ON LOVE; PART MXXXVII
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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).
We ended the last essay repeating again the reality of pistis and pisteuo as that KNOWING that comes to everyman who will keep His words or, as the Master tells us, to everyman who IS His disciple. In His words saying “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” IS the True source of one’s KNOWING and it IS this KNOWING that IS one’s “faith as a grain of mustard seed” (Matthew 17:20). As we discussed, this idea of faith IS clarified by the gospel writers’ other versions of this same theme which IS moving the mountain, and it IS with this theme that we can equate this sense of faith with to “have faith, and doubt not” (Matthew 21:21); and with one’s ability to “not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass” (Mark 11:23).
Here in these words from the Master we have the intersection of faith and believing and the reality that both ARE that KNOWING. Jesus’ Truth of faith IS that it IS simply that KNOWING and, as His idea of believing contains the added idea that the man will “not doubt in his heart“, this too IS that same KNOWING. And there IS a greater depth of believing that comes through in Jesus words that we should believe on and believe in Him; both of which phrases ARE rendered from the same Greek words pisteuo eis. Jesus tells us that “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12) and the context of this saying should put its meaning into the same perspective as one’s ability to move the mountain that is the privilege of the man who has “faith as a grain of mustard seed” and the like sayings above. This reality reflects upon the inadequacy of the common understanding of pisteuo and here we should be able to see how that it IS ONLY in Truly KNOWING that ALL of this can work.
It IS the man who DOES “know the truth” according to Jesus’ words from our trifecta that can be seen as one who Truly DOES “believeth on me” and inherent in this idea IS the reality of keeping His words. In this view, this idea of believing on the Master IS the same as keeping His words and this can be most simply seen in the idea that if one Truly believes that He IS Lord, then that man MUST DO His will….must keep His words. This IS the reality of Jesus’ own rhetorical question which asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). ALL of this IS missed or misconstrued by the doctrines of men but this IS the reality of faith and the Truth of believing as these ideas ARE rendered from pistis and pisteuo.
As we said in the last essay, these words from the Master ARE NOT taken at face value in the doctrines of men but this DOES NOT render them untrue. The failure of doctrines IS that they DO NOT see the spiritual import of His words nor the spiritual Power that keeping His words will unleash. The man who KNOWS will NOT move the mountain although he may seek to DO those greater works as part of his expression of Love. This expression of Love can be clearly seen in the example of the Life of the Apostle Peter of whom we read that “they brought forth the sick intoa the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one” (Acts 5:15-16). Can we see here how that this IS what Jesus tells us in saying “the works that I do shall he do also“?
And there ARE similar things shown us in the Life of the Apostle Paul as he heals and ‘raises’ the dead as we read in the Book of Acts. It IS the Divine Power that flows through the man who KNOWS, the man who IS the True disciple, that accomplishes these things and this IS the Power of the Christ as it IS wielded by the Christ Within as His expression of Truth on this Earth. While this IS the reality of Jesus’ words that tell us that “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do“, the doctrines of men downplay these several abilities of the True man of God. Many apportion these ideas ONLY to the apostles while others see the idea of such “greater works” as it applies to ministers, who ARE perforce ministers of doctrines, whose objective IS to save others by bringing them to Christ through those doctrines.
Vincent tells us of these “greater works” that: Not more remarkable miracles, but referring to the wider work of the apostolic ministry under the dispensation of the Spirit. This work was of a higher nature than mere bodily cures. Godet truthfully says: “That which was done by St. Peter at Pentecost, by St. Paul all over the world, that which is effected by an ordinary preacher, a single believer, by bringing the Spirit into the heart, could not be done by Jesus during His sojourn in this world.” Jesus’ personal ministry in the flesh must be a local ministry. Only under the dispensation of the Spirit could it be universal 4. While Vincent’s words here ARE according to his own doctrinal bent, we should see that this idea of “bringing the Spirit into the heart” IS the cause of the True “greater works” and NOT those “greater works” themselves.
While there ARE a variety of meanings and understanding given for these words from Jesus, the Truth IS ever found in the context as He tells His apostles that the reality of His works IS NOT as a man but as a man who IS expressing the Truth of the Father, the First Spiritual Power; the Master says: “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? 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). If we can remember that the Master IS speaking parabolically, that IS that He is speaking both in words that the man in that day can comprehend and that He IS speaking of spiritual things in carnal terms while framing His thoughts in ways that ARE ONLY “spiritually discerned“, we can perhaps see how that being the Christ He speaks of the God Within while we speak, one part removed, of the Christ Within.
Doctrinal ideas fail to see the intent of Jesus words which IS to show men that in keeping His words, in their believing on Him as Lord, that they have ready access to the Power, the Divine Power, of Truth and of Love. And the crux of this Divine Power IS one’s expression of “the fruit of the Spirit“; it IS in one’s expression of this fruit that ALL “greater works” can be found. In one’s expression of Love one can heal ALL. in one’s expression of joy which comes from the Greek word chara, which comes from the same Greek word as DOES charis which IS grace, there IS his expression of ALL that comes from God….a flow of the grace of God through the Way of the man in this world. Similarly in one’s expression of Peace, longsuffering, gentleness and goodness, there ARE the deeper meanings that ARE inherent in the Greek ideas of eirene, makrothumia, chrestotes and agathosune.
