Love

What is this thing called love?

One of the greatest distortions on the part of Satan in the Angelic Conflict has to do with love. Everywhere you turn today you see the abuse of something that belongs to God. LOVE BELONGS ENTIRELY TO GOD! Love is not only a part of God’s essence, but God has a “corner” !on love, and the Devil has never been able even to begin to break in. The love of God has been, distorted by Satan and pulled into every aspect of life.

What are we hearing today? World brotherhood . . . don’t shoot the enemy, love him . . . don’t kill the criminal, love him. . . give the homosexual understanding instead of what he needs — to be removed from society . . . love the Black Panthers . . . love all of the idiots who are running around loose, such as the hippies! The whole concept of love today, as proclaimed in this country, is not only anti-Christian and anti-God, it is the basis for some of the most traitorous activity since the Trojan horse was rolled past the gates of Ilium. In the name of love, almost every type of crime is committed.

But people raise their eyebrows and say, “Well, isn’t God love?” They can almost quote the Scripture exactly — or part of it: “God is love” !But to quote a Scripture and to understand it are two different things. God’s love is exemplified by three words found in Jeremiah 3:12, which is the background to our subject: SHUBAH MESHUBAH (Hebrew) — “Return, faithless Israel!”

God said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Go and proclaim these words toward the north . . .” This is the Northern Kingdom of the ten tribes which had been placed into captivity almost one hundred years before Jeremiah spoke these words. God instructed Jeremiah to give this message to the most unfaithful group of people who ever lived — the Jews of the Northern Kingdom. He said it to them under conditions that are almost unbelievable, and therefore it is even more a striking commentary on God’s love. The unfaithfulness of the Jews of the Northern Kingdom has become a Biblical byword. Never in all of history did so many people become so apostate and corrupt so rapidly in one generation. Yet one hundred years later God had not forgotten these people who went into captivity in 721 B.C.

When God said “Shubah meshubah, ‘ it was a demonstration of God’s beautiful sense of humor. Do you know why? It is a paronomasia; it is a pun. “Shubah” means “come back to Me.” “Meshubah, translated “backsliding,” actually means “faithless” — faithless in the sense of a woman leaving her right man for paramours; someone who is going in the opposite direction. In other words, God speaks as the Right Man, and He says, “Shubah.” He is addressing those who have gone as far in the other direction as possible. Who but God would want a faithless, rebellious “right woman” back! Therefore, “shubah meshuba” is probably the greatest paronomasia in the Word of God!

Capacity to love

When you look at some Christians today, you can tell that they do not have a sense of humor because they are so up-tight. I want to tell you something about the whole ingredient of divine love: anyone who has a capacity to love may not have been born with a sense of humor, but he acquires one. And that goes for all three categories of love (love of God, love of the opposite sex and love of friends). You can always tell the people who have no capacity for love because they are up-tight. They have had it! And you can always tell when a person isn’t, shall we say, up to his love’s standards, because he is up-tight.

If you’ve ever noticed, when people get mad, they are up-tight. Of course, most of you never get mad, so you don’t know anything about that! But somewhere you probably had a FRIEND who got mad. Anger is always an up-tight expression. True love is always relaxed. When a woman can say to a man, “Yes, my lord,” she has to be relaxed, and she has to have a sense of

humor — both! And when a man can say to a woman, “My love,” he not only has to be relaxed, he has to have the capacity for love.

When God says to the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom, “Shubah meshubah, that is the most beautiful invitation in the world because it is a command to people to come back who have gone as far in the other direction as they can go and still be alive. In other words, “meshubah” is a woman who has left her right man and has had multitudinous paramours. In spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness, God demonstrates in this beautiful phrase, this paronomasia. His relaxed mental attitude and His sense of humor. It is a part of His essence of love. The capacity for love includes something which causes the lover, the initiator or the responder, to relax. And for God to come out with this beautiful pun indicates His whole relaxed sense of humor. He is not going to say anything about their faithlessness; He is not going to complain in any way.

In the first five verses of Jeremiah 3, we have the principle that when a woman leaves a man and becomes another man’s, she can never return to the first man. If he divorces her for her unfaithfulness, she can never return, for he is no longer capable of being aggressive as a lover. This was recognized by God and put into the divorce laws, which are found in part in Deuteronomy 24. Now, in addition to that. Find turns right around and says, “Even though that is true with a man, it is not true with Me.”

The first five verses of Jeremiah 3 are addressed to Judah; but in verse 12, God is speaking to the Northern Kingdom, and He says, “Shubah meshubah.” By this phrase, He expresses perfectly His love. It expresses the principle that when God is love, it is something so fantastic we cannot afford to miss it! If we do miss it, we will never know love in any other category. So “shubah meshubah” introduces our subject, “What is this thing called love?” We are going to categorize every facet of love involving relationship; and we shall begin with a study of Philippians 1:9-11.

