LOVE ONE ANOTHER

Smith Bibens
Christian’s Expositor Journal
Winter 2006KIn the dramatic events of Jesus’ final week at Jerusalem, Jesus seemed to bring out the best and worst in people. We witness the poignant incident at Bethany when Mary anoints Jesus with precious ointment. The ugly enmity of Judas and the Jewish leaders was displayed as they connive to destroy Jesus. The crowds hailed Jesus with shouts of "Hosanna" at His entry into Jerusalem --- these shouts would be turned to “Crucify Him!” before the week was out. Monday saw Jesus driving the money changers from the temple, ensuring the implacable hatred of Annas, Caiaphas, and the Sadducees. Others, however, flocked to Jesus to hear His gracious words as He taught in the temple precincts. On Tuesdays when Jesus returned to the temple to teach, His opponents, Pharisees and Sadducees, were prepared to cross swords with Him in a last ditch effort to destroy His influence with the Jewish people.

First, “. . .the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk” (cf. Matthew 22:15-22). Bringing along a group of Herodians (pro—Roman Jews), they asked, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (Matthew 22:17). Their idea was that Jesus would be cast upon the horns of a dilemma. If He answered “No,” the Herodians would report Jesus for subverting the Roman administration; if He answered “Yes” He would undercut His popularity with the Jewish masses. In His infinite, wisdom, Jesus silenced them by asking whose inscription was borne on the tax money, and then replying, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).

Next, the Sadducees tested Him with what they thought was an unanswerable argument against the resurrection (Matthew 22:23-33). Relating the case of a woman married seven times, they posed the question: “In the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?” Jesus pointed out their two-fold error ---

(1) they did not know what Scripture taught (quoting Exodus 3:6) and (2) they did not give God credit for His great power.

Jesus also revealed to them the fact that in the resurrection, there will be no marriage. Thus, Jesus silenced the Sadducees.

Finally, a lawyer stepped forth with a question: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” (Matthew 22:36). McGarvey gives us some background on this question—

According to the statement of Jewish writers, there had been an old and interminable dispute among the rabbis as to which was the greatest commandment. Some held that it was the law which commanded sacrifices (Numbers 28:3); others, that which commanded the wearing of phylacteries (Numbers 15:38, 39; Deuteronomy 22:12); others contended for those about purification (Leviticus 10:10, etc.); others, for those about the great feasts (Exodus 12:15-18, etc.). But as they reckoned the commandments of Moses as numbering over six hundred, there was plenty of room for argument. On this memorable day the answers of Jesus had hitherto been of such a nature as to put his questioners to silence. Therefore, in asking this question, they hoped to get an answer about which they could at least find room to wrangle, and thus discredit the wisdom of Jesus (McGarvey and Pendleton 603).

Jesus gave even more than His inquirer asked --- he wanted to know which was the greatest law and Jesus gave him both the first and the second.

Jesus said to him “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 20:40).

One wonders why Jesus added the second command. Apparently, we need to know these two commands complement each other. As we shall discover in what follows, one cannot be rightly related to God without being rightly related to one’s fellow man, and vice versa.

The writers of the New Testament point out that the second commandment undergirds all our duty toward our fellowman· “For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Romans 13:9).

· For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Galatians 15:14).

· If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘‘ ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well” (James 2:8).

We have then the following as the basis of Biblical religion:

1. Love God with every fiber of your being.

2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

This, however, is not the last word on the important subject of “love.” Jesus had more to say and was not long in saying it.

Amid the various events of that final week, there was some unseemly wrangling going on among the disciples. During the holy scenes of the last supper, Luke reveals, “... there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest” (Luke 22:24). Given this glimpse into the hearts of the disciples, we can appreciate the actions and admonitions of Jesus that evening. After the extraordinary act of service in washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus taught, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:13-15). Not leaving it at that, Jesus later adds, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).

“A New Commandment”Immediately preceding this new commandment, Jesus had said, “Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you...” (John 13:33). The disciples in the upper room (Judas had left to betray Jesus) did not realize at the time He was speaking of His imminent death. They would recall, and we should note, that the first thing out His mouth after this statement is the command to “love one another.” The last words of a dying man often reveal what is really important to him, and this is so with Jesus.

This is truly a “new” commandment. “New" translates the word kainos in this passage. The Greeks had two words that are translated “new” in the English Bible: neos and kainos. “Neos traditionally focuses on time. The thing it describes is ‘new’ in the sense of being newly arrived or just appearing” (Richards 458). On the other hand, kainos, the word in John 13:34, is “new” in a qualitative sense. “The classical word that indicates new (and superior) in quality is kainos” (Richards 458).

