What is love?
Peter had to learn what love is. Peter proclaimed to Jesus that he would go through the ends of the earth for Him and that he would never leave Him. Of course, we know that Peter denied Jesus three times. After Jesus rose from the grave, he asked Peter: Do you agapeo me more than these (Jn. 21:14-21). Peter responded, You know that I fileo you. Again, Jesus asked Peter – Do you agapeo me? Peter responded, You know that I fileo you. A third time Jesus asked Peter, Do you fileo me? Peter was exceedingly sad, because the Lord took a step down from agapeo love to fileo (brotherly) love. Peter knew he had demonstrated that he was not capable of unselfish love.
Agapeo is the highest form of love. Now, the Greeks didn’t regard agapeo as the highest form of love. They considered eros as the highest form of love. Eros is only mentioned in the bible once. It is that passionate love between a man and a woman.
The bottom line is Peter realized that he did not have agapeo love. He had never known what it was until the fileo love he had failed him. He recognized that he had to get to that agapeo love. That is why later on when we read about Peter’s experiences and how he deals with it. He mentions the ladder that we climb in order to add to one’s faith, virtue, and then he gives this long list and ends with agapeo. So, in other words, Peter knows where we have to go.
Agapeo is so divine that we cannot attain it, only God can give it to us. He does that work inside of us.
So, what is love:
Ellen White writes:
“The love of Christ is not a fitful feeling, but a living principle, which is to be made manifest as an abiding power in the heart. If the character and deportment of the shepherd is an exemplification of the truth he advocates, the Lord will set the seal of His approval to the work. The shepherd and the flock will become one, united by their common hope in Christ” AA 516.1
Love is not a feeling; it is a principle and once this principle is enacted there can be unity.
Sister White identifies the principle at stake here:
“Supreme love for God and unselfish love for one another – this is the best gift that our heavenly Father an bestow. This love is not an impulse, but a diving principle, a permanent power. The unconsecrated heart cannot originate or produce it. Only in the heart where Jesus reigns is it found. ‘We love Him, because He first loved us.’ In the heart renewed by divine grace, love is the ruling principle of action. It modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, and ennobles the affections. This love cherished in the soul, sweetens the life and sheds a refining influence on all around.” AA 551.2
“True love is a high and holy principle, altogether different in character from that love which is awakened by impulse, and which suddenly dies when severely tested. Love is a plant of heavenly growth, and it must be fostered and nourished. Affectionate hearts, truthful, loving words, will make happy families and exert an elevating influence upon all who come within the sphere of their influence.” AH 50.4
The relationship and the trust that we have in God, the respect that we have for God and his divinity, the respect for his capacity as Creator God, and the respect for his rules of life which are so absolutely logical…that is the issue at stake.
The first angel’s message tells us to worship God and give glory to him because there is a judgment coming. In fact, the judgment is occurring now. The second angel’s message tells us that Babylon has fallen. Why? Because they have made their own rules, their own laws, and their own gospel message. They refused to do as God said. They removed the commandments from the Ark, removed God’s plan of salvation / his mercy seat, and they trample upon the heavenly ministry of Christ. Instead, they resurrected their own system and prospered it.
When we set God to the side, we lament all the terrible situations in the world whether it is the issue of abortion, pedophilia, racial divide, selective gender, the bashing of the opposite sex, etc. This does not mean we are to never address the sin, we are called to them, but at the same time we address the cause. When we neglect the cause, we are always going to sit with the issue. We have to get at the root cause of these issues which is sin.
