Types of Love According to the Bible
- Agape love — the love God has for us, unconditional
- Philo — brotherly love
- Storge — family love
- Eros — romantic love
The God-kind of love is what we are talking about this week. It’s the love that draws us to repent. As sinners, we come to God for salvation. The love of God leads us to repentance. This is why it is written that God commended His love toward us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
There is a scripture in Romans 8:29:
“For those God foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
For God knew His people in advance, and He had chosen them. Before we come to the cross, God already knows those who would believe in Him. This is the essence of truth. Those He knew, He predestined. Jesus said that no one can come to Him except the Father draws him (John 6:44). There must be a divine agreement: God draws, and we respond.
We then understand that when THE BIBLE SAYS no one can come to me except the father draws him (John 6:44). Though we may not fully understand His love, we have a semblance of truth that God’s love is real for us. Scripture says that in this we know God’s love — that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us, so that all who believe would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
The eternal work of salvation shows that God saw our sins while we were yet sinners and sent His Son because of our helplessness. Sin separates us from God, and the breach could only be filled by His Son. That is why Jesus came. Some say He came primarily for redemption — to take our mess and remodel it — which is true. He also came to show us the way. From heaven to earth, and then from earth to the cross, He paid the debt we could not pay.
When you tell someone that God loves them, not everyone understands fully. We cannot fully understand the love of God. Some people may understand the expression of His love through the cross, yet others may not know His love at all. Scripture says that we are still coming into the full knowledge of God (2 Peter 3:18). Until then, we are being made perfect.
God’s love is available to us. This does not give license to continue sinning (1 John 3:8). His love transforms us — from death to life — giving us a quickening spirit (Ezekiel 36:26).
This reminds me of my time in the American Church in the Czech Republic. I had a pastor, John Redmond, who spoke about how Simon Peter failed by denying Christ. Jesus told him that he would deny Him three times before the cock crowed (Luke 22:34). Peter responded, “No, I love You, Rabbi,” even though he doubted he could do it. Jesus asked Simon three times, “Simon, do you love Me?”
Simon’s responses are revealing: the first two times, Jesus asked using Agape, but Simon responded with Philo, brotherly love. This shows that he knew his love was imperfect after failing. As Christians, we have imperfect love, but God has perfect love for us. God is willing to risk everything for us. Jesus, as the head of the Church, came to earth, gave His life on the cross, and brought salvation — a debt He paid that we could not.
Simon’s three responses were rooted in his sense of unworthiness. Jesus replied each time:
“If you love Me, feed My sheep” (John 21:15–17)
Even in Christ, our love is not measured against God’s perfect love. Yet, God knew Simon’s heart before time and had already pardoned him. There is nothing we do, even in true repentance that God does not know.
God’s love is beyond what we can see, feel or imagine. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe — for sins we could not pay. Despite Israel’s failures in the Old Testament, God chose Israel as His own nation and continues to love them, even though they killed His Son. Jesus came to preach to many, but not all believed, even people from His own hometown. Scribes and Pharisees often did not believe, because not everyone can perceive the love of God, even when miracles occur. Knowledge or signs alone do not guarantee understanding.
Even in trials, even when we do not feel God’s love, it does not mean He is absent. As John 6:44 and John 6:65 show, His love compels us to Him. The Greek word is helkuo, meaning to draw. Jesus said:
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (John 12:32)
Everyone drawn to Him comes through God’s work. Understanding God’s love requires seeing the price He paid in sending His Son. The Old Testament gives examples of God’s character — what is good and righteous. If we do not understand what is good, we cannot fully know what is right (Deuteronomy 6:18).
Thank you.