And this I pray so that your love may abound more and more, in knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is essential, so that existing pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God - Philippians 1:9-11
Love abounds more and more in knowledge and all discernment. That you are filled with fruit speaks of maturity, thus speaking of growth in Christ where we grow up truth in love. Thus is what Paul writes, that Jesus ascended to fill all, giving gifts to men so that the work of ministry builds up the church, in knowledge of the Son, so that we come into a fullness, into mature adulthood, into the full measure of the stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:9-16). There is a unity of faith in knowledge of Jesus where the body grows and builds itself up in love, abounding more and more in love.
And we have come to know and to trust the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him - 1 John 4:16
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another - John 13:35
We are to be known as disciples of Jesus by nothing greater than love. Jesus could have used a virtue or gifts of giving or serving or evangelism to describe his disciples but he chose to use agape love. It fits with what we have seen so far and other scriptures. Jesus gave us a new command to love one another. John writes if we love Jesus we will obey his command, thus the basis of our obedience is founded in love. Jesus associates the love we have for one another to knowing him; if we give one of the least of these his brethren a cold drink, or food, or clothing or visit them in a ward we do it unto him. What we do to one another his brethren we do unto him. If we do not love one another we do not love him. Even the basis of our serving is toward one another in love (Galatians 5:13). By such we can distinguish false religion from true religion, one gratifies the flesh, doing things for the approval of men, self-seeking interests and glory of men, while true religion will grow up children knitted together in love, serving one another, doing good to all but especially good to the household of faith, on the basis of love.
so that your hearts are persuaded, knitted together in love also to the extent of all riches of full assurance of understanding to the extent of God's mystery, that Christ, in whom exists hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this to you so no reasons with you in persuasive speech... - Colossians 2:1-4
Paul uses the word for struggle like as running a race, striving, contending in which the goal is that they are persuaded and knitted together in love. Think of being knitted together, of what it means in regards to unity and loving, caring for one another. Why is Paul wanting to persuade them to be knitted together in love? In Colossians 3:14 he tells us, love is the bond that leads to maturity. He wants them to grow up in knowledge of the Son, "we do not ceasing praying for you, that you be filled of knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, walking worthy of the Lord, to the extent fully pleasing, bearing fruit in all good works and increasing in knowledge of God, empowered in all power according to his glorious might, for the display of all endurance and long suffering... teaching everyone in all wisdom so that presenting all men mature in Christ, to this end I am striving according to his power working in me" (Colossians 1). It is how the church grows into maturity in knowledge of the Son, in truth and love.
bear with one another and forgive one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, just as the Lord graciously forgives you, so also you. Now, to extent of all these, love which exists the bond of maturity - Colossians 3:13-14
A sweater knitted together has a strong bond. It is given; the purpose of agape love is to create a strong bond in which truth can become applicable. In truth and love we will grow up in knowledge of Jesus, into mature adulthood, and love is the bond that leads us there. "Therefore as the elect of God, holy, and loved, put on compassion, kindness, lowliness of humility of mind, gentleness, and long-suffering... now above all these, love... (Colossians 3:12-14). Bearing with one another, forgiving for wrongs done, can be explained as lowliness and we see other virtues but above all these is agape love. It is above kindness, humility, lowliness, long-suffering because agape love exists these things. "Love is long-suffering, love is kind, it doesn't envy, love doesn't brag, it is not arrogant, not rude, self-seeking..." (1 Corinthians 13:4-5) Paul tells us there are religious activities and false piety and humility (Colossians 2:23). The sign of such will be the lack of love. Above all virtues is love and love is above all gifts.
seek now the great gifts also, yet still I will show you a way beyond comparison - 1 Corinthians 12:31
The way beyond comparison Paul goes on to write is love. We have seen agape love is above all virtues and now we see it is above all gifts. If we have these gifts but do not have love it is nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-4). The purpose of these gifts as Paul writes in Ephesian 4 is so that the body grows up into maturity, truth in love. If a congregation grows some other way it is not according to how God has purposed it to grow and you will not see the knitting together in love, you will not see serving one another in love, you will not see true long suffering, humility, and lowliness because without being rooted and founded in agape love these other virtues do not have the proper foundation, it is false piety. Think of what Paul says, if I had the gift of giving so that I gave my body to be burned it is nothing without love, neither is prophecy, knowledge, understanding, wisdom, nor faith.