The command to love was not new (neos), for Deuteronomy 6:5 (in regard to God) and Leviticus 19:18 (in regard to one’s fellow man) had been “on the books” for a long time. To understand Jesus’ point, note the word kathos --- in Jesus’ command it is translated “as,” and means “just as” or “in the same manner.” Contrast that with the phrasing of the “second” command: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” The command given through Moses was to love ones neighbor as much as you loved yourself --- do not do any evil or harm to him for you do not like to receive such treatment. As Paul writes,

For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet” and if there is any other commandment, are all 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 13:9-10).

The command of Jesus says, “...love one another; as I have loved you.” Jesus’ love for us drove Him to the cross after a life of self-sacrifice on behalf of humanity. In other words, He loved us more than He loved Himself. With this in mind, Paul teaches,

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, But also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:3-5).


Disciples of Christ now have this as the basis of Biblical religion:

1. Love God with every fiber of your being.

2. Love your brethren more than you love yourself

3. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Among brethren in Christ there is a new standard of how we are to love one another --- the example of Jesus’ self-sacrificial giving of Himself.

But that was nor all, for Jesus adds, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Matthew Henry remarks, “He does not say, By this shall men know that you are my disciples --- if you work miracles, for a worker of miracles is but is of no value without charity (1 Corinthians 13:1-2); but if you love one another from a principle of self-denial and gratitude to Christ.” The world will see and be impressed by genuine love among the disciples of Christ. It is what Francis Schaeffer called “the final apologetic.” After all the arguments from fulfilled prophecy and the evidences of Bible inspiration are exhausted, the best argument for Christianity is genuine love among Christians. Tertullian, an early Christian writer (c. AD 195), wrote an "Apology” addressed to Roman officials who were persecuting Christians. In this work he notes what pagan Romans were saying about Christians:

But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. “See,” they say, “how they love one another,” for themselves are animated by mutual hatred; “how they are ready even to die for one another,” for they themselves will sooner put to death (Tertullian, Apology, chap. 39).

Sadly, many professed disciples of Christ through the long centuries have not always obeyed His new commandment. Observing the religious strife in his day, Jonathan Swift was moved to exclaim, “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another” (“Thoughts on Various Subjects” from Miscellanies). Similarly, Matthew Henry says about the religious strife in his time: “O Jesus! are these thy Christians, these passionate, malicious, spiteful, ill natured people?” (Matthew Henry, Commentary on John).

This last point, must not be construed to mean that we should not rebuke sin and error. The Apostle Paul rebuked erring Christians in his epistles, and his motive was always love for truth and for souls. To the Corinthians, he writes, “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved” (2 Corinthians 12:15).

Defining “Love”Having before us a thorough definition of the word “love” enables us to grasp what loving our brethren in Christ entails. We begin with the following observation:

Greek is one of the richest, of all languages and it has an unrivaled power to express shades of meaning. It therefore happens that Greek has a whole series of words to express different shades of meaning in one conception, while English only has one. In English we have only one word to express all kinds of love; Greek has no fewer than four (Barclay 17).

1. Eros (n.) and eran (v.). The main idea of these words is “desire.” They refer to “. .. the love between man and woman which embraces longing, craving, and desire” (Verbrugge 5). “This is the passionate love that desires the other for itself” (Stauffer 7). These words were used to refer to physical and sexual love. It is a self-centered love. This is the type of love with which modern culture is infatuated. Society is so preoccupied with eroticism that a deeper conception of love is all but lost. Though these words were common in secular Greek literature, they never appear in the New Testament. In the Septuagint (Greek) translation of the Old Testament, they are used of King Ahasuerus’ love of Esther (Esther 2:17) and two passages in the prophets referring to harlots (Ezekiel 16:33; Hosea 2:5). Scripture teaches “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Within marriage, eros is a gift of God (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:18-25). When Paul teaches, however, “Husbands, love your wives..." (Ephesians 5:25), he uses another Greek word ---agapao.

2. Storge (n.) and stetgein (v.). These words refer to “family love.” They describe the warm, tender, and affectionate love of parents for their children, of children for their parents, and even of a dog for its master. This word only appears in the New Testament in a compound form. Philostorgos is translated “kindly affectionate” in Romans 12:10, where Paul says, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.” Astorge, “without natural affection,” occurs in Romans 1:31 and 2 Timothy 3:3.

