In our study of the doctrine of love, last time we ended with Gal 5:14; "For the entire Law is fulfilled in one doctrine, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"
In this verse the verb "love" is the future active indicative of "agapo". In this case the imperative future tense is used instead of the imperative mood to express a command
Believers are commanded to produce the action of the verb that will occur when they have attained spiritual self-esteem, and continue into spiritual autonomy.
The potential indicative of compliance is contingent on the believer's attainment of spiritual adulthood.
The word translated "neighbor" is the Greek word "plesion" that refers to anyone the believer's periphery or vicinity, or anyone that the believer has contact with in any given day.
The Greek reflexive pronoun translated "yourself" is "seautou"; it refers the action back to yourself because it requires love for one's self. But love for self without love for God is arrogance so this referring to the believer in spiritual self esteem.
To obey this command for impersonal love requires the believer to first have spiritual self-esteem, that when combined with providential preventative suffering, produces spiritual autonomy, a dynamic, tranquil state, that provides the capacity for the believer to fulfill this command.
John 15:12; "This is My mandate, that you love each other as I have loved you."
How did Jesus love us? Did he love us personally? No, He loved us impersonally, because as fallen creatures we are imperfect. He loved us because of His personal love for God the Father that enabled His impersonal love toward the entire human race.
He went to the cross and was judged for our sins. Once we believed in Christ, we received God's perfect righteousness, that God always loves. Now Christ loves us personally, and his personal love is directed toward the divine righteousness in us
John 15:17; "I command you these things, that you might love each other."
1John 3:23; "Furthermore, this is His mandate, that we believe in the person of His Son, and that we love each other as He commanded us."
1John 4:7a; "Beloved, let us love one another, because virtue love is from God."
1John 4:11; "Beloved, if God loves us (first class condition and He does), we also have become obligated to keep on loving one another."
In order to execute this mandate, we must have personal love for God the Father.
1John 4:20, 21; "If someone should allege, `I love God,' and yet he hates his fellow believer, he is a liar. For he who does not love his fellow believer whom he has seen is not able to be loving God, whom he has not seen."
We see from this verse that our personal love for God is exhibited by the virtue of impersonal love so our failure to have impersonal love for others demonstrates our failure to have personal love for God.
v21 "Furthermore, we have this mandate from Him, that he who loves God should also love his fellow believer."
First comes personal love for God, that becomes the basis for spiritual self-esteem, when spiritual self esteem is combined with providential preventative suffering spiritual autonomy is produced and spiritual autonomy provides the capacity from one's love for God and Bible Doctrine to love everyone impersonally.
1John 4:9-12,16; "By this the virtue love of God was manifest in our case because God (Father) has sent His unique Son into the world, in order that through Him we might be saved.
v10 By this virtue love exists, not because we love God, but because He loved us (impersonal love for all mankind), and He sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins.
v11 Beloved, if God loved us (and He does), we also become obligated to keep loving each other (impersonal love).
v12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love each other, God resides in us and His virtue love has been fulfilled by us.
v16 Furthermore, we have come to know and we have believed the virtue love which God keeps having for us. God is virtue love."
Eph 1:5; "By means of love (God's virtue love as a problem solving device), He has predestined us for the purpose of adoption to Himself, according to the grace purpose of His will."
Remember God's policy toward his creatures is grace. This grace policy is implemented through his love as it is supported by his righteousness, justice.
Love is commanded not only for unity, but also for stability in the angelic conflict. Therefore, the enabling power of the filling of the Spirit is what enables this love. Gal 5:22;
1John 3:8; tells us that impersonal love destroys Satan's power.
Our Lord's description of impersonal love is given in Luke 6:27-37;
v27 "But I say to you who are listening to Me, keep on loving your enemies, do good to those who hate you,"
These mandates cannot be fulfilled by any human power. These can only be fulfilled by the divine power of the enabling ministry of God the Holy Spirit (PSD #2) and Bible doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness (PSD #5).
v:28, "bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you." There is no human strength capable of fulfilling these mandates.
v:29, "To the one who strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other also; furthermore, from the man who takes your coat, do not keep back your shirt."