Mark 12:28-34 (NASB)
One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.‘ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.
_______________________________________________________
“Let all that you do be done in love.” – The Apostle Paul
“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy going or a clanging symbol. …. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” – The Apostle Paul
“Love is the fulfillment of the law.” – The Apostle Paul
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. … We love, because he first loved us.” – The Apostle John
“The law of faith … is the love of him.” – St. Augustine
“The Scriptures do represent true religion, as being summarily comprehended in love, the chief of the affections and fountain of all other affections.” – Jonathan Edwards
“But if the duty of the heart, or all due dispositions of hearts, are all summed up in love, then undoubtedly all grace may be summed up in love.” – Jonathan Edwards
“[Love is] the essence of all Christianity. … [Love is] the quintessence and soul of all grace.” – Jonathan Edwards
“The apostle [Paul] doesn’t only represent love or charity as the most excellent thing in Christianity, and as the quintessence, life, and soul of all religion, but as that which virtually comprehends all holy virtues and exercises.” – Jonathan Edwards
“As for a definition of divine love, things of this nature are not properly capable of a definition. They are better felt than defined.” – Jonathan Edwards
T h e o • p h i l o g u e 