with this word in the English language because we all know the meaning of the city of Philadelphia—the city of brotherly love. Some may also be familiar with this word from Jesus’ conversation with Peter in John 21, where Jesus repeatedly asks Peter, “Do you love me?” (vv. 15–17). In this exchange, the New Testament uses two different words that are both translated by the English word love. The first is agapē, which is the spiritual love, the zenith of love, the kind of love that God sheds abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. And there is also philia, which is used for brotherly love
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