In Love with the Bible

Learning to love God's Word

Past Posts

John 5:20

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I’m currently studying the book of John and I came across something I don’t remember ever noticing before. This verse says the Father loves the Son (no surprise), but I noticed the word translated “love” is the Greek word “phileo.” I tend to think of phileo as a natural human love, while agape, the other word for love we find in the Greek New Testament, is the one I have associated with God’s love. Nowhere will you find phileo defined as “human love” or agape defined as “divine love,” but there is a reason I viewed these words in this way.

 

Phileo is the feeling of the heart—the affection one finds in close personal relationships or the comraderie that develops when people work closely together to reach a common goal. It is the fondness one expects when relationships are working well. It is also the word used when it talks about people loving places of honor—such a human-sounding love.

 

Agape is more a decision of the mind to do what is best for another. This is the kind of love God asks us to give to him and to our enemies. It is the kind of love that motivated Jesus to die on the cross for us and is listed in the fruit of the Spirit. While I know there are times when people act on behalf of those they don’t know or are kind to those they don’t like, the level of love God asks for goes beyond what I think we as people can do without him. Loving enemies is not natural. In 1 Thessalonians we are told to not repay anyone evil for evil; instead we are to seek to do good. Revenge is the more likely desire in the face of someone doing evil to me, but God says, “seek to do good.” I do not believe I have this kind of love within me, hence, I have seen agape as divine love.

 

The New Testament makes it clear that as Christians we are to give both kinds of love, so I really should not have been surprised that God gives both kinds of love. It broadens my thinking of God’s love to realize that it includes feelings of affection. That God’s affection extends beyond his love for the Son to human beings can be seen in the fact that the Gospels indicate that one of the complaints against Jesus was that he was the friend of tax collectors and sinners—he felt affection for them. It personalizes his love for me to know not only does he act in my best interests, but he likes me.

Addendum: When I reached John 16, I found verse 27 makes it explicit that God has affectionate feelings for people. It says, “…for the Father himself has loved you because you have loved me…” Phileo is the word used for “loved” in these verses.

Humility

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During the past year I have experienced God speaking to me about humility many times. This has happened in a variety of ways, such as: Someone appreciating “wisdom” I had spoken into their lives—that I later saw may have been wrong. Extending “help” to someone before they needed it. Reading a book that made me realize that there is a poverty of spirit that often comes from having enough material goods. There are three scriptures that God has especially used to address this issue in me.

The first passage is 1 Chronicles 29:14. The Israelites have contributed toward the future building of the temple and David says to God, “Who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from you, and from your hand we have given you.” This passage reminds me of two things:

  1. Who am I? God’s blessings on my life are far beyond what I deserve.
  2. All good things come from God. The only way I can bless anyone is by sharing God’s blessings to me.

The second one is from 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 where Paul tells the Corinthians to consider that not many of them were wise, powerful, or of noble birth. God has chosen, Paul says, what is foolish, weak, low, and despised in the world. His purpose is that no one might boast in his presence. My take away? God wants people to be impressed by him when they see what he has been able to do with me. (Oh, look, the caterpillar has become a butterfly!)

The third one is from Philippians 2:3-8. In this passage, we are called to humility and to take on Jesus’ attitude. Instead of acting out of selfishness or conceit, we are, in humility, to regard others as more important than ourselves and look out for their interests. We are then told to take on the attitude that Jesus had, who emptied himself and took on the form of a slave (by being made in the likeness of man). He was able to do this because he did not consider his equality with God as something to be grasped and was willing to be obedient, even when it meant death on the cross. This is the lesson I have taken from this passage: Jesus knew who he was. Taking on the form of a slave did not detract from who he was; it was just the form required to accomplish his mission. Knowing who I am in Christ should mean walking in freedom to love and serve others—unconcerned about how it may make me look in the eyes of others, ready to be whatever God needs me to be—that I might participate in the building of God’s kingdom.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

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2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 says, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” This passage resulted in me spending a fair amount of time considering the phrase “eternal comfort.” To understand why, I need to provide a little background information on the two Greek words that get translated as “comfort” in this passage. Both words come from the same root, which literally is “to call near”. Because we do not have an English equivalent, translators look at the context and use a word that explains why there is a “calling near.” In the New Testament, words such as appeal, comfort, encourage/encouragement, entreat/entreaty, exhort/exhortation, and invite/invitation are likely to come from one of these two words.