3. Philia (cv) and philein (v.). These are the most common words for “love” in extra-biblical Greek. These words express friendliness, fondness, and attachment to a person. Barclay suggests that philein might best be translated “to cherish” (18). Vine remarks,
“. .. phileo more nearly represents ‘tender affection’.” So these words are full of warmth and emotion. The verb is used for Jesus’ love of Lazarus (John 11:3, 36) and for the beloved disciple (John 20:2). It is used in Matthew 10:37 --- “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” It is used in a warning in 1 Corinthians I 6:22 “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him he accursed.”

The word is used in compound Greek words, one of which we have already noticed: philostorgos. Others include: philadelphia (“brotherly love,” Romans 12:10); philoxenia (“love of strangers,” hence, “hospitality,” Romans 12:13); philarguros (“love of silver [money],” I Timothy 6:10); philautos (“love of self,” 2 Timothy 3:2). These words also passed into English compound words like “philosophy” (“love of wisdom”) and ‘‘philanthropy” (“love of mankind”).

However, though these words were common in classical and colloquial Greek for “love,” they are usually set aside in favor of agape and agapan. Why was this so?

Philia was a lovely word, but it was definitely a word of warmth and closeness and affection; it could only be used of the near and dear, and Christianity needed a much more inclusive word than that. Christian thought fastened on the word agape because it was the only word capable of being filled with the content which was required. The great reason Christian thought fastened on agape is that agape demands the exercise of the whole man. Christian love must not only extend to our nearest and dearest, our kith and kin, our friends and those who love us; Christian love must extend to the Christian fellowship, to the neighbor, to the enemy, to all the world (Barclay 20).

All the ordinary words for love are words which express an emotion. They are words that have to do with the heart ... We speak of falling in love.. That kind of love is not an achievement; it is something that happens to us . . . There is no particular virtue in falling in love . . it simply happens. But agape is far more than that (Barclay 20-21).

4. Agape (n.) and agapan (v.). These words were not as common in secular Greek writings as the preceding. Stauffer states, “Here is a love that makes distinctions, choosing its objects freely. Hence it is especially the love of a higher for a lower. It is active, not a self-seeking love” (7). Barclay acids,

Agape has to do with the mind: it is not simply an emotion that arises unbidden in our hearts; it is a principle by which we deliberately live. Agape has supremely to do with the will. It is a conquest, a victory, and achievement. No one ever naturally loved his enemies. To love one’s enemies is a conquest of all out natural inclinations and emotions.

This agape, this Christian love, is not merely an emotional experience which comes to us unbidden and unsought; it is a deliberate principle of the mind, and a deliberate conquest and achievement of the will. It is in fact the power to love the unlovable, to love people whom we do not like (Barclay 21).

With rare exception (see Romans 12:10 above), whenever a command about love appears in the New Testament, agape is the word that is used. God does not ask us to love our enemies or love humanity at large in the same way we love our family and those that are precious to us. Commanding someone to feel a certain way about someone (especially an enemy) is problematic at best, but when we are commanded to manifest a certain action, we can do that, and that is precisely why agape is usually used.

Agape is a love of the mind, of the will, a love expressed in action. Vine observes,

Love can he known only from the actions it prompts. God’s love is seen in the gift of His Son, I John 4:9-10. But obviously this is not the love of complacency, or affection, that is, it was not drawn out by any excellency in its objects, Romans 5:8. It was an exercise of the divine will in deliberate choice (Vine). Barclay continues,

The supreme passage for the interpretation of the meaning of agape is Matthew 5:43-48. We are bidden to love our enemies. Why? In order that we should be like God. And what is the typical action of God that is cited? God sends His rain on the just and the unjust and on the evil and the good. That is to say --- no matter what a man is like, God seeks nothing but his highest good. Let a man be a saint or a sinner, God’s only desire is for that man’s highest good. Agape says, “No matter what any man does to me, I will never seek to do harm to him; I will never set out for revenge; I will always seek nothing but his highest good.” That is to say, Christian love, agape, is unconquerable benevolence, invincible good will. It is not simply a wave of emotion; it is a deliberate conviction of the mind issuing in a deliberate policy of the life; it is a deliberate achievement and conquest and victory of the will (Barclay 22).

Let us now turn our attention to a startling example of the failure of brotherly love. We find this in First Corinthians.

Corinth --- A Failure to “Love One Another”There are few things more upsetting to witness than a congregation of the Lord’s people who are at each others’ throats or brethren bickering and arguing. Most of us have seen such in our lifetimes --- but it is really an ancient problem. Corinth had such a problem. Paul used plain speech as he put a finger on their problem: “...there are contentions among you ... for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?" (1 Corinthians 1:11; 3:3). At Corinth there was a fractious, party spirit (chapter 1), sin was being tolerated (chapter 5), brethren were suing one another at law (chapter 6), problems about marriage were developing (chapter 7), Christians were putting stumbling blocks before one another (chapter 8), and in other ways the brethren were manifesting a want of the kind of love that Christ commanded.

