Text Box: 1Biblical Feelings And Emotions

The late John V. Dahms
Professor Emeritus in New Testament, Canadian Theological Seminary

Published in Global Missiology, Trinitarian Studies, January 2005, www.globalmissiology.net

Chapter VI

The scriptures contain a wealth of material pertaining to feelings and emotions. We seek to summarize and illustrate what is said therein.

An analysis of biblical teaching in respect to our theme suggests the following topics:

1. Basic and Eternal Feeling(s) and Emotion(s).

2. Feeling(s) and Emotion(s) related to Sin and Evil.

3. Feeling(s) as a Result of Salvation.

1.                                                              Basic Feelings and Emotions

The Scriptures imply that there are certain feelings and emotions which exist eternally, and are therefore basic. It appears that these are love, joy and peace.1

There are those who hold that these terms do not denote feelings and/or emotions, at least when predicated of God. Love is said to be "for Jesus...a matter of will and action."2 According to V. Furnish, "Love is an act of the will. ..not just some. ..feeling. .."3 Bultman argues, "Only if love is thought of as an emotion is it meaningless to command love; the command of love shows that love is understood as an attitude of the will."4 According to I. H. Marshall, "Christian love is first and foremost giving love, although it does not lack other elements such as affection."5 In our judgment, however, it is first and foremost a feeling. But it is a feeling which always eventuates in appropriate giving. Just as faith without works is dead (Jas 2:26), so love without works is also dead.

There are various reasons for holding that love in the Old Testament is primarily a feeling. Some of the reasons include:

(1)    "Love" (MT: ahab; LXX: agape) is commonly used of erotic feelings between the sexes. e.g., Gen 24:67; 29:20; 2 Sam 13:15; Prov 5:19 (MT only); Song of Sol 2:5; 8:6; Hos 3:1;6 etc.

(2)      Love and hate are frequently contrasted, e.g., Jud 14:16; 2 Sam 19:6; Ps 45:7; 97:10; 109:5; Eccl 9:1; Mal 1:2-3; cf. Gen 29:30-31; Deut 21:15-17. It is not possible to hold that hate is a matter of will and/or action in all of these verses.

(3)    According to Hos 3:1, "The Lord loves the people of Israel; though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins." That love is a matter of strong feeling is evident in 11:8, "How can I give you up Ephraim! How can I hand you over, O Israel! ...My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender."7 As G. Quell has observed, "Love in the OT is basically a spontaneous feeling."8

Text Box: Essentially the same judgment must be made with regard to love in the New Testament. Some of the reasons are:

(1)    The Septuagint version of the Old Testament was apparently the Bible of Greek-speaking churches in New Testament times. The Old Testament meaning of agapaõ and agape would prevail in those churches unless they were specifically instructed otherwise. There is no evidence of such instruction. (This is not to say that the meaning was not enriched by the New Testament message. It does mean that it was not fundamentally altered, so far as we know.)

(2)    As in the Old Testament, love and hate can be contrasted, e.g., Matt 5:43; Rom 9:13; Heb 1:9; 1 John 4:20-21.

(3)    The love of the best seats in the synagogues (Luke 11 :43), of darkness (John 3:19), of the praise of men (John 12:43), of gain from wrongdoing (2 Pet 2:15), of the world or the things in the world (1 John 2:15; cf. 2 Tim 4:10),9 of life (Rev 12:11), is fundamentally a matter of feeling, however much decision and conduct may eventuate therefrom. Certainly such love is different from love for God and for humanity, but, if love for God and for humanity were not fundamentally a feeling, not all of these could be called love.

(4)    Though "love" may sometimes denote both a subjective feeling and/or the manifestation thereof (e.g., John 15:13; 2 Cor 8:8), it is often distinguished from its manifestation, e.g., John 3:16, "God so loved the world that (hõste introducing a result clause) he gave his only Son"; John 17:24 NIV, "The glory you have given me because (hoti) you loved me. ..."; Rom 5:8, "God shows his love for us in that (hoti) while we were yet sinners Christ died for us"; Gal 5:6, "Faith working through (di’) love";10 Gal 5:13, "Through ( dia) love be servants of one another"; 1 John 4:9, "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that (hoti) God sent his only Son into the world. .."; cf. John 3:35; 14:23, 28; 2 Cor. 8:24 Eph 5:25; 1 Thess 1:3; 1 John 3:16; Rev 1:5.

