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• Studies on Love (Part I)

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 Studies on Love (Part I)

One of the words that is very frequently met in the Bible is the word "love". Given
the importance that the Word of God gives to this word we will devote this and the next
issue to examine it in more detail.

Love: what is it?

Before we are able to speak about love, we have to make sure that we understand
what it is. We have therefore to study the Word of God to see what this Word defines as
love. This is exactly what we are going to do today, starting from Galatians 5.

1. Love: a product of the new nature

Galatians 5 is a chapter that is in a large degree devoted to a contrast between the

old nature (called "flesh" in Galatians 5), and the new nature (called "spirit" in the same
chapter), and the conflict that there is between them. Regarding now the terms "old
nature" and "new nature", they are employed to describe the state of a man before and
after he believes respectively. Before one becomes a Christian, i.e. before he confesses
with his mouth the Lord Jesus and believes in his heart that God raised him from the
dead (Romans 10:9), he is described as "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1).
Whatever work a non-saved man may do, before God he is always considered as dead in
trespasses and sins. He may seem polite, he may give to charities, he may demonstrate
for peace, for the animals, for the environment, but from God's point of view, he is dead
in trespasses and sins, a ruined man, a man "alienated from the life of God" (Ephesians
4:18) exactly as Adam was after the fall. Some of the terms that the Bible uses to
describe this man, this ruined nature, are: "old man" (Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 3:9),
"flesh" (Galatians 5:13-26, Romans 8:1-13), "natural man" (I Corinthians 2:14), "body of
death" (Romans 7:24). The term "old nature" will be used throughout this study.
Fortunately, this ruined nature is not the only possibility for a man. A man is not
condemned to remain eternally dead in trespasses and sins. This situation can be changed
by confessing with the mouth the Lord Jesus and believing with the heart that God raised
him from the dead. As Romans 10:9 tells us:

Romans 10:9
"if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised
him from the dead, YOU WILL BE SAVED"

When one confesses with his mouth the Lord Jesus and believes in his heart that
God raised him from the dead, he is born again1 and as a result he receives a new nature.
From God's point of view, he is no longer dead in trespasses and sins but he is saved
(Romans 10:9), he is holy and righteous before Him (Romans 3:21-28, I Corinthians
1:30), he has holy spirit that he can also operate (I Corinthians 12:8-10) and he becomes
a son of God (Galatians 3:26), to refer just a few of the things that one has as a result of
the new birth. All these things that a man has because of the new birth constitute the new
nature, or to use the Bible's terminology, the "new man" (Ephesians 4:24), or "spirit2"
(Galatians 5:5-25). However, the fact that after one believes he receives a new nature
does not mean that the old nature disappears automatically. Instead after the new birth a
child of God has in him both the old nature and the new nature. The fact that these two
natures are opposite to each other creates a conflict between them. As Galatians 5:16-17
tells us:

1
For more about the new birth see: Biblical Insights, Vol.1, Iss.6, June 1996
2
Here it should be noted with emphasis that NOT any usage of the word "spirit" in the
Bible means the new nature that one gets as a result of the new birth. This word usually
has this meaning when it is put against the word "flesh" that means the old nature (see
for example Galatians 5).
Galatians 5:16-17
"I say then: Walk in [Greek: by] the spirit [the new nature], and you shall not fulfill the
lust of the flesh [the old nature]. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit
against the flesh ; and these are contrary to one another, so that you don't do the things
that you wish"

The old nature or flesh is against the new nature or spirit. To be winner in this
conflict what is needed is not to try to tidy up the ruined old nature. Instead, what should
be done is to walk directly by the new nature. As the passage says: "Walk by the spirit
AND [AS A RESULT] you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." The way to not fulfill
the lust of the flesh is not by keeping a list of do and don'ts but by walking by the new
nature i.e. by putting on and utilising all the things that the Word of God says that we are
and we can do. As we do this, the works of the flesh, of the old nature, will be
eliminated.
The result of the walk by the new nature, by the spirit, is given in Galatians 5:19-
23 together with the results of the walk by the old nature, by the flesh:

Galatians 5:19-23
"Now the works of the flesh are evident which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish
ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of
which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice
such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against
such there is no law."

