Love in the New Testament

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. - Deuteronomy 6:5

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord. - Leviticus 19:18

When asked which of the commandments of the Torah was the most important (Matthew 22:36), Christ replied: "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." (Verses 37-40) Did you catch that? Christ said that the WHOLE Torah, along with ALL of the preaching of the prophets, was derived from these two commandments! In other words, he distilled the entire Law into two great principles. (See also Mark 12:28-34 and Luke 10:25-37)

Later, of course, he would make this the basis for what would be expected from everyone who accepted his sacrifice for his/her sins! On the night before his crucifixion and death, Christ told his disciples: "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:34-35) A little later that same evening, Jesus explained to them why he was making this a part of the terms of the New Covenant in him. He said: "“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other." (John 15:9-17) In other words, just as Christ had demonstrated his love for the Father by obeying his commandments, Christians would demonstrate their love for him and the Father by obeying his commandment!

At the very end of this same gospel account, we find an interesting interaction between the resurrected Christ and the Apostle Peter regarding the depths of Peter's love for the Lord. After denying Jesus three times just prior to his crucifixion and death, we are told that the resurrected Christ confronted Peter after having performed a miracle and eating breakfast with his disciples. (John 21:1-15). "Do you love me more than these others do?" Jesus asked. Now, in this connection, it is interesting to note that something is going on in this passage in the original Greek that is not conveyed by our English versions of it. The Greek word for "love" which Christ employed in his question conveyed an overwhelming care and concern for its object (See Blue Letter Bible's entry for agapao). Peter responded in the affirmative and insisted that Christ already knew that he loved him. (Verse 15) However, the Greek word for love which is attributed to Peter is a more casual and affectionate kind of love (See Blue Letter Bible's entry for phileo). Jesus then suggests that Peter demonstrate his love for him by feeding his sheep - taking care of his followers. And, just as Peter had previously denied him three times, the question and response is repeated two more times. (John 21:16-17) In other words, if you sincerely and deeply love me, you will demonstrate it by loving my followers. Hence, the gospel in which Christ issued his "new commandment" concludes with Jesus insisting that Peter obey it!

Later still, Paul wrote to the Christians at Rome that God had filled their hearts with his love by giving them the Holy Spirit. (Romans 5:5) He went on to tell them that "God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God." (Verses 8-11) Further on in the epistle, Paul elaborated on what Christ's sacrifice had accomplished for them. He wrote: "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit." (Romans 8:1-4) For Paul, all of this had been accomplished because of God's and Christ's love for us.

Toward the end of the same chapter, Paul went on to tell them that NOTHING would be able to separate them from that love. He wrote: "Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, 'For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.' No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39) Now, that's love! - a love that cannot be extinguished, overcome, or defeated by any force in the universe!

Further on in the same epistle, Paul brings his theme to its natural conclusion by echoing the words of Christ about a Christian's responsibility regarding the Law. He wrote: "Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, 'You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.' These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law." (Romans 13:8-10) Like Jesus, Paul identified the hallmark of a true Christian as being the love which he/she exhibits for their brothers and sisters.

Unfortunately, this is a concept that Herbert Armstrong and his followers never seemed to fully grasp or embrace. Instead of focusing on the commandment of Jesus to LOVE, they get bogged down in the written code of the Torah - all of those dos and don'ts! Like the founder of their faith, they're uncomfortable with the mushy, emotional stuff. For them, love is defined by a Christian being scrupulously obedient to all of those dos and don'ts. In other words, love is demonstrated by obedience to all of those laws! For folks in the ACOG's, it's all about the TRUTH. It's NOT love that identifies them as Christians - It's their UNDERSTANDING of certain doctrinal "truths."

This, however, is refuted by what Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth. Paul defined exactly what love is and isn't in his letter to that congregation. He began his essay on love by stating that love was more important than any other gift a Christian could possess, and Paul even provides a number of examples: a proficiency in one of the Biblical languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Latin), interpreting prophecy, understanding doctrinal truths, a strong faith, and charitable giving. (I Corinthians 13:1-3) Love was superior to all of those. Next, in what would become one of the most often quoted passages in the entire Bible, Paul gave them his definition of love. He wrote: "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." (Verses 4-7). Hence, it should be very clear to anyone who is even remotely interested in a Biblical definition of love that folks who are impatient, cruel, jealous, arrogant, prideful, spoiled, irritable, vengeful, quitters, unfaithful, morose or easily offended are NOT exhibiting the kind of love that Paul described to the Corinthians!