Love expressed through prayer

In these three verses, Paul is pictured as a prayer warrior. When Paul has a recorded prayer, it emphasizes something very important. There are two fantastic prayers of the great apostle recorded in Ephesians (Eph. 1:15-23; 3:14-21). And what do they emphasize?

The “grace apparatus of perception,” and the “edification complex” of the soul. The subject of the Book of Philippians is happiness. But what is emphasized in Paul’s prayer? Level You cannot be happy without love, and you cannot love without being happy. So, within the framework of the context of verses 9 trough II, you must possess as a part of your essence, as a part of your character, true love. This is that for which the apostle actually prayed.

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and (in) all judgment. That ye may approve things

that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ (verses 9,10).

The principle of true love

Verse 9 begins with two words, “kai touto” in the Greek. A phrase such as this introduces something that is extremely important: Paul is going to pray I When most people pray, they thank God for a few things, and that is fine; but primarily, they want to pray for something specific. Paul does not pray that he will have money or friends or that he will have a good time; Paul does not ask God to give HIM something; Paul prays for what I call THE ESSENTIALS. The essentials are tied up in this phrase “kai touto.” In other words, Paul says, “This is a short prayer, but it is an important one; I am going to pray for something without which I am not quite a human being - and neither are you!”

AND THIS (“kai touto”) I PRAY (“proseuchomai”). The latter word means to pray for someone else; to pray for people in whom you are interested. And Paul has already expressed his interest in the Philippians. This was a church which he personally founded, and he is therefore going to make intercession for them in what he considers to be the critical field for happiness.

Remember that the overall subject of Philippians is happiness. The overall subject of Ephesians is the importance of doctrine; therefore, in Ephesians he prays for the grace apparatus of perception to function in their lives, and that they might erect an edification complex in their souls. Now he prays for LOVE!

THAT YOUR LOVE . . . “That” introduces a purpose clause, the purpose of this intercessory prayer. Obviously he cannot recognize at this time that the Philippians have an advanced love. All he can do is to recognize that they are saved, and being saved, they can have a mental attitude love. He is not going to specify the area; but, as you know, there are at least three basic areas in which this love could exist: Category 1 love — toward God; Category 2 love — toward right man or right woman; Category 3 love — toward friends.

Here we have AGAPE love, or mental attitude love. There are two sources of this type of love for the believer: (1) the filling of the Spirit through rebound (Rom. 5:5; 1 John 1:9); (2) the edification complex of the soul (1 John 2:5), which is developed through the function of the grace apparatus of perception. A person with an edification complex will be grace-oriented, he will have a mastery of the details of life, a relaxed mental attitude or “agape” love, the capacity to love in all three categories, and inner happiness.

However, we are not dealing with sources at the moment; we are dealing with a principle. There must be love in your life. Love is essential as a part of your make-up — not this phony, superficial, effervescent, frothy, easy-to-say, but-has-no-backing-in-your-char-acter-type love — but divine love, or true capacity. You might as well discover what true love is. Love is not simply some sort of an overt expression . . . being nice to someone . . . saying the right thing at the right time . . making the proper noises . . . saying that you love someone. It isn’t any form of embrace or touching, or

whatever you want to call it - that isn’t necessarily love. Nor is love thinking how terrible it is that there are people in death row who really shouldn’t be electrocuted, even though each one has murdered perhaps three or four people and he has now been correctly and properly indicted. Love is not allowing enemies of the United States to roam at will in the streets of this country. Many of these things are done in the name of

love. But the believer needs to get the right perspective!

That your love (agape) may abound …

Love is something that keeps on growing; and once it starts, it is like a snowball. It gathers momentum! You build love on love on love on love. You may try to decide all of a sudden that you don’t love anymore; but you find out that you already have a snowball on your mind or in your soul, so you can’t get rid of it, and it doesn’t melt or disappear. It’s there. It might be characterized by a lump in your throat, or it might be a thought in your mind; but you just don’t get rid of love by snapping your fingers.

That is what God meant when He said, “Shubah meshuba.” He said, in effect, “look, you Jews in the Northern Kingdom have done nothing right, as demonstrated by the fact that you are under the fifth cycle of discipline (Lev. 26). Even though you have done everything wrong, even though your unfaithfulness has been described by all of the prophets — come on back, return

to Me.” Now that is TRUE LOVE. That means that they are in His mind (an anthropopathism ascribing to God a human characteristic). He loves them, and He therefore constantly asks them to return.

“Abound” (“perisseuo” in the Greek) is in the active voice, which means you yourself have to love. No one can love for you, and — watch this — don’t let your friends choose whom you love. You love from YOUR soul, not from your friend’s .For example, let me illustrate among teenagers: some fellow at school is real popular, so all of the girls have a “case” on him.

Maybe he plays football, maybe he’s handsome, maybe he has a fancy car, maybe he has shown a couple of girls a good time, and the word got around. Whatever it is, this character is very popular, so all the girls think they love him. Some girls wouldn’t like him at all, but they have a case on him because everyone else does. They are influenced, and are therefore not loving from their own volition; they are loving from someone else’s volition.

