying “Feed my sheep.” Jesus wanted Peter to put his own needs behind those of the lost sheep he had to bring to Christ. Ultimately, Peter did just that, making the ultimate sacrifice of dying a martyr’s death and being crucified upside down (John 21:18).
Friendship often starts with philia, as an emotional response to someone who shares a common sense of purpose and belief system. It is natural to like people who think and feel the same way we do on important issues. But true friendship occurs when philia lead to self-sacrificing, unconditional agape love. We see this in the family of God, where new believers in Christ join the church, or body of other born-again Christians who share the common experience of having turned away from, or repented of, their sins, and of having turned toward Christ as their Savior (Rom.12:10). You gain new Christian friends when you are saved, and, conversely, if you are a friend to someone who is lost, you may lead that person to trust Christ as her Savior.
Through studying God’s Word, prayer, worship, and Christian fellowship, new believers become progressively changed, or sanctified, to become more like Christ. Philia, or natural affection they feel toward other believers, then becomes more like the self-sacrificing love of Christ as they begin to bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2). As we are progressively sanctified and conformed to His image, our natural emotional response to fellow Christians can mature into agape love as His indwelling Holy Spirit lets us to love unconditionally and sacrificially, not only other believers but also the unsaved.
1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
Love in Him,
Laurie Collett
Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament contrasts many aspects of philia and agape. Philia is a natural, emotional response of the heart, but agape is learned through studying God’s Word and following Christ’s example, and applied through the will. Philia is discriminatory and conditional, shown toward those who please us, bring us delight, or do nice things for us. Agape is non-discriminatory and unconditional, shown toward everyone because we consider them to be precious in God’s sight and esteemed more highly than we value ourselves.
Philia is bound to fail, as it occurs because of what someone does or because of what he is like. Ultimately those conditions change and people displease us. But agape never fails (1 Cor. 13:8), as it occurs in spite of what people do or what they are like.
The difference between philia and agape is seen in John 21:15-17, when the resurrected Jesus calls aside Peter, who is filled with remorse over denying Christ 3 times, just as Jesus as predicted he would. To reconcile Peter to Himself, Jesus asks Peter 3 times, “Do you love Me?” Twice the word Jesus uses is “agapeo,” but when Peter says that he loves Christ, he uses the word “phileo,” which implies a lesser intensity and commitment than the self-sacrificing agape love Jesus has shown to all of us.
It is as if a wife asks her husband, “Do you love me so much that you would risk your life to save mine?” and he answers, “Well, you know I have warm, fuzzy feelings for you when you serve me breakfast in bed.” Each time Peter avoided the real issue of what Christ asked him, Jesus gently explained what agape love means, by saying “Feed my sheep.” Jesus wanted Peter to put his own needs behind those of the lost sheep he had to bring to Christ. Ultimately, Peter did just that, making the ultimate sacrifice of dying a martyr’s death and being crucified upside down (John 21:18).
Friendship often starts with philia, as an emotional response to someone who shares a common sense of purpose and belief system. It is natural to like people who think and feel the same way we do on important issues. But true friendship occurs when philia lead to self-sacrificing, unconditional agape love. We see this in the family of God, where new believers in Christ join the church, or body of other born-again Christians who share the common experience of having turned away from, or repented of, their sins, and of having turned toward Christ as their Savior (Rom.12:10). You gain new Christian friends when you are saved, and, conversely, if you are a friend to someone who is lost, you may lead that person to trust Christ as her Savior.
Through studying God’s Word, prayer, worship, and Christian fellowship, new believers become progressively changed, or sanctified, to become more like Christ. Philia, or natural affection they feel toward other believers, then becomes more like the self-sacrificing love of Christ as they begin to bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2). As we are progressively sanctified and conformed to His image, our natural emotional response to fellow Christians can mature into agape love as His indwelling Holy Spirit lets us to love unconditionally and sacrificially, not only other believers but also the unsaved.
1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
Love in Him,
Laurie Collett
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