In his letter to the Christians of Galatia, Paul made clear that this kind of love fulfills both the law and God's expectations of them. He wrote: "So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law." (Galatians 5:1) Paul went on to tell them that they would meet God's expectations regarding righteousness if they would simply focus on what Christ had done for them and live their lives in accordance with the commandment which he had given them. (Galatians 5:2-6) He wrote: "For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Verses 13-14) For Paul, Christians were to avoid evil by allowing the Holy Spirit to guide their lives. (Verses 16-19). He concluded his thesis by reminding the Galatians about what the Holy Spirit's influence on their lives would actually look like. Paul wrote: "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!" (Verses 22-23) Once again, Paul reiterated the crucial role that love played in fulfilling God's expectations of those who had accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Likewise, in his letter to the saints of Ephesus, Paul wrote about the essential role that love occupies in God's plans for Christians. After explaining to them that Christ had given them access to the Father, he encouraged them to have faith in their future. (Ephesians 3:12-13) Then, he went on to offer them some insight into how he used his own access to God. He wrote: "When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." (Ephesians 3:14-19)

A little later, in the same epistle, Paul encouraged them to "Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace." (Ephesians 4:2-3) Clearly, for Paul, love was the key to success for individual Christians and the Church as a whole. Indeed, he went on to tell them that their spiritual growth (both individually and collectively) was dependent on that love. (Ephesians 4:15-16) In terms of their personal homelife, he went on to instruct husbands to love their wives (5:25,28,33) For Paul, this was also the key to familial success!

We also hear the echo of Christ's command to love each other in many of Paul's other epistles. He told the Christians at Philippi that he prayed that their love would continue to grow and "overflow." (Philippians 1:9) He also encouraged them to love each other and work together "with one mind and purpose." (Philippians 2:2) Likewise, he told the saints at Colosse that he had heard about their faith in Christ and their "love for all of God's people." (Colossians 1:4) He also wrote to the saints of Thessalonica that he prayed that God would "make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow." (I Thessalonians 3:12) Paul continued: "But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another." (I Thessalonians 4:9) Hence, we can see that this love for one another was a recurring theme in Paul's epistles.

This theme, however, was not confined to Christ's teachings and Paul's epistles. We also find this same teaching about love present in the other writings of the New Testament. The anonymous author of the epistle to the Hebrews encouraged his/her readers to "think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25) Indeed, in his/her concluding remarks, the author encouraged his/her readers to "Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters." (Hebrews 13:1) Likewise, James told the readers of his epistle that "it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (James 2:8) Peter also wrote to God's people that "You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart." (I Peter 1:22) He went on to instruct them to "Respect everyone and love the family of believers." (I Peter 2:17)

So, we see that Christ's commandment to his followers is echoed throughout the New Testament, but it probably finds its clearest and most eloquent statement in the first epistle of John. After reflecting on how much God loves all of us, John wrote: "So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God. This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them. We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions." (I John 3:10-18) He went on to say: "And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us." (Verse 23)

Now, that is powerful testimony about the importance of love to the life of a Christian, but John didn't end there! He continued: "Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them." (I John 4:7-16)  He went on to say that this kind of love does not entertain or live with fear. (Verse 18). Then, John concluded his thought with this: "We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, 'I love God,' but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome." (I John 4:19-21 and 5:1-3)

Hence, we see that for Jesus and his apostles, his commandment to love each other was at the heart of the religion he founded. Indeed, we see that Christ and his apostles made this love an essential component of demonstrating our love for God! So, by loving one another, we demonstrate that we love God with all of our heart, soul, and might. Moreover, the nature of that love is made clear in those same writings. The love that Jesus and his disciples described is giving, kind, patient, forgiving, merciful, joyous, and faithful. It is NOT harsh, legalistic, rude, cruel, impatient, or easily set aside! Christ's commandment for Christians was based on the Torah, but it did NOT forward all of those dos and don'ts into the terms of the New Covenant. For TRUE, Christians the hallmark of their faith is this LOVE which we can clearly see was one of the principal themes of the New Testament!