What Is Love? – A Summary

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH US ABOUT  LOVE?

Love is a deep subject. The purpose of this summary of love is to challenge both the unbeliever and the believer to examine Scripture. What does the Bible say?

Following is a twenty-one point dissertation for consideration. Think on these things… there are two viewpoints in life: Human viewpoint and divine viewpoint. Divine viewpoint is God’s revelation to man, found in the Bible. Human viewpoint is man’s thinking, without the Bible and without Jesus Christ as personal Savior.

  1. Every believer faces the inner struggle of human viewpoint vs. divine viewpoint (Isaiah 55:7-9).  
  2. Mental attitude determines both the life and character of a person (Proverbs 23:7).
  3. Thinking with divine attitude is commanded in 2 Corinthians 10:4,5.
  4. Since God’s Word is the Mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:16), God’s Word transforms our human viewpoint to divine viewpoint, so that we begin to think more and more like Christ, and less and less like the world (Philippians 2:5).
  5. Bible doctrine in our soul produces inner happiness through a higher capacity for learning more doctrine and increased love for the Lord (Philippians 2:2).
  6. God’s plan for His children calls for a renewing of our minds – a new mental attitude that is always positive toward the Lord (Romans 12:2; Philippians 2:5; 2 Timothy 1:7).
  7. When we daily metabolize God’s Word, we develop confidence as we live out the details of our individual lives (2 Corinthians 5:1,6,8).
  8. Mental stability is a mental attitude, therefore the inhale of Bible doctrine produces increased faith with the result that we can be more relaxed under stress and adversity (Isaiah 26:3,4; Philippians 4:7; 2 Thessalonians 2:2).
  9. Giving, for example, is a mental attitude and the Lord knows exactly how we feel about giving to advance His kingdom (2 Corinthians 9:7).
  10. Love is a many-splendored thing! Love is a mental attitude in the soul; therefore, capacity for love is appreciated in the soul of the giver and receiver of love, rather than in sexual functions of the body. In other words, love is a spiritual thing that comes from God and is reinforced by Bible doctrine in the soul. The Christian life is a soul thing, not a physical thing (1 Corinthians 13:5;  Ephesians 2:4-7; 3:19; 1 Peter 1:8). 
  11. Human viewpoint thinking is called worldliness (Romans 12:2; Colossians 3:2). It is the thinking of the unbeliever.
  12. Evil is something we must think first, and which we may or may not act upon (Matthew 9:4; Galatians 6:3).
  13. Mental attitude sin produces self-induced misery (Proverbs 15:13).
  14. There are three categories of love that every believer should understand: Category one is towards God; Category two is toward one’s right man or right woman; Category three is towards friends.
  15. There are three chapters to God’s plan: Chapter one – salvation; Chapter two – the Christian way of life, which begins at salvation and continues until the Lord calls us Home to be with Him; Chapter three – eternity.
  16. The unfailing love of God gives every believer in Jesus Christ surpassing riches that reflect God’s grace, which cannot be compared to any human love, wealth, or success in life.
  17. Understanding God’s love is a many-splendored thing, because God’s love is a many-splendored thing.
  18. In 1 Peter 1:8 we learn that God’s love is transcendent (far above and beyond) to human love – humans have limited ability to relate to divine love. The world of unbelievers tends to humanize God’s love. The love of God is at the center of one of satan’s greatest distortions. The devil, as the ruler of this world, is dedicated to perverting and twisting God’s love in the minds of man (John 12:31; 1 Peter 5:8). The widely distorted concepts of God’s love is not only contrary to Scripture, but is responsible for much of the apostasy in Christianity today.
  19. “God demonstrated His Love toward us in that while we were yet sinners (in sin – lost and without hope) Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In John 3:16 God expresses His love by giving. God is the Giver of love and life. God is the Giver of the Bible. God is the Giver of His only begotten Son. God is the Giver of the Holy Spirit. God is a Giver. Man is the beneficiary; the recipient. *God is the aggressor in His relationship to man. Man is the responder. This is why God is referred to as “He,” and believers are referred to as the “bride” of Christ. (God has no gender, and no, we will not marry Him.)
  20. God’s love is self-motivated, unconditional, infinite, and absolute. Human love is object-minded (object motivated), conditional, finite, and relative. Therefore, the world of unbelievers can only relate to God’s love in human terms – confusing the divine attribute of love with human concepts of love.  
  21. No subject is more exalted to contemplate than the person and character of God. His limitless, absolute splendor and majesty are truly unfathomable (Romans 11:33). Although man cannot in this life completely define or grasp God, God reveals Himself to the extent necessary to give us limited capacity to comprehend His person and nature.

In closing, God always demonstrates His love. All that God does for mankind comes through His grace. Therefore, the believer’s objective is to learn and live the “personal plan of God” for their life. God’s plan centers around Christ. Learn Christ. Trust Christ as your personal Savior.

Christ took your place on the cross, for “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s righteous demands” (Romans 3:23). “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ” (Romans 6:23). Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).  

Happy Studying!

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