1. Source of Man's Love:
Whatever love there is in man, whether it be toward God or toward his fellowman, has its source in God--"Love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (1Jo 4:7 f); "We love, because he first loved us" (1Jo 4:19). Trench, in speaking of agape, says it is a word born within the bosom of revealed religion. Heathen writers do not use it at all, their nearest approach to it being philanthropia or philadelphia--the love betweeen those of the same blood. Love in the heart of man is the offspring of the love of God. Only the regenerated heart can truly love as God loves; to this higher form of love the unregenerate can lay no claim (1Jo 4:7,19,21; 2:7-11; 3:10; 4:11 f). The regenerate man is able to see his fellow-man as God sees him, value him as God values him, not so much because of what he is by reason of his sin and unloveliness, but because of what, through Christ, he may become; he sees man's intrinsic worth and possibility in Christ (2Co 5:14-17). This love is also created in the heart of man by the Holy Ghost (Ro 5:5), and is a fruit of the Spirit (Ga 5:22). It is also stimulated by the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, more than anyone else, manifested to the world the spirit and nature of true love (Joh 13:34; 15:12; Ga 2:20; Eph 5:25-27; 1Jo 4:9 f).
2. Objects of Man's Love:
God must be the first and supreme object of man's love; He must be loved with all the heart, mind, soul and strength (Mt 22:37 f; Mr 12:29-34). In this last passage the exhortation to supreme love to God is connected with the doctrine of the unity of God (De 6:4 f)--inasmuch as the Divine Being is one and indivisible, so must our love to Him be undivided. Our love to God is shown in the keeping of His commandments (Ex 20:6; 1Jo 5:3; 2Jo 1:6). Love is here set forth as more than a mere affection or sentiment; it is something that manifests itself, not only in obedience to known Divine commands, but also in a protecting and defense of them, and a seeking to know more and more of the will of God in order to express love for God in further obedience (compare De 10:12). Those who love God will hate evil and all forms of worldliness, as expressed in the avoidance of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life (Ps 97:10; 1Jo 2:15-17). Whatever there may be in his surroundings that would draw the soul away from God and righteousness, that the child of God will avoid. Christ, being God, also claims the first place in our affections. He is to be chosen before father or mother, parent, or child, brother or sister, or friend (Mt 10:35-38; Lu 14:26). The word "hate" in these passages does not mean to hate in the sense in which we use the word today. It is used in the sense in which Jacob is said to have "hated" Leah (Ge 29:31), that is, he loved her less than Rachel; "He loved also Rachel more than Leah" (Ge 29:30). To love Christ supremely is the test of true discipleship (Lu 14:26), and is an unfailing mark of the elect (1Pe 1:8). We prove that we are really God's children by thus loving His Son (Joh 8:42). Absence of such love means, finally, eternal separation (1Co 16:22).
Man must love his fellow-man also. Love for the brotherhood is a natural consequence of the love of the fatherhood; for "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother" (1Jo 3:10). For a man to say "I love God" and yet hate his fellowman is to brand himself as "a liar" (1Jo 4:20); "He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen" (1Jo 4:20); he that loveth God will love his brother also (1Jo 4:21). The degree in which we are to love our fellow-man is "as thyself" (Mt 22:39), according to the strict observance of law. Christ set before His followers a much higher example than that, however. According to the teaching of Jesus we are to supersede this standard: "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (Joh 13:34). The exhibition of love of this character toward our fellow-man is the badge of true discipleship. It may be called the sum total of our duty toward our fellow-man, for "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfillment of the law"; "for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law" (Ro 13:8,10). The qualities which should characterize the love which we are to manifest toward our fellow-men are beautifully set forth in 1Co 13:1-13. It is patient and without envy; it is not proud or self-elated, neither does it behave discourteously; it does not cherish evil, but keeps good account of the good; it rejoices not at the downfall of an enemy or competitor, but gladly hails his success; it is hopeful, trustful and forbearing--for such there is no law, for they need none; they have fulfilled the law.
Nor should it be overlooked that our Lord commanded His children to love their enemies, those who spoke evil of them, and despitefully used them (Mt 5:43-48). They were not to render evil for evil, but contrariwise, blessing. The love of the disciple of Christ must manifest itself in supplying the necessities, not of our friends only (1Jo 3:16-18), but also of our enemies (Ro 12:20 f).
Our love should be "without hypocrisy" (Ro 12:9); there should be no pretense about it; it should not be a thing of mere word or tongue, but a real experience manifesting itself in deed and truth (1Jo 3:18). True love will find its expression in service to man: "Through love be servants one to another" (Ga 5:13). What more wonderful illustration can be found of ministering love than that set forth by our Lord in the ministry of foot-washing as found in Joh 13:1-38? Love bears the infirmities of the weak, does not please itself, but seeks the welfare of others (Ro 15:1-3; Php 2:21; Ga 6:2; 1Co 10:24); it surrenders things which may be innocent in themselves but which nevertheless may become a stumbling-block to others (Ro 14:15,21); it gladly forgives injuries (Eph 4:32), and gives the place of honor to another (Ro 12:10). What, then, is more vital than to possess such love? It is the fulfillment of the royal law (Jas 2:8), and is to be put above everything else (Col 3:14); it is the binder that holds all the other graces of the Christian life in place (Col 3:14); by the possession of such love we know that we have passed from death unto life (1Jo 3:14), and it is the supreme test of our abiding in God and God in us (1Jo 4:12,16).
William Evans