(5)   Phileõ, which clearly implies affection, is used as a synonym for agapaõ from time to time: (a) Matt 6:5; 23:6; cf. Luke 11 :43; 20:46 (b) John 5:20; cf. 3:35; (c) John 20:2; cf. 13:23; 19:26; 21:7, 20; (d) John 11:3; cf. 11:5; (e) John 12:25; cf. Rev. 12:11; (f) John 16:27; cf. 14:21; (g) 1 Cor 16:22; Tit 3:15; cf. 1 Cor 2:9; 8:3; Rom 8:28; Eph 6:24; (h) Rev 3:19; cf. 1 :5; 3:9. In this connection also compare Jas 4:4 with 1 John 2: 15; 1 Thess 4:9a with 4:9b; 1 Pet 1 :22a with 1 :22b; and 1 Pet 3:8 with 1 John 3:11; 4:7.11

(6)    In 2 Cor 2:4 Paul states that his love for the Corinthians meant "anguish of heart and. ..tears" (cf. Hos 11 :8). According to 1 Thess 2:8 that the Thessalonians have become "beloved (agapetos)" to Paul meant that he was "affectionately desirous (homeiromenoi)" of them.

As in the Old Testament, love in the New Testament is "basically a ...feeling." E. Stauffer has stated in commenting on Matt 24:12, "The character of love for God. ..is a glowing passion for God."12 And R. Mohrlang has pointed out that for Paul love for others "include(s) a sense of genuine care and compassion and brotherly affection.13 Bultmann's assertion quoted above fails to give due consideration to the paradoxical nature of love. John put it this way, "Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God" (1 John 4:7-8; cf. Phil 2:12-13). He exhorts Christians (beloved!) to love one another, yet states that one "cannot come into a real relationship with a loving God without being transformed into a loving person."14

There is little disagreement that joy is a feeling, though E. Käsemann, in commenting on Rom 14:17, states, "Joy is standing under an open heaven," and goes on to assert that not feeling but reality is in view.15 But surely a feeling is in view in such a text as Isa 9:3, "They rejoice before thee as with joy at the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil."16 Likewise, the New Testament speaks of joy at good news (Luke 2:10; 2 Cor 7:7); at finding what is lost (Luke 15:5,

Text Box: 36, 9); at a glorious prospect (Matt 5:12; John 8:56; 1 Pet 1:6-8; Heb 10:34); etc. Moreover, joy is contrasted with grief (John 16:20-23; 2 Cor 2:3; cf. John 14:27 -28). Except for the passages in which chairein may be only a gracious greeting (Acts 15:23; 23:26; Jas 1:1; cf. 2 John 10-11, and chaire(te) likewise (Matt 26:49; 27:29; 28:9 [?]; Mark 15:18; Luke 1:28 [?]; John 19:3), the terminology we are considering does rep- resent a feeling.

As for peace, shalom commonly denotes "well-being" and "wholeness,"17 except for those occasions when it denotes cessation of, or freedom from, war and strife. (Whether a mere greeting is in view in Luke 10:5; 24:36 v.1.; John 20:19, 21, 26, is debatable.) But well-being and wholeness include tranquility and confidence, and there are occasions when these are prominent in the meaning, for example, in Ps 4 where peace is contrasted with "distress": "In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for thou alone, O Lord, makest me dwell in safety" (v. 8; cf. v. 1 ).18 And in the New Testament eirene is contrasted with anxiety in John 14:27; Phil 4:6-7; cf. Luke 7:38-50. As with love and joy, a feeling is commonly included, if not foremost, in the meaning of "peace."

If, as we have stated, the feelings of love, joy and peace are eternal and fundamental, they must characterize deity, quite apart from His relation to what He has created. Since Trinitarian doctrine arose largely as a result of New Testament revelation, it is not surprising that there is little Old Testament evidence that such feelings are an eternal characteristic of God. The divine Wisdom is represented as saying, "I was daily his (the Lord's) delight" (Prov 8:30),19 but even here the context is that of Wisdom's relationship to creation.