One of the worst things in the world is to get involved with someone who is popular just because it is the thing to do. You become herd-bound, and therefore you are not depending on your soul to initiate love; you are depending upon the soul of your friends who describe this “idiot” in glowing terms. He is not an idiot to someone who really loves him; but for you he is an idiot because you have depended upon the judgment of someone else who builds him up. Girls or boys get together and build up someone, till everyone in the group is worked up about that person.

It’s like old cavalry horses. You can walk into a corral of old cavalry horses and say, “Forward, ho!” and they just move out at the walk. And you can say, “Trot, ho!” and they trot. And then you can say, “Fours right, ho!” and they wheel in fours. They have been doing it for twenty or more years. Now here comes someone across the campus with a “mouthful of teeth” who has done something, or he has some status symbol; and so, as he goes by, one girl says, “Fours right, ho!” and all the rest of the girls swing in line.

Now listen, the sooner you start working out of your own soul . . . living out of your own soul . . . the better. You know that God gave you a soul. You have your own soul. You don’t have to live out of someone else’s soul. You young people, when it comes time for whomever you are going to love, don’t depend on your friends or even on your parents. You can’t live out of their soul. You must live out of your own soul! The first thing you should know about love when it comes (not that you won’t be bitten by a bug or two) is that it must be in YOUR soul, not in that of someone you respect.

‘’May abound” is in the subjunctive mood and is therefore potential. Maybe it will and maybe it won’t. It had to be potential for two of the greatest men in the Bible — Paul and Jeremiah. There was no Category 2 love for either one. Yet these two great men who were denied their right women — stand by for shocks — knew love inside and out. They were fantastic 2 What they didn’t know about love isn’t worth writing about. They just knew it all the way through!

But, you say, how can anyone who hasn’t had the experience of having love with a member of the opposite sex ever going to know it, let alone write about it? That’s where people get fouled up. Some of the worst books you will ever read are by those who had an experience with a member of the opposite sex. That is not love! I want to tell you what love is. LOVE IS WHAT GOD IS! “Shubah meshubah!” Love is the character of God. If you ever become any kind of a lover, it is going to be because you respond to the love of God; you bask in the love of God. Now, some of you are not basking. And that is why Paul is praying for you as well as for the Philippians.

True love is based on knowledge of doctrine

THAT YOUR LOVE MAY ABOUND YET MORE AND MORE . . . “Eti mallon kai mallon.” That is not as beautiful as “shubah meshubah,” but it isn’t bad. Let’s take a look at it. This is the accusative suffix on both of these and is much stronger than just “more and more.” In fact, it is just more and more and more and more! It is an idiom. ETI is “yet”; MALLON is “more”; KAI is “and”; MALLON is “more” again; so it should be: YET MORE, EVEN MORE! It is very strong.

How on earth can you have more and more and more love? By going out and being nice to a rattlesnake? By going out and giving blood to the North Vietnamese? NEVER! By encouraging the Communists? No! By trying to get rid of capital punishment? No! BY KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE! KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE! KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE!

Some people think only in terms of experience. Listen . . . the more experience you have with members of the opposite sex, the further you are from knowing what love is all about! You men — if when your right woman walks into your life she says, “I have had no experience,” just thank God and do handsprings. Your right woman may not be that kind, but you can always hope! Experience doesn’t mean a thing. It is knowledge, knowledge, knowledge! And it is character, not experience! I once heard someone remark that a certain person was an “experienced lover,” What does that mean? It doesn’t mean a thing, except that he probably had a bad character. He probably wasn’t a good lover. You don’t need experience. You get experience after you find your right man or right woman - not before!

… YET MORE AND MORE IN KNOWLEDGE … “In knowledge” is “en” plus the instrumental of “epignosis.” What a shock! Our old friend, EPIGNOSIS — full knowledge ...Bible doctrine in the human spirit from the function of the grace apparatus of

perception. Doctrine goes into the mind in the filling of the Spirit, where it becomes “gnosis” — doctrine understood only. As it is believed, it is transferred BY faith into the human spirit, where it becomes residual doctrine — doctrine stored — doctrine possessed. Doctrine can only be applied from the human spirit — from “epignosis.” Your capacity to love anyone — God first depends on “epignosis.” Not experience — “epignosis!” “In knowledge” should be translated BY MEANS OF EPIGNOSIS.

AND IN ALL JUDGMENT. “Judgment” is a poor translation, as judging doesn’t really get the job done when it comes to love. In fact, it is an occupational hazard for lovers. The Greek word here (“aisthesis”) actually means “perception.” When you get Bible doctrine in your human spirit, you have the beginning of capacity for love; and all of a sudden you are going to get discernment. Some guy you thought looked great is going to look like a piece of junk, once you begin to get some Bible doctrine. And maybe some guy who looks like an idiot is going to begin to make sense. And God is going to make sense, too. That is the breakthrough of all breakthroughs. And then grace is going to make sense, and you are on the way!

