Exploring the Depths of Divine Love: Eros, Philein, Agape

"In the English language, we get the English word erotic from this Greek word, because eros refers to a sensuous love, a love that is heavily laden with sexual overtones, but not only that, in classical Greek, the word for love, eros, also carried with it the baggage of the demonic. And it was the kind of love that was often celebrated in pagan rituals, particularly in temple prostitution, and the orgies of the ancient world, where people would celebrate love by getting drunk, and stuffing themselves with gourmet delights of food, and getting to the place where they were unbridled in their expression of sexuality and turned it into orgies." [00:03:51]

"Now, usually we think of phileo or philein as being a kind of love that is experienced among friends -- where we like each other, have a deep affection for each other, but it falls short of the transcendent kind of love that is spoken of in supernatural terms in the New Testament with respect to agape. We can speak of the love of one's neighbor, or again just being good friends with people and exercising friendship." [00:07:15]

"But the supreme concept of love that we find in the New Testament is this word agape, which has its ground and foundation in the character of God himself. And it is this kind of love that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. Remember when we started this study of the love of God, we looked at John's teaching in the epistles where John says, you know that we ought to love one another because love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God." [00:07:54]

"One of the most radical teachings of Jesus is the command that he gives to his disciples to love their enemies. I remember listening to Jay Adams lectures many, many years ago about the problem of how marriages are breaking up with increasing facility in our country, and he told about talking to a person who was about to get divorced, and he said, this person said to Jay when he was counseling him, that he wanted to divorce his wife because he didn't love her anymore." [00:10:27]

"And Jay said, 'Well, wait a minute. You're commanded to love her. The Bible says 'Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church'. It's not optional for you. You can't decide that you don't love her anymore. You must love your wife.' He says, 'It's not that I just don't love her,' he said, 'I just don't want to live in the same house with her.' And Jay said to him, 'Well, suppose she moved out, or you moved out, and moved next door. Then she would be your neighbor, and God says you have to love your neighbor.'" [00:11:17]

"And this man said to Dr. Adams, 'You don't understand. I can't stand this woman. I don't even want to live in the same neighborhood.' Dr. Adams says, 'Oh, I see. What you're telling me is that you have feelings of hostility towards her.' And he said, 'Yes, that's true.' He said, 'In other words, you regard her as your enemy.' And the guy could see what was coming. He said, 'Do I need to remind you what Christ commands his people -- to love your enemies.'" [00:12:04]

"It's a radical thought that Jesus introduced in the Sermon on the Mount when he said to his disciples that they were called to transcend human boundaries of love even to love their enemies. Let's look at the text. I've reproduced it in my book on 'Loved By God,' which I've been trying to follow the basic outline of this book in this series of lectures. But here in Matthew 5:43-48 we read this: 'Jesus said, 'You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.''" [00:12:42]

"When Jesus uses the introductory phrase 'It is written' he is making specific and explicit reference to the Old Testament Scriptures. When he uses the phrase 'You have heard it said' he is referring, he's using language, an idiomatic expression that his contemporaries understood that he was referring to the halacha, which was the oral tradition of the rabbis, the rabbis who developed their theology, which often departed from the teachings of the Old Testament." [00:13:24]

"And so he said, 'You've heard it said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies. Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good.' This is the love of beneficence here. 'And he sends rain on the just and on the unjust.'" [00:14:26]

"Therefore you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect.' Now, what Jesus is saying here, is that you should be complete, just as your Father is complete. That is, to be complete in the absolute sense is to have it all together, or what we call integrity. And Jesus is saying you are to manifest and to imitate nothing less than the integrity of almighty God, who loves people even when they hate him, who does good to those who persecute his own Son, and you are called to transcend the normal, human feelings of hatred and vengeance that mark fallen humanity now that you are in the kingdom, you are to live out a kingdom ethic, the essence of which is this doctrine of love." [00:15:19]

"Finally he says to him the third time, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?' But this time, Jesus shifts to philein, after Peter has just told him twice that he loved him, and with that same word. Now, Jesus uses the word back, and said, 'Do you love me like that?' And it said, 'Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?'' You can't help but draw the inference that the reason for the three-fold inquiry, the interrogation, Jesus asks him three times, because three times he'd been asked by the world, 'Do you know him?' and three times Simon Peter publicly repudiated Jesus." [00:21:03]

"And so now as he's being restored as a disciple, Jesus asks him, 'Peter, do you love me?' 'Yes, Lord, I love you.' 'Peter, do you love me?' 'Yes, I love you.' 'Peter, do you love me?' Three times. How could Peter miss the significance of that? And no wonder he was grieved. 'Jesus said to him again, 'Feed my sheep. Most assuredly I say to you, when you were younger you girded yourself and walked where you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and somebody else will gird you and carry you where you do not wish',' signifying prophetically the martyrdom that Peter would experience." [00:21:57]