In the New Testament it is stated, however, that the Father loved the Son "before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24). As C. K. Barrett has said, expression is thus given to "the eternal relationship of love which is. ..of the essence of the Holy Trinity."20 In the light of John 17:24, "The Father loves the Son" (John 3:35; 10:17; 15;9; 17:24; cf. 5:20), and "I (Christ) love the Father" (John 14:31 ), need not be under- stood as referring only to the incarnate Son. Though there is no com- parable mention of love for, or by, the Spirit, that the foremost grace of the Spirit is '.love" (Gal 5:22) may invite the judgment that the Father and the Son eternally love the Spirit and that He reciprocates their love.21

Since love is so integral to the Godhead, it is not surprising that God's love should extend to all that He has created. This is implied in such passages as Ps 145:9, '.His compassion is over all that he has made" (cf. vv. 13-20); Jonah 4:11, "Should I not pity Nineveh ...in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons. . .and also much cattle?";22 and Matt 6:26-30, "Your heavenly Father feeds them (the birds of the air) ...God. ..clothes the grass of the field" (cf. Ps 104:10-31; 147:9). His love for people not only extends to "all who fear him. ..(and) love him" (Ps 145:19-20), but includes sinners (Rom 5:9). He “desires all men to be saved" (1 Tim 2:4).

God's love, however, is not only a universal love. It is also love for (love of a particular quality for?) a particular people, and for select individuals.23 When Moses declares, '.The Lord set his love upon you and chose you" (Deut 7:7; cf. Amos 3:2; Rom 11 :28), the context indicates that God's love is a particular love for Israel as a corporate entity. Likewise, when Paul asserts, '.Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Eph 5:25), he implies a particular love for the true commonwealth of Israel, a commonwealth into which Gentile Christians are incorporated (see Eph 2:12-19; cf. 1 Pet 2:7-10). On the other hand, God's particular love is also for select individuals. Paul could say, "The Son of God. ..loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20; cf. Rom 8:35; Eph 3:19). Indeed, God is represented as saying, "I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau" (Ma1 1:2-3; Rom 9:13).24

God's love is so significant that John asserts, "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16), i.e., "love" is an

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exceedingly important attribute of God. And, of course, that love characterizes the relationship

Text Box: between the members of the Godhead, to say nothing of the fact that it characterizes His relationship to all of creation, means that love is of ultimate significance, and can never be considered dispensable.

Though the fact that it needs to be commanded is due to the Fall, it is in accord with love as an essential characteristic of God's being, that we should read, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deut 6:5; cf. 30: 16); and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev 19: 18; cf . 19:34 ).26 And it was appropriate for Jesus to affirm that these two commandments are the greatest commandments of the law, even declaring, "On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (Matt 22:35-40). John asserted accordingly, "He who does not love does not know God" (1 John 4:8), and, "He who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (1 John 4:16).

Besides being eternally characterized by love, God is eternally characterized by joy. Though it is difficult to find biblical passages which specifically state this,27 one can hardly conceive of the Son with whom the Father is well pleased (Matt 3:17) as not being well pleasing to Him, and a joy to Him, throughout all eternity (cf. John 8:29). Indeed, according to Philo, "rejoicing is most closely associated with God alone" (de Abr., 202). And, when Jesus speaks of "my joy," and desires that their joy may be "complete" (John 15: 11; cf. 17:13), it is probable that His joy is a concomitant of His unity with the Father, a unity suggested in the immediate context when He calls God "my Father."28 And God's rejoicing in His works and in His people is reported in Isa 62:5; 65:19; Zeph 3:17; cf. Deut 28:63; 30:9; Ps 104:31; Jer 33:9; to say nothing of His provision of "good news of a great joy" (Luke 2:10), and of His rejoicing over sinners who repent (Luke 15:7, 10, 22-24, 32; cf. Matt 18:13-14).

Since God is joyful, it is appropriate that there should be expressions of joy and exhortations to be joyful. The poet can say, "The hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows. ..(and) the valleys. ..shout and sing together for joy" (Ps 65:12-13; cf. Job 39:21; Ps. 19:5).

Another (?) Psalmist can say, "I rejoice in the Lord" (Ps. 104:34 ). And Paul not only speaks of his own joy and rejoicing (Phil 1 :3-5, 18, 19; 2:2; 4:10; etc.), but exhorts, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice" (Phil 4:4; cf. 3:1).

We may also ascribe eternal peace to God, i.e., "peace as a feeling of peace and rest."29 As G. F. Hawthorne says concerning "the peace of God" (Phil 4:7), "Paul seems to be here referring to the tranquility of God's own eternal being. .., the peace which God himself has ..., the calm serenity which characterizes his very nature. .."30 And, when Jesus says, "My peace I give to you" (John 14:27), He seems to imply - in light of the Johannine Christology - that His peace is an eternal possession.31

God is eager to bestow His peace. That this peace includes a subjective feeling, at least at times, is implied in the passages quoted above (Ps 4:8; John 14:27; Phil 4:7), when taken in context. To these may be added John 16:33; Rom 15:13.32 Exhortation with respect to the subjective experience of His peace is implicit in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. ..Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."33 .