The first category of acts or attitudes are works of the flesh i.e. works that are the
manifestation of the old nature. In contrast the second category consists "the fruit of the
spirit" i.e. the product of the walk by the spirit, by the new nature. We repeat that this
product does not come by tiding up the old nature but by walking with the new nature i.e.
by putting on and utilising all that the Word of God says that we are and we can do. As
we can see from the above passage, love belongs to the fruit of the new nature. Love
therefore is not a quality to be found in the old man, since it is fruit of the NEW man, the
new nature. With the new nature we got the ability to love, to have joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. By putting on
this new nature, all these come as a product, as a fruit into our lives.
To conclude therefore: love is something that has to do with the new nature only.
The old nature is dead in trespasses and sins and nothing good comes from it. This
probably may help us to understand better the wrong of the phrase "I love you" as it is
used in the world's vocabulary. Love, as it is defined in the Bible, is a product of the new
nature and cannot be produced but only by those that have this nature (i.e. by people that
have confessed with their mouth the Lord Jesus and believed in their hearts that God
raised him from the dead), AND also walk by this nature.

2. I Corinthians 13:4-7: love is.....

Having clarified that love is a result of our walk by the new nature, we will now
go to I Corinthians 13:4-7 to examine some of the things that love is and some that it
isn't. There we read:

I Corinthians 13:4-7
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not boast, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not
rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things"
(NKJV-KJV)

Below we will try to examine in more depth each of the things that love is and
each of the things that it isn't, aiming in a more precise understanding of them.
i) Love suffers long
The phrase "suffers long" is the Greek verb “makrothumeo” that is composed of
the words "makros" that means "long" and "thumos" that means "anger", "wrath". In
other words, "makrothumeo" means "to be long before being angry3" and it is the
opposite of "short tempered". "Makrothumeo" has more the meaning of being patient
with people than of being patient with situations. For the latter there is another Greek
word that is used later in the same passage of I Corinthians. Love therefore does not get
angry with people quickly, it is not short tempered, but it endures patiently.

ii) Love is kind

Something else that characterises love is that it is kind. The Greek word for "kind"
is the verb " chresteuomai " that is used only here in the New Testament. However, it is
used quite a few times, in two other forms. The one is the adjective "chrestos" while the
other is the noun "chrestotes". "Chrestos" means "good, gentle, benevolent, benign;
actively beneficent in spite of ingratitude". Consequently "chresteuomai" means to show
one's self chrestos i.e. to be gentle, good, kind despite that you may be confronted with
ingratitude.

iii) Love does not envy

The word "envy" that is used in this passage is the Greek verb "zeloo". The
corresponding noun is "zelos". Zeloo and zelos are both used in a good and in a bad
sense. In a good sense they are used with the meaning of zeal, ardour. Thus for example,
in I Corinthians 14:1 we are called to pursue love, and desire [zeloo] the things of the
spirit. However, zelos and zeloo are mostly used in a bad sense. In this sense zelos means
envy, jealousy. James 3:14-16 makes clear the results and the source of jealousy:

3
See: E.W.Bulliinger: "A critical lexicon and concordance to the English and Greek
New Testament", Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1975, p. 464. Unless it is
indicated differently, all the word definitions that appear in this study come from this
source.
James 3:14-16
"But if you have bitter envy [zelos] and strife in your hearts, do not boast and lie against
the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
For where envy [zelos] and strife is, there is confusion and every evil thing"
(NKJV-KJV)

The source of envy and jealousy is the flesh, the old nature (see also Galatians
5:20). When there is jealousy, you are glad when I suffer and you suffer when I'm glad,
quite the contrary of what the Word of God commands (I Corinthians 12:26). In contrast,
and since love does not envy, when you love, you are glad when I'm glad and you suffer
with me when I suffer.

iv) Love does not boast

The word translated as "boast" here is the Greek verb “perpereuomai” that means
"to show one's self a boaster or braggart". It is that kind of behaviour that says
continuously "I did, I have, I made,...etc." The word "I" is very frequently used from a
such kind of person. As Christians we also sometimes do the same thing. We say: "I did
this for the Lord...", "I have prayed that much", "I spent so much time studying the Bible
today", "I know this and that from the Bible" meaning that I'm worthier than you that you
probably didn't do "that much". However, when we really love we don't boast, for we
recognise that there is nothing that makes us different from any other brother or sister in
the body. As I Corinthians 4:7 says:

I Corinthians 4:7
"who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive?
Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?"
 Everything that we have was given to us from the Lord. We didn't achieve it.
That's why we have no right to boast in anything or anyone else than the Lord. As I
Corinthians 1:31 tells us:

I Corinthians 1:31
"LET HIM WHO BOASTS BOAST IN THE LORD"
(NIV)

Will we therefore boast in our abilities, worth or even devotion? No if we love.

