00:00 Love Does Not Affirm What Destroys
00:40 What Is Biblical Love? (1 John 4)
02:56 1 Corinthians 13: A Different Love
04:42 Natural Love vs God's Love
08:23 The Spirit Pours Out God's Love
09:33 Loving Your Spouse as Worship
11:50 Love and Obedience (John 14:15)
14:02 Every Decision Is a Love Choice
15:18 Brotherly Affection
17:23 Love Rejoices in the Truth
21:36 God's Love in the Church
Please subscribe to the Straight Truth Podcast channel for more biblical exposition. We encourage you to listen to the sermons linked below, that reflect solid reformed theology and clear expository preaching that will help you gain a deeper understanding of love as taught by God in His holy and sure word.
Why Christians Love Each Other: https://youtu.be/O8HowgGvMuc
The Qualities of Biblical Love: https://youtu.be/KShh4Kz8yQU
The Fruit of the Spirit: https://youtu.be/4aZfwuFULP0
Really Loving Christ - Part 1: https://youtu.be/OVAarOHu4X4
Really Loving Christ - Part 2: https://youtu.be/KuICFKWFtM4
What does the Bible say about love? How do the Scriptures present and ultimately display love, is love a feeling or a choice? What does it mean to practice biblical love in an unloving world? Rather than letting the culture define love, believers must look to Scripture to understand the holy, sacrificial love that comes from God.
Host Josh Philpot and Pastor Richard Caldwell examine what biblical love is, where it originates, and how it shows up in marriage, family, friendships, church, and culture. Reading 1 John 4:7-8 and verse 10, Josh notes that love is from God, God is love, and this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Yet most of the world would not understand this or even define love this way. Pastor Caldwell, thinking about Romans 12, says, to properly understand biblical love believers must not be conformed to the world's mold in their way of thinking and understanding, but must evaluate and process what love is by the standard of Scripture.
From 1 Corinthians 13:4-6, he shows that biblical love is patient, kind, not jealous, bragging, arrogant, selfish, or easily provoked, keeps no record of wrongs, and does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. Culture distorts love by calling homosexuality and premarital sex love, though they are sexual immorality, not love. There is such a thing as natural common-grace love that we have for family and friends, loving those who love us, but it's horizontal and human-centered. Salvation reveals God's holy, sacrificial love, by the reconciling of sinners to Himself through His Son's death. God's love poured out within us through the Spirit in salvation fills us with a love that is vertical and God-centered.
That supernatural love enabled by the Spirit changes us. It produces fruit of the Spirit in our lives that's revealed through us as we walk in submission to God and His word. Pastor Caldwell shares an example of this love in his daily Christian living. He's been married for 43 years, humanly speaking he loves his wife, but also, he loves his wife as an act of worship to the Lord, Christ's love for the church being the standard. Other examples he points out are parents who love their children by pointing them to Christ, praying for them, and modeling the truth. In friendships, believers apply 1 Corinthians 13:4 by rejoicing when a friend is promoted instead of being jealous.
Love and obedience in the Bible go hand in hand. In John 14:15 ("If you love me, you will keep my commandments") and 1 John, obedience is the fruit of love and love's choice. Scripture presents love first as a devotional choice to prefer God above rivals like money or sin, fulfilling the greatest commandment to love God and neighbor. In each decision, facing a temptation, a hard marriage, or a boss who mistreats you, the question is, how will you respond, how will you love and serve the Lord right there? Love also touches the affections, as in Romans 12 on brotherly affection, Peter's call to love one another earnestly (1 Peter 1), and Paul caring for the Thessalonians like a nursing mother (1 Thessalonians 2).
Christian love does not affirm someone in a course that leads to destruction; rather, believers will go about speaking truth in love to them. In 1 Corinthians 13, love does not rejoice in wrongdoing. Instead, it tells the truth with compassion and humility, appealing like a beggar who has been shown great mercy by the Lord. We do this out of love for those living in sin for, as Psalm 1 teaches, those who continue in wickedness will suffer eternal loss. Because this standard is difficult to maintain alone, being part of a local church is imperative, it helps to keep us accountable to God and each other. Ultimately, God's love is uniquely displayed in healthy churches, where believers are faithfully equipped to carry that love into the workplace, school, and world as ambassadors of Christ.
