Gold Tried in the Fire - Robert J. Wieland

love (agape), self-sacrificing love, and the second
is our word which is dependent on it—-faith.
The Key Word of the Bible: Agape
As a noun or verb, agape (love) occurs some
300 times in the New Testament. Its most thrilling
use is John's sublime equation, the high point of the
New Testament: "God is love [agape]." 1 John 4:8.
There is a "breadth, and length, and depth, and
height" (Ephesians 3:18) of agape seen only in the
cross, a love as much greater than our best human
love as a mountain towers over a grain of sand.
We could never invent such love as led Jesus to
His cross, for it is unworldly, something that could
come only from above. It does not depend on the
beauty or goodness of its object, as does our
natural human love. It creates value in its otherwise
worthless object, whereas our love weakly depends
on the value of its object.
Agape does not seek to climb up higher, but is
willing to step down lower, "even [to] the death of
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