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?
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1I just wanted to point out that "the" is added. – user10231 Oct 3 '15 at 8:43
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1@WoundedEgo: Wallace, Greek Grammar, p. 247, "There is no need for the article to be used to make the object of a preposition definite... Thus, when a noun is the object of a preposition, it does not require the article to be definite: if it has the article, it must be definite; if it lacks the article, it may be definite." In this case, although the Greek lacks the definite article, the apostle Paul is evidently talking about "the Holy Spirit" and not "a holy spirit." Thus, the translators rightly supplied the definite article in English. – user862 Oct 3 '15 at 9:13
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@H3br3wHamm3r81 Not "a holy spirit" (the word "holy" is not in the text) but "in spirit" (or "in breath") ala Paul's saying he was "present in spirit". – user10231 Oct 3 '15 at 9:41
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).
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.
