Love

Love... I have never seen a word more confused or misused.

When Paul speaks about love, his starting point is the love of God (Rom 5:8; 8:37; 9:13; 2 Cor 9:7; 13:11, 13; 1 Thess 1:4) which he has shown in Christ (Romaniuk). God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (v. 8). The hymnic passage in Rom 8:31–39 (see G. Schille, ​ZNW​ 59 [1968] 230–44; P. Fiedler, ​ZNW​ 68 [1977] 23–34), which begins with the question, “If God is for us, who is against us?” concludes with the assurance that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The ἀγαπήσας (v. 37) is Christ, who has shown his love (v. 35) on the cross (2 Cor 5:14f.) and reigns as the Exalted One. He “loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20).