Feelings of love, joy and peace are eternally characteristic of God's being and of His activity in relation to creation. They are also characteristic of what God wants persons to be. It may be that there are other feelings and emotions, equally basic and eternal, but we doubt it. It seems significant that not only are love, joy and peace the three kinds of feeling mentioned in the Supper Discourse and High Priestly Prayer of Jesus (John 13-17), but with respect to each one there is reason to believe that what is in view at least includes a particular kind of feeling. There is also, of course, the Pauline statement that the fruit of the Spirit is first of all love, joy, peace

Text Box: (Gal 5:22), though, that each of these denotes a feeling, or even includes a feeling, may be questioned.34

2.                 Feelings and Emotions related to Sin and Evil

There are a number of feelings and emotions which are not basic and eternal, but are occasioned by sin and evil. They may be set forth in three general categories, which are the counterpart of the eternal feelings we have already considered: (1) Selfishness, hatred, lust, wrath, jealousy; (2) Fear, distress, grief, depression, sadness, loneliness, sorrow, guilt, shame; (3) Inner conflict.

Some of these feelings occasioned by sin characterize God; some do not.

With respect to God, sin and evil occasion divine hatred and wrath. "Thou hates all evildoers. The Lord abhors bloodthirsty and deceitful men" (Ps 5:5, 6). "His (the Lord's) soul hates him that loves violence" (Ps 11 :5). "God. ..expresses his wrath every day" (Ps 7:11 NIV). Romans repeatedly refers to God's wrath against the ungodly and unrighteous (1:18; 2:5,8; 5:9; 9:22; cf. 4:15; 12:19; 13:4). That God is a jealous God, demanding exclusive devotion, is emphasized in Ex 20:5; Deut 4:24; 5:9; 6:15; etc., and is noted in 2 Cor 11:2 (zeros). That sin and evil are the occasion of divine grief and sorrow is vividly set forth in Gen 6:6, "The Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart"; cf. Ps 78:40, "How often they rebelled against him (God) in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert"; Eph 4:30, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God" (cf. Isa 53:3, 4; Matt 26:38). The waywardness of Israel is even said to lead to "conflict raging within the heart of God,"35 to "God. ..in conflict with himself over Israel"36: "How can I give you up, O Ephraim! How can I hand you over, O Israel! How can I make you like Admah! How can I treat you like Zeboiim! My heart recoils within me. .." (Hos 11:8; cf. Jer 31:20; Jas 2:13).

There is biblical evidence that God has feelings occasioned by sin in all three categories I have set forth, though, of course, He does not have, and cannot have, all of them. For example, He cannot feel lust, or guilt, or shame. Even so, there is a highly paradoxical relationship between His eternal feelings and the feelings He has which are occasioned by sin and evil. How can God, of which John can say that He is love, ever be characterized by anger and hatred? How can the God of eternal joy ever "experience" sorrow and grief? How can the God of peace ever have "conflict raging within (his) heart"? Rationalistic theology has no sound explanation(s). Biblical theology may be consistent-we are convinced that it is-but consistency is not always of a logical nature.

Sin is due to, and results from, all the unworthy and undesirable feelings we have listed above, and possibly some which we have over- looked. In the first place there are the evil feelings which are integral to the character of the sinner. In this connection we draw attention to some of the New testament lists which include the feelings which characterize sinful persons, though it is not to be thought that all such feelings are characteristic of each and every sinner; Mark 7:21-22 (cf. Matt 15:19); Rom 1:24-31; 13:13; 1 Cor 5:11; 6:9-10; 2 Cor 12:20-21; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 4:25-5:6; CoI3:5-8; 1 Tim 1:9-10; 2 Tim 3:2-4; Rev 21:8. In these passages the following feelings are included: covetousness, pride, lust, malice, envy, jealousy, wrath, anger, arrogance, selfishness, bitterness, enmity, hatred of good, hatred of God, love of self, love of money, love of pleasure.37 In addition sinners may lack certain important feelings. They may be heartless, ruthless, inhuman. Such feelings are in place of the agape they ought to have toward God and toward men.38

Besides the feelings integral to the character of the sinner, there are feelings which result from their evil actions, the second category of feelings listed above. In this case the biblical witness is not nearly so extensive. It begins, however, with Gen 3:7-8 (cf. 2:25), and the sense of shame,

