IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 495

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART LXXXVII

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live , ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:13-26).

As we approach our 500th essay, we should take a moment to remind and inform of the reasons for our names, titles, subtitles and use of certain persons and parts of our daily blog.

• Our main title for this blog is IN THE WORDS OF JESUS and under this title we have published all of our essays except for the first one which was titled The First Blog. This name is chosen to reflect the importance of understanding and seeing that the doctrines of the churches which bear the name of the Christ and which ‘worship’ Jesus are ofttimes far afield from the reality of His teachings, choosing instead to use the words of the Apostle Paul and, to a lesser degree, Peter and John, to frame the many individual visions of the supposed ONE Christianity. The doctrines of the churches believe that they have found safe harbor in the misconstrued words of the apostles through the development of doctrines in the early days of the church through today and while a few denominations have come along with new ideas regarding the relationship between man and God, they have been of little effect and have built much of their doctrines on the general beliefs of those who were instrumental in the origination of the new; beliefs that are no doubt based upon the nurturing that they received from the original doctrines. Our approach has ever been to discern through the words of Jesus the reality of our relationship to Him and to God and to use the writings of the apostles as amplification of the Master’s words and never to change them. Our approach is not for ALL; although our writings are  intended to clarify the Master’s words, they clarify them in the reality that the Master is speaking to disciples about discipleship and about the Kingdom. The objective of His words are to show the reality of this station of discipleship versus the Life of a man in the world who cares for the things of the world above the things of God or God’s representative to and within every man in form, his own Christ Within, His Soul. The words of the apostles should only be seen as amplifying the Master’s words and clarifying and explaining much that is left intentionally unclear by the teachings of the Master who speaks in parables to protect both the teaching and the lives of those who were not in His day ready to understand. In the annals of time the teachings of the churches established doctrines based upon some understanding of the parables of the Master and these interpretations are generally keyed to  a popular point and not to the True reality of His words which we attempt to offer in this blog that is centered around His words and their meaning to the man in form today.
• Our first subtitle, LOVE IS THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW, became such in the 189th essay after having spent much time as the second subtitle with began in the 84th essay. It is unnumbered, unlike the main title and the next (second) subtitle, and has become a fixture of our posts as it reflects the relationship between the teachings of the Master and the obeying of the commandments of God. This reality was of course meant for the Jew who considered himself under the law of Moses, which is the Law of God, and who believed that his salvation was intimately bound to his responsibility to the law. We have noted in the last several posts that the reality of Life for the man under the law was to be righteous in this world, especially in his dealings with the brother, the stranger and the neighbor and we have noted also that his perceived reward was in the things of this world although a deeper reading of the ideas expressed by Moses and the prophets will reveal a rather heavenly state for those who keep the commandments. Christ Jesus advanced this thinking in His teachings to reflect the reality of the True man while the Old Testament reality was to the man in form. The Old teaches that the man in form, by his very action in the world according to the commandments, would become the spiritual man and the spiritual expression will become the man in form. The New Testament on the other hand teaches that it is the inner man that IS the True man and IS part and parcel of the Lord and in this realization and in this focus, the Life of the man in the world is changed from within and he becomes an expression of the True man, the Christ Within who realizes the temporal nature of the world and the effect of the illusion and the glamour of it. He comes to realize the Truth of the Apostle Paul’s words saying “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21), which words we can see as a succinct portrayal of the nature of the Life of man in the Earth. It is Paul also who gives us this subtitle as we take his words on Love and the importance of Love in the Life of man; the apostle tells us:
  • “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8-10).
• Keeping with the theme of Love which we believe is the single most important message of the Master’s teachings, we began a new ‘second’ subtitle eighty eight posts ago. It has long been our premise that the idea of Love is the keynote and the cornerstone for the spiritual advancement of ALL men and it is this expression of Love that the Master teaches us in most all that He says. Jesus replaces the ideas on how to treat others from the Ten Commandments and the ancillary commandments given by Moses with the realities of how one thinks and believes and acts from the Sermon on the Mount. We can see here the easy change the Master makes from the teachings on adultery; the Old Testament tells us that “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20-14) from the Ten Commandments which is repeated in the law of Moses saying “Neither shalt thou commit adultery” (Deuteronomy 5:18) while the Master tells us that “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). In this simple example we should be able to see the dynamic shift in the teaching and in the realization of the man in form which we have been trying to express. For us the crux of the Master’s teachings is found in the reality of what He tells us are the two Great Commandments and, while we have said before that it is the Master who moves one of the ancillary pronouncements of Moses to this level of Greatness, the greater Truth is that both of these Greatest Commandments are moved to their place of Greatness above the original Ten which have become the focus of the Christian world. The Commandment to Love the Lord is from a sort of preamble to the retelling of the Ten Commandments by Moses and the understanding and the message that we should take away here is that these ideas on Love are ever more important in the new dispensation brought to us by the Advent of the Christ. The Master’s words are clear and there IS NO ambiguity in these sayings which we have repeated many times and which we have carried as our Quote of the Day for many, many days. Despite the evident importance that these words carry and the ideas that they support, the churches have not responded by lifting them to the authority that the Master did. We repeat them here again with our comments as we can never get too much of the Greatest according to the Master:

The first of all the commandments is, Hear , O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this , Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these

(Mark 12:29-31)

We should remember always to link to this Greatest Commandment that other saying of the Master that gives to us the practical understanding of how to Love one’s self plus the practical instruction on how it is that we CAN Love our neighbor; He tells us:

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them

(Matthew 7:12)

Unlike so much of the Master’s sayings that come to us in the form of parables and for which we can only surmise that we have the spiritual presence to understand, these sayings are very straightforward and they are the key to many of the promises of spiritual life; they are the very key to the Kingdom of God. To these sayings we add our adopted definition of the Greek word agape (agapao) which is translated into the English words Love and Charity and which is:

‘In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men’

We should try to recognize here that these ideas on Love are the motivation of ALL things and this has ever been true and we should be able to see this reality in the saying of the Apostle John who tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Again we repeat that the ideas on Love permeate the Old Testament and the Ten Commandments are simply the way that a man should live and interact with other men in the eyes of God. The Master took this further by showing us that it is in the thought and the feelings that the act is consummated from the perspective of the True man, the Soul, the Christ Within. This change is a change in realization for the man in the post Christ era where the emotional bent of mankind is steadily though slowly replaced by the mental expression that has led ALL civilization to this day of miracles and wonders wrought by men. These advancements in mans capacity to think have led mankind to social, philosophical and scientific plateaus that are likely beyond the wildest of imaginings for the man in Christ’s day. These changes and advancements are recognized in most ALL fields of endeavor except religion where man is sort of stuck in the archaic and rather superstitious pronouncements of the founders and this Truth is for most ALL religions that stick to the doctrines of old without seeking out the deeper revelations of their individual scriptures.

• Our last and most recently added subtitle is a simple statement of fact; GOODWILL IS LOVE IN ACTION. This is not our saying but we borrow it from the writings of others that were inspired by our Tibetan brother; an organization called World Goodwill which is dedicated to the theme outlined by its name. The essence of GoodWill is found in the words on Love that we repeat above from the Master along with our comments. These expressions of Love are expressions of GoodWill based upon the Will of the True man, the Soul, to do Good to and for ALL; this is the further reality of Love. This part of the daily essay, this third subtitle is surrounded on the top and the bottom with the symbols or the Greek letters of Alpha and Omega which signify for us the beginning and the end as enunciated by the Christ in the Book of Revelation, a book we seldom quote because we simply do not understand it nor its relevance to our journey to and on the Path to the Kingdom of God. If the realty of the message in this book is as doctrine proclaims then it is better left alone and read in the uncertainty with which it is written; mans varied attempts to to interpret this are rather futile and serve no purpose but to take one’s attention away from the True goal and objective of discipleship and the Kingdom of God here and now. This aside, we will quote here the words of the Christ regarding alpha and omega and these idea should give the sense of why we affiliate them with Love.
  • “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).
  • “And he said unto me, It is done . I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (Revelation 21:6).

In the context of the words above we must see again the words of John who writes these words of revelation and his own epistles from which we read that “God is love” (1 John 4:16). God IS Love and God is the Alpha and the Omega and so we join them together as ONE.

We will continue with our thoughts and our list in the next post.

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.:

Today we post a World Prayer that is also included in the Prayers and Meditation section with some explanation of its source and its use. We are entering a time of the year which we can consider more sacred by way of the newness of Spring which should reflect in our newness of Life. This is the Festival of Easter and a time of rejoicing; not only for the Resurrection of the Lord from the Christian perspective but also for the teaching that is incorporated in the Master’s sacrifice 2000 years ago and in His continued sacrifice. We should remember His parting words: “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20)

From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.

From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men–
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁷ Dictionary.com Unabridged based on Random House Dictionary – 2011