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Do you want to know what love is?

Omegaman 3.0

Entry posted by Omegaman 3.0

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With what sort of love?

Omegaman 3.0    6/5/2019

 

I recently posted in a thread at Worthy Christian Forums, where there seemed to be some disagreement about the nature of the kind of love that Christians are supposed to have. There also seemed to be some disagreement  and even questions about whether or not some to the Bible’s statements contradict each other on this topic. I felt compelled to chime in.

Not to toot my own horn, but as I developed my reply,  I thought some of my comments were worth making a note of here, since they represent my thoughts (which is what a blog is, after all) and  some of them arose out of my analysis of what people were disputing, so here it goes:

I do not have two cents, but I have a nickel:

I certainly see no contradiction between what Jesus said, and what John said, but I will offer my thoughts or opinions, as a sort of unsolicited, under-qualified commentary:

First observation:

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38  This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

My comment on that passage is that Jesus said that loving others is a commandment, and He is referring to the Law, so THAT is not new! What was the standard? Love others as you love yourself.

Second observation:

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13

My comment on this one is that Jesus said it is new. If He said it is new, then it IS new. What is new about it? Jesus  upped the standard. The standard here is not love each other as you love yourself, but love each other has Jesus Himself loved them. How was that? Self-sacrificially, Jesus DIED for them, that is real love.

John tells us that when he reports that Jesus also said:

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

So, the NEW commandment  you will note, is not to the general public, it was to His disciples.

John also noted that Jesus gave his disciples a purpose, the positive side effect:

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:25

So, the new command so far is that disciples are to love other disciples, with the same sort of love, the greatest love, self-sacrificial love, as Jesus demonstrated on the cross, not that we must die, but that is the supreme example of that kind of love. 

Tradition has it, that all the apostles except Judas and John, died as martyrs, and John was willing. They tried to boil him in oil, it just did not work, so he was banished to Patmos, where he penned the book of Revelation. As a side note, when Peter was told he was to be crucified, Peter asked Jesus about John - well, what about him (John)? Jesus basic answer was, that is none of your business Peter! From what we think we know, John died of "natural" causes, in his old age. So, for the most part, the disciples lived out their mission the obey the commandment, the loved us, all disciples enough to die in their efforts to see that we got Jesus message.

At this juncture, I would like to point out something else, from Matthew 28:

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Therefore go and  make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.

So, Jesus disciples were told to make other disciples. If you are a believer, you are one of the disciples of disciples of disciples, etc. The disciples were to teach others to obey Jesus. If you are a TRUE disciple, you will seek to, want to, obey Jesus. After all, that is what a disciple is, one who follows their teacher. Our ultimate Teacher then, is Jesus. What is it then, that we are taught to obey then? Among other things:

Make more disciples and teach them to obey Jesus, and that includes loving other believers with the unique love that Jesus lavished upon them.

So, for the most part, the disciples lived out their mission they obeyed the commandment, the loved us, all disciples enough to die in their efforts to see that we got Jesus message. They practices what they preached, and the preached what Jesus told them to.

So many of the quotes I supplied ARE from John, how then is that a contradiction? John knew that there was an Old Testament command, to love others as ourselves. He also was quick to point out that those in the Jesus' church, were to go beyond that sort of love, the easy love that even pagans so. Toward each other, they were to with a supernatural love that is not given to everyone, but believers are given that ability, and are told to exercise it. Love is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit, the Paul describes in Gal 5:22 and Eph 5:19. (Those are links, by the way)

Paul also describes love in 1 Cor 13:

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends.

With all of this great information in the Bible (not in my post), the real question is:

                                                           HOW WELL DO WE ALL MEASURE UP?

I also ask, that you consider praying about this in your own lives, that you pray for others also, and not the least, for me also, as we all need it at times. Go forth and love, to the Glory of God!

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WilliamL

WilliamL 2,726

Posted

O-man: "From what we think we know, John died of "natural" causes, in his old age."

Or else he is still alive.

John 21:22 “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?

Rev. 10:10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. 11 And he said to me, “You must prophesy again over many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”

-- the latter suggesting to some that John will be one of the Two Witnesses of rev. 11.

simplejeff

simplejeff 3

Posted

"A new commandment " ?

1 John 2 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

2 My children, I am writing you these things so that you won’t sin. But if anyone does sin, we have Yeshua the Messiah, the Tzaddik, who pleads our cause with the Father. 2 Also, he is the kapparah for our sins — and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

3 The way we can be sure we know him is if we are obeying his commands. 4 Anyone who says, “I know him,” but isn’t obeying his commands is a liar — the truth is not in him. 5 But if someone keeps doing what he says, then truly love for God has been brought to its goal in him. This is how we are sure that we are united with him. 6 A person who claims to be continuing in union with him ought to conduct his life the way he did.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command. On the contrary, it is an old command, which you have had from the beginning; the old command is the message which you have heard before. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command, and its reality is seen both in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Anyone who claims to be in this light while hating his brother is still in the dark. 10 The person who keeps loving his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him that could make him trip.

Whyme

Whyme 1,125

Posted

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

English Standard Version

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Whyme

Whyme 1,125

Posted

Thanks bro. I like to learn new things about love. This is interesting.

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