We frequently hear fellow Christians refer to the apostle John’s depiction of God as love in his first epistle. But do we really know what that means? The question sounds like a simple one, but the answer is a much more complex one that requires a look through the lens of scripture to fully understand what John is saying here.
Let us first look to the bible to consider love as a characteristic of God’s nature.
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Love as an Attribute of God
Before we can even begin to comprehend love as an attribute of God’s nature, we have to first acknowledge that God is not a human that we can fully understand Him or His nature. He is the ultimate, infinite Being that far exceeds anything our limited, finite minds are capable of grasping. We must consider His nature with that reality in view. Because while a human may be loving at times and unloving at others, this is not the case with God. He is always loving because love is not simply something He does, but the bible says it is who He is (I John 4:16).
Next, we must recognize the truth that His attributes never contradict one another. This, again, can be difficult for a finite mind to comprehend because our perception of “love” is so limited and earthly-focused that we are tempted to interpret other attributes of God as “unloving.” For instance, when God’s justness requires Him to demonstrate His wrath that does not mean He no longer continues to be loving. While this is difficult for us to wrap our minds around, we must remind ourselves that God’s ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). God is love (I John 4:8), but He is also righteous which requires that He demonstrates His wrath when justice and righteousness are forsaken (John 3:36). However, that does not mean He only loves when He is not demonstrating His wrath. Remember, love is not something God does, it is who He is in His nature. And God’s nature does not change (James 1:17).
So what do we make of this apparent contradiction where God’s love meets His wrath? We must address two points. One, we need a well-grounded definition of how God defines love--which we will discuss in a moment. Second, we need to broaden our perspective beyond the selfish desires of our own hearts and minds to consider how God’s wrath can coincide and even compliment His love.
Because we are so inclined to consider love an emotion, we often attribute mal motive and conclude that the person is actively being unloving when we lack a feeling of love. But as we have already discussed, we must reframe our thinking when we are talking about God as love or biblical love in general. This idea of God maintaining His attribute of love when administering judgment becomes more clear when someone sins against us personally; we quickly recognize the far reaching impact sin has. Would it be loving for God to refrain from requiring justice from the individual who sinned? Should He allow evil to persist in order to protect His reputation as loving God? The answer to both of these questions is of course not! God maintains His status of loving during and even through His requirement of justice. Though complex and even paradoxical, through these examples we can begin to understand how God’s character of love can coincide with and even compliment the existence of His wrath.
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Love as a Fruit of the Spirit
Now that we know God is love as part of His character rather than an act He sometimes engages in, we can more clearly define love as God intended for us to understand it. When we see “love” in the bible--whether the literal word or an illustration of the concept--we do well to allow the eternal God through His character to determine our understanding of what love is instead of trying to define love through our finite minds and then applying that meaning to an eternal, infinite God. Therefore, since we learn from the infallible scriptures that God is love, then we should turn back to that very same text to define what is meant by “love.”
There are various places in scripture where we could turn to get a glimpse of how God defines love, but we must first make a distinction between love as a feeling of affection and love as an action produced by a transformed heart. As we established earlier, we often use “love” to describe an emotion we have toward a person or object. But the bible tells us that love is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), meaning it is an outward display of an inward transformation by those who have been born again by the Spirit of God (John 3:3). So when the bible speaks of love, it is not a manmade, worldly concept referring to a feeling, but rather it is a command to demonstrate love as God has demonstrated in His own character and then prescribed in His word.
How has God in His word defined love? First Corinthians 13 lays out several characteristics of biblical love--patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not dishonoring, not self-seeking, not easily angered, not a record-keeper of wrongs, not delighting in evil, rejoicing over the truth, protective, trusting, hopeful, and perseverant. What a beautiful picture of love that is much more meaningful and immensely deeper than a feeling of affection!
It is also important to know that the bible in its original language uses multiple terms for the English word “love.” For instance, the same Greek word, agape, used to describe God as love in I John is used here in I Corinthians. Agape love is understood to be a kind of sacrificial, unconditional love that is distinctly descriptive of God, His character, and His actions. Additionally, agape is used to describe the first of the fruits of the spirit laid out in Galatians 5. Though this is not the only word translated as “love” in scripture, it is the word most frequently used when referring to God or the love that results from the work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian’s life. In other words, agape love is only accomplished supernaturally; it is not an act of human will. A quick word study as we read the bible can help us to understand exactly what God is communicating through the authors in the original language.