Text Box: and perhaps of fear, credited to Adam and Eve.39 When Cain realizes what he is to suffer because of his sin, he cries out, "My punishment is greater than I can bear" (Gen 4:13). Jacob, when

about to meet Esau whom he had wronged, "was greatly afraid and distressed" (Gen 32:7), as were Joseph's brothers as a result of their treatment of him (Gen 37:29; 42:21; 45:3, 5; 50:15-21 ). As a result of his disobedience "an evil spirit from the Lord tormented (Saul)" (1 Sam 16:14), and he was "afraid of David" (1 Sam 18:12; cf. 28:5, 20). The Psalmist (David?) describes the "consequence of living with guilt and a stifled conscience:40 'When I declared not my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer"' (Ps 32:3-4; cf. 38:1-8; 51:3). Judas Iscariot suffered such remorse41 that "he went and hanged himself" (Matt 27:3-5). In 2 Cor 7:10 Paul mentions "worldly grief (which) produces death," probably referring to "sorrow because of the painful and unwelcome consequences of sin,"42 i.e., self-pity and/or remorse (?). Heb 10:27 warns of the possibility of "a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God" (N IV) and Heb 12:17 states that Esau "could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears" (NIV), and may imply that certain sinners could have a similar experience.43 Other biblical evidence could be adduced. As we have seen, feelings as a result of sin include shame, fear, distress, guilt, remorse, grief, perhaps also self-pity and despair. Nor is this list necessarily exhaustive.

Of course the ill feelings of the sinner are neither constant nor unalloyed. One may "enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time" (Heb 11:25). Indeed, the Psalmist may describe the wicked as "have(in) no pangs," "not (being) in trouble," "having pride (as) their necklace," being "always at ease" (Ps 73:4, 5, 6, 12). At least this appears to be the case for the time being. Whether it is ever entirely true, or is true for their life- time, is doubtful.44

There is, however, a third kind of feeling which is frequently experienced by the sinner with more or less intensity, a feeling of inner tension due to the fact that the image of God is never really obliterated in this life. It is most clearly set forth 7:22-24, "I delight in the law of God in my inmost self but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin. .. Wretched man that I am! ..." Many scholars are of the opinion that the experience of at least some Christians is being described, but such an interpretation implies that a Christian is not necessarily a regenerate person. A slave of sin is not really a Christian (cf. 1 Cor 6:9-11; 1 John 3:9; 5:18). And, though a Christian may experience periods of wretchedness, he is not a wretched man. Because his redemption is not complete in this life, a Christian may experience a tension some- what similar to that of Rom 7, "The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these 'are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would" (Gal 5:17). But the Christian is not enslaved by the desires of the flesh. He can "walk by the Spirit" and need not "gratify the desires of the flesh" (Gal 5:16, 25; cf. Rom 8:9). And, if he does walk by the Spirit, he has "peace" in his "inmost self' (Gal 5:22).45

3.              Feelings as a Result of Salvation

In one sense there are no new feelings related to salvation, only a particular quality of feelings which have existed from all eternity.

Salvation begins with God's love for the sinner. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish. .." (John 3:16). However, love for the unfortunate and the sinner has the form of sympathy and compassion.46 "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail' (Lam. 3:22 NIV). "He (Jesus) saw a great throng, and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd" (Mark 6:34). 'We have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses" (Heb 4:15).

Text Box: What God does for human salvation brings Him joy. There is heavenly joy over the national restoration of His people. "The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies... He will rejoice over you with gladness. .., He will exult over you with loud singing" (Zeph. 3:15-17 NIV). There is also heavenly joy over spiritual restoration. There is "more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:7). "For the sake of the joy that was set before him (Jesus) endured the cross" (Heb. 12:2). Of course this divine joy over national restoration and spiritual restoration is of a quality to be distinguished from the joy the members of the Godhead have in each other, and from the divine joy in creation as "very good." This joy is joy over what redemption secures and will secure.

It is more difficult to find divine peace represented as a feeling resulting from redemption. In light of the New Testament, which implies the deity of the Suffering Servant, it may be intimated, perhaps in Isa. 53:11, "He shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied."47 In Ps. 85: 10 ("Righteousness and peace will kiss each other") it is probable that divine attributes are in view, and, though the emphasis is on the peace which the land will enjoy, as an attribute of God, peace will surely include a divine feeling of satisfaction.48 The Palm Sunday ejaculation, "Peace in heaven" (Luke 19:38), certainly relates to redemption and its accomplishment, but surely implies divine satisfaction, and so divine peace. In this connection one may note the conception of conflict in heaven which is brought to an end by Satan's expulsion from heaven (Rev 12:7-9; cf. Luke 10:18). We may also note that Col 1:20 speaks of God "reconcil(ing) to himself all things," including things "in heaven." Though Rev 12 does not specifically mention peace in connection with Satan's expulsion from heaven, it is perhaps to be assumed in the light of v. 12, "Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein." The reconciliation of Col 1:20 is said to have been a matter of "making peace by the blood of his cross." We find it difficult to believe that this peace did not include a divine feeling of satisfaction.49

Though there is not a great deal of biblical evidence concerning divine feelings related to salvation, there is a great deal about the human feelings of the redeemed.

