Agape

When we believe in Jesus for salvation, God comes to dwell in us. It is the power of the Holy Spirit living within us that enables us to truly love.

Agape

"By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit."

(1 John 4:13)

We know we remain or abide in God because He has given us the Holy Spirit. The verb translated "has given" is in the perfect tense, meaning a past action with continuous results. Once a person responds to the Spirit's conviction and convincing and believes in Jesus for salvation, the Spirit comes to live inside him or her.

In 1 John 4:12-16, the Apostle John preached a powerful message about love to the churches he served as pastor or overseer. Love is clearly the predominant theme of verses 7-11. In verses 7-12, he mentions agape 15 times, and in verses 13-21, he mentions agape 14 times; therefore, he writes of love 29 times in only 15 verses. Keep in mind that John uses the word love much differently than the common conception or definition of love. For John, love meant sacrifice. Love was a sacrificial giving of oneself to God and others.

Stirred by Carly Fiorina's remarks as National Honorary Chair of the Virginia 250 Commission, Jim Denison said in his July 6, 2026 Daily Article:

"Why, if our nation is built on the idea that 'all men are created equal,' do we struggle to enact that which we embrace? The answer is simple: it is literally not within our nature to do so.

"From Cain's sin against Abel to July 4th shootings and explosions that killed at least six and wounded dozens, fallen humans act in fallen ways. It is one thing to believe that 'all men are created equal,' but quite another to act accordingly.

"To treat all people equally requires a degree of selfless love that humans struggle to produce. To cite the common Greek words for 'love,' we can easily enact eros, erotic love, and do so in godly and ungodly ways. We can live out philea in our friendships and storge in our families.

"But agape—unconditional and selfless love that always treats others as equal to us—is something else entirely."

The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins and convinces us of the truth of Jesus Christ. When we believe in Jesus for salvation, God comes to dwell within us. His love is completed or perfected in us, and we are complete in Him. We are fully accepted by God through the merits of His Son, Jesus, by His death on the cross. Also, it is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit living within us that enables us to love God and truly love others. John Stott points this out most clearly in his remarks on page 168 of his commentary on the epistle:

"Without the Holy Spirit our minds are dark and our hearts cold. Only the Holy Spirit can enlighten our minds to believe in Jesus and warm our hearts to love God and each other. So believing and loving are evidence that His Spirit is at work within us."