IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1161

ON LOVE; PART DCCXLX

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “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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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? 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.

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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).

A few essays back we began to look more intently at the concept of Love and how that Love IS defined differently depending upon the context of its use in the New Testament. We should KNOW however that this defining of Love IS NOT found in words but rather it must be discerned by the reader and, of course, to see this spiritually one must be somewhat focused upon the things of God. And, we must remember that most every use of the idea behind the Greek words agape and agapao, which ARE the words used in the fourteenth chapter of John as well as in his epistle, interchangeably refer to Love of God, our Love for God and our Love for our fellow man and NONE of these uses IS intended to mean that emotional and mental attraction and attachment to others and to things of this world. We have found that the same IS True of these other ideas on Love using the Greek words phileō, philadelphia, philadelphos, and  philanthrōpia which correspond respectively to love, brotherly love, love as brethren and kindness, love for man according to Vine’s ⁶. While the effect of these ideas can be somewhat carnal, the intent of the expression of these various types of Love IS NOT….it IS spiritual and it IS expressed without any “respect to persons” (James 2:9). 

In our view of the uses of agape and agapao as these relate to God, we should see the idea of keeping His words as the way of Loving God and the idea of grace and His Presence as the way that God Loves us. This IS made clear to us in our sayings from the fourteenth chapter which we read again below. In these ideas we have the link, the intimate connection, between keeping His words and Love for Him AND we have the Truth of His Presence as the Love that God and the Christ offer to us in return. We should understand here that the grace of His Love IS reciprocal from the perspective of the realization of this Love by the man in the world….that while it IS True that God Loves ALL men, which IS understood by the idea that “God is love“, the individual realization of this Love IS dependent upon one’s receipt of grace. Here we find the ideas of global and individual grace: global grace in the Love shown to ALL men from the Godhead and from the very Presence of Christ Jesus in this world, and individual grace as that Love shown to men who keep His words as we see in these sayings that show us the reciprocal Love as the realization of His Presence; we read:

• “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” (John 14:21).
• “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. (John 14:23).

Our ideas on Love ARE NOT hidden in these words but one must look past doctrine to understand them; from the most simple idea from the Master regarding one’s Love for Him saying “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15), to the equally specific and simply stated Truth that “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” (John 14:24), this message of Love should be clear and it should be ever more clear in the Apostle John’s words from his First Epistle which we repeat again below. In the Master’s words there ARE the relationships between Love and God, that to Love God IS to keep His words and in this we should understand that His words are the Universal words of God and NOT any specific idea that the Master has offered us; we must see that there IS purpose in His sayings regarding the Oneness and the singularity of THE word which we see above in “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” and “the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10). In this we should see the reality of the God Within the Master; that the body of Jesus was the vehicle for this expression of divinity and that the same idea on this that we should have for ourselves, we should have for Jesus Life as well. It IS in this regard that the Apostle Paul tells us that “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). This treasure IS of course the Light of God which IS the God Within.

So then it IS the word of God that we must keep; the word of God as expressed by the Master and by the Power of God before Him and, we should clearly see the connection in His words between the idea of Love for Him and keeping His words which IS essentially Love for God. This Love IS found in keeping His words and this IS the evidence of such Love by the man in the world. And we must understand the relationship as well between Jesus’ words on Love and the idea of keeping His words; words which begin with His elevation of the Great Commandments from the obscurity of Leviticus and Deuteronomy where they are found intermingled with other ideas, to those ideas that we should see as the MOST important. In His words from the Gospel of John, we should be able to see the ultimate reality that the concept of keeping His words IS the defining characteristic of Love for God. And what of the Love that God has for us, for the race of men in this world and for the essence of their lives, the Souls that ARE the True man? This IS defined for us in the reality of His Presence and in this we should see the Truth of grace. As we show above there IS global grace and there IS individual grace and each comes to the man in the world from God; while this IS True on every level of existence, it should be especially noted in this physical realm of the Earth. The global idea of grace should be seen in the equality of approach to God and the equality of Life as it IS intended, not as it occurs; ALL the inequalities that we can imagine are bound to the individual’s own sense of Life in this world and to each man’s particular place insofar as his accumulated ability to express the Inner man through form. This concept, while it IS NOT clear in Christian scripture, IS the essential Truth behind His mercy and compassion, His healing of ALL men, as we read in several places in the Gospels such as “great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all” (Matthew 12:15). In this IS His showing us that “there is no respect of persons with God“(Romans 2:11) and, we should see from His telling us of the fallen tower and the murders committed by Pilate’s men, that in this world the Lord has NO role in men’s the world except those most universal and global ideas like those covered in His words saying “he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). And He tells us that we should act in the same way.

In the individual sense of His grace, this Love of God that we should understand as that IS flows to us through our own God Within which IS the Truth of the Life of everyman, we should see the reality of His Presence and how that this IS tied to His Love in rather clear terms in our sayings above. We read that the Father will Love the man and that the Christ will Love the man and this Love IS seen as and IS His Presence in the Life of the man who has paid the price of realizing this individual sense of grace. Again, while this may NOT be clearly stated, it IS offered to us in rather simple terms which can be understood by men who can look away from doctrines and preconceptions about God and His relationship to man. It IS uncomfortable for a man to admit the reality that this Love comes at a price….not the global grace which IS global Love which can be seen in the very Presence of the Christ in the world as our teacher and our guide, but the individual grace that comes in keeping His words.  It IS perhaps in this discomfort and the desire to be Loved by God that men succumb to their own illusions and glamour and devise doctrines that can alleviate their symptoms. We must understand that this sense of Love IS NOT as we deem Love as men but that it IS the same reality of His grace; men realize the grace of God in His Presence in their Lives and this IS the essential quality of His Love. Similarly we should see the Love of man for God as the expression by the man in the world of this realized grace and that this expression IS keeping His words. Now the Master DOES show us His words throughout the gospels and the writings of His apostles and this, combined with the sense of commandment that we get from God in the laws of the Old Testament, IS the reality of a man’s responsibility and the specific responsibility of the man who Truly seeks God. It IS in this view that we should see the ideas of His apostles as they try to show us that His words and the commandments of God ARE ALL resolved in the simplicity of this same Love as it becomes the expression of the realized grace of the man in the world. And it IS this that John shows us saying:

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect , that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is , so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen , how can he love God whom he hath not seen ? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:7-21).

