“LOVE GROWING COLD” It is important to differentiate between this Agape love and the other types of love mentioned in the Bible. Phileo love means to be a friend to or to be fond of a person or object, indicating having affection for, whereas Strongs Concordance notes that Agape is wider, embracing especially the judgment and the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety (emphasis ours). Similarly, Philadelphia love means fraternal affection or brotherly love. Agape love, though, is manifested first toward God, because it is a dutiful, submissive, obedient love, one that does what is right regardless of how a person feels about it. In other words, Agape love has a MORAL CORE rather than an EMOTIONAL one. The Bible shows that, in general, we show Agape love to the Father through our Obedience and Submission, especially to His law. We show Agape love to each other through Sacrifice, just as Jesus example of love—to those around Him and to us—was through Sacrifice. … In this prophecy, Jesus Christ is describing an ongoing breakdown in the relationship with God. Since that most important relationship is the source of Agape love, if it is waning, then it will be evident in other relationships. A symptom may be that Sacrificial love toward other people is decreasing, but the real cause is that the RELATIONSHIP with God is COOLING OFF. A cause of this deterioration is found in the preceding verse: Then many False Prophets will rise up and Deceive many. While a true prophet always upholds Gods law, a false prophet is willing to compromise with Gods standard of holiness when it SUITS him. Those following a false teacher will likewise slide into lawlessness, becoming SEPARATED FROM GOD. Christ’s Church EXISTS to SERVE: “OFFERING A BETTER LIFE FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY”
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 13:04:14 +0000