Again we believe that the feelings of the redeemed may be subsumed under love, joy and peace. We give but a few examples of such feelings:

(1)    With respect to love: "I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. ..When I was brought low, he saved me ...You have delivered my soul from death" (Ps 116:1, 6, 8); "She loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little" (Luke 7:47); "YOU love him" (1 Pet 1 :8); "We love, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19; cf. 4:9-10).

(2)    With respect to joy and rejoicing due to divine salvation (and the praise which gives expression to that joy), we note such passages as Ps 13:5; 27:6; 51:8, 12; Acts 8:8; 13:52; 1 Thess 1:6; 1 Pet 1:8.

(3)    Peace as a result of salvation is to be seen in Ps 85:8 (cf. vv. 3- 5); Isa 26:1 ,3 (MT only); 48:18; Luke 1 :79 (cf. v. 77); 2:14, 29-30;50 7:50;51 Eph 4:3; 6: 15.52

It is to be noted, of course, that God's people are exhorted to inner love, joy and peace in both Testaments, e.g., Deut 6:5; Ps 32:11; 55:22 LXX; Matt 5:44; 22:37-39; Phi 13:1; 4:4, 6-7; 1 Thess 5:16 (cf. Matt 6:25-34; 1 Pet 5:7). That such exhortation is necessary is apparently due to: (1) Grace is not granted apart from the exercise of the will. Grace enables us to will effectually, as Phil 2:12-13 teaches. Though the will alone is not sufficient for any significant change in our feelings, it does have a part to play therein.53 (2) Our salvation is not complete in this life (cf. Rom 8:23; 13:11 ). This means that the lusts of the flesh still assail us, their blandishments being

Text Box: exacerbated by the pressures of "the world." (The devil tempts us through our fleshly lusts, using environ- mental circumstances as a means thereto [1 Cor 7"5].54

It is for the same reasons that God's people are exhorted to fear God (Deut 6:13-15; 1 Sam 12:24-25; Ps 34;11-16; Matt 10:28; Heb 12:28-29; cf. 1 John 2:28). Paul implies as much when he says to Christians, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12).55 In 1 John 4:17-18 it is apparently taught that God's people may have love so perfected in them that they no longer have any fear of the day of judgment. Since other Scriptures seem to imply that fear of the divine wrath ought always to be a motivating factor in the life of God's people, we suggest that the mature Christian experience is paradoxically one in which there is both fear of judgment, and the lack of such fear. Is it not a fact that many sons both fear, and do not fear, their earthly fathers?56

We do not claim to have exhausted the feelings of Christians. For example, we have not mentioned gratitude. But we have considered the important ones, and suspect that all the other feelings may be subsumed under love, joy and peace. In fact, there is a dynamic relation- ship between gratitude and love; cf. Ps 116:1, "I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications"; 1 John 4:19, "We love, because he first loved us"; 2 Cor 8:8-9.

It may be briefly noted that both Old and New Testaments anticipate an eschatological future in which unalloyed feelings of love, joy (expressed in praise) and peace will prevail. For love, see Deut 30:6, "The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your off- spring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul" (cf. Jer 27:7; 32:38- 40; Ezek 36:26-27). For joy, see Isa 35:10, "The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. .."; Jude 24, "Him who is able. ..to present you. ..before the presence of his glory with rejoicing" (cf. Isa 9:3; 55:12; 65:18; 1 Cor 13:13; Rev. 19:7; etc.). For peace, see Isa 66:13, "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you"; Rev 21:4, "He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more" (cf. Isa 9:7; Ezek 34:25, 28; etc.) It should be noted, however, that love, joy and peace are richer in the eschatological age than they were "originally," and that this is because of the redemption effected by Christ.

