and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
Colossians 1:8 (ESV)
What does 'love in the Spirit' means in Colossians 1:8?
and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
Colossians 1:8 (ESV)
What does 'love in the Spirit' means in Colossians 1:8?
To the Colossians, the apostle Paul and Timothy (cp. Col. 1:1) wrote that Epaphras (cp. Col. 1:7) "declared to us your love in the Spirit" (Col. 1:8). It is this same "love" that the apostle Paul refers to in Col. 1:4, when he writes,
after we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and [your] love that is for all the saints.
ἀκούσαντες τὴν πίστιν ὑμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους TR, 1550
The apostle Paul describes the love as "in the Spirit" (ἐν πνεύματι) because (Rom. 5:5):
...God's love is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.
...ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκέχυται ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου τοῦ δοθέντος ἡμῖν TR, 1550
Indeed, love is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:5), the vinculum of perfectness (Col. 3:14), and perhaps the greatest Christian virtue (1 Cor. 13:13).
It was the supernatural love by the Holy Spirit loving others as the Lord Jesus love. To love your enemies and pray for them. To forgive those who mistreat and malign you name. Not to keep a record of wrongs. Living out 1 Corinthians 13 enabled by God’s Holy Spirit. It’s not the way the world would love, it’s the love fueled by the power of Lord of Heaven and earth.
To love in the Spirit is to understand and recognise the Spirit and the spiritual world. People get caught up in the shallow material world and completely neglect the omnipresent spirtual world. The material world is just a vehicle to get us here and to enlighten us we need to recognise the spiritual side of life.
Since the Spirit is spelled with a capital S, he's referring to the Holy Spirit, so I'd say it means to love others as the Spirit (God) loves others, i.e. agape-style. Unconditionally.