True Love Verses Passion
“Love …is not unreasonable; it is not blind. It is pure and holy. But the passion of the natural heart is another thing altogether. While pure love will take God into all its plans, and will be in perfect harmony with the Spirit of God, passion will be headstrong, rash, unreasonable, defiant of all restraint, and will make the object of its choice an idol. In all the deportment of one who possesses true love, the grace of God will be shown. Modesty, simplicity, sincerity, morality, and religion will characterize very step toward an alliance in marriage. Those who are thus controlled will not be absorbed in each other’s society, at a loss of interest in the prayer meeting and the religious service. Their fervor for the truth will not die on account of the neglect of the opportunities and privileges that God has graciously given to them. AH 50.5
So, how do we demonstrate true love, which covers a multitude of sins? We have to seek out God’s love then we will have compassion for others including the wicked, but by no means excusing it. On the other hand, if we were to concentrate on the transgressions of everybody around us, we would be the most domineering high-minded pharisaical individual on the planet.
Remember when God said to Moses that He will let his glory pass by him and he said that the Lord is gracious and all of those wonderful adjectives…but by no means excusing the guilty? We cannot separate justice and mercy.
Here is an example of what we are talking about. Somebody walks into the church
With nose rings, lip rings, eye brow rings, ear rings, and tattoos from top to the bottom; and one might think what is that individual doing in my church. That person is coming into the church because there’s a cry for help. Some people carry their scares on the inside, others carry them on the outside, but we all have scars.
So, how do we treat people and how do we interact with one another who are different in some way, see something differently than we do, or they don’t voice their opinion as forcefully as another? We treat them with love, and point them to Jesus.
Let’s say we have a person before us who has had an abortion. What will our attitude towards that individual be? How do we deal with that person? We have to ask ourselves the question, how would God do it exactly. If we are standing on our soapbox screaming the whole time of our how wrong it is – how are we going to help this person? We have to have the love of God and help them work through that. And, if that person could then look at God and accept the love of God and the forgiveness of God, then one might be able to deal with some of these issues. Some people carry their sins with them even if they confess them. It is like digging up the dog that’s been buried over and over again – lamenting the fact that the dog has been buried. Once we have confessed our sins and forsaken our sins, we are not to dwell on them nor do we take it back from God. He has forgiven it as far as the East is from the West. Don’t give Satan the pleasure of distrusting God in terms of his forgiveness.
If we have true love for God, we must have true love for your brethren with their mistakes. Does God love us even though we have mistakes, maybe worse mistakes than others. It is so easy to start focusing on other people’s quirks to the point that we don’t see our own. We are to have compassion for other people.
“That love which has no better foundation than mere sensual gratification will be headstrong, blind, and uncontrollable." EGW
In the world we see sensual gratification, hard headedness, blindness and uncontrollable behavior. Why? Because they have neglected the love of God.
“Honor, truth, and every noble, elevated power of the mind are brought under the slavery of passions. The man who is bound in the chains of this infatuation is too often deaf to the voice of reason and conscience; neither argument nor entreaty can then lead him to see the folly of his course.
True love is not a strong, fiery impetuous passion. On the contrary, it is calm and deep in its nature. It looks beyond mere externals, and is attracted by qualities alone. It is wise and discriminating, and its devotion is real and abiding. Love, lifted out of the realm of passion and impulse, becomes spiritualized, and is revealed in words and acts. A Christian must have a sanctified tenderness and love in which there is no impatience or fretfulness, the rude, harsh manners must be softened by the grace of Christ. AH 51.3
Is society making excuses for sin? Yes. Once it has made excuses for sin, will it go so far as to legislate it? Yes. Where are we going with this? The Three Angels Messages of Revelation 14… worship God, fear God, respected God; because he is the Creator and judgment coming. Our plea is not to go the way of Babylon, because Babylon compromises with sin. Babylon redefines sin she pours out wine which is false doctrine. Understand what her mark is, which is in direct opposition of the mark (seal) of God. These marks have to do with authority and find God’s wrapped in the Sabbath and we find Babylon’s manifested in Sunday. In the end of time, as God brings sin to its end, all that are living in that generation will have to make a choice between these two opposing issues. Our decision identifies our mark or seal. We do not want any to accept the mark of the beast. Study Revelation 14, for the seal of God is found in the first angel’s message which is in the sabbath commandment.