Now a corrected translation of verse 9: “And this I pray, that your love may exist in full quality yet more, even more, by means of ‘epignosis’ and discernment.” The quality of love is measured in terms of “epignosis” and discernment.

Results of love

Now, in verse 10, we get some results. We are dealing with the exegetical principle before we get to categories. The word “that” occurs twice inverse 10: THAT YE MAY APPROVE . . . THAT YE MAY BE SINCERE (pardon the expression, for it is NOT literally “sincere’’) .Both are result clauses, but each time it is different. “Eis” is the first “that”; “hina” is the second. This is to show that one result depends on another result.

WITH THE RESULT THAT YE MAY APPROVE . . . “Approve” (“dokimazo”) does not mean to approve anything as such; it means to approve by, or after testing, What is the test? Your perception, your “epignosis,” plus your discernment. That is the testing. That is the way love grows. It is in the active voice, which indicates that you must do it from your own soul. Start living in your own soul! That is the part of your priesthood that is so important. That is the right you have as a believer- priest. To live in someone else’s soul is programming. We have too much programming now. (And we are trying to cut it out around here!). You need to live in your own soul; and the only way you can live in your own soul is to start exercising your priesthood. On a daily basis take in Bible doctrine, which will build up capacity for love.

WITH THE RESULT THAT YOU MAY APPROVE AFTER TESTING THINGS THAT ARE EXCELLENT . . . THINGS THAT KEEP ON HAVING GREATER VALUE.

This is a result of love when you get it. The more doctrine you get, the more you are going to realize the importance of loving Jesus Christ and God the Father. And your love for the Holy Spirit is also involved. The more you take in doctrine, the greater your capacity for loving God. The greater your capacity for loving God, the greater your capacity for loving right man or right woman or friends when God provides. It also keeps your love concentrated and not scattered on things that were never designed to be loved. The Bible doesn’t say that your enemies IN BATTLE were

designed to be loved. They are designed to be killed — by you! Criminals were never designed to be loved. Criminals were designed to be executed. Traitors were never designed to be loved; they were designed to be destroyed or removed. Your capacity for love is going to come from its concentration. There are just two kinds of people who — pardon the expression — love everybody: a drunk and an idiot. In other words, the more discernment you have, the greater capacity you are going to have for love.

The second clause is a result of the first. This time it begins with “hina.” THAT YE MAY BE SINCERE . . . We are going to stop and take a look at this one, because if there is anything love is not, it is sincerity! “Sincere” is “eilkrines” in the Greek. “Krines” means “to judge”; “heli” means “by the Sun.” It means “to judge by the sunlight.” In this case, the sunlight is doctrine. The sunlight has already been described: it is “epignosis”; it is Bible doctrine in the human spirit, as a result of GAP. It is Bible doctrine cycled into your right lobe. It is Bible doctrine as a norm and standard. It is Bible doctrine in your frame of reference. This is the sunlight. You judge by the light of doctrine.

THAT YOU MAY BE DISCERNING THROUGH DOCTRINE, AND VOID OF OFFENCE TILL THE DAY OF CHRIST — literally, “with reference to the day of Christ,” which is the Rapture of the Church (1 Thess. 4:14-17). When you have discernment in the light of doctrine, your love will be “non-stumbling” till the day of Christ.

Production from love

BEING FILLED WITH THE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH ARE BY JESUS CHRIST, UNTO THE GLORY AND PRAISE OF GOD (Phil. 1:11). Verse 11 is the result of capacity for love. Please notice that it is not the result of some phony system, some system of hypocrisy, some public relations system — it is the result of your capacity for love. Paul prays that their love might abound because in verse 11 their production from love will be rewarded.

“Being filled” is “pleroo” in the Greek. It is in the perfect tense, which indicates the permanent results of love, or the production of divine good. There is nothing phony about divine good. In the passive voice, the believer receives through divine provision, through grace and the filling of the Spirit, through doctrine and through the grace apparatus of perception the ability to produce divine good. The participle indicates that this is a divine law for believers: it always exists.

The verb “pleroo” has four meanings, each one of which is pertinent.

(1) To fill up a deficiency. The deficiency in our production is divine good. Divine good is filled up as a deficiency through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit and the function of GAP.

(2) To fully possess. Divine good fully possesses the life when the believer functions daily under GAP and fills that edification complex in the soul.

(3) To fully influence. Divine good has a maximum impact during the intensified stage of the Angelic Conflict. This is the Church Age; therefore, divine good, which comes from capacity to love God, becomes the automatic production. If you truly love God on the basis of Bible doctrine, you have no problem with production. You are not on a “point system.” How many points do I get for witnessing? How many for prayer? How many for worship? And so on. When you truly love God from your free will, Bible doctrine is in your soul and Bible doctrine is in your spirit. Without even missing a beat, you automatically produce divine good; you do not have to worry about a point system. And you don’t have to look down your nose at good works or even try to buck the tiger and develop good works. It is an automatic result of capacity to love God. If you love God, the rest is easy. If you do not, then you will be looking for all types of cheap substitutes, including programs and point systems!