For if we love we will boast in the Lord and only in Him.

v) Love is not puffed up

Another thing that love does not do is to be puffed up. The Greek word for
"puffed up" is the verb "fusioo" that literally means "to blow, puff, inflate". In the New
Testament it is used 7 times, 6 of which in the first epistle to Corinthians4. In all cases it
is used metaphorically with the meaning of pride. A characteristic usage of this word is
in I Corinthians 8:1 where we read:

I Corinthians 8:1-3
"Now concerning things offered to idols: we know that we all have knowledge.
Knowledge puffs up [fusioo], but loves edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows
anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is
known by Him."

Head knowledge puffs up. We don't study the Bible just to earn head knowledge
but to know God, who reveals Himself in it. As I John 4:8 says: "he who does not love
does not know God, for God is love". Without love we will not know God even if we
have full head knowledge of the Scripture. Moreover, if this head knowledge remains

4
It occurs in I Corinthians 4:6, 18, 19, 5:2, 8:1, 13:4, and in II Corinthians 2:18.
mere head knowledge and it is not accompanied by love then the result is to be puffed
up, quite the contrary of what love is.

vi) Love does not behave rudely

Another thing that love does not do is to behave "rudely". The word "rudely" here
is the Greek verb “aschemoneo” that means "to behave in unseemly guise, be void of
proper deportment, to act with moral deformity". Thus for example in Romans 1:27 the
wrong of homosexuality is called "aschemosune" (the product of "aschemoneo"). Love
therefore does not behave with an immoral or unseemly way, and when such a behaviour
is observed does not come but from the old man.

vii) Love does not seek its own

Something else that love does not do is to seek its own. The phrase "its own" is
the Greek adjective "eautou" whose meaning is himself, herself, itself. There are quite a
few places in the Bible that instruct us not to seek our own. Romans 15:1-3 tells us:

Romans 15:1-3
"We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please
ourselves [eautou]. Let each of us please his neighbour for his good, leading to
edification. For even Christ did not please himself [eautou]; but as it is written, "The
reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me"

Also I Corinthians 10:23-24

"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial; all things are lawful for
me but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's"
(NKJV-NIV)
 When we walk with love we don't seek to please ourselves, making ourselves the
center of our activities (individualism). In contrast, by serving God in love we seek to
please, to bless, the others. That's what Jesus Christ did. He served God in love and he
didn't seek to please himself. That's why he also went to the cross. As Philippians 2:7-11
tells us:

Phillipians 2:7-11
"but [Jesus] MADE HIMSELF [eautou] OF NO REPUTATION [Greek: "emptied
himself"], taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And
being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became OBEDIENT to
the point of death, even the death of the cross. THEREFORE [as a result] God highly
exalted him and gave him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the
earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father"
(NKJV-NIV)

Jesus because of the love that he had for us emptied himself and went to the cross
for our own sake. But was it something that was done in vain or something that ended up
in a personal loss? NO. In contrast, because he did that, God EXALTED him. Similarly,
when we love we give to our private interests the second place and to the fellow brothers
and sisters in the body the first place. The result is not a personal loss but a multitude of
rewards here and in heaven. As Christ said in John 12:25-26:

John 12:25-26
"He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life5 in this world will keep it for
eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me; and where I am, there my servant
will be also. IF ANYONE SERVES ME, HIM THE FATHER WILL HONOR."

5
The phrase "hate his life" is the figure of speech "exaggeration". By this figure, an
exaggerated statement is made to make what is said very emphatic. In this passage, God
Also Mark 10:29-30
"So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has LEFT
house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my sake
and the gospel's, who shall not receive A HUNDREDFOLD NOW IN THIS TIME-
houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -
AND IN THE AGE TO COME, eternal life."

