What the Bible Says: Definition of Love

Scripture

¹ Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
² For by it the people of old received their commendation.
³ By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.
⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
⁷ By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
⁹ By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
¹¹ By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.
¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,
¹⁸ of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
¹⁹ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
²⁰ By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.
²² By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
²⁴ By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
²⁵ choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
²⁶ He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
²⁹ By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
³¹ By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
³² And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—
³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
³⁵ Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
³⁶ Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated.
³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
³⁹ And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
⁴⁰ since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Hebrews 11:1-40

James 2:14-26: ¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
¹⁵ If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
¹⁷ So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
¹⁹ You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.
²⁰ Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
²² You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
²⁴ You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
²⁵ And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
²⁶ For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Romans 10:8-17: ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
⁹ because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”
¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-10: ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Galatians 3:1-14: ³ O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
² Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
³ Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
⁴ Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
⁵ Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—
⁶ just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
⁷ Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
⁹ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
¹⁰ For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
¹¹ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
³:12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”
¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
¹⁴ so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

2 Corinthians 5:1-10: For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
² For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,
³ if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.
⁴ For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
⁵ He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
⁶ So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

1 Peter 1:3-9: ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Matthew 17:14-20: ¹⁴ And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him,
¹⁵ “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.”
¹⁶ And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.”
¹⁷ And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”
¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.
¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
²⁰ He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Mark 11:20-25: ²⁰ As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.
²¹ And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
²² And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.
²³ Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.
²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
²⁵ And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Luke 17:5-10: ⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
⁶ And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
⁷ “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?”
⁸ Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’?
⁹ Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?
¹⁰ So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

John 20:24-31: ²⁴ Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
²⁶ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.
³¹ but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

1 John 5:1-5: ¹ Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.
² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.
³ For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
⁴ For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Romans 4:1-25: ¹ What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?
² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
³ For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
⁴ Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
⁵ And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
⁷ “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
⁸ blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
⁹ Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.
¹⁰ How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised.
¹¹ He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,
¹² and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
¹³ For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
¹⁴ For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
¹⁵ For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
¹⁷ as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
¹⁸ In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.
²⁰ No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
²¹ fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
²² That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
²⁵ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Hebrews 10:19-39: ¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,
²⁰ by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,
²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
²⁶ For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
²⁷ but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
²⁸ Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
²⁹ How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
³⁰ For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
³² But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,
³³ sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
³⁴ For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
³⁵ Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
³⁶ For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
³⁷ For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;
³⁸ but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5: ¹ And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
² For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
³ And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,
⁴ and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
⁵ that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Philippians 3:7-11: ⁷ But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.