DUTY-LOVE (PHILEO) ILLUSTRATED.
"He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." – Matt. 10:37.
Duty-love to our family relatives is right, but it must not equal our duty-love toward the Lord, else we can never follow him as "overcomers."
"He that loveth his life shall lose it." – John 12:25.
It is our duty to love life, in the sense of appreciating it and being unwilling to destroy it or waste it foolishly; but he who has become Christ's disciple and who is pledged to walk in his footsteps even unto death is to remember that he has already surrendered his life as a man, exchanging it for the hope of life as a "new creature," a spiritual being. He is no longer to be controlled by phileo or duty-love toward earthly life, but, moved by agape love, he is to willingly lay down his natural life in the service of God – "for the brethren."
"For the Father himself loveth you, BECAUSE ye have loved me." – John 16:27.
In both of these cases phileo signifies duty-love. This was the highest form of love the disciples as a whole could as yet appreciate, as Peter testified. And the Father's love for them was the same duty-love: the disciples had not yet received the holy spirit and its agape or higher disinterested love and its character, and hence the Father could not love them for themselves but exercised a duty-love toward them merely because they had attained a duty-love toward Christ and had become his friends and disciples.
"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own." – John 15:19.
Phileo or duty-love is exercised by the worldly parent and child and neighbor on the selfish basis – "his own."
"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha [ – he shall be accursed or condemned to the Second Death when the Lord comes]." – 1 Cor. 16:22.
An appreciation of the work of Christ will be expected of all when brought to a knowledge of the salvation which God has provided in him: and whoever refuses to respond in phileo or duty-love will be cut off from life early in the Millennial reign. But those who exercise the phileo or duty-love will be expected to press forward and to attain the "mark" of agape love, true, disinterested character love, – if they would attain life everlasting. Thank God that the present life does not close the door of opportunity to any that have never known phileo or duty-love, nor to many who have known this, but have not yet attained agapee.
"Love of money," "lovers of their own selves," "loveth to have preeminence," "lovers of pleasure," "lover of hospitality," and friend, are from phileo, duty-love or a love which has a cause or demand upon it. Peter exhorts that we add to brotherly kindness (phileo) the next and higher grade of disinterested love – agape. – 2 Pet. 1:7.
DISINTERESTED LOVE (AGAPEE) ILLUSTRATED.
"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son." – John 3:16.
The love prompting man's redemption was not phileo or duty-love, for God had not wronged his creature in the sentence of death; nor had man ever done anything for his Creator which could put the latter under obligation or duty-love in return. God's love prompting to our redemption was agape, or disinterested charity, benevolence, love.
"God commandeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly." – Rom. 5:8.
This love (agape) which God exemplified is the kind he sets before us as the highest standard or "mark" toward which we must run if we would gain the prize; – a mark which is impossible to our fallen flesh, but which is attainable by our renewed minds, wills, hearts. This standard is expressed in the words: –
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, mind, strength; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." – Luke 10:27; Rom. 3:9.
"The end of the commandment is love." – 1 Tim. 1:5.
That is to say, the object of all instruction and discipline on God's part is to bring us to this character likeness to himself represented in this word agape – love; for "God is love [agape], and he that dwelleth in love [agape] dwelleth in God and God in him." – 1 John 4:16.
We are to recognize as "brethren" those who have only the phileo degree of duty-love, as Paul did when he wrote, "Greet [for me] all that love [phileo] us in the faith" (Titus 3:15); but we are to see to it that we "love the brotherhood" (1 Pet. 2:17) with agape or higher love, which counts not present life precious and to be saved, but gladly lays down life for the brethren – in daily and hourly sacrifices of time and money and all earthly interests on their behalf. – 1 John 3:16.
Peter contrasts the two loves in one verse, saying, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto [the extent of] unfeigned love [phileo] of the brethren, see that ye [go on to] love [agape] one another with a pure heart, fervently." – 1 Pet. 1:22.
"Love [agape] worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love [agape] is the fulfilling of the Law." – Rom. 13:10.
It is agape that is mistranslated "charity" in 1 Cor. 8:1 – "Knowledge puffeth up, but agape buildeth up."
It is agape that is misrendered "charity" in the Apostle's great discourse on love in 1 Cor. 13:1,2,3,4,8,13; 14:1. Here he styles agape love the principal thing of Christian character, the crown of all Christian graces, telling us that without it all sacrifices and self-denials would be valueless in God's esteem, while with it as the inspiring motive our feeblest efforts are acceptable through Christ.