How many investments do you know that give back "A HUNDREDFOLD NOW
IN THIS TIME"? Apart from turning from seeking our own first to seeking God's and
the others' brothers and sisters in the body, I don't know any. To conclude: either we
become individualists and lose everything, or we love and instead of caring first for
ourselves we care first for God and the others brothers and sisters in the body. In this
case we get back "a hundredfold" plus honors from God Himself.

viii) Love is not provoked

The word translated as "provoked" here is the Greek verb “paroxuno” that
literally means "to sharpen by rubbing on anything, to whet; to sharpen, incite,
exasperate". The corresponding noun is the word "paroxusmos" from which the English
derives the word "paroxysm". Evidently, provocation and anger can in no way coexist
with honest love, for they are opposite to it.

ix) Love thinks no evil

The word "think" here is the Greek verb "logizomai" that should most properly be
translated as "reckon". It literally means "to put together with one's mind, to count to
occupy oneself with reckonings and calculations.6" From the 40 times that it occurs in

does not ask us to literally hate our souls but He very emphatically tells us to put
ourselves and our private interests in a second place.
6
See Dimitrakou: "The Great Lexicon of the Greek Language". Domi Publishers,
Athens, 1964, p. 4,362.
the New Testament, the KJV translates it 3 times as "to account", 5 "to count", 6 "to
reckon", 8 "to impute" and 8 times "to think". A more accurate translation is given by the
NIV that reads: "love keeps no record of wrongs" i.e. love quickly and permanently
forgets the evils that may have been done to it. Sometimes people in the world work for
years planning how to avenge someone that harmed them. However, when we walk by
the new nature, when we walk by love, then we don't keep a record of the wrongs that
may have been done to us but we forget them.

x) Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices with the truth
The word "iniquity" is the Greek word “adikia” that is used 25 times in the New
Testament and is translated (KJV) unrightseousness 16, iniquity 6, wrong 1, unjust 2. Its
meaning is: "what is not conformable to right, what ought not to be; that which ought not
to be because of revealed truth; hence, wrong, unrightseousness." Everything that is
against the truth is unrightseousness. And since from John 17:17 we know that the truth
is the Word of God, whatever is against this Word, is "adikia", unrightseousness. Thus,
according to this passage, love rejoices with the truth, the Word of God, and not with
what is against it, which is unrightseousness.

xi) Love bears all things

The word "bears" is the Greek verb "stego". A characteristic usage of this word is
in I Corinthians 9:12 where we read that Paul and his company, despite their great
responsibilities, preferred not to use their right to "live from the gospel" but "suffer
[stego] all things lest we [Paul and his company] hinder the gospel of Christ." They
suffered all things for the sake of the gospel of Christ, and they did it out of love, for love
suffers, bears, all things.
xii) Love believes all things
The word "believe" is the Greek verb "pisteuo" that occurs 246 times in the New
Testament and is translated (KJV) almost always (238 times) as "to believe". Biblically
speaking believing means to believe what the written rightly divided Word of God says
and what God says through the manifestations of the spirit. Love therefore believes all
things that God says both in His written rightly divided Word and through the
manifestations of the spirit.

xiii) Love hopes all things

Another thing that the Word of God tells us that love does is to hope all things.
Again the phrase "all things" has to be taken within the more general context of the Word
of God. As with believing so with hoping the reference is to all things that the Word of
God says. Love therefore hopes all things that have been defined by God as future
realities.

xiv) Love endures all things

Finally we learn that love endures "all things". The word "endures" here is the
verb "hupomeno". Its meaning is similar to the meaning of "makrothumeo" (to
longsuffer) that we examined previously. Their difference is that "whereas hupomeno
refers to one's response toward circumstances, denoting perseverance in the face of
difficulties, makrothumeo refers to one's response toward people, denoting a patient
endurance of faults and even provocations of others without retaliating7". Love therefore
apart from being very patient with people (makrothumeo) is also very patient with
circumstances (hupomeno). It waits patiently without fainting in difficulties.

7
See S. Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary, AMG Publishers, p. 1424
3. Conclusion

Concluding this part, we saw that love is a product of walking by the new nature,
i.e. it is produced as we put on and utilise all the things that the Word of God says that
we are and we can do. We also examined in detail the things that I Corinthians 13:4-7
says about love. In the next issue we will continue to see some more things on the same
topic.

(to be continued)

Tassos Kioulachoglou