Love as an Action
Now that we understand love as an attribute of God and have reviewed the biblical definition, let’s look at how scripture illustrates that love through the narratives told on its pages. We see love in action in the well-known verse John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” Again, the root word here for love is agape. Here God’s nature of unconditional love is on full display! Anyone who is a parent can only imagine what great love it would require to willingly give up the life of their child. That’s just what God did.
Jesus also tells us in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Once again, we encounter the agape love only accomplished through the grace of God. And of course, we know Christ did just that--laid down His life for His own. This theme is repeated in Romans 5:8 where Paul reminds us that “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” There’s that agape love again! (I think we get the point). These verses put on display for us the greatest manifestation of love imaginable.
Another convicting model of biblical love that is slightly more relatable for these earthly vessels is the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). This lesson tells the story of a lowly enemy of an injured Jewish man (the Samaritan) taking time out of his journey to show regard to the wounded. Not only did the Samaritan show love by interrupting his trip to check on his Jewish neighbor, but he also proceeded to transport, lodge, and feed the Jew for the duration of his healing process. Jesus in this parable illustrates what it looks like to love your neighbor as yourself. He does not describe a strong feeling or passion or a special thought, He commands action. Sacrificial, selfless action.
As clearly demonstrated in the examples given, biblical love is a clear call to action (1 John 3:18). It requires more than a mere thought, feeling, or intent. It summons the Christian to a commitment to truth and obedience to God’s word. This concept of love as action begs the question: what specific actions does God require of His followers?
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Love as Obedience
We now understand love as an attribute of God. We also reviewed the biblical definition of love in contrast to what we might typically consider love from our earthly experiences. Then, we looked at examples of love in action to solidify our understanding of this biblical call to love. All of this information helps provide the context for how we as Christians are to apply love in our lives.
Jesus made it very clear that if we love Him, we will do what He says (John 14:15). The use of that Greek word, agape, reminds us that we are not talking about affection, but once again, the love being referenced is a sacrificial love requiring deeds on the part of the Christian. We can also know that obedience is essential to this concept of love because Christ uses the term to sum up the two greatest commandments given in God’s law: love God and love our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39). Again, the root word agape here helps us to comprehend what Christ is commanding of us.
So we can conclude that loving God and obeying God can rightly be considered two sides of the same coin. Now let us consider how we ought to love our neighbor. Another glimpse at the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) provides us with a relatable outline--show compassion, care for the needs of others, provide the means of assistance where necessary, follow up on progress, etc.
The ten commandments also provide us with instruction on how to love our neighbors: not to harm others, not to sexually sin against others, not to take another’s property, not to lie or blaspheme against a neighbor, and not to jealously long for the possessions or social standing of another (Exodus 20). Though perfect obedience of the law is impossible which is why Christ had to make the ultimate sacrifice in love, if loving Christ is accomplished through keeping His commands, it logically follows that we can look to those precepts as a template to follow in order to properly love one another.
Ephesians 4 urges us to bear each others’ burdens out of love, to practice patience with our neighbor, and to eagerly pursue unity with fellower believers. Later in this same chapter, Paul exhorts Christians to be kind and tenderhearted and forgiving. All of which are beautiful elements of love.
Romans 12 tells us to devote ourselves to one another and to honor our neighbor above ourselves.
Jesus also commands His followers to love each other as He has loved us (John 15:2).
We’ve come a long way since we began with love as an attribute of God. But I pray we see the importance of the sequence. God is love; it is not what He does but who He is. This truth gives us a foundation to build the biblical definition of love upon, which must be understood as it was meant to be defined in scripture. Love is accomplished through God the Holy Spirit and is characterized by specific attributes laid out in the bible. It should also be understood beyond the idea of a feeling, but more accurately as an action, specifically the act of obedience.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another” (John 13:35).