In meditating on this passage, I used “calling near” instead of “comfort” and I asked myself, “Why is the first calling near an eternal calling near?” I clearly see the benefit of God calling me near while I live on earth—there are always problems, hurts, or stressors to be faced. But in heaven I will see him face to face. Won’t that be enough? Then the idea came to me that in heaven I will have a new body—a spiritual one that can see the full glory of God. Maybe that calling near will then be an invitation to come and explore the depths of who he is in a way that I cannot do here on earth. He is an infinite God; surely it will take eternity do that. To me, this is the most exciting view of heaven I have ever had.

Thinking on this passage has also helped me remember that words like comfort, encourage, or exhort are used in scripture as an invitation—either to invite others to draw near to God (if I’m called to do the action) or as a call from God for me to draw near to him (if he’s doing the action). God does not just desire to give comfort or encouragement. Instead God wants to be the comfort or encouragement I need. God is always calling me near to him. I want to embrace that call and let his Spirit draw me close, instead of seeking an alternative path.

1 Corinthians 1

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A good chunk of this book reads like Paul is telling the Corinthians they are not as great as they think they are. I find some of his message to be humbling, but at the same time to be comforting. For instance, in the first chapter, Paul says the world does not know God through wisdom and that the Corinthians should consider the fact that not many of them are deemed wise, or strong, or noble, or worthy of esteem by the world. He also tells them there is a reason for this: God wants them to boast about him, not about themselves. The humbling part of this is that it says God chose me because there’s nothing special about me—so he gets the credit for what is accomplished in and through me. The comforting part is also that God chose me because there’s nothing special about me—so I don’t have to meet a standard or pass a test to be accepted by him. I find it freeing to know God is fully aware of my inadequacies. I do not have to try and impress him (or anyone else) and I can serve him without worrying if the outcome of my work will accomplish his goals. It doesn’t mean I do less, but it means I can stress less. I should be able to take risks for God knowing that results are his responsibility, not mine. He has always known I’m inadequate for the tasks he gives to me, and he promises his grace is sufficient for what I lack.

Idols

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I recently spent some time meditating on the 10 commandments and was reminded of the danger of idols in my life. Because I sometimes act as if there are things more important to me than God, I could say, “These are idols.” In reality? In all these things I am serving myself. This means that I am the idol. Every choice I make that is not a choice to serve or obey God is a choice to do what pleases me. I want the final say in my life. I want to make my own choices for how I use my time and my resources. (They are mine!) I live in an age where this attitude is supported by society, but it is not the attitude God asks of his children.

God loves me and desires what’s best for me, and he doesn’t seem to think living a life of ease and pleasure is the best. He’s more interested in building character into my life than keeping my life trouble free. He’s more interested in my having a meaningful life than a pleasant life. He’s more interested in me needing to rely on his grace and sufficiency than being able to find the tasks he gives me a cinch to do. He’s more interested in my finding him to be my greatest joy than in my finding great joy in things that have no eternal value. His eye is on eternity, not just the next five minutes.

I suspect that gratitude goes a long way in keeping God supreme in my heart. Gratitude is a recognition that I am not self-sufficient. It focuses my attention on the one who blesses me instead of on myself. Living with that sense of blessing deepens my appreciation of who God is and what he has done for me. It makes me aware of what I owe God, instead of allowing my imagination to make assumptions about what God, or others, owe me. Grateful thoughts often remind me that God’s will for my life is better than my will for my life. It’s good to serve him instead of myself.

Romans 12:1

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Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, through the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” I memorized this verse a long time ago and have included it in Bible study several times. Today it really struck me that it’s not clear if Paul means he is appealing through God’s mercies or if he is saying that through God’s mercies we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. (The ancient Greek texts have no punctuation to give clues.) Both views are worth pondering.

An appeal through God’s mercies is a call to remember God’s mercy. I should be willing to present my body to him as a living sacrifice because God is merciful; He is far kinder to me than I am to myself. (He has no mistaken views about how “good” I am, and never says, “I can’t believe you said/did that!”) He knows what my future holds and how best to prepare me for it. Placing my life at his disposal is not contrary to my own self-interest—he actually has a better understanding of what’s best for me than I do.

An appeal to present my body to God through his mercy is a call to remember that I do not do this as an act of my will, but as an act of God’s grace working in me. In reality, without God’s grace I cannot give my life to him as a living sacrifice—and will have no desire to stay on the altar as one. Without God’s grace my life will not be a sacrifice that is “holy and acceptable” to him.

God’s mercy, shown by his grace and the gift of Jesus, motivates me to live for him and is essential to my being able to do so.