The BLB Blog

The official blog of Blue Letter Bible

God Is… Love.

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The following is taken from the works of Andrew Murray (1828-1917), a South African minister and pioneer in modern missions. Many of Murray’s works are available through the Blue Letter Bible bookstore and free at the Blue Letter Bible website.

 

 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love…”
(Galatians 5:22a, emphasis added)

Now, why is it that the fruit of the Spirit is love? Because God is love.

And what does that mean?

It is the very nature and being of God to delight in communicating Himself. God has no selfishness, God keeps nothing to Himself. God’s nature is to be always giving. In the sun and the moon and the stars, in every flower you see it, in every bird in the air, in every fish, in the sea . God communicates life to His creatures. And the angels around His throne, the seraphim and cherumbim (sic) who are flames of fire—whence have they their glory? It is because God is love, and He imparts to them of His brightness and His blessedness. And we, His redeemed children—God delights to pour His love into us. And why? Because, as I said, God keeps nothing for Himself. From eternity God had His only begotten Son, and the Father gave Him all things, and nothing that God had was kept back. “God is love.”

One of the old Church fathers said that we cannot better understand the Trinity than as a revelation of divine love—the Father, the loving One, the Fountain of love; the Son, the beloved one, the Reservoir of love, in whom the love was poured out; and the Spirit, the living love that united both and then overflowed into this world. The Spirit of Pentecost, the Spirit of the Father, and the Spirit of the Son is love. And when the Holy Spirit comes to us and to other men, will He be less a Spirit of love than He is in God? It cannot be; He cannot change His nature. The Spirit of God is love, and “the fruit of the Spirit is love.”

Comments

  1. Thank you for publishing this commentary by Andrew Murray. I had had a dream about a fountain / spring and in the dream the Lord asked me a question about it. The explanation here of the trinity and the Spirit being and manifesting love in us clarifies the dream for me.

  2. I began reading the Gospel of John this morning and this just gives that much more to the meaning of John 1:1-18.

  3. “…and the Spirit, the living love that united both and then overflowed into this world.” I have never thought about the term “living love” before.

    Thank you, BLB, for introducing me to yet another hero in God’s army. I never bothered to look into Andrew Murray’s work before.

  4. Thank you so much for providing this by Andrew Murray, and thank you for making available the website; it has been and is a help to me in times of need.

  5. I receive daily from this website encouragement for everyday living. The theme of God is Love and stating how each entity in the Trinity has a loving directive in regards to Love is a blessing to me in my meditation in scripture. My prayer has been to help me love Him more!
    Thanks again for the blessing in “Love.”

  6. I am so thankful that our God wanted children. He loved us by creating us, pursuing us, saving us, sanctifying us, and loving others through us. What would existence be like if there were no love? Thank you Lord for your amazing, pursuing, tacking love. We are truly grateful. Praise your name! Keep up the great work BLB team! What a loving family you are!

  7. Ezekiel 33:31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh and they sit before thee as my people and they hear thy words but they will not do them for with their mouth they show much love but their heart goeth after their covetousness

    Ezekiel 33:32 And lo thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument for they hear thy words but they do them not

    John 14:15 If you love me keep MY commandments

    Psalm 40:10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation

    Psalm 40:11 With hold not thou thy tender mercies from me O LORD let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me

    Hosea 2:19 And I will betroth thee unto ME for ever yea I will betroth thee unto ME in righteousness and in judgement and in lovingkindness and in mercies

    Isaiah 61:8 For I the LORD love judgement I hate robbery for burnt offering and I will direct their work in truth and will make an everlasting covenant with them

    Proverbs 8:36 But he that sinneth against ME wrongeth his own soul all they that hate ME love death

    Proverbs 8:17 I love them that love ME and those that seek ME early shall find ME

    Ezekiel 18:30 Therefore I will judge you O house of Israel every one according to his ways saith the LORD GOD repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your ruin

    Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of HIS goodness and forebearance and longsuffering not knowing that the goodness of GOD leadeth thee to repentance

    Romans 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of GOD

    Romans 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds

    LOVING THE LORD

  8. John 14:21 says, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”

    I see in this life-changing verse (for it changed my Christian walk for the better!) the Holy Trinity, for anyone who will KNOW and KEEP Christ’s commandments will be loved by the Son, the Father, and the One who makes the Son manifest, or presently real, to us, the Holy Spirit.

  9. I was watching a programme with chuck missler and he reccomended this site i am truly grateful to him and you I look forward to many days/weeks/months/years of bible wisdom and knowledge from the holy spirit through you GOD BLESS

  10. I thank God the Father for His knowledge, wisdom and understanding.
    Isa 55:8 For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
    Isa 55:9 For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
    While we do not have all the thoughts of God, we do have His Word and that Word that we believe makes us His sons and I am thankful that He has called and for those that answered, chosen.
    Eph 4: 1 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
    For it is the Father who will all men be saved and come unto the knowledge of His truth. It is up to men to believe it.

  11. Wow God’s Love……..then we have Christ’s Love…….

    Where does it say anything about Christ’s Love??????????????

    Ephesians 3:19

    The more you tell me about “the Love of Christ” and I’ll tell you how much far you’ll go with God’s Love.

    It’s just a statement to get us to think about it, think about it, what do we know about the “Love of Christ”?

    Jesus learned God’s love through the old test.
    He learned it by working with God by walking and talking to Him.

    What this “Love of Christ all about? This would be a great study if someone did it and actually spent some time to put something together.

    Good Day
    Wow, What a great God we have,

    Jim Schultz