It seems that we can say that the Trinitarian pattern can be seen in love, joy and peace, with love corresponding to the Father, joy to the Son, and peace to the Holy Spirit, though, of course, each member of the Trinity has all three "feelings." Again the pattern is seen in that (1 ) in eternity unalloyed love, joy and peace prevailed: (2) the incursion of sin brought in conflicting feelings; and (3) love, joy and peace will again prevail unalloyed, but will be enriched by the redemption that has been fully applied. We make bold to say that not only will they be enriched in human experience ("He who is forgiven little, loves little" [Luke 7:47]), but also in the divine "experience" ("There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine persons who need no repentance" [Luke 15:7]).

1.          Gr.: agapaõ, chara, eir6n6.

2.          E. Stauffet; TDNT; 1:44-45.

3.                     The Love Command in the New Testament  (Nashville: Abingdon, 1972) 202.

4.                     Jesus and the Word  (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1958) 118.

5.                     The Epistles of John  (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978) 61.

6.          In this verse God's love for Israel is compared with sexual love.

7.                  Text Box: Cf. p C. Craigie, Twelve Prophets  (Philadelphia: Westminster; 1984) 73-74.

8.                  TDNT; 1:22.

9.                  TDNT; 1:45.

10.               Matthew and Paul  (Cambridge: University Press, 1984) 104.

11.              Marshall. Epistles of John, 212. According to G. Quell, TDN7, 1:25. 'To fulfill the command of love can only consist in not hindering the feeling of love, the rise of which is not connected with any act of will. "

12.              TDN7; 1:45.

13.              H. Conzelmann, TDNT; 9:362, speaks of "the experience of joy in the Old Testament

14.              Cf. G. L. Cart; TWOT; 2:931.

15.              Cf. P C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50  (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1983) 82.

16.              Cf. Wisd 8:3, "The Lord of all loves her (Wisdom)." Prov 8:3 "can be taken to mean that wisdom experienced pleasure without alloy or that she gave delight to Yahweh" (W. McKane, Proverbs  (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1970) 357.

17.               The Gospel according to John  S Second Edition (Philadelphia: Westminster; 1978) 514; cf. A. M. Hunter; The Gospel according to John  (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1965) 165.

18.              Various theologians both ancient and modern, have held that the Holy Spirit is               the

"mutual love of both" the Father and the Sonll. "The love of both is a Third                      Person, who

makes them one" (S. B. Swete, The Holy Spirit in the Ancient                  Church  [Grand Rapids:
Baker; 1966] 372).

"The love of the Spirit" (Rom 15:30) probably means, "the love inspired by the Spirit" (C. E.B. Cranfield, Romans: A Shorter Commentary  [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985] 373). J. Murray The Epistle to the Romans  (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1968) 2:221, prefers the interpretation, "The love which the Spirit bears to believers."

19.              Cf. Deut 25:4. Surely 1 Cor 9:9-10 is to be understood as having some such

meaning as that in Deut 25:4 "God had in mind not oxen, but Christian preachers and their needs" (C. K. Barrett, A Commentary on the First Epistle                                                              to the Corinthians  (New
York: Harper & Row; 1968) 205.

20.              It is not to be assumed that God's particular love is only due to the Fall. The                      quality

of love is conditioned by the quality of the object, and by one's                 relationship to the object.

Filial love is qualitatively different from fraternal love,                  and love for one's brother is
qualitatively different from love for another brother. If there were to be no qualitative difference in God's love for different people and different individuals, He would have had to create them

all                        absolutely identical in every respect. On the other hand, the quality of His love is also
due to the Fall and to human sin.

21.              Text Box: 10Rationalism cannot accommodate the idea of God's love being essentially universal, but

existentially restricted to one people, and to certain individuals.                 God is personal, which
means that He has a specific nature, but is also free.

22.              Cf. Marshall, Epistles of John, 212-13.

23.              Lev. 19:18 is not given prominence in the Old Testament, nor is it made clear there that enemies are to be loved, though Exod 23:4-5 and Prov 25:21-22 (cf. Gen 50:15-21) point in that direction. Craigie, Psalms 1-50, 41, asserts, "The Psalmists in ancient times were bound to the same commitment of love for enemies as is the modern Christian or Jew (cf. Lev 19:17-18; Exod23:4-5) ..."

24.              Does 1 Chron 16:27 assume it?

25.              Cf. R. E. Brown, The Gospel according to John  (Garden City, N. Y: Doubleday, 1970) 2:68; E. Haenchen, John 2  (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984) 154; Barrett, John 476, 509.

26.              Cf. W. Foerster. TDNT: 2:412.

27.               Philippians  (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1983) 184; cf. F. W. Beare, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Philippians (London: Black, 1959) 147.