Eirene which IS rendered as Peace IS NOT that common understanding of this word but IS rather the Life’s expression of the disciple and we can get a view of this from Jesus own words saying “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you” (John 14:27). While this IS rather undefined, it IS at the same time clear that this IS NOT the Peace of the world but IS the Peace of God, a Peace that IS the expression of the man who IS freed, the man who IS “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). It IS in this sense of discipleship, this sense of freedom from ALL that IS of the world, that we find that “peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) which IS the expression of the man who can Truly “Take no thought for your life” (Matthew 6:25).
To “Take no thought for your life” IS to be freed from ALL that binds one to this Life in this world and allows one to Truly stand as a disciple of the Lord. This deliverance IS wrought by one’s expression of the Truth which flows from the Soul, the Christ Within, and in this we should see the True intent of His words saying “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). We should understand here that these words follow upon the words from our trifecta saying of the disciple that “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32) and in the combination of these ideas we should try to see how that the Truth and the Son ARE One. It IS then in one’s expression of the Truth that one IS free and it IS this expression that broadcasts that “peace of God, which passeth all understanding“. Can we see how that this idea of Peace can work out in Life as a fruit, as the expression of the disciple in this world and, by measure, the expression of the aspirant who strives to DO as the Master shows us in our trifecta which we repeat again:
- “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“ (John 8:31-32).
- “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).
It IS unfortunate that so many Greek words have been translated into English words (and likely many other languages as well) from the perspective of the best word to carry the original thought. It IS also unfortunate that it IS the most common and carnal ideas attached to the rendered word that IS understood as that thought and that many words have taken on the meanings ascribed to them by the doctrines of men. Moreover, it IS unfortunate that many words that ARE translated ARE rendered in ways that reflect the doctrinal thoughts of the translators even though alternate ideas ARE available which DO NOT match the doctrinal thought. These ideas and variations of them ARE easily found in our selection from Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians where the entirety of the rendered and interpreted ideas of “the works of the flesh” fails to acknowledge the spiritual component that the apostle IS presenting to these men who ARE NO longer afflicted by the gross carnal ideas that doctrines see. We repeat the apostle’s words again saying:
“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:17-24).
And this same dynamic IS found in the list of “the fruit of the Spirit” that we ARE studying where the sense of Love IS NOT as this IS commonly understood and the ideas of joy and Peace ARE NOT as these ARE portrayed to be. These ARE, ALL of them, expressions of the fruit which IS Truth and, if we can relate the idea of joy to through its root word to charis, we can better understand what it IS that a man IS expressing in the word rendered as joy. This expression IS the reality of the sharing by the disciple of “Every good gift and every perfect gift” which “is from above” and it IS in this idea that we have the reality of grace. This IS chara much more than a mere feeling of gladness.
Similarly there is the reality of one’s expression of Peace which IS far different from one’s being at Peace in a carnal sense. This Peace becomes the very nature of the man who strives to keep His words and IS, with this idea of chara, an integral part of that Love, that agape, that heads the list. In the closing line of every essay we have the apostle’s words saying “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15) and when we can see this idea of heart as the consciousness of a man, his inner sense which DOES renew the mind, perhaps we can see how that it IS the heart that changes from its previous carnal view to a spiritual view. Jesus shows us these divergent views saying “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45). When we can understand good as Jesus defines this for us and understand evil as simply being carnally focused, we can then better understand this point.
Jesus shows us how that this idea of good IS tied to Godliness and for our understanding of this term we need ONLY look at His words saying “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) or His admonition to us to “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). If we can see this Godliness as being His perfection and His righteousness we can then see how Truly deep this idea of good IS as we read the Master’s words to the rich man; Jesus says “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17). If we can put this ALL together we should be able to see how that “A good man” from His saying on treasure above must perforce be a Godly man as there IS “none good but one, that is, God” and that the Godly man must have “His righteousness” and must be “perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” in order to be so.
If we add to this the definition of the man who IS the “good ground“, we can perhaps see the Master’s point in human terms; Luke tells us that those who ARE the “good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). Here we come back again to the ideas from our trifecta which IS, from most every angle, the source of the Presence of God and ALL things that ARE “of the Spirit“.
This Peace which IS a “fruit of the Spirit” then IS this same “peace of God” and this should be understood from the very idea that it IS “of the Spirit“. It IS in this sense that we should try to see how that this Peace IS the product of that Life endeavor which results in His Presence in one’s Life….the product of Love which IS found in keeping His words. It IS in being freed from the whole array of carnal thoughts and attitudes that one IS Truly at Peace and it IS this Peace that IS expressed by the man who Truly Loves “the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” and, by measure, by the man who Truly strives to DO so.
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.
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 a Quote of the Day that we spent much time with over the course of our essays. In this affirmation we find the Truth of discipleship as we have been ever been expressing and here we can relate our themes of the last few days; “take no thought” for the things of the world and that we approach the Kingdom and discipleship in the nature of the little child, in humbleness, meekness, unashamed in any way and unassuming. The message that this imparts for us today IS that it IS the Soul that is at work in the world of men as it expresses to some degree the purpose, power and the will through Life in this world. These words are from a meditation offered to his students by our Tibetan brother and in which we find greater understanding of the message of the Master. This IS Truly the way of the disciple.
My Soul has purpose, power and will; these three are needed on the Way of Liberation.
My Soul must foster love among the sons of men; this is its major purpose.
I, therefore, will to love and tread the Way of Love. All that hinders and obstructs the showing of the Light must disappear before the purposes of the Soul.
My will is one with the great Will of God;. that Holy Will requires that all men serve. And unto the purposes of the Plan I lend my little will.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
