What’s Love? chapter 1
What’s love? Our English dictionary defines “love” as “tender affections, feel desire, passionate desire etc. It’s one of the words we’re careless with. It should be defined as, “outgoing concern even as to self.” Young people particularly, confuse infatuation, physical attraction and lust with love. The lack of genuine love among people causes divorce, adultery, undisciplined children and war. Few are taught “God’s definition of love.
Instinctive protective concern is an inherited given, and is confused with love. Instinctive love is what we’re born with, “each person and most animal naturally have instinctive concern we ‘call love’ for their own. Some people develop selfishness to the degree that it “borders demonic.” Many are demonically influenced; “it’s the only way to define the Hitler like, barbaric hatred of Jews. For the most part people of this sort don’t even have protective, instinctively love for our own. Normally people have outgoing concern for “me, mine and ours” throughout their lives. Animals generally demonstrate protective concern for their own, “to a set growth stage.”
Our definition of love should be, “genuine outgoing love for others as for ourselves”) We need to recognize “there’s fleshly love and there’s Godly love.”
(1John 4:15-19; “If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God. And we, “followers of Jesus” have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him. (17) By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in ‘Godly’ love. (19) We love because He loved us first.
We have Godly love, only when He reveals Himself to us individually, revealing that He loved us first. Until God makes Himself known, we can only humanly develop, “genuine outgoing concern for others as for ourselves.”
For the most part God has always allowed the populations at large, “go the way that seemed right to themselves individually. God allowed Adam’s son, “Cain” rely on his own intellect, regarding his practices and sacrificing. We have the record of Cain’s error and that result. “Study Genesis 4:.” Jesus had that record brought forward through His apostle Paul, who wrote; “though dead, Cain’s brother Abel’s faith still speaks to us.”
(Heb 11:3-4; “By, “gifted’” faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible. By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he, “Abel” was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he “Abel” still speaks, though he is dead.”)
Abel still speaks to us through Jesus’ preserving that portion of his obedient life. Though allowed to go the way that seems right, the populations at large have always had Abel’s witness. Adam’s Son Seth became an obedient witness and afterward Abraham. Abraham’s life record still speaks and is available to the world. Abraham and other’s mistakes are made available for our learning. Though he walked with God, Abraham depended on his fleshly intellect at times. Like when he passed his wife off as his sister and was found out by Abimelech, who knew something of God’s Way.
(Gen 20:8-13; “Early in the morning Abimelech summoned all his servants. When he told them about all these things, they were terrified. Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done!” Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?”
(11; Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.’ What’s more, she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife. When God made me wander from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”) Three lessons should be learned here. (1) No lie will stand the test of time. (2) God called Abraham and God made him wander from his family, away from developing pagan practices; as a witness to the world: and though now dead, “Abraham still speaks.” (3) We should not assume that others have no revealed knowledge of and has no fear of God.
Jesus‘ apostle John also speaks of Cain‘s error, describing it as evil, that teaches us about Godly love and righteousness in God‘s View. Teaching that, except we be gifted with the love of God, we are in our evil inherited from Adam nature as was Cain.
(1 John 3:11-17; “For this is the gospel message that you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another, not like Cain who was of the evil one “Satan” and brutally murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because Cain’s deeds were evil, but his brother “Abel’s” were righteous. (13) Therefore do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. (Because the world is as Cain was; hating God’s righteousness. Wanting to live and practice as seems right to their personal intellect.) We know that we “who are called and whom God has revealed Himself to.“ have crossed over from death to life because we love our fellow Christians. The one who does not love remains in death. (People in whom God isn’t revealed have not inherited eternal life.!) Everyone who hates his fellow Christian is a murderer, (“as was Cain”) and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. We have come to know love by this: that Jesus laid down His life for us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians. (7) But whoever has the world’s possessions and sees his fellow Christian in need and shuts off his compassion against him, how can the love of God reside in such a person?”)
We now have the love of Jesus as our witness; but the world at large has turned to the demonic way, desiring to change The Way revealed to and through Seth, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and His apostles. The Way being? “to respect what our Creator has made holy to Himself and His followers.” His commandments, His Sabbaths that foreshadow His Way and planning. Let’s examine Paul’s understanding.
(Rom 3:1-2; “Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? Actually, there are many advantages. First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.”) Remember Paul is writing to a converted to Jesus’ Way people, “gentiles for the most part!” Teaching them and us that God has entrusted certain things to the tribe of Judea for the keeping of His Way for our example.
(3-4; “What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being shown up as a liar, just as it is written: “so that you will be justified in your words and will prevail when you are judged.”) Paul was contending with pagan worshipers of the imaginary Zeus and Baal. A people whose ways had evolved to the demonic. A people who had made their own gods, calendars and set aside time to honor their imaginary gods.
(5-8; “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world? For if by my lie the truth of God enhances His glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner? And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it?” – as some who slander us allege that we say. (Their condemnation is deserved!”) Unbelievers twisted Paul’s words about grace and the law being our guardian prior to Jesus being revealed. Once Jesus is revealed and His spirit imputed to our minds, “we love the law as God’s intended it’s use.” Thus we understand through gifted love that the law was given for our good.
(9-18; “What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, just as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. (Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3). All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” “Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips.” (Quote from Ps 5:9; & 140:3.) “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” (quote from Ps 10:7.) “Their feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known.” (Verses 3:15-17 is quoted from Isa 59:7-8.) “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Quote from Ps 36:1.) Jesus’ apostle Paul’s mind had been miraculously opened to understand the scriptures!
(19; “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.”))
Back in Abraham’s day, Abimelech and his people understood their relationship to God’s law; thus they feared God when they learned Abraham’s wife had been taken. However their fear for having broken God’s law did not make them righteous before God!
(20; “For no one is declared righteous before Him “God” by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”) God’s law defines sin.
(21-26; “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed – namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But they (To whom Jesus is revealed and who are imputed with His spirit.) are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (25) God “the Father” publicly displayed Jesus at His death as the mercy seat accessible through faith. This was to demonstrate His (Jesus’) righteousness, because God “the Father” in His forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed. (26; This was also to demonstrate His righteousness in the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness.”)