Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

the history of the Church under the influence of Greek philosophy, victimized
by the apostate notion of the ultimacy of the intellect. Affections in God?
Preposterous! It could not be ... but only according to an empty and deceitful
philosophical model (Col. 2:8)! Human emotions are God-created and Godbestowed.
Naturally, they can be messed up. In fact, they have been ever
since the fall. But so have the intellect and the will. The effects of sin are allpervasive,
emotional, volitional, as well as noetic! In short, as a created endowment
emotions can, and should be, cause for nothing but thanksgiving.
The fact that an emotion is a “reality” that “sets in motion” only can underscore
this. Lots of things would remain undone, were it not for emotions.
Besides, all Christians should rejoice (emotion!) that God loved them with an
everlasting love. He was very “emotional” about them from before the foundation
of the world. It set him in motion to predestine them (Rom. 8:28)!
It is further argued positively that love is an action, such as obedience.
As I argued already, this is also questionable. Love acts, to be sure, but is not
to be equated with action. In boot camp the drill sergeant is invariably
obeyed, but just as invariably far from loved, if not outright “hated.” Quite
apparently to obey is not to love! There is more to love than just “bare” action.
Besides, if it were, James could never talk about the “royal law” of love,
a law to be distinguished, although not to be separated, from all other laws
that demand action.
In conclusion, to insist that love is not an emotion, but an action is tantamount
to sending Christians in the “field of battle” with both hands tied behind
their back, one hand firmly, and the other a little more loosely. Love is
an emotion, and although action flows forth from love, it is not to be identified
with it. This ties the first hand. Further, since action (“deluge”) is one
third of the essence of love, the second hand is tied for two thirds! All this
leaves Christians only with one third of one hand to do combat! At any rate,
the difference between this and the triad of “desire”, “delight” and “deluge”
can hardly be missed!
At this point it should be quite evident why partiality does not square
with love. It does not quite show a desire to become “one” with the object of
such mistreatment. Nor is there any delight on the horizon, let alone a deluge
of giving before and after the union. In fact, since the complete opposite of
this threefold love is manifest, partiality is an acute form of hatred! In short,
the law of love is trampled under foot by a type of conduct that seemed to be
prevalent in the assemblies of God’s people, not just in the courtroom during
an adjudication process. In a colorful fashion one commentator likens love to
the absorbent paper placed upon dirty spots in a garment by a tailor. When a
hot iron presses the paper onto the spots, they disappear. Similarly love is
495