4) To fill with a certain quality. Divine good fills the priesthood of the believer with the highest quality.

Now I want to show you how this works out in principle and what “pleroo” means in the perfect tense. When you get Bible doctrine in the human spirit by faith, you cycle it up into the right lobe where love becomes a part of the frame of reference and the fragrance of memories. Since love must also have norms and standards for its capacity, doctrine cycled from the human spirit to the right lobe provides this. Doctrine in the human spirit is the basis for the erection of the edification complex in the soul, which is, of course, a description of a mature believer. The third “floor” of the edification complex is “agape” love or relaxed mental attitude; the fourth “floor” is capacity for love, which is the actual use of doctrine in all three categories.

The production from capacity to love exhaled out the left and right banks of the soul is the basis for production of divine good. The key to the production of divine good is occupation with Christ, or the function of the edification complex in Category 1 love. This love is unseen, but the backlash toward the human race is obvious in the production of divine good. When you are concentrating on God, divine good automatically emanates from capacity to love. That is the propwash.

If an old “prop job” is going forward, the thrust behind it is propwash. If your thrust is toward God, the propwash coming back is divine good. You don’t worry about it; all you need to do is to go forward. Concentrate on God! Concentrate on Jesus Christi If you concentrate on Bible doctrine, you are going to love God. And if you love God, divine good is something that is just as automatic as is breathing. One produces the other. That is what “pleroo” says here, and it is the reason “pleroo” is so important. You don’t have to think up good deeds. If you love God through Bible doctrine, true Category 1 love is the backlash.

Let me illustrate: if a woman’s relationship with her right man is good, her relationship with everyone is fine. That’s a principle. But she concentrates on the right man. The children, the dog, anyone who happens to be around, in-laws or out-laws, whether they are in or out, doesn’t matter, so long as things are well with her right man. But if they are not, then there will be points flying in all directions — like shattered glass. The thrust forward always leaves something behind, just like the after burner in a jet. So the production of divine good is an overflow from Category 1 love. For example, to forgive as Christ forgave (Eph. 4:32) is an overflow of Category 1 love!

“Pleroo” is used six ways in the New Testament.

(1) It is used for the grace apparatus of perception and the edification complex in Jesus Christ in Luke 2:40.

(2) It is also used for GAP and the ECS in the believer in the Church Age (Eph. 1:23; 3:19; 4:10; Col. 1:9).

(3) It is used for the believer filled with the spirit in Ephesians o:18.

(4) The fulfillment of inner happiness is designated by “pleroo” (John 16:24; 17:13; 1 John 1:4).

(5) In our passage, the production of divine good is related to “pleroo” (Phil. 1:11).

(6)A pastor who is faithful in communicating doctrine is designated as a “pleroo-er” (Col. 1:25).

So much for an exegesis of the principle of love. Now I want to conclude with a categorical summary of the doctrine of love. The first is the general doctrine of love.

General doctrine of love

(1) At the point of salvation, every believer passes the point of propitiation, placing himself immediately under maximum divine love (1 John 2:2).

All believers are the beneficiaries of God’s maximum love. The expression of this maximum love is positional truth. The Father loves you with the same amount of love that He has for His Son, Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:6). And that is where love begins. You do not initiate a thing. I do not initiate a thing. God initiates. God was love in eternity past; therefore, God the Father planned. God the Son was love in eternity past; therefore, God the Son went to the cross and became the Propitiator. God the Holy Spirit was love in eternity past; therefore. He reveals God’s love to those who cannot take in spiritual phenomena — the “psuchikos” man, the soulish man, the one who is spiritually dead — an unbeliever.

(2) For this reason, God can love every believer with a maximum love in spite of the believer’s spiritual status.

Whether you are carnal or spiritual, whether you are a “baby” or a mature believer, God loves you with a maximum love from the moment of salvation. He does not bend His character or His essence in any way to accommodate Himself to your failure or to your success. God’s love does not depend on you at all. It never did! Even in eternity past, long before we existed, God’s love depended on God’s character. The whole concept of love begins right there. You must understand God’s character. God has never changed His character. Instead, He found a way called “grace,” whereby He can love you with a maximum love and whereby everything depends on Him. There are many believers who will never discover this until they get to heaven, and therefore are not benefiting from it now!

(3) Three general categories of love (used primarily in our Bible studies) exist in the human race.

These are categories where there must be capacity on your part. You are born into some relationships of love, such as the parent-child relationship; but you are not born into any of these three categories. CATEGORY ONE LOVE is toward God. The capacity for love of God is “epignosis” — doctrine in the human spirit. CATEGORY TWO LOVE is toward the opposite sex. Again, you didn’t do a thing about it. In eternity past, God provided for you the right one, and that is it! You are not exactly stuck with it; but you are if you don’t have doctrine. Whoever . . . whenever . . , however . . . it takes Bible doctrine and lots of it. CATEGORY THREE LOVE is friendship. Some of you change friends like you change your clothes because you have no capacity in this category. These are all areas of love where capacity must be developed.

