Luke 6:27,32-33 (NKJV) “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, …..“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
God asked us to love not only our loved ones but also our enemies. We need to renew our minds and understand what Agape love is, so we can love others with Agape love, which is an unconditional love, in contrast to Phileo love, a conditional love.
Phileo love is an emotional love. It means being a friend to someone, being fond of them, or showing affection for another. Friendship love requires attention and is based on the qualities in another person that you find admirable or attractive. Phileo love thrives on reciprocity and cannot endure for long without a response from the other. It gives as long as it receives, thus making it a conditional love.
Romans 5:8 (NKJV) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God’s kind of love, Agape love, is written all over the Bible. God initiated the plan of salvation. He conceived it long before the foundation of the world, by establishing the Abrahamic Covenant, so that He could resolve the sin issue that separated us from Him. It is a love by choice so that all the families of the earth would be blessed without exception. All of us can be saved through the blood of Jesus Christ. God demonstrated His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He has chosen not to leave or forsake us by establishing the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood, and not to remember our sins and lawless deeds because of His Agape love for us. God is aware of the weakness of our flesh. Therefore, He has chosen to see us in Christ so that we will always be seen as righteous, holy and blameless. All this is done out of Agape love, in spite of our imperfection. He doesn’t consider our worth because He has chosen to love us irrespective of our current state. Agape love keeps loving because it is unconditional.
Jesus expects us to use the same kind of Agape love towards everyone, Christians and non-Christians, regardless of whether they love us or not. We are to love our neighbours and enemies with this love through the new creation and with His nature within us. This kind of love can only be lived out through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. It should be regarded not as a law, but as a natural outflow of the heart. It represents a new lifestyle.
Sermon Series: Dying to Self
以祂的爱去爱
路加福音6:27,32-33 只是我告诉你们这听道的人：要爱你们的仇敌，善待那些恨你们的人……如果你们只爱那些爱你们的人，有什么可称赞的呢？就连罪人也爱那些爱他们的人。如果你们只善待那些善待你们的人，有什么可称赞的呢？就连罪人也会这样做。
神呼召我们不仅要爱亲近的人，也要爱仇敌。我们需要心意更新而变化，真正明白什么是圣爱（Agape），才能以这种无条件的爱去爱人—这与有条件的情爱（Phileo）截然不同。
“情爱”是一种感性之爱，表现为友谊的亲密、对人的喜爱或情感的依附。这种爱需要互动维系，建立在对他人特质的欣赏之上。情爱依赖彼此回应，若得不到反馈就难以持久。它以付出换取回报，因此是一种有条件的爱。
罗马书5:8 惟有基督在我们还作罪人的时候为我们死，神的爱就在此向我们显明了。
神的爱—圣爱（Agape），遍满圣经的每一页。 神主动设立了救恩的计划，早在创世之前，祂就藉着与亚伯拉罕立约，定意要解决罪使我们与祂隔绝的问题。这是一种拣选的爱，为要使地上万族都无一例外地蒙福。我们所有人都能藉着耶稣基督的宝血得救。神这样显明祂对我们的爱，当我们还作罪人的时候，基督就为我们死了。祂藉着基督的血立下新约，定意不撇下我们，也不丢弃我们；因着祂的圣爱，祂不再记念我们的过犯罪孽。神深知我们肉体的软弱，因此，祂选择在基督里看我们——使我们永远被算为公义、圣洁、无可指摘。这一切都是出于圣爱，尽管我们并不完全，祂却不计算我们的价值，只因祂定意爱我们，不论我们光景如何。圣爱永不止息，因它本是无条件的爱。
主耶稣期待我们以同样的神圣的爱对待所有人，无论信徒非信徒、爱我们或恨我们的人。藉着重生的新生命与祂的内住，我们能够以这样的爱对待邻舍与仇敌。这爱惟有靠圣灵在心中的运行才能活出来，不是律法要求，而是生命自然的流露。这是一种全新的生活方式。
讲章系列： 治死老我
Image Source：pixabay.com