IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1442

ON LOVE; PART MLXXXI

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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).

Our last essay journeyed from the Master’s words that admonish us to “Take no thought for your life” into the Apostle Paul’s word that tell us that the word of God “is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven….Neither is it beyond the sea….the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart” (Deuteronomy 30:11, 12, 13, 14). Paul chose to frame this idea in terms of Christ and in His words and he incorporated into this his theme that it IS NOT by the law that one IS ‘saved’ but it IS by pistis which doctrines see as that nebulous idea of faith.

It IS when we can see pistis and the kindred word pisteuo in terms of KNOWING that we can Truly understand the apostle’s intent and while the Truth of these words IS laid out for us in Jesus’ words on pistis, doctrinal authorities have ever refused to see that Truth. It IS KNOWING that Moses shows us in the words from Deuteronomy he tells us that “the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart” and for the man who Truly seeks God this is an essential Truth.

And Paul shows us the very same thing as he relates the word of God to Christ as he uses the same theme as Moses, the theme that the Truth “is not hidden from thee” and that one need not look for it above nor look for it below; he tells us”The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith” (Romans 10:8). It IS when we can see that “the word of faith” IS that KNOWING which we should understand from Jesus’ own words regarding that “faith as a grain of mustard seed” (Luke 17:6), that we can see the intent of His words that ARE our trifecta which we repeat here again 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“ (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 these ideas from Moses and from Paul, ideas that reflect the Master’s own words, that ARE the intent of the words that follow in Paul’s writing. We should see that the intent of the affirmations and the confessions or, better, professions, IS in regard to His words and the righteousness that comes to the man who will keep His words. It IS in the context of “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith” that the reality of Paul’s intent lies. It IS in this context that we can see how that to profess that Jesus IS Lord or, as some render this, Jesus as Lord, we ARE taking a position according to His words which ARE “nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart” and we should understand here that it IS ONLY the man who strives to keep His words that can realize that righteousness which IS one’s right standing with the Lord.

The idea of righteousness IS addressed by the apostle as he contrasts the idea under the law with the New Dispensation of Christ. We should understand that the righteousness IS the same, it IS ONLY the approach to it that differs and this difference IS ever caused by men. In Moses law the whole idea IS to focus upon God and to KNOW the word that “is very nigh unto thee“, the word that IS “in thy heart” as the law and we should be able to see this in Paul’s description saying “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them“. Paul also shows us how that the Jews manipulated the Truth saying that “they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:5, 3).

In these ideas we have the essence of the human problem in that day and yet today. Paul seeks to explain the way of the Jews and the law by showing how that men DID go “about to establish their own righteousness” by interpreting the law in ways that “pleased men“; a pleasing which includes those who took authority, those who formulated and were “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9) as Jesus shows us. Paul’s intent IS to add strength to the idea of “God’s righteousness” but men and their doctrines ARE still “going about to establish their own righteousness” and, much like the Jews, they DO so without Truly seeing what they ARE DOING.

And in this IS Paul’s meaning in the divergence of faith and works; in works the Jews created doctrines that DID the components of the law without ever KNOWING the meaning that lied behind their interpreted rituals and ceremonies and the other components of their doctrines. In faith however, in the proper understanding of faith as KNOWING, the apostle seeks to show us to take the words of the Master into the heart and to “live by them” but again those who took authority became those who formulated and were “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men“. And again men DO NOT see their own failure. Who IS better, the Jew or the Christian at keeping God’s words as they ARE intended? The Jew still follows the letter of the law according to “their own righteousness” for salvation while the Christian replaces the Master’s Truth with “their own righteousness” according to doctrines that DO NOT see the reality of pistis and pisteuo. The Christian replaces the Master’s Truths with his affirmations, his professions and his own set of rites and ceremonies without see the meaning that IS behind them.

In this ALL the seemingly religious still walk as men. They follow in their own doctrines rather than in the Truth of the law or the Truth of Jesus’ words, a Truth that only comes to the man who will strive to keep His words, the man who will strive to set his focus upon the things of the Lord. And this IS Paul’s point in the words that we have been studying from his Epistle to the Ephesians; he IS writing to men who have seen His words but who at the same time DO NOT hold them above the tenets of their own doctrines which have become a blinding light. Everyman who IS NOT Truly striving to keep his words should see himself on the negative side of these words from Paul; it IS in this way that everyman who IS NOT Truly striving to put His focus upon the Lord can cease to see himself as “the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness“. We read the apostle’s words again saying:

“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles men walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:17-24).

And this IS Paul’s point: that men should leave off of living their lives as men in this world and understand that a Life “which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” IS the Life of everyman whose focus IS yet in the things of this world. And in this idea of deceit we should we should see ALL things that ARE NOT according to the words of the Master and understand that this IS the same deception that the Apostle James shows us saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). And we should understand as well that everyman IS everyman and that this includes those who believe that they ARE DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven” and those who proclaim that they hear the voice of God speaking to them….this IS everyman who IS NOT in accord with the fullness of His words.