(4) In addition to the categories where capacity must be developed, there exists relationship-type love. It is derived from an Attic Greek word, “storge.” It is simply the love of parents for children; and when children finally get some sense, love of children for parents. Children go through a bracket from 0 to about 8 when they seem to have pretty much of a love for their parents; then from 8 to anywhere from 16 to 30, they usually do not. After that, it seems to come back again.

(5) There are two basic Greek words in the New Testament for “love.” They are applied in all categories. The difference between the two words, AGAPE and PHILOS (along with their verbs) is in capacity. Capacity begins with AGAPE, which is mental. Love begins in the mentality of the soul. From there, it spreads throughout the soul, and in the case of Category 2, throughout the body. Category 2 is the only “touching” love; it is physical as well as soulish love. This leads to PHILOS love, which reaches the entire soul. In Category 2 only, we have EROS love, which is physical.

(6) It was Archbishop Trench who first declared that PHILOS was stronger than AGAPE. A very excellent linguist, he discovered that PHILEO and AGAPAO are equivalent to AMO and DELIGO in the Latin of the same period. (See Trench’s “Synonyms of the New Testament,” page 41, for a detailed explanation).

(7) The distinction between AGAPE and PHILOS can be summarized as follows: AGAPE is a mental attitude love, relating to the mentality of the soul, with emphasis on the exclusion of mental attitude sins: the relaxed mental attitude of the edification complex. The soul is made up of self-consciousness, volition, mentality (composed of two lobes), emotion, conscience, and the old sin nature. AGAPE is a matter of perception, and is first of all in the left or perceptive lobe. PHILOS is a total soul love. The difference between them is that AGAPE is a specialized soul love, while PHILOS is a complete soul love, involving all facets of the soul. For example, in Category 2 love, to love someone at first sight and say, “This is my right man or right woman,” would be AGAPE. But after a number of years, when he or she is in your soul, the love becomes PHILOS.

(8) These two words are also used in other ways. It has been erroneously concluded by many that “agapao” or “agape” is always divine love because it occurs in John 3:16. However, in John 3:19, just a few verses away, the unbeliever is the subject of the verb ‘’agapao.” He, too, can have a mental attitude love. His mental attitude love is toward darkness.

(9) All believers are COMMANDED to have AGAPE-type love. The command is fulfilled by the filling of the Spirit, initially (Rom. 5:5; Gal. 5:22). This is also the subject of 1 Corinthians 13. But remember that AGAPE-type love is limited to one part of the soul. PHILOS-type love is never commanded, as it can only exist where the believer is daily inhaling doctrine and erecting an edification complex. It is developed.

(10) There are certain distinctions between divine and human love. In either verb, “phileo” or “agapao,” the distinction depends upon the subject of the verb. If God is the subject of “phileo,” as in John 16:27, then it is divine love. If He is the subject of “agapao,” as in John 3:16, then it is divine love. If a man, who is a believer, is the subject, then it is human love from a believer. If it is an unbeliever, then it is human love from an unbeliever.

(11) Love is not commanded for unity, but for stability in the Angelic Conflict; therefore, love is a weapon. The filling of the Holy Spirit pulls the trigger. However, it results in unity. Satan would distort it into mere sentimentality. Mental attitude love knocks .Satanic dynamics out (1 John 3:14).

Category one love

Category 1 love will keep you straight in everything, and, in addition, give you capacity for happiness! In fact, that is the issue already studied in Philippians 1:9-11. When Paul prayed for love, it was first of all for Category 1 love.

(1) Category 1 love is a response to the love of God; therefore, it is related to God (Deut. 6:5). To believers in the Church Age, we call it “occupation with Christ” (Heb. 12:2).

(2) The capacity for Category 1 love stems from the function of GAP (Phil. 3:7,8; Phil. 9:9; Col. 3:1,2; 2 Tim. 1:13; 2 Pet. 3:18). If you don’t love the Word, you don’t love God.

(3) Maximum love comes from the edification complex of the soul, which is built up by the function of GAP. If you have an edification complex, your response to God’s love will be phenomenal. From that will come a capacity which is phenomenal in Category 2; and even your friendship love will be fantastic. (Eph. 3:17-19; Phil. 1:20,21; 1 John 4:17-18).

(4) For the believer in the Church Age, Category 1 love response occurs first through the filling of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the very spark of love is God the Holy Spirit. You can’t of your own ability even respond to God’s love. There has to be a spark, something to ignite it. The Holy Spirit “turns you on” toward God. That is absolutely essential to understand. That is why “rebound” is so important (1 John 1:9). If you don’t get around to rebounding, you will never be turned on toward God; and you will go through life rendering lip service, which won’t mean a thing. The command to “walk in love” can be fulfilled only by rebound and the filling of the Spirit (Eph. 5:2 compared with 5:18; Gal. 5:16).

