The clearest and most precise definition of love given anywhere in Scripture is this, love

is ultimately self-sacrificing.

It is not primarily defined as an emotion.

It is not primarily defined as a feeling.

It is an act of self-giving.

Welcome to Grace to You, featuring the Bible teaching of John MacArthur.

I'm Phil Johnson, your host.

It's one of the most enduring themes in our culture, especially in the entertainment realm.

I'm talking about love.

But really, what exactly is love? What does love do? How do you distinguish genuine love from counterfeit love? The world would call it a feeling, a strong emotion, and one that you have a right

to experience. But how does that perspective mesh with God's Word?

Today, on Grace to You, John MacArthur digs into some of the definitive Bible passages

that explain God's perspective on love. It's a message that can invigorate all your relationships,

and it's the next stop in John's survey of Christian

attitudes that form the foundation for your spiritual growth and usefulness. John's current

series is called The Pillars of Christian Character. And now here's John.

Borrowing from the biblical metaphor of the church as the body of Christ.

It's a rich and wonderful identity that incorporates great treasures of truth for our edification

and our application.

We have compared the church to a body, Christ to the head, as the Apostle Paul teaches us in Ephesians and in Colossians.

And as we have been doing that, we've been looking a little more deeply, kind of extending

the metaphor and talking about the anatomy of the church.

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