So, we come to the crux of the matter, which is the same word ‘love’, or ‘agape’ and its derivatives, which appears throughout all of these pieces of scripture in the New Testament. Let’s see what it means:

Strong’s Concordance

agapé: love, goodwill
Original Word: ἀγάπη, ης, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: agapé
Phonetic Spelling: (ag-ah’-pay)
Definition: love, goodwill
Usage: love, benevolence, good will, esteem; plur: love-feasts.

26 agápē – properly, love which centers in moral preference. So too in secular ancient Greek, 26  (agápe) focuses on preference; likewise the verb form (25 /agapáo) in antiquity meant “to prefer” (TDNT, 7). In the NT, 26 (agápe) typically refers to divine love (= what Yehovah God prefers).

Strong’s Concordance

 agapaó: to love
Original Word: ἀγαπάω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: agapaó
Phonetic Spelling: (ag-ap-ah’-o)
Definition: to love
Usage: I love, wish well to, take pleasure in, long for; denotes the love of reason, esteem.

Cognate: 25 agapáo– properly, to prefer, to love; for the believer, preferring to “live through Christ” (1 Jn 4:9,10), i.e. embracing Yehovah God’s will (choosing His choices) and obeying them through His power. 25 (agapáo) preeminently refers to what Yehovah God prefers as He “is love” (1 Jn 4:8,16). See 26 (agape).

With the believer, 25 /agapáe (“to love”) means actively doing what the Lord Yehovah prefers, with Him (by His power and direction). True 25 /agapáo (“loving”) is always defined by Yehovah God – a “discriminating affection which involves choice and selection” (WS, 477). 1 Jn 4:8,16,17 for example convey how loving (“preferring,” 25 /agapáo) is Christ living His life through the believer.

When I first realised that the word ‘agape’ (love) in these verses means, literally, ‘what Yehovah God prefers’, or ‘embracing our Father’s will’, I had a feeling of such huge joy. It was like the final piece of the puzzle slotted into place, and it confirmed to me why I had been imbued with a deep love of my Father’s laws from the moment I read about them over the past two years. I have feared Him from the moment I read about His terrible deeds in the old scriptures, and that fear led me to pray for wisdom, and that wisdom led me to love His laws, from the start.

The laws of my Father are perfect for us, so we ‘agape’ ourselves when we obey them, for example by taking our Sabbath rest, and avoiding unclean food which is bad for us. We ‘agape’ our neighbours when we deal with them in accordance with His laws, for example by not murdering them, not lying about them, not coveting their possessions and wives, and we ‘agape’ my Father in heaven by obeying His commanded laws and allowing Him fully into our hearts, minds and souls. Isn’t it a perfect set-up, and in return for this, He blesses us in a myriad of ways. Does humanity have any idea how lucky it is? Do we as faithful and obedient believers really understand our luck? I do now, but I confess I didn’t fully grasp that we owe Him everything for several years. We do literally owe everything to my Father, and all He demands is obedience and faith. Yet, sadly, humanity can’t provide either for much of the time.

The ‘agape’ love is very specific and you’ll note it does involve our discrimination, we must actively choose my Father’s ways and preferences to show ‘agape’ love, to him, to ourselves and to neighbours and brothers and sisters in Christ, even to those who hate us, our personal enemies. We never get dragged into the mire, away from my Father, committing evil to repay evil. We can and should hate evil-doers though, as does my Father in heaven. That doesn’t stop us from dealing with them with agape love, which may involve killing them if His law demands that penalty. Evil cannot go unpunished.

The modern ‘fluffy and hazy’ word ‘love’ can mean anything to anyone, depending on their own preferences, and it is an evil distortion of ‘agape love, which is the only true and pure love we are commanded to display. Satan has deceived many into believing that we should love everyone committing sin, and not speak against the sin, not punish the sin, in fact he has deceived the world into a state of near-lawlessness, where sin is forgotten, and we are close to the point where those who advocate my Father’s laws can be deemed hateful and illegal by puny earthly authorities. They will regret their errors soon enough.

The ‘agape’ love applying to Christians is specifically doing my Father’s will, as the Lord Yahshua and all of the apostles did, so we must have a firm grasp of His laws, commands and statutes, and that’s why I will now carry out my Father’s will by teaching and explaining the law, until the whole of it has been explained, so that anyone seeking to live perfectly as the Lord Yahshua and others did is able to do so. I hope and pray now, that anyone reading and watching and listening to my explanations will come to love my Father’s law as I do, and will then be able to ‘agape’ love my Father, themselves and their neighbours, as He intended. You will, in effect, become a living embodiment of my Father’s ‘agape’ love, as John wrote:

‘15 If anyone confesses that Yahshua (Jesus) is the son of Yehovah God, then Yehovah God abides in him, and he in Yehovah. 16 And we have come to know and believe the love that Yehovah God has for us. Yehovah God is love; whoever abides in love abides in Yehovah God, and Yehovah God in him. 17 In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.’

Moses gave exactly the same message to Israel too:

24 And the LORD Yehovah commanded us to observe all these statutes and to fear the LORD Yehovah our God, that we may always be prosperous and preserved, as we are to this day. 25 And if we are careful to observe every one of these commandments before the LORD Yehovah our God just as He has commanded us, then that will be our righteousness.”

If you live with our Father abiding inside you, you cannot go wrong, you will be ‘agape’ love personified, and our Father will bless you, and you can face the future with great confidence and optimism, you will be just like our Lord Yahshua in your righteousness, knowing our Father’s preferences, loving them and doing them and teaching them to your children, and they will be written on your heart, through your faith in my Father and his son, the messiah and Lord, Yahshua. You will love your life and look to the future with joyful optimism, and you will know no fear at all, other than of my Father Himself.

I defy anyone of true faith and possessing the Holy Spirit to teach otherwise, as to do so would be to lie and deceive, and we all know plenty of these teachers, they are everywhere today, doing the enemy’s work. Don’t fall for their deceptions (especially any of you brand new to faith); let’s learn again to live according to my Father’s preferences, by learning about His eternal laws, commands and statutes, and by doing them.

The Lord Yahshua (Jesus) gave us a sombre warning about lawlessness:

‘Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’