28.              If His peace were only due to His thoroughgoing and unremitting conformity                  to the
will of God, what significance could it have in John 14:27, beyond that of a farewell wish that His disciples might have peace?

29.              Others hold that peace includes a subjective feeling in such passages as Rom 8:6; 14:17; Gal 5:22; Eph 6:23; 2 Thess 3:16; 2 Pet 3:14. See C. H. Dodd, The Epistle of Paul to the  Romans  (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1932) 122; J. Murray. The Epistle to the  Romans  (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968 repr. 1971) 1:286; 2:194. A. E. Barnett, 18, 12:204; F. Foulkes, The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians  (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1963) 181.

30.              Such exhortations as occur in CoI 3:15; 2 Pet 3:14; etc., may not have subjective peace in view.

31.              In our opinion these three graces, and especially the first of the three, represent the dynamic of the Spirit, whereby He ministers the other graces listed.

32.              Craigie, Twelve Prophets,  1:74.

33.              H. W. Wolff, Hosea (Philadephia: Fortress, 1965)201; cf J. L. Mays Hosea (Philadelphia: Westminster; 1969) 157.

34.               Text Box: 11We have made some effort to put the feelings most frequently mentioned consideration has affected the order. No attempt has been made to examine what other scriptures may have had to contribute.

35.               We do not imply that sinners are necessarily devoid of all good feelings. Those who are evil may love certain people (Matt 5:46-47; Luke 11:13). The image of God was not obliterated by the Fall.

36.               G. von Rad, Genesis, Revised Edition (Philadelphia: Westminster; 1972) 101, holds that both shame and fear are ascribed to human sin in Gen 3.

37.               Craigie, Psalms 1-50, 267.

38.               Cf. D. Hill, The Gospel of Matthew  (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1981) 348.

39.               P. E. Hughes, Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians  (Grand Rapids; Eerdmans, 1962) 272-73; R. Bultmann, TDNT; 4:320. For a different interpretation, see C. K. Barrett, A Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians  (New York: Harper & Row, 1973) 211.

40.               Cf. D. A. Hagner; Hebrews  (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983) 150, 151; 7: H. Robinson, The Epistle to the Hebrews  (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1933) 147, holds that the expectation of Heb 10:27 involves "despair."

41.               That God's people suffer some of the same ill feelings from time to time is due to the following: (a) Our redemption is not completely effected in this life; (b) We suffer from the sins of others, either because of our proximity to them, or of our solidarity with them; (c) Sinners frequently hate and harm God's people.

Are "double-minded" people (Jas 4:8) to be compared with those spoken of in Rom 7? They are sinners who need to repent. However; nothing is said concerning the feelings directly related to their double-mindedness.

42.               Cf. J. Moffatt, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the  Hebrews  (Edinburgh: 7: & 7: Clark, 1924) 196-97.

43.               Cf. C. R. North, The Second Isaiah (Oxford: Clarendon, 1964) 244.

44.               Cf. A. A. Anderson, The Book of Psalms  (Greenwood, S.C.: Attic, 1972) 612.

45.               God is not an insensitive machine.

46.               H. Marshall, The Gospel of Luke  (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978) 120. speaks of Simeon being "serene."

47.                               Text Box: 12"Peace" here is in contrast to "weeping" (Luke 7:38). More may be implied than feeling, but feeling is prominent. Cf. 'peace" vs. "trembling" in Luke 8:47-48.

48.                               This means that the lusts of the flesh still assail us (Gal 5:16-17). The devil tempts us through these lusts, using environmental circumstances as a means thereto (cf. 1 Cor 7:5). How unfallen man could be tempted is an enigma.

49                               Cf. J. D. W. Watts, Isaiah 34-66  (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987) 263- 64; J. L.

McKenzie, Second Isaiah  (Garden City, N. Y:: Doubleday, 1968) 162.

50.         North, The Second Isaiah, 232-3.

51.         F.F. Bruce, "Commentary on the Epistle to the Colossians," Simpson and Bruce, Ephesians and Colossians, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957 repr.1973) 207-8.

52.         Marshall, Luke, 66.

53.         Ibid., 314.

54.         E. K. Simpson, "Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians," Simpson and Bruce, Ephesians and Colossians,  148.

55.         J. J. Millet; The Epistles of Paul to the Philippians and to Philemon,  (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1955 repr 1980), 90-92.

56.         On the other hand, it appears that lack of feeling may not be significant as to one's true condition spiritually; cf. 1 Cor. 4:3-4; Eph. 4:19.