Here we stand – Here are the choices:
God is telling us, “I am the Lord your God therefore I commanded you to keep holy the Sabbath day for it is the seal of God. It is the commandment that encapsulates who He is (God), what He does/title (Creator), and what His territory is (heaven, earth, sea and all that is in them). See Exodus 20:8-11, in these verses we find Him as Creator but also as Redeemer. In the remaining commandments we have defined our what our love for Him and our neighbor looks like. We cannot separate love from the commandments, no more than we can separate His character from them. Matthew 22:36-40. God provides us with the love necessary to love Him with all our heart, mind, and strength; and the love to love our neighbor as ourself.
Babylon tells us a different story. Babylon makes controversy over what God tells us. Babylon has established its own system, laws, and day of worship (Sunday). It offers salvation through its system of doctrines, which is in direct conflict with God’s system. Its system of salvation has replaced Christ’s system of salvation, therefore negating the work of Christ on our behalf.
The essence of the situation is the love for God and what He says. Will we humble ourselves and follow the Lamb wherever he goes and do as he says for he knows best…or not. It has been evidenced by Adam and Eve what results by following another will lead to…death. It has been evidenced by Christ what results by following him…life. The choice is ours to make, the consequence of that choice is also ours.
The Claims of the Second Great Commandment
Leviticus 19:17: Thou shalt not hat thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
We love someone enough to point them to Christ which points out their error and need for Him, but we are not to condemn him or her. We must have the love of God in order to do this.
1 John 3:14: We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
How can God say this? Because we have neglected the first great commandment that makes us incapable of this second great commandment which is this one. Neglecting the first leads to death, and the only one who can change this mind of ours is God. He is the One who gives us this depth of compassion.
1 John 4:20: If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
This tells us that it possible to love others and maybe not like him or her. We must ask ourself what is it that causes us not to like someone? It is their mannerism…whatever they do. That which one does comes from what is believed. Not liking someone does not negate love, but if we find someone that is not likable that should spurn us to greater love. Romans 5:8.
1 John 4:21: And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
This is a given. An example of this, is Jesus hanging on the cross saying to the Father – forgive them for they know not what they do.
You will have many perplexities to meet in your Christian life in connection with the church, but do not try too hard to mold your brethren. If you see that they do not meet the requirements of God’s Word, do not condemn; if they provoke, do not retaliate. When things are said that would exasperate, quietly keep your soul from fretting…. You must labor for the erring with a heart subdued, softened by the Spirit of God, and let the Lord work through you, the agent. Roll your burden on Jesus. You feel that the Lord must take up the case where Satan is striving for the mastery over some soul; but you are to do what you can in humility and meekness, and put the tangled work, the complicated matters, into the hands of God. Follow the direction in His word, and leave the outcome of the matter to his wisdom. Having done all you can to save your brother, cease worrying, and go calmly about other pressing duties. It is no longer your matter, but God’s.
Do not, through impatience, cut the knot of difficulty, making matters hopeless. Let God untangle the snarled-up threads for you. He is wise enough to manage the complications of our lives. He has skill and tack. We cannot always see His plans; we must wait patently their unfolding and not mar and destroy them. He will reveal them to us in His own good time. Seek for unity; cultivate love and conformity to Christ in all things. He is the source of unity and strength…. LHU 218.1. Testimonies for the Church vol. 5 p. 346-47.
We are all a work in progress.
We are all fighting a war against evil, but the ultimate answer is to make God first and that is what the Three Angels Messages are all about…give God the glory – He is the Creator – He has given us a sign. Do not follow Babylon and do not follow a false seal of approval. Stick to what God has said and He will join us to him as we want to be joined to Him and He will change our mind.
Special thanks to Walter Veith and Martin Smith of Clash of Minds for WUP Series, #128
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2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” AND 1 Thessalonians 5:21, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”