And this IS Paul’s caution and his warning to those who have heard the calling, a calling that IS muddied by “another gospel” which DOES NOT embrace the fullness of the Master’s words; a gospel that embraces a sense of doctrine that deludes men into thinking that they have “the fruit of the Spirit” whilst they ARE living according to the flesh and expressing instead “the works of the flesh” properly understood. And this too IS a part of the delusion: men believe that the apostle’s list of “the works of the flesh” ARE ONLY those gross ideas that they have rendered from the Greek words; they DO NOT see that these ARE spiritual ideas which ARE contrary to the Truth of the Great Commandments.

Men DO NOT see past “their own righteousness” nor DO they understand that these “works of the flesh” ARE ALL things that ARE contrary to the fullness of one’s Love for God which IS ONLY found in keeping His words; and they DO NOT see that their own thoughts and attitudes toward their fellowman ARE in conflict with His words so long as those thoughts and attitudes ARE centered in oneself or in one’s divided section of the human family. It IS in the “righteousness of God” that there IS NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9) and thereby NO factions and divisions of men; factions and divisions that lead to the hatreds and the variance and the wrath which men express against their fellowman. And it IS in the “righteousness of God” that there IS NO infidelity toward the Godhead, infidelity which IS shown us in the deeper ideas from those words that ARE rendered as Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry and witchcraft.

These words should NOT be seen as sexual ideas nor should we see the idea of dark arts or the worship of other gods; these words should be understood as they ARE presented, as the focus of the man upon himself and the things of the self and the ways of obtaining them rather that a focus upon God and the things of God. It IS in the way that men have set themselves “about to establish their own righteousness” that the ideas have become grossly carnal ones and men DO NOT see their thoughts and attitudes in terms of “another gospel“….they rather see their doctrines as “God’s righteousness” as did the Jews in Jesus day. We repeat the apostle’s words saying:

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:6-12).

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 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).

It IS Paul’s idea of “another gospel” that IS the affliction of the religious man over the last 2000 years and it IS the doctrines of men that fail to see the Truth of Jesus’ words that ARE “another gospel“. In our thoughts over the last essays we have highlighted the way that the out of context words from Paul that ARE used to define the Christian and to make him feel ‘saved’ by his affirmations and his confessions of faith but this IS NOT the universal Christian idea. This way of ‘salvation’ IS NOT seen as valid to the Roman Catholic nor to many other non-Protestant denominations and sects which have inserted their own view of ‘salvation’ according to their individual doctrines.

It IS NOT our place to get into the diverse views of the Catholics and the Protestants nor the views of other denominations and sects except to remind that each of these believes that they ARE right and that the others ARE wrong. This IS equal to saying that whatsoever doctrinal assertions may ‘save’ one group will NOT ‘save’ another and in this IS the most fundamental flaw of most ALL religion where each may say of the others that it IS they that have “another gospel“. In the reality of Paul’s words however ALL doctrinal approaches to the Lord ARE “another gospel” as NONE teach the Truth of Jesus’ words and NONE show men the True work to be done in keeping His words and then expressing the ensuing revelations and realizations to the world of men.

And NONE teach the idea of striving and the resultant idea of measure as there IS NO doctrinal safe place for these ideas in doctrines where the teaching most always centers around achieving heaven or deserving hell. There IS NO middle ground save in the all but forgotten teaching on purgatory and there IS NO goal set for mankind, individually or corporately; none teach the idea of a measure of Truth or a measure of His Presence although it IS in this idea of measure that ALL progress IS made. Most ALL staunchly deny the idea of reincarnation or rebirth because it IS against their doctrinal approach to  salvation for the man who will profess Christ.

There ARE many doctrinal ideas which can show us how that the resultant Christian religions which emerged after Christ and His apostles ARE in fact the reality of Paul’s idea of “another gospel“. Among these IS the Christian refusal to give any credence to the very idea of reincarnation despite the fact that there ARE NO references to this in the gospels nor in the writings of the apostles save one obscure idea from the Book of Hebrews saying “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

When viewed as the body of man, the flesh if you will, this IS a clearly True statement which can also serve to enhance the idea of rebirth. The flesh of a man DOES die ONLY once but ONLY in general terms; this IS NOT True for Lazarus, Jairus daughter nor the only son that Jesus raised from his funeral bier. These DID NOT die ONLY once and neither did those who were raised according to Jesus charge as He sent out the twelve saying “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). And we should NOT forget those that were raised from the dead by the Apostles Peter and Paul nor the widow of Zarephath’s son who was raised by Elijah in the Old Testament.

ALL of these died more than once as do the many who are brought back to Life by the miracle of medicine or the miracle of prayer and in this we should see the words from the writer of Hebrews ONLY in most general terms. We should perhaps try to see that this IS the intent, the plan if you will, and the appointment or, as Vincent tells us, as it is laid by in store which IS the literal meaning of the Greek word apokeimai ⁴. Our point IS that there IS NO denial of reincarnation in these words from the writer of Hebrews and there IS NO concrete Truth to his words; it IS just a general point made in the context of the death of Jesus being applied to Jewish law and traditions.

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.

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