(5) Like the right man in Category 2 love, Jesus Christ is the Aggressor in Category 1 love. He initiated in eternity past, and His aggression is called “grace.” Grace is the expression of divine love. It is not only the expression of His character, it is the expression of His love (Eph. 5:25-27; 1 John 4:8-10; 4:19). Right here, I want to remind you of something: responding to any type of love must be from your volition. The response of the woman under Category 2 love doesn’t mean to fold your hands and stare into the sky. You have free will, and the use of your free will is not initiating, it is responding. The believer responds to God’s love on the basis of his free will.

(6) The believer who does not love Christ under Category 1 love is under a special curse and perpetual discipline — self-induced discipline (1 Cor. 16:22). This curse is stated in the Aramaic language: “Anathema Maranatha” — accursed until our Lord comes! If you do not develop the capacity for love, your lack of capacity to love God under Category 1 will reflect in your lack of capacity when you find your right man or right woman or in your lack of capacity in Category 3, which means that you, by your own free will have made yourself miserable, and God doesn’t have to lift a finger to discipline you. You do it yourself!

Never a day will go by but that you stick pins into yourself — by your lack of capacity. You don’t think the tapes are important? You don’t think Bible class is important? They spell out the difference between happiness and self-induced misery! When you are miserable, you try to sublimate. And when you sublimate, you pick up cheap substitutes. It is much easier to do it God’s way - which is to take in Bible doctrine every day as you would take in food — only more so — and develop the

capacity for love.

You are not born again with love. This is one of the greatest misunderstandings of the century. Love is a capacity which must be developed. I have heard it said of a certain person, “So-and-so was born a lover.” He was not born a lover; he was born a baby. I never saw a baby that would make any kind of a lover. Capacity is acquired — and get this now — IN THE SOUL! When it is in the soul, you Won’t have to worry about the body.

(7) Category 1 love is the true motivator for Christian service, such as witnessing (2 Cor. 5:14).

(8) Divine love is initiated through grace; therefore, the capacity of the believer for Category 1 love is intensified by orientation to grace. You begin to love when you build that first floor of the edification complex. And, by the way, as you get this grace orientation, love is intensified in your life by the action of grace. You become a grace lover in every direction: a grace lover toward God, toward right man or right woman, toward friends. (Dan. 9:4; Psa. 31:23; 119:132; 1 Cor. 2:9).

(9) Category 1 love was commanded to all of the Old Testament saints (Deut. 6:5; 10:12; 11:1; 11:13).

(10) Category 1 love is the basis for happiness, as well as capacity, in the other categories (Deut. 30:16). For example, some of you will never be happy at Christmas, no matter what you get, because you do not have capacity for love.

(II) For the believer. Category 1 love is the basis for enjoying life; therefore, capacity to enjoy life is measured in terms of Bible doctrine, and doctrine is measured in terms of the grace system of perception (Deut. 30:20).

(12) Category 1 love also provides courage in battle (Josh. 23:10,11).

(13) Inasmuch as the object of Category 1 love is God, and since God is invisible, we must see God somehow;

therefore, we must see Him through His Word. Conclusion: it is impossible to love God apart from His Word (Psa. 119:165,167; 1 Pet. 1:8).

Category two love

(1) Category 2 love is defined as love, designed by God in eternity past, for a member of the opposite sex. one only!! One per person! God has designed one person of the opposite sex for you. The exception is a rare case of celibacy, as with the Apostle Paul; or a rare case of supreme sacrifice, as with Jeremiah, both designed by God for maximum concentration and production (1 Cor. 9:5). Doctrine takes the place of right man or right woman.

(2) The strength of Category 2 love is declared in Song of Solomon 8:6,7. It is as strong as death, and it cannot be quenched by any pressure in life. And I mean BY ANY PRESSURES Once right man or right woman is in your soul, he or she stays there. One or the other may never do anything of which the opposite one approves; but both are there to stay.

(3) Death destroys pseudo love, as well as mental attitude sins; but death does not destroy Category 2 love. When you die, you have had your last mental attitude sin; there will be no pseudo love left. But even death does not destroy true love (Eccl. 9:5,6).

(4) Category 2 love is exclusive. It is extended to one person of the opposite sex. All others are excluded. Sex love and sex happiness are found in ONE PERSON ONLY (Prov. 5:18-20). This knocks out three things as a basis for sex happiness: masturbation, homosexuality and adultery.

(5) Category 2 love produces an exclusive and perfect happiness, which is self-sustaining and partner-sustaining. It doesn’t depend on anyone or anything else (Prov. 15:17).

(6) Category 2 love is protective: (a) in the absence of a loved one, it provides fragrance of memories (S. of S. 1:13; 4:6). (b) When the partner is present, it provides a banner of protection to the woman (S. of S. 2:4).

