New Christian Bible Study

Commentary

 

What the Bible says about Love

By John Odhner
tiny hand my love, by Jenny Stein

Someone once asked Jesus,

"Which is the first commandment of all?"

Jesus answered him,

"The first of all the commandments is 'Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Luke 12:28-34)

Above All Things

So, the commandments about loving God and others are first and foremost. There is no other greater. Jesus even said that "all the Law and the Prophets hang upon these two commandments." (Matthew 22:40)

And in fact, this teaching is echoed throughout the Bible:

Peter wrote, "Above all things have fervent love for one another." (1 Peter 4:8)

Paul also said that we should put on love above all else (see Colossians 3:14), and that we should "owe no one anything except to love one another." (Romans 13:8)

Love is called "more excellent than any other gift or ability." (1 Corinthians 12:31)

"Now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

The law of love is called the "royal law" (James 2:8), which we are "taught by God." (1 Thessalonians 4:9)

We are asked to "make love our greatest aim," (1 Corinthians 14:19, and to "be rooted and grounded in love." (Ephesians 3:17)

These laws about love are so important that the Lord said they should be in your heart.

"You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." (Deuteronomy 6:6,7)

"Let all that you do be done with love." (1 Corinthians 16:14)

Power Against Evil

There are some very good reasons why we are directed to have love above everything else. One reason is that love has power over evil.

Paul wrote,

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)

A person who genuinely loves God and his neighbor will want to overcome any evil in himself that is against God or hurts the neighbor.

For example,

"love does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not think evil, does not rejoice in injustice." (1 Corinthians 13:4-6)

Since love is opposed to doing evil, it fulfills all the laws against evil.

"Owe no one anything but to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law; and for this, You shall not commit adultery,' You shall not murder,' You shall not steal,' You shall not bear false witness,' You shall not covet,' or if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." (Romans 13:8-10)

Since love leads us to turn from evil, it also brings forgiveness. Jesus once said of a woman that "her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much." (Luke 7:47)

He also said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." (Matthew 5:7)

Patient Love

Love also brings patience. "Love suffers long...bears all thing...endures all things. Love never fails." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

Jacob loved Rachel very much, and was willing to labor for her father seven years in order to win her hand in marriage. "So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed but a few days to him because of the love he had for her." (Genesis 29:20)

Born Again by Love

Another reason why love comes above all else is that it is through love that a person is born again. Peter described the process of rebirth as "purifying your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit in sincere love of the brethren."(1 Peter 1:22)

John put it more simply:

"Everyone who loves is born of God." (1 John 4:7)

We pass from death to life when we love others. (See 1 John 3:14)

The reason we become born again when we love others, is that then we become like God. Jesus asked us to love others as He as loved us. (See John 13:34, 15:12)

When we have His kind of love for all people, we become reborn as His children. (See Matthew 5:43, Luke 6:35)

When Is a Christian a Christian?

Since the first and foremost of all God's commands is to love the Lord and the neighbor, the primary mark that identifies a Christian is the love he has for others.

Jesus said,

"By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)

Again and again we are asked to judge ourselves by the love we have for others:

Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. (1 John 3:18,19)

If we love one another, God abides in us, as His love has been perfected in us. (1 John 4:12)

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. (1 John 3:14)

He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11, and see also, 1 John 2:3-5, 3:10; 4:7,8)

Faith and Love

For some people, faith is more important than love. Some are more concerned about whether a Christian has the right beliefs than they are about how he lives and loves. Of course, faith is important--how can a person love God without believing in God? How can you be loving, unless you are also faithful? In the New Testament, these two go hand in hand. Consider how often, for instance, we find phrases like "faith and love." (1 Timothy 1:14; 2:15; 4:12; 6:11; 2 Timothy 1:13; 2:22; 3:10; Titus 2:2)

Faith by itself is useless. It cannot save a person. It is dead faith. (James 2:14,17)

"Even the devils believe--and tremble." (James 2:19)

It doesn't matter how much faith you have--it is still nothing without love.

"Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2)

Worship and Love

Worship and ritual are likewise useless without love. The Lord desires "mercy and not sacrifice." (Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13; 12:7)

Love is "more than all the whole burnt offerings," (Mark 12:33) and better than the most careful tithing. (See Luke 11:42)

"And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)

Love Brings Faith

One reason love and faith should never be separated is that love is the source of faith. Love "believes all things." (1 Corinthians 13:6)

Love "rejoices in the truth." (1 Corinthians 13:7)

A person who loves others "knows God for God is love." (1 John 4:8)

Real belief must be from the heart. (Romans 10:10)

Thus "a person who loves his brother abides in the light." (1 John 2:9,10; compare John 3:19,20)

Love Saves

As it is love that brings a person to believe, it is also love that brings a person to heaven. Someone asked Jesus how he could have eternal life. Jesus answered that he would have it if he would just love the Lord and love his neighbor. (Luke 10:25, 28; see also Matthew 19:17-19)

A person who puts love in the first place, He said, is "not far from the Kingdom of God." (Mark 12:34)

The Bible

 

1 Peter 1

Study

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

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:

23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

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