Agape Love

[angels4u]

We have the movie"The hiding place" its a great movie and Corrie ter Boom was a great lady!

[Guest Teri]

Calamity I'm really not sure what your point is with your post. You are showing scirptures of what God will do, all of which are in the OT. We are currently living under a new covenant and the new covenant says to love your neighbor(which would be anyone who is not me) as yourself. So my question would be would you want yourself destroyed according to all your own rules, if you made one mis-step in life do you wish for forgiveness and salvation or a bolt of lightning from the sky to strike you dead.

God also tells us very clearly that vengence is His, not ours. What we need to concentrate on is what He wants us to do and quit deciding that is is up to us to do His job. Wouldn't that be exalting oneself to the throne, bumping Him off and saying to Him, ok good job with the first so many years but I'm here now and I've got it all under control. I read your book I see where your coming from, so I can get it from here. No God through Jesus is not telling us that. Jesus on the cross is saying a very beautiful and simple thing. They don't understand, they don't get it. All the people we see out there who are following a different path are not seeing what we are seeing, or understanding what we are understanding because God isn't finished with them yet. If we could all calm down and stop taking it upon ourselves to throw stones at those who haven't been given ears to hear and eyes to see yet maybe we can stop committing the sin of judging others, so we will not be judged. Read Jude 9 where the arch angel Micheal did not dare to bring a condemning word against satan. But we do this every day to our fellow man. Really who do we think we are, we can not take God's job of vengence upon ourselves and then turn and say we are holy. The two commandments that all the commandments hang on are love. The members in the body of Christ would get alot farther if they would share the love they profess to have for sinners instead of picking them all apart and deciding who is saved and who isn't. It is Christ's job to judge, it's ours to love them into His kingdom. We can not stone sinners with our words of condemnation, and hell fire and then tell them we love them because we already lost them. All they hear are words of hate and eternal damnation. At those words their ears snapped closed and we may as well shut up.

So back to the topic, the commandment is love thy enemy. Does anyone have a story that fits that description?

In Yeshua's love

Teri

[Guest Calamity]

Calamity I'm really not sure what your point is with your post. You are showing scirptures of what God will do, all of which are in the OT. We are currently living under a new covenant and the new covenant says to love your neighbor(which would be anyone who is not me) as yourself. So my question would be would you want yourself destroyed according to all your own rules, if you made one mis-step in life do you wish for forgiveness and salvation or a bolt of lightning from the sky to strike you dead.

God also tells us very clearly that vengence is His, not ours.

My point is, that I don't believe what you said about God not destroying anyone or anything is biblical. It would help, if you didn't put words in my mouth, as if I am anxious to see anyone condemned or destroyed.

In one post, you say God will not destroy anything or anyone that He made (not verbatim), then here, you say that God tells us that vengence is His. Which is it?

I don't want anyone to be destroyed or struck by a bolt of lightning. But, I don't believe what you said is biblical - which is important, so that's why the verses. If it's NT verses you would rather see, here are some:

Rev.19

[20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Rev.20

[10] And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

[14] And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

[15] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Rev.21

[8] But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Matt.10

[28] And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

1Cor.3

[17] If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

1Cor.6

[13] Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

2Pet.2

[12] But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

1John.3

[8] He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Jude.1

[5] I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

[Ovedya]

I think that there is a confusion between definitions when we, as Christians, speak of love. We need to understand that in the Greek used in the Bible there are different words used for love. The English language only has one word, love, that is used in a multitude of situations. But the ancient Greek has several variations.

There are two basic roots in the Greek for love - philos (phileo), and agape. Generally speaking, agape is divine love, and philos is human love. Philos is used in its various forms to describe brotherly love (philadelphia - 1 Pet. 1:22), acts of love towards other persons (philanthropia - Acts 28:2); love expressed toward strangers (philoxenia - Rom. 12:13); love towards God (philotheos 0 2 Tim. 3:4), and love of one's own children (philoteknos - Titus 2:4). In fact, there are many other forms in which philos is used (love of self, of things, of pleasure, etc.).

However, when it comes to agape, most often the word is used in reference to divine love; that is, the kind of love which does not have its source in human emotion, affection, or preference. The Bible says, "...God is love" (1 John 4:8b). It also says "love is of God" (v. 8) - meaning "God is agape." The difference between human love and God's love is that human love is fickle. It is based upon preference, attraction, emotion, and familial affiliation. Human love comes and goes like the tides; it cannot be trusted (Jer. 17:19)

But on the other hand, God's love does not wane; it does not come and go as the tides. Furthermore, God's love is not based upon preference, attraction, or emotion. You cannot win God's love, and you cannot gain more love from God by merit.

The type of love that God desires us to express before men is just the same divine love that He has for us. His desire is to gain us more each day, to flow His love and His life into us, that we may be expressions of what God is - Agape. Human love is insufficient for God's expression on the earth.

So how do we express agape? It is nothing that we can do. We cannot go to the homeless, the destitute, and the heathen saying, "God loves you." We cannot attract people to Christ by our pity or our affection. We have to be ones who are filled with Christ - filled with God's divine life - to the point that He lives out of us spontaneously before others. A rose bush cannot grow roses unless it has enough of the life element within it. Likewise, we cannot express God's love and life to others unless we have enough of God's element in us. We cannot even love the bretheren, let alone a perfect stranger, unless we allow God access to our heart and let Him have His way in us.

Much Grace,

~G

Edited January 22, 2004 by God-man

[Hvnly1Rose]

AMEN God-Man!

[Guest Teri]

Exellent post Godman, it was truly beautiful. And completely true. It is when Christ resides within us that we can see the world through His eyes.

In Yeshua's love

Teri