(7) Category 2 love illustrates relationship with the Lord. This was true in Israel (Jer. 3; Ezek. 16:8; 23), and is still true in the Church Age (Eph. 5:22-33).

(8) Mental attitude sins attack all forms of true love. Even though you may have the right man or the right woman, you will not fully enjoy him or her unless you have the capacity. The same is true of friends. Mental attitude sins destroy capacity for love in any category. In 1 John 5:18, we are said to have the “right God”; we are born again. But if you have mental attitude sins, you will not appreciate God. In Song of Solomon 8:6, the mental attitude sin of jealousy deprives of capacity for love.

(9) Category 2 love is the provision of God’s grace (Prov. 18:22). This verse says literally in the Hebrew: “Whosoever finds the right woman receives grace from the Lord.”

(10) God has set aside time in each life for Category 2 love (Eccl. 3:8). God is not unfair! He not only has provided for you a right man or right woman, but he even provided for you the time. The only trouble is, you can wreck it. Certain functions in life can destroy this time that God provides. For example, not waiting on the Lord for the right man or right woman; that knocks time out right there. Drug addiction will knock it out; premarital sex, mental attitude sins — anything that attacks the soul!

(11) Since the woman is the responder, she must be taught how to love under Category 2 love (Tit. 2:4). Not necessarily in the physical part, but in the soulish. A woman who gets the right man will learn in the physical realm because her body is designed to respond. But a woman’s soul must be taught. Interestingly enough a man’s soul does not have to be taught, for the man is the aggressor.

(12) Marriage is the sanctification and framework of Category 2 love (1 Thess. 4:3,4; Heb. 13:4).

(13) The glory of Category 2 love is declared in its analogy to doctrine (1 Cor. 11:7).

Category three love

(1) Category 3 love is defined as the relationship, non-touching, with either male or female friends (Prov. 17:17; 18:24). The number of these friends vary. However, sometimes friends are not really friends; you just think they are. And sometimes friends are really friends, but you don’t know it. So don’t worry about the number. Remember that Categories 1 and 3 are strictly a soul relationship. Only Category 2 love is a physical relationship. This means that every part of the body which

might be erogenous or connected with sex was designed only for Category 2 love.

That is one reason why idolatry was so far off base. Idolatry used sex as a part of worship. It was supposed to be Category 1 love for God. But there is no sex in either Category 1 or Category 3 love. They are strictly soul relationships. That is why you cannot have a Category 1 relationship until your soul is saved. At the point of regeneration — when you believe in Christ — your soul is saved, and you are at that moment qualified to enjoy Category 1 love. The other two loves — 2 and 3 — can exist in unbelievers.

(2) Category 3 love has great stability and power (2 Sam. 1:26; Prov. 27:9; John 15:13; Gal. 5:4).

(3) Category 3 love provides pleasant and relaxing environment (Prov. 10:12; Rom. 13:10). If you are up-tight around certain people — that isn’t friendship. True friends are people around whom you can relax. Up-tightness always comes from mental attitude sins; it is a physical or bodily reaction to a soulish attitude. If you are up-tight all the time, you are on the border of some psychotic or neurotic condition, and you have either no capacity or limited capacity for love.

(4) Category 3 love is free from hypocrisy (Rom. 12:9). If you strap it on all your friends, it is not true friendship.

(5) Category 3 love is outgoing in objectivity. It is not subjective, nor hypersensitive. If you have your feelings on your sleeve, and you drop someone because he said something unkind — that is subjectivity or hypersensitivity; and hypersensitivity destroys capacity for love (2 Sam. 1:26; Gal. 5:13).

(6) Category 3 love among believers motivates to grace orientation and grace activity (Philem. 9-12).

(7) Therefore, Category 3 love is motivated to give on the basis of its capacity (1 Sam. 18:1, 3, 4). All of the areas of love include in their capacity the ability to give.

(8) Category 3 love, like the others, has enemies that can destroy it: (a) mental attitude sins (Job 19:19). Job had three “friends.” They came to commiserate, and they stayed to knock him down with mental attitude sins. (b) Sins of the tongue (Prov. 16:28: 17:9). © National catastrophe (Jer. 6:21-23; 19:8,9; 20:4,6). Jeremiah lost friends, true friends, in the national catastrophe of Judah.

(9) Category 3 love or friendship can be counterfeited. Therefore, we have the principle of pseudo friendship in Proverbs 19:6,7. God has used, as a part of extreme discipline, the removal of Category 3 love (Psa. 38:11; 88:18).

Concepts of love

(1) A person’s declaration of love is no stronger than the character of the person.

(2) Christ had an edification complex of the soul and therefore had a maximum capacity for love.

(3) Christ was perfect in character, therefore perfect in His love.

(4) The love of Christ did not depend on us, but on His character-grace love.

(5) Love of this nature must express itself, and it did — at the cross. Ephesians 5:2: “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.” The first response acceptable to God from any member of the human race is the response toward the sacrifice of His Son. “What think ye of Christ?”

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).