The Essence of Agape Love in the New Testament - Essay Example

1John 2:19-20 NRSV Introduction The word ‘agape’ is best used to describe sacrificial, selfless, unconditional love, which has all these four types of love best described in the Bible. The word has various forms of love found in the Greek community, some are found in the Bible. However, this word is used to describe the love of Jesus Christ for his Father and His followers. The word describes love that has become appropriated in Christian theology as love of God or love of Jesus Christ for mankind. Discussion In the Bible, particularly the New Testament, the word ‘agape love’ refers to the covenant love of God for humans, in addition to the human reciprocal love for God. The word necessarily extends to the love of man and his fellows. The majority of scholars have thought of this word to represent divine, self-sacrificing, volitional, unconditional, active, and thoughtful love. Despite the word not having specific religious connotation, it has been used by a majority of ancient and contemporary sources which include the Bible authors and Christian authors. (Wahlde, 2010) In the Old Testament, the Hebrew used the word ahab to describe love, it was also used in extensive ways and milieus as the English term: sexual love, love of humanity by God, love of spouse or child, friendship, and so on. In the New Testament, the word ‘agape’ was used without bringing in too much philosophical or theological baggage because the word was Greek. Thus, among the majority of early Christians, the word ‘agape’ was used to refer to the unearned love of God for humanity. This love is so immense that God sent his only son to agonize and pass away for the sake of the sins of mankind. The essence of agape love in the New Testament is, therefore, self-sacrifice. It does not denote the romantic or sexual love of English. It is unique and is distinguished by its characters and nature. According the Book of John, it affirms that agape is love which is of and from God, whose exact nature is said to be love itself. The apostle affirms that God is love. This implies that God does not only love, but he is love itself. Therefore, everything that God does flows from His love. Therefore, agape has received a broader usage with the Christian writers. It has, however, been denoted to Christian love or charity or God himself. Agape has been expounded by on by various Christian writers some of which we are going to look at. The most common attribute of agape love that will be realized in their writings is that it is a high kind of love that is selfless, and contributes to passionate commitment to the wellbeing of the other. With reference to 1 John 2 19-20, we try to realize the kind of commitment one is required to have in trying to demonstrate love to his community and faith in God. The book tells us that once we have a feeling of belonging to a community, family or part of any tradition, it is not worth to walk out of it. In this excerpt, the author writes to the Christian community trying to warn them of the advent of antichrist. It is not easy to tell when this book was written. However, it is known that it was written by John, one of the apostles of Christ at around A.D. 180. He refers to them – the antichrists – as opponents who depart or go out from the Christian community. According to the author, their departure means that they were actually never part of the Christian family. In order to understand the importance of this verse, one must first comprehend the setting and the background of the bone of contention that had been hugely reflected in John 1 and 2. 1 John 19 – 20 strongly suggests that there was – before the dispute at present – a time when those departing the Christian community considered themselves as part of the community. The antichrists have now departed from the congregation, the Christian community due to this cause of disagreement – disagreement over Christological doctrines. As observed by several recent scholarships, the leaving of the opponents was out of their free will – they are secessionists. This is because no evidence exists to suggest that the opponents were expelled because of an initiative by the Christian Community. This demonstrates the power of the agape love that is the Christological doctrine – the unending, unconditional love of Christ for His followers. Within the congregations’ of the Apostle Paul, these disagreements and divisions regarding the Christological doctrines were also noted, but never actually led to departures. The Community of the Beloved Disciple, a book by R.E. Brown, describes love as a commitment of an individual to his/her community that surrounds him/her. He describes Johannine reflection and incredible struggle of his community as fascinating. He encourages the community to be engaging and readable. He suggests that Christians should simultaneously move outward to preach the gospel even to communities that are hostile to it. The book describes how the gospel should be used to fortify the understanding of Jesus more deeply. The relationship of Johannine to outsiders is set up on a ground re union between fallen humanity and the word made flesh. (Smith, 59-100). Brown suggests that the greater urgency and commitment of the Johannine and his community is to bring true believers to confess in Jesus. This is because of fear of being thrown out of the synagogue and threatened with death. (Brown, 1979, 93-144) The practical manifestation for Johannine thought of love and the world are manifold. Despite the fact that the community is faced with rejection and persecutions from all sides, the missional desire remains in the Gospel and amplified message. In his book The Expository Times: What’s New since Brooke’s ICC, M.D. Smith remains worthwhile in helping describe the Johannine Epistle. He takes issues with the apparent rejection of the significance of the human truth of Jesus for the sacrifice for sin on the cross. The schismatics do not perceive that failure to love fellow believers is denial of claim to know God and sin. The necessity of love to reveal the authentic Christian is stressed in this book. Conclusion We, therefore, realize the necessity of Johannine writings and the historical circumstances that they may go further to explain. The most important of them all is teachings on love that entails love of God demonstrated by the struggle of the Christians spread the gospel. Despite the rejection that a majority of them come across during their missions, they still hold on to love to manage the spread of the word. Therefore, we realize the kind of love evangelists are supposed to demonstrate during their mission requires sacrifice and unconditional perseverance. Bibliography Smith, M. D., 2009. The Expository Times, What’s New since Brook's ICC in 1912; The Epistle of John. (120), pp. 373-384. Brown, R. E., 1979. The Community of the Beloved Disciple. New York: Paulist Press. P. 93-144. Charlesworth, J. H., 1995. The Beloved Disciple, Whose witness Validates the Gospel of John? Valley Forge: Trinity Press International. Malina, B. J., 1998. Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John. Minneapolis: Fotres. Oord, T.J., 2007. The Altruism Reader: Selections from Writings on Love, Religion, and Science. West Conshohocken, Penn: Templeton Foundation Press. Wahlde, U.C. von, 2010. The Gospel and Letters of John. Grand Rapids: Mich Eerdmans. Read More