ON LOVE; PART CMVII
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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. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God
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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).
Over the last several essays we have been discussing our ideas regarding Easter and the message that men should take from the great sacrifice that the Jesus offered to the world of men. In the doctrinal view of the atoning quality of His death there IS that rather nebulous idea that Jesus took upon Himself the totality of the sin of the world and this view IS based upon several ideas that begin in men’s desire to be free from sin which IS joined by their desire to be free from sin by some form of divine pardon. In this sense it IS the doctrines of men, the doctrines began in the superstitious, barbarous and more emotional times of the early church, that interpreted the out of context sayings of the apostles and held them above the basic Truths that the Master Himself offered us, and this much to the exclusion of Jesus words and intent. To this we must add the ideas that ARE borrowed from the Jewish doctrines and traditions through which the church saw the words of John the Baptist who says “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29); this, when added to the out of context ideas from the apostles’ writings and the rather incomprehensible ideas offered by the Apostle John in his Book of Revelation, form much of the doctrines of atonement.
The reality of this atonement IS more accurately placed in the reality of His message, His teachings and His instructions to men which, when followed, will reconcile men to God and create an at-one-ment if you will, a UNITY between the True man, the Spirt who IS manifest as the Soul, and His expression through his Life in this world. This IS a reality that can be seen through the designs of most Christian doctrines when they ARE understood in a clearer light, when they are seen as that starting point where a man begins a new chapter in Life as one who believes on the Christ in the way that this idea was intended and NOT the way that doctrines have contorted it. In the Truth of believing we find the reality of keeping His words and this IS based in the simplicity of logic, a logic that was missed by the Jews and their rulers and which IS likewise missed by the Christians who appended much of the Master’s teachings to the misguided ideas and ways of the Jews which the Master strongly speaks against. In the True sense of believing we should see the ideas as these are presented to us by Vincent, ideas that we ofttimes quote as we DO again today as it IS in the greater understanding of the ideas on this which he presents that we can see the simplicity of Jesus own words, His rhetorical question which asks: “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). While Mr. Vincent’s words ARE according to His own sense of doctrine, the reality of his ideas IS sound; we read:
To believe in, or on, is more than mere acceptance of a statement. It is so to accept a statement or a person as to rest upon them, to trust them practically; to draw upon and avail one’s self of all that is offered to him in them. Hence to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4.
The complete text of Vincent’s words can be found in In the Words of Jesus part 189 where our discussion IS on the use of the Greek word pisteuo and while these ideas from Mr. Vincent ARE specifically in regard to John’s usage as believe in and believe on, his ideas can be used to accommodate ALL usage of this word which assumes a believing in or believing on, even when used without the preposition. The simple logic IS rather easy to find but, at the same time, it IS difficult to accept and understand in the light of human understanding. We call Him God and we call Him Lord and in this sense it matters NOT whether we mean the Father or the Son as these ARE essentially One and the same in relation to mankind. And hence the Master’s rhetorical question which IS a question of the logic of men who will call Him Lord but who will NOT DO as He says. Men have seen from the very beginning that they can ignore the precepts of God, without penalty if you will, except for some isolated stories from the Old Testament. We should understand here that in the Old Testament the commandments, while given for the behavior of men, were used to judge the nation rather than the individual except as regards certain of the commandments, most of which involve offenses in which one man directly afflicted another in some way.
And the moral codes by which men live have largely followed along in the same way and this even in societies that ARE NOT Jewish or Christian; we should understand here also that many offenses that DID result in penalty in more ancient times DO NOT any longer except in the more archaic ways of some cultures. Much of this IS the unseen effect of the Life and the death of the Christ 2000 years ago as He brought a greater reality of Love to the world, a reality whose time had come in the overall evolution of the minds of men; it IS this same phenomenon that continues as we enter this New Age of Aquarius. Our point here IS to show the basic logic of the commandments of God from the perspective of the man in the world, a basic logic that shows that while there IS NO penalty in NOT DOING those things which the Lord has said, that there IS reward; it IS this Truth that IS found in so many of the Master’s sayings and in the apostles’ clarifying and amplifying words. At the same time however, it IS this sense of reward that IS rejected by much of the Christian doctrines that have been created by men and in this we should see the effect of those ideas with which we begin this essay: first IS men’s desire to be free from sin and second IS their desire to be free from sin by some form of divine pardon.
It IS in this sense of pardon that we find the common understanding of atonement; here we should see that there ARE several Christian approaches to this and that most of these begin in the idea of original sin. This idea IS of course taken from the Old Testament stories of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and their fall from grace which is considered by most Christian doctrines as the ‘fall of man’….that ALL men share in their sin. And this idea of original sin has been taken by most denominations and doctrines as that it IS assuaged by the ritual of baptism which IS considered one’s indoctrination into the Christian faith and into a sense of believing that He IS Lord and that He died for our sins….that He took our sins upon Himself. While there ARE many nuances in this idea as it IS offered by the individual denominations and sects of Christianity, the common thread IS still this idea of atonement where the belief IS that it IS by His death that men are relieved from their sin as they come to believe that Jesus IS Lord. It IS in this that we find our most staunch disagreement with doctrines through the reality of the logic that we find in Jesus’ own words asking “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?“.
