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Fruit of the Spirit: Love
July 15, 2017

In Paul's epistle to the Galatians which was part of the study last week, he wrote about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit. We will focus attention to the fruit of the spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance, and we will start with the love. Love is translated from the Greek word transliterated as agapé.

Strong's Biblical Concordance numbers agapé as 26 and several on-line bible tools provide easy access to a deeper understanding of the word. Agapé is love as God would love. Agapé was the type of love God had for Jesus and the type of love that Jesus has for us. The love that we have when we lay down our lives for our friends is derived from agapé.

John 15:9-13
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Agapé is the love that could become cold due to the lawlessness of others if we allow this. When agapé leaves, it is replaced with bitterness and hate. When agapé leaves or never present, it is easy to be offended. In today's society, we seem to live among many who are easily offended by words. We are warned that it is only those who endure to the end who will be saved.

Matthew 24:7-14
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Agapé is the love that we have when the love of the Father is in us. Having the love of the Father is not of this world and clashes with lust that often masquerades as love. Lust and all the evils that we see in this world will one day not exist. Those who have the love of the Father within them will do the will of God and will live forever.

1 John 2:15-17
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Love, the Greek agapé, is a fruit of the Spirit against which there is no law. Those who live a life with agapé live a life where Jesus and the Father are part of their life as they do the will of God in their life. Next week, we will continue this study and will consider joy.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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