now abide faith, hope, and love, the greatest of these is love - 1 Corinthians 13:13
We have seen love is greater than all the virtues and gifts and now we see love is greater than faith and hope. How is this so? One reason, "love never ends." (1 Corinthians 13:8) Paul writes prophecy, knowledge, tongues will be set aside because we only know and prophecy in part, but when maturity, the consummation or fullness of our completeness in Christ comes these things will be set aside. They are not needed anymore, will we need faith and hope with Christ? No, but agape love never ends, there is no depth, height, width, breadth to the love of God, it is infinite and never ends. But also love exists more
If we abide in God and God abides in us we abide in love. This is why the world will know we are disciples of Jesus, because love is the sign we abide in the Vine. Out of faith, hope, and love the greatest of these is love. Why is love greater than faith? Agape love believes all (1 Corinthians 13:7). Is not believing faith? True agape love exists believing, it exists together with faith so we can not say faith exists without agape love, or it is not true faith. Thus agape love is greater. Faith works or energizes or strengthens through love, thus Faith without works or deeds of agape love, as James points out is dead, it is not true faith.
agape love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all thing - 1 Corinthians 13:7
Here we see more virtues of love, it bears, endures, is long-suffering, it is kind, gentle and lowly, it rejoices in the truth, not wrong doing (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Love doesn't keep account of wrong, thus love covers a multitude of sin. "Above all, have a fervent love to the extent of yourselves, because love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). Love keeps no accounts of wrong, so it covers, conceals, hides sin. God set forth Jesus as an atoning sacrifice to demonstrate His righteousness through passing over previous sin (Romans 3:25; 2 Peter 3:9). God was long-suffering toward us, because of love, God sent his son to cover our sin because he so loved the world. The prophet Isaiah says God longs to be gracious toward us, to show us compassion (Isaiah 30:18). God is these very virtues, because he exists as such and we as partakers of his divine nature, being birth of His Spirit, grow up to have the fruit of such. God had mercy though we were dead in our trespasses and sin through his great love (Ephesians 2:4). God so loved the world that He sent his Son... (John 3:16) The motivation of God to send his Son was love. The motivation for God creating the world is based on love, in love he chose us before he created or founded the world (Ephesians 1:4).
So that your love may abound more and more, in knowledge and all discernment, - Philippians 1:9
Love abounding is a sign that a church is working according to that which God purposed through it, building itself up in love, in unity of faith, into mature adulthood. "The end of all is at hand, therefore be of a sound mind, and vigilant to the extent of prayer, above all, have a fervent love to the extent of one another (Peter 4:7-8). Above all is love. God exists agape love, so if we are being conformed to the image of His Son who is the exact representation of God's character, then we are becoming like him, love. Of course we know God chose us to exist holy and blameless in his presence, in love he chose us, he predestined us for adoption and set forth a plan to bring about a way in Christ for us to be holy and loved by him.
make every effort in your faith to supply virtue... to godliness, brotherly love, now to brotherly love, agape love, for if you possess these qualities also increasing in measure, established, not ineffective, also not to the extent of the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ - 2 Peter 1:5-8
Peter writes we supply to faith other virtues, excellence, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, and to these we supply brotherly love and agape love. If we add to faith these things in succesion then the implication is that love is the consumation or fruit of us being established in Christ. Love is how the body builds itself up, so this supply of love is essential to growth. This is what strengthens; faith working through love (Galatians 5:6). Again we see a true sign of growing in knowledge of Jesus is love for one another and agape love. We are founded in love so that we have strength to arrive at a greater knowledge of God's love, thus we continue to abound in love as we grow in knowledge of Christ. I believe this is how Paul prays, that we have first a foundation of granted power in our inner being through the Spirit, Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith, rooted and founded in love, so that we both know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge and are filled to the fullness of God. The goal of love, the bond of love, of being knitted in love, is that we grow up truth in love into the fullness of Christ. In Christ all the fullness of God dwells and we come to a fullness (or a maturity that bears fruit) in Him (Colossians 2:9-14). Being rooted and founded in love leads to knowing more of the love of Christ, which leads us into a fullness of God, which includes love. We can never be separated if deeply rooted in God's love. And since agape love never ends, as we grow in knowledge of him, agape love abounds more and more.