It IS in this first verse above that men should see the reality of being “born again“, that this IS NOT the product of some affirmation nor of some doctrinal ritual but that this IS the active expression of grace by the man in the world. While we DO NOT KNOW that John’s reference to being “born of God” IS his amplification and clarification of the Master’s words to Nicodemus, we should KNOW that this IS the same reality: that being “born again” IS the same as being “born of God“. Both are the realization by the man in the world, the revelation to his waking consciousness, of the Presence of God in his Life and we should understand the same quid pro quo here in John’s words….that it IS “every one that loveth” that receives this grace. Here we see that same idea as we see in Jesus’ words above except that the idea of Love IS expanded to NOT ONLY include the Master and God but our brothers in this world of men. Here we should see the reality that to “love one another” IS to Love the neighbor, the brother and the stranger who qualifies as both. While the apparent approach to these words in the Christian world IS NOT in line with the reality of these words to “let us love one another“, doctrine IS divided in its commentary on the apostle’s words; we can see this rather clearly by comparing these approaches to this first verse:

• John Gill tells us that: Beloved, let its love one another; The apostle having finished what he proposed to say concerning the trying of spirits, returns to his former exhortation to brotherly love, and which comes with fresh force and strength; for since worldly men follow, hear, embrace, and cleave to the false teachers; such as are of God, and on the side of truth, should love one another, and their faithful ministers, and stand fast in one spirit by the truths of the Gospel, in opposition to every error: for love is of God: to love one another is the command of God, it is his revealed will, and is well pleasing in his sight; it comes from him, is a gift of his grace, and a fruit of his Spirit, and which he teaches regenerate ones to exercise: and everyone that loveth; God, as the Alexandrian copy reads, or Christ, and the saints, who seem to be particularly meant: is born of God; for love to the brethren is an evidence of regeneration; (See Gill on 1 John 3:14); and knoweth God; he knows God in Christ, and therefore loves those who have the grace of God in them, and the image of Christ upon them; he knows the mind and will of God, being taught of God to love the brethren; and he knows the love of God, and has had an experience of the grace of God, which influences him to love the saints ⁸.
• The authors of the Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible tells us that this verse IS a: Resumption of the main theme ( 1 John 2:29 ). Love, the sum of righteousness, is the test of our being born of God. Love flows from a sense of God’s love to us: compare 1 John 4:9 with 1 John 3:16 , which 1 John 4:9 resumes; and 1 John 4:13 with 1 John 3:24 , which similarly 1 John 4:13 resumes. At the same time, 1 John 4:7-21 is connected with the immediately preceding context, 1 John 4:2 setting forth Christ’s incarnation, the great proof of God’s love ( 1 John 4:10 ). Beloved–an address appropriate to his subject, “love.” love–All love is from God as its fountain: especially that embodiment of love, God manifest in the flesh. The Father also is love ( 1 John 4:8 ). The Holy Ghost sheds love as its first fruit abroad in the heart. knoweth God–spiritually, experimentally, and habitually ⁸.

As we can see, these two commentators ARE NOT seeing the same thing here and neither sees this quite as we DO. In the context of “love one another” we see the Great Commandments and we see the teaching of the Master who shows us that ALL men must be Loved for that reward which IS His grace and which IS the realization of His Presence in one’s Life. Here again we should see the Master’s words in their reality which IS to exacerbate the ideas that He IS trying to get us to understand as the Truth and the reality of Love: He tells us “I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye ? do not even the publicans the same?” (Mattew 5:44-46). We should note the relative intensity of His words; not relative to the man who understands Him but relative to the man whose interests are in himself and the doings of his self in the world. And we should see His other ideas; the Golden Rule and the realities of turning the other cheek and giving whatsoever as a part of His reality of Life in this world. We should see as well how the ideas of the Love of God to men in the world IS incorporated into these sayings. As we close today we should also see again and remember how that He shows us that this IS, this keeping the word of God, the way that He lived among us in the world as we read in the last verse of our current selection from the Gospel of John:

“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. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence” (John 14:26-31).

We will continue with our thoughts 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.

We repeat here again a saying that is from the Bhagavad Gita, which goes well with our theme of the God Within, the Soul, which we see as the Christ Within and while this is good in the Christian world and is True based upon our understanding of the Christ as the manifestation of God, we should also see in these words below that it does not matter what these divine ideas are called; that it matters not what we call this Inner Man, that he is the same in ALL, he is the Soul.

Thou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part of every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the Beings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed, through this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and also his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.—Bhagavad-Gita

It is difficult to tell just what verses of the Bhagavad Gita the above is from; whether it is a paraphrase or a combination. It is from the book “The Great Initiates” by Édouard Schuré which was originally published in French in 1889 and perhaps it is in the translation of the verses that they become hard to recognize. However, the sheer beauty of the presentation caught my attention and so I share it with you. The Path to the Kingdom is the same no matter what religion one professes.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ⁶ Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1996
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com