One area that generated a lot of strife was spiritual gifts. Studying chapters 12 through 14. one comes away with the idea that many hard feelings were being engendered by jealousy and envy. The spiritual gifts were intended to guide and bless the church, not to be a source of friction and infighting! Sadly, many of God’s blessings have been abused by carnally-minded Christians. In the midst of Paul’s extended argument on spiritual gifts and the edification of the church (chapters 12—14), he writes on love (chapter 13)—for it is the antidote to the strife and division that characterized Corinth at this time. There is a goldmine of truth here that will help us understand what it truly means to “love one another.”

How to “Love One Another”To begin with, I would encourage the reader to read I Corinthians 13 through before continuing this article. In order to save space, full quotations will be omitted. There is one thing to remember as you read this passage --- when Paul is talking about love, the context demands that we understand he is talking about love among brethren. He gives a detailed explanation of the behaviors of brotherly love in verses 4-8. The first of all commands is to love God with every fiber of our being, but Paul is focusing on love among brethren in this passage. Remember this!

Paul begins (vv 1-2) by explaining that having love for your brethren and behaving in love toward your brethren is vastly superior to the spiritual gifts so prized at Corinth. Later, in 13:8-11, Paul makes it very clear that spiritual gifts are a temporary provision for the church, but in time they will cease. At the beginning of the chapter, however, Paul emphasizes that the then present use of the gifts, unaccompanied by love, were profitless to the gifted one. It appears some had an inordinate pride in their gifts and looked down on others. Also, there is always a class of men (and women) who do what they do in religion merely to garner the applause of men. Jesus condemned such behavior (Matthew 23:5; 6:1-8). Those who exercised the gift of tongues, yet by their behavior toward their brethren showed a lack of love, “have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal”--- just a lot of noise. Even if a person uttered prophecy and had a miraculous measure of knowledge, understanding or faith, yet did not have love --- the love that behaves as Paul describes in verses 4-8 --- that person is “nothing” in the sight of God. What a striking thought! The greatest spiritual gifts do not commend a person to God --- they were temporary tools for the church. It is love that pleases God and creates the atmosphere in which we can be rightly related to God and man.

Next, Paul mentions the greatest sacrifices that a person might make (v. 3). Some people make the mistake of thinking that giving money to a noble cause, to the church, or to poor folks are sure signs of genuine love. Paul corrects this notion. The greatest monetary gift profits one nothing without love. Even martyrdom, without love, profits nothing. No matter what “sacrifices” we make for the cause, if we mistreat out brethren, we cannot be right with God. We simply must learn that being rightly related to God and to our brethren and to our neighbors all goes hand in hand. There will always be some who are intractable and will not live in harmony with us, but as Paul says, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18).

In verses 4-p8, Paul details the behaviors that characterize genuine love between brethren. (For a detailed treatment of vv. 4-8, see “Love Never Fails” by Carl Johnson, Christian’s Expositor (Winter 2005 20:4.) Paul is clearly focusing on interpersonal relationships. This is precisely where some of the Corinthians were failing. They were impatient and unkind toward one another. They were envious, proud, overbearing, rude, self-centered, easily angered, thinking the worst about their brethren, slandering and gossiping, and generally acting badly toward their brethren. This is not the love that Christ commands; this is not loving as Christ loved! Here’s an interesting exercise to try --- read through verses 4—8, substituting the name “Jesus” for every occurrence of “love" (or “charity” if you are reading from the KJV). Now, go through the passage again putting your name in place of "love" in this passage. Hmmm. Well, at least you can see what you need to be working on.


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Works Cited
Barclay, William. New Testament Words. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1974.

Johnson, Carl. “Love Never Fails,” Christian’s Expositor (Winter 2005) 20:4

McGarvey, J. W. and Philip Y. Pendleton. The Fourfold Gospel or A Harmony of the Four Gospels. Cincinnati: Standard Publishing Co., n.d.

Richards, Lawrence O. New International Encyclopedia of Bible Words. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991.

Stauffer, E. “AGAPAO, AGAPE” Theological Dictionary of the of the New Testament Abridged in One Volume. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, eds. Abridgment and trans. by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s, 1985.

Verbrugge, Verlyn D. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Abridged Ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.