Quote 3013
It is certainly a mistake to claim that agape-love always refers to self-sacrificial love, or to the nature of God's love. While it may refer to such things, it may also refer to a "warm regard for and interest in another," to affection, high esteem, satisfaction, or pleasure.
Constantine Campbell
Pillar Commentary, Ephesians19.1K
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Adoption is the more specific idea introduced here and was a very significant concept in the ancient world, employed by Paul with intent. Under Roman law, adoption bestowed all the privileges of naturally born children, with one very famous example: Gaius Octavian Thurinus was adopted by Julius Caesar and became Augustus Caesar—the first Roman emperor. The ancient world could hardly imagine a greater endorsement of adoption than that. But Paul did.Pillar Commentary
although indeed 'God is love', yet we have to remember that his love is 'holy love', love which yearns over sinners while at the same time refusing to condone their sin.The Cross of Christ (88)
While Greek anthropology kept clear distinctions between mind, soul, and body, Hebrew anthropology was more holistic—such elements were not clearly distinguishable and tended to blend into each other. It is perhaps best, therefore, to regard the inner person as consisting of all conceivable internal elements, such as what we would call the mind, the heart, and the soul. Or, as Best, summarizes, it expresses "the moral and spiritual side in people." Ephesians 3:16Pillar Commentary
the Fatherhood of God is the source of all familial relationships, whether they be human, earthly, relationships, or nonhuman, heavenly ones. And He is the loving and powerful cosmic Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is namedPillar Commentary
it is important to understand Roman-era slavery and how it differed from more recent forms of slavery, especially that of the United States and Britain until the nineteenth century. Constituting at least 10 percent of the Roman Empire, swelling up to 30 percent in the city of Rome itself, slavery was a major strata of Roman society. Rather than being based on race, people could become slaves through economic necessity, war, kidnapping, or by birth.Pillar Commentary
Love is not blind; that is the last thing that it is. Love is bound; and the more it is bound the less it is blind.
Perfect love is a kind of self-dereliction, a wandering out of ourselves; it is a kind of voluntary death wherein the lover dies to himself and all his own interest, not thinking of them nor caring for them anymore, and minding nothing but how he may please and gratify the party whom he loves.
Love is a commanding affection, a uniting grace; it draws all the faculties of the soul to one center. The soul that loves God, when it hath to do with Him, is bound to the beloved object; it can mind nothing else during such impressions. When the affection is set to the worship of God, everything the soul hath will be bestowed upon it.
Love is the commander of the soul, and therefore God knows that if He has our hearts, He has all, for all the rest are at His command; for it is, as it were, the nature of the will, which is the commanding faculty, and its object is the ultimate end which is the commanding object. Love sets the mind on thinking, the tongue on speaking, the hands on working, the feet on going, and every faculty obeys its command.
The heart thus opened to the Lord, when God is come in, will close upon Him. Abide with me; Thou hast entered upon Thy habitation. O let this be Thy dwelling forever. Only this must be further added, that with God it takes in all things of God: His word, His ordinances, His ways, and all His dispensations. With His love, His laws; with His comforts, His counsels; with His counsels, His corrections.Heaven Opened
there is a sinful self-love when either we love that for a self which is not ourself, when we love our flesh and fleshly interest, or when we love ourselves inordinately more than God, and God only for ourselves. And there is a lawful self-love when we love ourselves in the Lord and for the Lord. And the more we thus love ourselves, the more is the Lord loved by us; and the more He is our own, the more love He hath. Now in Christ the Lord is our God. Heaven Opened
Love is to the soul as the weights to the clock, it sets the soul a-going towards God, as the wings by which we fly to heaven.
The person who lives a just and holy life is one who is a sound judge of these things. He is also a person who has ordered his love, so that he does not love what it is wrong to love, or fail to love what should be loved, or love too much what should be loved less (or love too little what should be loved more), or love two things equally if one of them should be loved either less or more than the other, or love things either more or less if they should be loved equally
All love, in general, has an assimilating efficacy; it casts the mind into the mould of the thing beloved.
Ultimately, slaves and human masters are subjected to the same Lord and both must obey him. This undermines the institution of slavery by refusing to accept that slaves are the property of their human masters or share less inherent value. Slaves and masters stand on an equal footing before Christ.Pillar Commentary
Paul's purpose in the household code is more immediate and of practical benefit for those who are living in the household. The abolition of slavery—inspired in part by Paul's undermining of it—would take centuries to achieve.Pillar Commentary
Unlike enslaved persons in the American institution of slavery, Roman slaves could rise to positions of significant social responsibility, working as doctors, tutors, and government officials. They could manage household finances, earn their own money, and even purchase their own freedom.Pillar Commentary
drunkenness is to be avoided since it impairs cognitive function. This is why it "leads to reckless living." When cognitive function is impaired, people are less likely to act with care and more prone to act recklessly. The command stands in contrast to the Roman penchant for banquets, which were often characterized by drunkenness and debauchery. Moreover, some Greco-Roman religions regarded drunkenness as the means of achieving union with a god. Indeed, the cult of Dionysus, which was well-known within Ephesus, embraced the vine as their cultic symbol.Pillar Commentary, Ephesians
Sexual immorality refers to any kind of "unsanctioned sexual intercourse," which, given Paul's Jewish heritage, refers to any kind of intercourse outside marriage. Such activity could be viewed as contrary to walking in love in that sex outside the covenant of marriage does not properly respect the other person—without proper commitment, it uses and abuses the other.Pillar Commentary, Ephesians
Jesus's self-sacrifice for us is the example of love that believers are to emulate as they walk in love. While they will not be able to duplicate his self-sacrifice—since they cannot die an atoning death for the sins of others—they may nevertheless imitate his example as they exercise love that is self-sacrificial, costly, and offered for the sake of others' well-being.Pillar Commentary, Ephesians
Thus, in their efforts to be like God, believers ought to focus on God's nature as Father and our nature as his children. Instead of asking, "What would Jesus do?" we should ask, "Who is God our Father, and what does it mean to be his child?"Pillar Commentary, Ephesians
we cannot fashion our own identities in a vacuum according to our own self-determination. Our identity is inextricably grounded in the fatherhood of God.
Love is the law of Christian life. We cannot be Christlike unless we love. But oh! love is tremendously costly sometimes!
Paul reminds his readers that the one to whom he prays is more than able to do what is asked. He goes out of his way to stress how far beyond our comprehension God is able to act with the use of phrases such as "above all," and "far beyond" what we might ask or think to ask. The CSB captures it neatly with the contemporary idiomatic translation—God is able to go "above and beyond." Indeed, he is able to do more than we can even imagine asking. Remembering this about God inspires prayer since we know how powerful he is to grant our requests.Pillar Commentary
Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.
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