In our study of the doctrine of love, last time we ended when we were starting a discussion of 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."
v:30, "Give to everyone who asks you, and stop demanding the return of your goods from him who takes them."
This is a dynamic of spiritual power and cannot be accomplished through personal love.
v31 "And just as you desire that men do to you, do to them likewise.
v32 Furthermore, if you love those who love you (and you do), what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
v33 Even if you do good to those who do good to you (maybe you will and maybe you won't), what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.
v34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive it back, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners expecting to be repaid in full.
v35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, without expecting to get anything in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; because He Himself is loving to the ungrateful and the evil.
v36 Be merciful, as your Father is merciful.
v37 Stop judging and you will never be judged; stop condemning others, and you will never be condemned; be forgiving, and you will be forgiven."
Just because people do good things for you does not mean that you have capacity to appreciate it because capacity for appreciation comes from grace orientation that comes from Bible Doctrine in the stream of consciousness.
Paul's description of impersonal love is recorded in Rom 12:14-21;
v14 "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
v15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
v16 Be thinking the same things (divine viewpoint) toward each other; do not be thinking in terms of arrogance, but associate with the humble people. Stop being wise in your own estimation.
v17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is honorable (laws of divine establishment) in the sight of all men.
v18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live in harmony with all mankind.
v19 Stop avenging yourselves, instead give place to the punishment of the justice of God, for it is written, `Punishment belongs to Me, I will repay,' says the Lord.
v20 So if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for by doing this you will pile coals of fire burning on his head.
v21 Stop being conquered by evil, but conquer evil by means of the (absolute) good."
Impersonal love is related to spiritual self-esteem.
Lev 19:18; "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as you love yourself."
"As you love yourself is a reference to spiritual self- esteem, not arrogance.
Matt 19:19; Matt 22:39, "You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself."
Mark 12:30-31, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your thinking, and with all your ability.
v31 The second is this, `You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
John 15:17; "I command you these things, that you love each other."
1John 4:7; "Beloved, let us love each other, because love is always from God; and every one who loves has been born from God and has come to know God."
We have seen that the royal law is found in three dispensations: the dispensation of Israel, the dispensation of the Hypostatic union and the dispensation of the Church, and in each case it's function is slightly different.
The royal law could not be executed by believers in the Old Testament to the same extent as it can by believers in the Church Age because of the additional power that has been conveyed to the church because of it's union with TLJC.
The royal law says, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
James describes impersonal love as the royal law of the Church in James 2:8; "If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law (You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself) on the basis of the Scripture, in this you are doing well."
The doctrine of impersonal love is a royal law for the royal family of God. Gal 5:14, "For the entire Law is fulfilled in one doctrine, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"
In both of these verses, impersonal love for all mankind is related to the believer's function in spiritual self-esteem.
The royal law of impersonal love implies that the believer is in spiritual self-esteem because in impersonal love the believer never feels threatened by hostility, by hatred, by enmity, by any form of antagonism, or anything that is done to you unjustly.
This confidence in God that results in courage toward people and circumstances is a part of the cognitive self confidence in spiritual self esteem that is required for the believer to be consistent in the fulfilling of the mandate.
Rom 13:8; "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for when he loves the other, he has fulfilled the Law."
We see here that impersonal Love is the Divine solution for believers in Spiritual Adulthood.
Impersonal love is the opposite of personal love because the attractiveness of object is not a factor. The object can be repulsive, ugly, obnoxious, and totally antithetical to you in every way.
Impersonal love emphasizes the integrity and character of the subject so for it to be a problem solving device there must be virtue from the subject.
Virtue means first arriving at spiritual self-esteem. And after passing providential preventative suffering, the attainment of spiritual autonomy where the believer has capacity for the maximum application of impersonal love.
In the momentum testing of spiritual autonomy, impersonal love is used as a problem-solving device to deal with those who hate you, who are rude to you, who malign and slander you, who are obnoxious, and those who are trying to make life miserable for you.
Impersonal love is the application to people testing where people either love or hate you. In this testing, the cognitive independence in spiritual autonomy that is exhibited as impersonal love, becomes the source of greatest tranquility in life.
When spiritual autonomy passes the four momentum tests, the believer attains spiritual maturity. In spiritual maturity, the believer has cognitive invincibility that is the greatest of all advantages in life and can handle any problem related to personal love.