ECT What Is Love?
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oatmeal
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The best brief definition of love that I have ever been taught was taught by Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille, the founder of The Way International
He referred to John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that gave His only begotten son....."
God so loved the world that what action did He take?
He gave.
God so loved that He gave.
He did not wish for a feeling of being loved.
He did not whine about not being loved
He did not complain.
He did not condemn people for not loving.
He gave.
Love is giving of oneself for the benefit of others.
Of course, God gave the greatest He could give at that time, His only begotten son.
He did not hold back in His giving, He gave His best.
WeberHome
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● Eph 5:21 . . Submit to one another out of respect for Christ.
The koiné Greek word for "submit" is hupotasso (hoop-ot-as'-so) which means: to subordinate (as a verb) which is just the opposite of dominance, equality, and/or rivalry and competition.
A workable synonym for the kind of submission we're talking about here is "deference" which Webster's defines as: (1) respect and esteem due a superior or an elder, and (2) affected, or ingratiating, regard for another's wishes; viz: honor.
This isn't about a pecking order. What we're talking about here is a Christian social skill; it's about regarding others as not equal to yourself, but actually better than yourself; and it pleases Christ to do so; besides being just plain all around good manners.
● Matt 18:3-4 . . Whoever humbles himself as a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Little children in that day were minors who had little or no social status at all to speak of. If somebody abused a minor; it was just too bad since there were no Child Services bureaus to defend them. Minors were typically among the ruled rather than among those who do the ruling; and they got like zero-to-none respect from their elders.
In other words, an imperious Christian-- one that's assertive, bossy, take charge, demanding, argumentative, quarrelsome, impudent, conceited, domineering, confrontational, manipulative, reactive, independent, non negotiable, opinionated, obstinately or intolerantly devoted to their own opinions and prejudices, stubborn, and insistent upon their own way --is definitely a failure at subordinating themselves to their fellow Christians in a manner consistent with the Lord's instructions.
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● Eph 5:21 . . Submit to one another out of respect for Christ.
The koiné Greek word for "submit" is hupotasso (hoop-ot-as'-so) which means: to subordinate (as a verb) which is just the opposite of dominance, equality, and/or rivalry and competition.
A workable synonym for the kind of submission we're talking about here is "deference" which Webster's defines as: (1) respect and esteem due a superior or an elder, and (2) affected, or ingratiating, regard for another's wishes; viz: honor.
This isn't about a pecking order. What we're talking about here is a Christian social skill; it's about regarding others as not equal to yourself, but actually better than yourself; and it pleases Christ to do so; besides being just plain all around good manners.
● Matt 18:3-4 . . Whoever humbles himself as a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Little children in that day were minors who had little or no social status at all to speak of. If somebody abused a minor; it was just too bad since there were no Child Services bureaus to defend them. Minors were typically among the ruled rather than among those who do the ruling; and they got like zero-to-none respect from their elders.
In other words, an imperious Christian-- one that's assertive, bossy, take charge, demanding, argumentative, quarrelsome, impudent, conceited, domineering, confrontational, manipulative, reactive, independent, non negotiable, opinionated, obstinately or intolerantly devoted to their own opinions and prejudices, stubborn, and insistent upon their own way --is definitely a failure at subordinating themselves to their fellow Christians in a manner consistent with the Lord's instructions.
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● Eph 5:25-27 . . Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Christ's love for the church is expressed in the grammatical past tense, which indicates he loved his own even before they existed in real life; which makes sense seeing as how the Bible says that Christ was the lamb slain before the cosmos was completed; and the names of the people in his church were already on record. (1Pet 1:19-20 and Rev 13:8 cf. Eph 1:4 and Rev 17:8)
Though Christ went to the cross for the whole world's benefit, it was the church that he had in mind all along. (1Tim 4:10)
I suppose any number of sermons could be written based upon Eph 5:25-27 but we need to keep moving.
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● Eph 5:25-27 . . Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Christ's love for the church is expressed in the grammatical past tense, which indicates he loved his own even before they existed in real life; which makes sense seeing as how the Bible says that Christ was the lamb slain before the cosmos was completed; and the names of the people in his church were already on record. (1Pet 1:19-20 and Rev 13:8 cf. Eph 1:4 and Rev 17:8)
Though Christ went to the cross for the whole world's benefit, it was the church that he had in mind all along. (1Tim 4:10)
I suppose any number of sermons could be written based upon Eph 5:25-27 but we need to keep moving.
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