1John 4:19; We love because He first loved us.

In our continuing study of the doctrine of love, we are presently discussing virtue love that is based in humility as compared with pseudo love that is based in arrogance.

Last time we concluded when we were discussing the passage in 1John 4:19; we saw that because of the subjunctive mood of the verb "agapo", this verse should be translated, "We have the potential for love, because He first loved us."

God loved us impersonally as unbelievers the moment He imputed a human soul to us. God cannot love us personally until we believe in Christ and receive his righteousness when we are born again.

With the spiritual life, we can come to a personal love for God. Personal love for God is a true love monopoly of the believer, and you have it because it is in your portfolio of invisible assets, but you may not know you have it or be able to use it because until we straighten out love with God, we have no love.

The spiritual life, that is how we think, then becomes renewed through the agency of the Spirit by means of our thinking." Eph 4:23;

The first agent in the passive voice represents the filling of the Holy Spirit that is the grace provision of the divine power for the fulfillment of the unique spiritual life of the Church Age, Acts 1:8.

The second agent of the passive voice is a system of thinking divine viewpoint that comes from metabolized Bible doctrine. Heb 10:38;

Without the renewal that results from the filling of the Holy Spirit through the acknowledgement of known sins per 1 John 1:9 there is no spiritual life.

Being renewed by means of your thinking has nothing to do with emotion. God has provided a system of happiness that does not need emotion. You apply truth by means of your thinking through the use of the ten problem solving devices.

Eph 4:23; can be translated three ways:

1: "Then become renewed." This refers to the function of the acknowledgment of sin.

2: "Then become reinvigorated." This refers to the recovery of the filling of the Spirit.

3: "Then become refreshed." This refers to the resumption of the spiritual life that results.

True love is always accompanied by true happiness.

The spiritual life is designed for virtue, and without virtue life becomes complicated, and a complicated life is an unhappy life.

An unhappy life without virtue has no capacity for true love. Virtue is the capacity for true love and happiness. Capacity for true love and happiness is found in the advanced problem solving devices of the spiritual life.

Virtue is a potential because God has provided everything necessary to have that virtue, but He cannot provide positive volition.

Paul speaks of the issue of volition in Phil 4:11; "Not that I speak because of a need; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."

The word translated "content" is the Greek word "autarkes" that means to be strong enough to be independent of external circumstances. This means that the provision of God was sufficient for any situation and there was no need.

This is because God has already provided for all of our needs so the spiritual life is not based on fulfilling a need it is the appropriation of what God has already provided. Phil 4:19;

The spiritual life is not designed to be a complicated life. A complicated life is an unhappy life. Virtue love eliminates the complications of life that come the unrealistic expectations of pseudo love and false doctrine.

The believer is happy because they are unencumbered by the complexities of the pursuit of the details of life because they love God and know he will always provide for them regardless of the circumstances because his power is demonstrated in our weakness and inability.

When believer executes this spiritual life they "come to know the love for Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled resulting in all the fullness from God," Eph 3:19;

This is possible "because the love for Christ holds us together..." 2Cor 5:14a,

The word translated "controls" in the NASB is the Greek word "synechi" that is the present active indicative of the Greek word "synecho" that means to hold together in order to maintain unit integrity.

This integrity envelope is created by the tandem problem solving devices of personal love for God the Father and impersonal love for all mankind.

For the believer love is a system of virtue and values that comes from living inside the integrity envelope that is the basis for true capacity for love. There is no true love apart from these two problem solving devices. Personal love in the soul is formed and shaped from the spiritual life from the function of these two tandem problem solving devices.

It is only the teaching of the word of God under the mentorship of God the Holy Spirit that is going to change our attitude and idea of to what love is.

Love is the advanced spiritual life; it is love that God has provided; and it is always provided from virtue in the thinking. It is not a function of emotion.

Since love is not dependent on emotion, it is not dependent on lust. God's plan is not emoting, but thinking. This thinking is a system of virtue love that distinguishes the believer from all the rest of humanity.

The greatest Christian service that believer's perform is this system of virtue love thinking.

For this system to function, rapport with God must precede rapport with people.

Without rapport with God the believer will be totally miserable and distracted by people in every category of love including friendship, romance, and marriage.

You will never find happiness with people unless you first have rapport with God, and that requires virtue.

In the Church Age, rapport with God can only exist where the believer fulfills or is in the process of fulfilling the unique spiritual life of the Church Age.

The spiritual life of the Old Testament was based on the basic problem solving device of the faith-rest drill and the advanced problem solving devices of grace orientation and doctrinal orientation that lead to a personal sense of destiny.

These are only basic problem solving devices in the Church Age.

Church age believers start their advanced spiritual life where OT believers stopped. We have an advanced spiritual life that will never exist again after the exit resurrection of the Church because of our union with TLJC.

Until you have personal love for God the Father, you do not have the love that God requires the believer to have for people. If you do not have personal love for God established first in your life, then people will distract you.

In your distraction you will be working for and doing things for people. People will always be a distraction until you fulfill your spiritual heritage and destiny of personal love for God the Father.

The entire advanced spiritual life of the Church Age is made up of virtue love and true happiness. God gives His very own happiness to believers who live in the virtue of integrity envelope.

The spiritual life of the Church Age gives every believer under equal privilege and opportunity the potential to glorify God both in time and eternity.

For the first and only time in history, during the Church Age, every believer is a priest regardless of gender or race. All have the same spiritual assets and potential for a life of meaning, purpose, and definition.

Believers do not need miracles, the temporary spiritual gifts, or to talk with God personally, they need live in the spiritual life they were given at the moment they were born again.

When believers are ignorant of these doctrines they are unable to use their spiritual freedom and exercise these options that are contained in the unique spiritual life.

It is far more important to be loved by God than to be loved by people.

God is infinitely more important in our relationships with people than people are important in our relationships with people.

Infinitely more benefits accrue to the believer from being loved by God than being loved by people. Our capacity for love is based on the fact that God loved us first, 1John 4:19.

The entire system of the advanced spiritual life is related to love and happiness that excludes any form of arrogance. There is no true humility unless there is subordination to authority.

Peter describes this in 1Pet 5:5; "In the same manner, you younger men become subordinate to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because `God makes war against the arrogant believer, but gives grace to the humble believer.'"

The arrogant believer is a self-centered and self-justifying person who has a lust for approbation and a desire to be recognized. The arrogant believer's happiness depends on the lust patterns of their OSN and because this unrealistic expectation cannot be fulfilled it is a life of misery.

The supreme court of heaven does not guarantee happiness for the arrogant believer in fact it guarantees discipline. James 4:6;

The characteristics of the virtue love of the integrity envelope are described in 1Cor 13;

After describing these, Paul concludes in 1Cor 13:13; "But now there remains in place faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is virtue-love."

The faith-rest drill and a personal sense of destiny as problem solving devices are still in place in the Church Age, but even greater than faith and hope is the problem solving device of virtue-love.

"Faith" is the faith-rest drill. "Hope" is a personal sense of destiny, the first objective of the spiritual life that opens the door to the advanced spiritual life.

"Love" is the tandem problem-solving device of personal love for God and impersonal love for all mankind that comprise virtue-love.

The faith-rest drill represents the basic problem solving devices for spiritual childhood. A personal sense of destiny is the dividing line between spiritual childhood and spiritual adulthood. Virtue- love represents the problem solving devices for spiritual adulthood.