IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1031

ON LOVE; PART DCXX

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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“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).

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“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40).

In the last post we ended with some ideas on the meaning of grace as it is used in our sayings from the Epistle of James and which IS generally understood in a rather nebulous way doctrinally. One dictionary tells us this that grace IS: (in Christian belief) the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings*. Our normal dictionary source gives us these doctrinal ideas for grace: Theology: a. the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God. b. the influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them. c. a virtue or excellence of divine origin: the Christian graces. d. Also called state of grace. the condition of being in God’s favor or one of the elect ⁷. These are the common ideas of grace from a religious perspective and in these there IS no True definition except that this grace comes from God; these ideas are built from the doctrinal approach to the idea of grace over the centuries. 

There are many denominational variations in defining grace as it means many different things to the many different denominations and sects of Christianity and perhaps a simple example of this can be found in the Catholic versus the Protestant although there are differences within each of these religious paths as well. Catholicism holds that grace is conferred by the sacraments of the church while the Protestants see grace as that it is given by God based upon the faith of the believer. Grace IS at the center of the doctrinal approach of much of the Christian world and it IS at the same time it IS NOT nearly understood and remains as this nebulous idea as the “gift of God“. It is tied to Life itself from this perspective and in this it should be understood that there IS NO True understanding by any as to what the purpose of this Life actually IS; there are but mysteries compounded by mysteries. Grace IS tied by many doctrines to salvation which itself IS a nebulous word with many interpretations and meanings. Our point here IS that there IS little True understanding of many of the doctrinal words used to define these ideas that touch upon the spiritual reality of man and this is mostly because the doctrinal church DOES NOT look past their own doctrinal approaches and they call as heretical most any new approach that would question their doctrine. Our current sayings from James uses this idea of grace in a rather specific way:

“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded” (James 4:4-8).

Here the apostle IS telling us that grace DOES come from God and that grace goes to the humble; it IS when we can understand that what comes from God comes from the God Within each individual that we can begin to understand this as well as the many other words used in doctrines to depict the activity of God. In most ALL of James’ writing we can see the common thread of instruction to the aspirant and the disciple and this idea here IS NO different. It is the aspirant and the disciple who can see the greater reality of the action of God in the world; that it IS through the lives of men by in the same proportion as is each man’s degree of focus upon the things of God. And this then can be seen as the greater reality of grace: it IS the Love and the Power of God and it flows into the Life of the properly focused man in the Love and the Power of his own Soul and his expression of this to the world. Again, as we said in the last post, the idea here of grace coming to the humble IS that grace comes to the man whose heart, whose consciousness, IS clear of the negative virtues that the apostle mentions earlier; the man whose focus IS upon the things of God. Grace IS the flow of this Love and Power itself and in this sense grace IS the “gift of God” but at the same time a gift that takes a man out of his normal understanding of Life itself.

We cited two ideas from the Apostle John in the last essay which show that grace IS a potency of the Christ, that grace IS in the Love of God which the Christ represents to mankind historically, and individually through the realization of this Love by men as it flows in the Light of the Soul. While this may sound as nebulous as the common Christian ideas, there IS a practical side here which IS that each man IS that Soul; from the perspective of the True man each IS that same Love and that same spark of the Divine Flame which IS the Christ, the anointing that John speaks of later in his own epistle. John tells us of Christ in his gospel that “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”  and then again we read “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:14, 17). In these ideas we should see that grace comes into the world by the Power of the Christ, the anointed of God, and that we share in this by that same anointing which IS the Christ Within, the Soul that IS man. It IS in this Light that we should understand the apostles words that:

“ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things….the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:20, 27).

In these words, as well as many others by Paul and Peter, we have the reality of the Christ Within and while this IS NOT spelled out for easy understanding, this IS because of the parabolic writing style of ALL the writers and NOT that this idea or any other such revelation IS NOT a valid reality. Here in John’s words we find the idea of the anointing and the Christ is the relation of the Greek words as we see in this from Vincent: An unction (χρίσμα); The word means that with which the anointing is performed – the unguent or ointment. In the New Testament only here and 1 John 2:27. Rev., an anointing. The root of this word and of Χριστός , Christ, is the same. See on Matthew 1:1. The anointing is from the Anointed ⁴. In the reference to Matthew we find this among the many words that Vincent offers: Christ (Χριστός); Properly an adjective, not a noun, and meaning anointed ( Χρίω , to anoint). It is a translation of the Hebrew Messiah, the king and spiritual ruler from David’s race, promised under that name in the Old Testament. Hence Andrew says to Simon, “We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, Christ ⁴.

We should be able to see here that what IS True of the Christ IS True of the Soul as the Souls that ARE the True man are part and parcel of the Christ, the Cosmic Christ if you will, who IS the True Son of God, the True Second Aspect of the Trinity. Each Soul IS, as part and parcel, equal to the whole as  a microcosm to the macrocosm, and the difference between the individual Soul and that Soul that came in the person of Jesus, IS that He could express the divine nature through form. It IS this expression then that we should see as grace; it IS this expression of the Love and the Power of God that John speaks of as the fullness of the Master as He “was made flesh, and dwelt among us“. This IS the same fullness that we read about in the Apostle Paul’s words saying that in Jesus “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

James tells us that God, which we should understand as the God Within, “giveth grace unto the humble” and in this we should see the basic criteria of having the ability to express this Love and Power of the Soul in the world. To understand this properly we should look again at the Master’s words on this idea of being humble; we read:

• “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4).
• “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein” (Mark 10:15).
• “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11).
• “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

In these sayings we should be able to grasp the essence of being humble and should be able to see that this IS the nature of the Master. The link here to the child IS found in the idea that the “little children” ARE unassuming and that there IS NO pride in their expression. This IS their nature and unless a man can assume this nature he “shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven“. Further still He says that one must “receive the kingdom of God as a little child” and in this idea of receive we should see the idea of accepting, of approaching the Kingdom humbly, in an unassuming way, as one that has shed the wordy ways which include the supposed opposite which is pride. The Master offers us the comparison of the proud, as one who “exalteth himself“, and the humble insofar as his expression in Life and shows us the spiritual difference of being abased or exalted. We should note here that the same Greek word IS rendered as both humble and abased in this saying and in this we should see clearly the idea of one’s expression, as that the result IS based upon ones expression of himself in the world. With this we should be able to see James’ words more clearly.

We should note as well the Master’s example in the last point above; we should understand the relationship between the Greek word that IS rendered as lowly and the one that IS rendered as humble. Here we have the Greek word tapeinos rendered as lowly and tapeinoo rendered as humble and we should note that the former is rendered as humble in other places. In the combination of the ideas of meek and lowly we should see the essence of the Master’s example insofar as that we should be equally humble and meek and that these ideas are intimately related as well. It IS by His example that we will find ourselves accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God and here we can see his example as humble and meek; in James’ words we see humble as bringing that grace and in the combination of these ideas we should see the reality of grace as it relates to the Kingdom and one’s expression of its nature. In the last essay we closed with the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the aspirant and the disciple that he writes to at Ephesus and through them to ALL who seek the grace of God; in Paul’s words we should be able to see the very nature of grace in these ideas that he prays; that we can be: “strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love“. Can we see these ideas coming to the humble man whose focus IS upon the things of God? And can we understand that in this grace one would be “able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19).

In this idea of grace the nebulous nature of it disappears and it becomes a part of the Way of the disciple on the Path to the Kingdom of God; it IS still the same gift but here it has meaning and a practical purpose as it creates a disciple in the world. And this IS James’ message; that a man stay the course and NOT fall into the temptations and the lusts that come from an affinity with the world and the things of the world. The rest of this selection IS his practical instruction on how to accomplish this. As we read the ideas that we should “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you“, we should see the reality of being a DOER of the word and in his  words we must understand the nature of the devil, that he IS our own carnal personality who succumbs to temptations, who IS lured by the illusion and the glamour which paints them as attractive and which causes us to desire them and lust after them as the next answer to our carnal striving toward the pleasures of Life. This devil IS our deception and it IS this that keeps a man in the “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:21) which IS Life focused upon the things of the world.

Doctrine DOES NOT see Life in this way but this IS James’ message: that it IS by this submission, by this putting the flesh under the control of the Soul through striving to keep His words that a man can Truly “Draw nigh to God” and in the reciprocal idea that He “will draw nigh to you” we have yet another view of focus. This IS our reality as men who strive toward the Kingdom of God, as men who “Strive to enter in at the strait gate” (Luke 13:24) and in the last words from this selection we have James admonition to clear our lives of the duality in which we live and to come to the fullness of a Son of God.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of God	Potency	Aspect of Man	In Relation to the Great Invocation	In relation to the Christ
GOD, The Father	Will or Power	Spirit or Life	Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN	Life
Son, The Christ	Love and Wisdom	Soul or Christ Within	Heart of God	Truth
Holy Spirit	Light or Activity	Life Within	Mind of God	Way

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.

As we approach the Wesak Festival at the Full Moon of May, it seems appropriate that we post the Great Invocation as our Quote of the Day. Wesak IS the Festival of the Buddha and it IS said that on this day the Buddha returns to us and stands with the Christ to help to focus the attention of men of GoodWill on the Truth of the Plan of God, the Plan that can come to fruition in the expression of the Light and Love and Power in the world of men.

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.

This prayer is a part of our Prayers and Meditations section and there is much information about it there and in our discussion of it in the Quote of the Day section of In the Words of Jesus parts 128-132

The above Invocation or Prayer does not belong to any person or group but to all Humanity. The beauty and the strength of this Invocation lies in its simplicity, and in its expression of certain central truths which all men, innately and normally, accept—the truth of the existence of a basic Intelligence to Whom we vaguely give the name of God; the truth that behind all outer seeming, the motivating power of the universe is Love; the truth that a great Individuality came to earth, called by Christians, the Christ, and embodied that love so that we could understand; the truth that both love and intelligence are effects of what is called the Will of God; and finally the self-evident truth that only through humanity itself can the Divine Plan work out.

Like the Lord’s Prayer, this invocation is a World Prayer which is as all that a prayer is intended to be. It is a prayer for the uplifting of the Human Family out of the mire of materialism and selfishness. The Lord’s Prayer asks nothing for the individual praying it but asks that its benefits be for US and for WE which is why it was given by the Christ as a prayer and as a model over 2000 years ago. This invocation is also attributed to the Christ who, as He promised, has never left us; He, through channels that we do not readily understand, has Himself instructed His disciples to distribute this prayer and to encourage its use as a world prayer and as an aid in preparing the world for His return.

The first three stanzas of this prayer should be understood as reflecting the effective potencies of the Trinity which is God and which, when brought down to an individual level, the Trinity which is Man. His Will, His Love and His Light we should seen as the Potent Powers of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• 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
• * from Google search for ‘what is grace’.