LOVE VS AGAPE
LOVE VS AGAPE
I don’t know whether it’s my ignorance or that my keyboard has no way to put a line above the ‘e’ of agape to tell you how that word is pronounced. But here it is for any who do not know. A gar pay. This word is a Greek word of which the original New Testament of the bible was written. It is actually not an ‘emotional’ love at all. It does not rely on feelings. It is an ‘active’ love. Agape has to be a deliberate act of one’s will, to exist. I am a Christian, and I can say without any doubt, hesitation, pride, or fantasy that I love [AGAPE] God. Have I ever seen God? Have I ever met God? Have I ever even heard His voice, audibly? The answer is the same for each of those questions. NO.
This brings me to the absolute knowledge that agape has absolutely nothing to do with feelings. But, regardless of that, for me to ‘love’ somebody, I would obviously need to know that person. I would have to speak to and listen to that person over time. My heart would either remain passive or maybe even cold toward that person, or drawn to, or feel an inner warmth toward that person. The latter could well be the suggestion of love toward that person. I would certainly not need to ‘do anything’ to decide I loved that person. It would be entirely dependent on my heart-felt feelings.
On the other hand, I could decide to agape someone I did not know, simply on the basis of common sense, and normal expectations of life’s experiences. I could make an active choice with my will to choose for that one’s highest good, without regard for my personal cost. Of course, that would be somewhat limited, due to the many variables and unknowns with regard to that other’s circumstances, intelligence, or lack of it, their likes and dislikes, their health, or wealth etc. I will come back to this later.
When it comes to God, he agape’s everyone. He displayed that agape in sending His only begotten Son to this planet to suffer all that He suffered at the hands of those Romans who tortured, insulted, abused, and eventually executed Him in the most cruel and humiliating manner by which man had ever contrived. Hanging on a wooden cross, nailed through His hands and feet, naked, before the jeering crowds, waiting agonizingly for death to come. I can assure you, that ‘cost’ God an incredible lot. He even had to turn His back on Jesus when Jesus took upon Himself the sin of the world because God, being as holy as He is, cannot look upon wickedness/evil/sin. Jesus knew what His Dad had done & cried out, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
At that precise time, Jesus actually ‘paid the price’ for all the sin that would be committed from that time on. Sin had always required a blood sacrifice by the Jews [God’s chosen people] to atone for it. They had to sacrifice an unblemished animal on an alter at a temple, to allow God to forgive them of that sin. Obviously, they did not sin a whole lot or there would never have been enough spotless animals to be sacrificed for each one’s sins. Each time a Jew sinned, it would cost him/her because he/she would need to find a spotless lamb or whatever, and take it to a temple, and sacrifice it, going through some ritual in the process, so they could be forgiven. Very sadly, the ‘gospel’ that has been preached for 160 years has assured every person who says or thinks some words, that their sins have all been forgiven, the Holy Spirit has come to live in them, and they are on their way to heaven. They have also had the audacity to refer to this ‘salvation’ as ‘free.’ Without cost!! The big problem is that Jesus did NOT forgive all future sins at all. He paid the blood price/sacrifice for them so that Gentiles [and Jews] would never have to go through that process of sacrificing an animal ever again. That ‘debt’ was paid in heavenly currency and is applied to all sinners who get to know God well enough to learn to fear Him, so they can repent. The bible teaches all though both Testaments that repentance is absolutely essential for any sinner to expect to be able to relate to a holy God.
Peter replied, “Repent & be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts. 2:38
Moses said to the people, do not be afraid: God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be with you to stop you from sinning. Ex. 20:20
Through the fear of the LORD evil is avoided. Prov. 16:6
The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble. Prov. 19:23
Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a person from sin. Prov. 14:26-27
Who, then, are those who fear the LORD? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land.
The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. Ps. 25:12-14
First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. Acts 26:20
He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Lk. 3:3
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Acts 3:19
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chron. 7:14
He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Lk. 24:46-47
Very clearly, repentance is possible only when one fears God. That makes sense, if you think about it. If there were not consequences for sin, why would one fear God? That is precisely why today’s ‘Christians’ unashamedly confess to being slaves to sin at the same time as they claim they love God.
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Jn. 8:34-36
Sinning is clearly not for the highest good of God. God not only hates sin, but he hates sinners as well.
For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome.
The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong;
you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, LORD, detest. Ps. 5:4-6
That is how God emotionally relates to sinners. But at the same time, He agapes them, as we saw above. And He demands that we agape Him, in response to that. ‘We agape [Him and each other] because He first agaped us.‘ 1 Jn 4:19 Which makes today’s ‘gospel’ a total mockery of God’s word. It insists that we trust, believe in, have faith in God/Jesus. But we all know that only fools trust, believe in, have faith in complete strangers. So, to work out one’s salvation along God’s directions one must get to know God well enough to fear Him so one can repent.
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, Phil. 2:12
Paul obviously knew that obeying God was essential for salvation, but that fearing disobedience of Him was also critical to that process. So, lets’ break this down reasonably, shall we? How does one choose to do what’s for the highest good of another, if one does not know that other? We touched on this earlier and realised that to choose for another’s highest good without actually knowing that other would be very limited, compared to agapeing them if we knew them well. So, we agree that to choose for the highest good of God, requires a solid knowledge of God. The same is true for fearing God. It’s not reasonable to be afraid of someone or something that is unknown, right? As adults, at least, huh?
So, we can realistically lay out the plan God has for our salvation. Here it is with scriptural references. PLEASE get a bible and check out each of those references. I could include them here for you to slip your eyes over, but if you make the effort of looking them up for yourself, you will be far more likely to remember what they said to you, personally.
How to work out one’s salvation with fear & trembling:
Know God, Jer. 29:11-14, Jn. 17:3, 2 Thes. 1:8-9
Fear God. Acts 10:34-35, Prov, 28:14, Matt. 10:28
Repent. Ex. 20:20, Ezek. 33:11-20
Receive the Holy Spirit for forgiveness of sins. Acts 2:38
Live in Christ where there’s NO SIN. 1 Jn. 3:4-10 KJV [because the others have added words which were never there in the original Greek].
The Holy Spirit will control every aspect of your life, Ezek. 36:26-27
I will give you 1 Jn. 3:4-10 as the original Greek gives us.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
No one who lives in him sins. No one who sins has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
No one who is born of God will sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot sin because they have been born of God.
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.1 Jn. 3:4-10
Today’s preachers or evangelists will NEVER give you this truth. They all believe that they can sin and be God’s kids at the same time. They may give you the modern version of this passage with added words that are used cleverly to alter the meaning of God’s precious word. This passage, without the added words, leaves absolutely ZERO room for interpretation mistakes, or doubt as to its meaning. Please believe it no matter how much it goes against everything you’ve ever learned. I had to, when I searched God’s word for His truth because what the preachers, evangelists, faith healers, and ‘Christian’ authors were all telling me, was not working for me. I was still a sexual predator after decades of being a ‘born again, baptized believer.’
I spent from 1992 to 2011 researching ‘American Christianity’ across the USA. That broke my heart, and I sat down and wrote a book, declaring God’s true message of salvation, and His plans to bring complete healing to America. Amazon or B & N have it. If you really love America, and want to be part of the spiritual awakening that is coming, then this book is an essential read for you. Get ‘A Nation Broken’ today.