It IS here that this sense of divine pardon. which has taken on a Life of its own. fails; in the simple logic presented by the Master and in His own words regarding the reality of the reward for DOING “the things which I say“. While this idea of reward goes unseen in the desires of men for divine pardon, the idea of punishment remains in many doctrines for those who DO NOT attest to their belief that Jesus IS Lord, and for many denominations and sects this idea reaches far beyond Christianity and into the lives of men who have NO reason to believe; men of different cultures who have their own sense of God. In most ALL Christian doctrines, their sense of punishment IS the most nebulous idea of hell, an idea that IS created in the minds of men from the doctrines and the traditions of the Jews and the parabolic ideas presented by the Master. Here then we have the basic ideas that govern the lives of so many Christians: first that they have their reward in the atonement given by the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that ALL that they need to DO to have this reward IS to believe; and second IS that there IS a punishment; not for offenses committed per se but for the sin of NOT believing that Jesus IS Lord and accepting Him as one’s Lord and Savior.
It IS in these views that the Truth of Love IS lost and it IS in these views that the simple logic IS deflected in favor of the divine pardon of men who simply believe or claim to DO so. It IS in these views that the misunderstood, misapplied and out of context words of the apostles ARE used to dilute and change the reality of the Master’s words and those most clear words from the Apostle James saying: “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). This deception IS founded in the illusion and the glamour that IS Life in this world and when we can understand that the True man, the Soul, must work through this illusion and glamour and that these ARE the greater reality of sin, we can then begin to see more clearly the idea that James presents. In the reality of sin we have the ways of the world which become the ways of men and this IS much more that the common understanding that doctrines ascribe to sin; an understanding that IS ever ready to see sin in the other person moreso that in oneself. The greater reality of sin IS found in the illusion which the Apostle Paul shows us as vanity as He tells us of the plight of men, a plight that IS seen by many as his classic doctrinal version of the ‘fall of man’ but which IS so much more. We read the apostle’s words again saying:
“the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in expectation hope, that 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).
Again we should remember that our changing of hope to expectation IS based in the meaning of the Greek word elpis; that the use of this word here IS more than that whimsical idea of hope that many may see; and our changing from because to that gives us the greater intent of these words and shows the definitive idea of the expectation. We should note here also that the Greek word hoti that IS rendered as because IS rendered as that in the vast majority of its uses. In these words from the apostle IS the reality of the plight of men, the spiritual plight if you will, through which the Souls of men, the True man, ARE subjected to the ways of the world which the apostle calls vanity and which we call illusion and glamour. And Vincent helps us to understand the idea of vanity as this IS rendered from the Greek word mataiotes; we read that here: the reference is to a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. It IS in this sense of vanity that we find the reality of sin; it IS in the view of illusion and glamour that men attend to the things of the self and of the world rather than the things of God and, when we can see that these ideas ARE contrary, we can see the greater Truth of sin and evil.
This IS ever Jesus’ message to us in His words, a message that men’s reality that IS found in the idea of reward and NOT of punishment which idea IS NOT found in the Truth of the Plan of God. And this IS the Plan of God as we read in Paul’s words above saying that men ARE here in this world and subjected to this illusion and glamour “by reason of him who hath subjected the same“. Here we should try to see that men ARE DOING as men would DO; they are acting out their lives in: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends , and it IS when men can grasp the greater Truths that ARE found in His words that they can escape, that they can be “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. This then is the greater reality of the sense of punishment; that it IS men’s failure to receive the reward. Unfortunately this IS NOT the view of the doctrinal church; this IS NOT the view of men who have created such doctrines as atonement and this IS NOT the view of the men who have been nurtured in these doctrines which desire to be free from sin by some form of divine pardon. We should see here that the idea of atonement IS misplaced and misunderstood and that the greater idea of at-one-ment must prevail in the lives of men. We should try to understand also that the reality of this at-one-ment IS the reward that men should seek; at-one-ment IS the Presence of God in one’s Life, at-one-ment IS one’s attaining the Kingdom of God and at-one-ment IS the reality of discipleship; we read these ideas again in these sayings from the Master:
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
- 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” (John 14:21-24).
- “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:31-34).
In each of these sayings there IS the reality of the reward which IS but the reciprocal action in the Life of men; an action which comes to the man who will DO as these ideas show us which IS to keep His words. This IS the antithesis of sin and this IS the reality of James’ words above which show us the illusions of men who DO NOT; men who seemingly KNOW His words but DO NOT act upon them as required. And we should remember and understand that other point of logic: that each of these rewards IS based in the same idea of keeping His words and, in this sameness of cause, we should see the sameness of the result; we should see that these ARE ALL the same and that to accomplish one IS to accomplish ALL.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
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.
Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate.
Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted.
Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled.
Live in joy, without possessions.
Like the shining ones.
The winner sows hatred because the loser suffers.
Let go of winning and losing and find joy.
There is no fire like passion, no crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.
Today’s Quote of the Day is from the Dhammapada (on JOY)5; a collection of the sayings of the Buddha. These words and ideas ARE much the same as those we discuss in our In the Words of Jesus essays. And what is this freedom but the release of our hearts and minds from loving this life in this world and attaining the Presence of God. This word Joy has many meanings as DOES the idea of Love, but in the context that it IS used here we should see the idea that Joy IS Love, Joy IS health, Joy IS peace and that Joy IS without the burdens placed on a man by the illusion and the glamour of the ways of the world. We should try to see that it IS the antithesis of these ideas in hate, in affliction and in troubles that ARE among the possessions of the carnal man, that ARE among the “evil treasure of his heart” (Luke 6:45) according to the Master.
And it IS in the second stanza above that we see the basic psychic ideas that can eliminate the harm caused by such “evil treasure” as a man looks past himself and at the welfare of others which IS the greater reality of Love as the Master teaches us. It IS in losing such possessions, losing such carnal thoughts and attitudes, that one can truly find the “joy of freedom“….this IS the Truth of deliverance.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 5 The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom
