ON LOVE; PART MLXXXVI
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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).
In the last essay we began to earnestly look at the ideas presented by the Apostle Paul regarding awakening and with this we have changed the central point of our discussions from the apostle’s writings to the Galatians on “the works of the flesh” and the ALL important “fruit of the Spirit“. Since it IS our ideas on the working of “another gospel“, the working of the doctrines of men, that have defined many spiritual things in carnal terms and have offered ONLY carnal understanding, we should NOT leave off yet. We will first finish our dissertation of the way that the doctrines of men have NOT ONLY diluted and changed Jesus’ own words but have precluded men from believing anything but their ideas of heaven and hell as regards the Life and the death of the body in this world.
It IS with a view of reincarnation or rebirth that we must see the reality of Paul’s words to the Galatians and divorce ourselves from the doctrinal idea that one IS saved by the affirmations and confessions that have become the way of so many Christian denominations. These affirmations and these confessions have become the way to be “born again” in the minds of many millions of men and while they lay their doctrinal view on Paul’s own words, they fail to consider his other words such as those that we have in our selection from Galatians which we repeat here again:
“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).
The central point here, among the many points offered by the apostle, IS the reality “that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God“. The reference here IS directly to Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh” and regardless of whether we view this list as we have presented it, as a list of things that keep a man from being in accord with the Great Commandments, or if we view this list in carnal terms, most ALL men fall short. And this IS especially True when we consider the way that the apostle closes his list saying “and such like“, an idea that includes most every normal thought and attitude of men. While Paul IS clearly telling us that ALL men “which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God“, most ALL of the Christian world ignores him. Most ALL believe that they ARE going to heaven despite holding thoughts, attitudes and actions that ARE included in this list.
The doctrinal view of men interprets Paul’s words according to their several doctrines rather that according to the words that he offers us above. They fail to see that he IS speaking to men who have some degree of awakening if we can us this idea here; they fail to understand that his context includes ALL men even those who ARE ‘saved’ according to their doctrinal precepts of “another gospel“. And they fail to see how that the apostle speaks in the present tense as they lay off past ‘sins’ as under His grace for those that ARE ‘saved’ and current sins as under His ongoing pardon. ALL this IS of course contrary to the very context of Paul’s words as we can see in John Gill’s commentary of this part from Galatians; we read regarding the Kingdom that:
this is possessed in way of inheritance, which shows it to be a bequest of our heavenly Father’s, a free grace gift of his, and not to be obtained by the works of the law, or merits of men; but what belongs, and is peculiar to the children of God, who are so by adopting grace: now they that do such works of the flesh as before enumerated; that is, that live in the commission of these things, whose whole lives are employed in such work, living and dying in such a state, without repentance towards God and faith in Christ, shall never enjoy eternal life and happiness; though such who have done these things, being brought to a sense of them, and to the blood and righteousness of Christ for pardon and justification, for life and salvation; such, notwithstanding the works of the flesh done by them, shall, through the free grace of God, and the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, inherit the kingdom and glory of God 8.
Can we see the point here? Can we see how that doctrines use their misinterpreted ideas from Paul’s words against the plain reality of what he IS saying here? And can we see how that the doctrinal view IS formulated and constructed to deflect from men the burden of Paul’s words here saying that “they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God“, as well as the many words of Jesus including those that ARE our trifecta? So long as men ARE focused upon themselves and their little lives in this world they ARE covered under some or ALL of these “works of the flesh” and this IS regardless of whether we see these words in their carnal sense or in their spiritual sense.
In the spiritual sense these ideas ARE those things that ARE contrary to the Great Commandments and while in the carnal sense they ARE some combination of sexual offenses and such gross sins as murder, even this sense includes many things that ARE the rather normal ways of men. And what IS the apostle saying then if we view these ideas carnally? He IS telling us that to have thoughts and attitudes of sex IS sin; he IS telling us that ALL psychic works including those attributable to doctrinal ideas ARE sin; and he IS telling us that thoughts and attitudes of hate, of wrath, of strife, of envy and of division ARE sin. He IS telling us as well that whatsoever IS the focus of one’s Life that IS NOT God IS idolatry and that this too IS sin. And then there ARE the common ideas of drunkenness and revelry and whatsoever one can take from the remaining words. ALL of this IS sin and NOT ONLY this but ALL and any of these will keep a man from His Kingdom.
The point here IS that so long as one’s focus IS upon the self in this world, upon the things of the self, regardless of one’s ideas that this or that IS God’s will, then he IS included in this list of sins and among those who “shall not inherit the kingdom of God“. Here then, under the common doctrinal view of heaven and hell, men have NO hope and it IS for this reason that men rely upon their doctrines, doctrines which corner them by denying the continuum of Life that IS presented to us under the Truth of reincarnation or rebirth. That men believe that they have access to His Kingdom based in their doctrines IS a wholly carnal attitude as IS one’s belief that he IS included in such sayings and that he IS a part of “they that are Christ’s” without DOING what IS necessary which IS clearly to “have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts“. That men believe that they have access to His Kingdom IS ALSO contrary to our trifecta which we repeat here 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).
ALL of this IS resolved by the reality of the continuum of Life, a continuum that brings the Souls of men through Life on this Earth time and time again with the specific purpose of gaining “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“. That this process IS NOT seen through the doctrinal eyes of many of those who believe and teach reincarnation DOES NOT help as regardless of what philosophy or religion they represent, doctrines DO most often become but pale representations of Truth and ARE often antithetical of the overall reality. The reality of reincarnation should be see as the essence of, and the reality of, that very nature of God: that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 8:11).
The choice IS NOT that one believe in reincarnation or NOT; the choice IS whether we believe either that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) or that he starts men out on different levels at birth here in this Earth. We can believe that God, in some fashion or another, places men in specific places and times and conditions to their betterment or their detriment based upon who that person IS or will become, or we can believe that there IS a fair and a just God who sees ALL His children in the same way. If the latter idea, which IS the reality that “God is no respecter of persons“, IS His Truth, how and why IS there such disparity among men both as they ARE born and as they ARE nurtured and indoctrinated according to the place, the time and the conditions of their lives?
There IS naught but diversity in this world of men. Men ARE presumed to be and ARE separated by race, by culture, by religion, etc; and in every division there are further subdivisions. Then there IS yet further division by sex, and by age and by religious zeal….in the end there ARE nary two who ARE alike. The minds of men and their emotional responses react to these divisions and most always with a sense of self, a sense of sect and a sense of faction; few there ARE that Truly see the Unity behind it ALL. There ARE few that understand that in the spiritual realm there ARE NO races, NO cultures and NO religions; there ARE NO further subdivisions. Nor ARE there sexes or ages….ALL ARE simply Souls, each equal with one another, and ALL working out their own Truth. It IS in this Truth that we find our Unity, a Unity that the Master and His apostle’s try to show us in their words and especially their words on Love. We read again our selection from Romans expanded to include this reality of agape:
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:10-14).
As we have noted in previous essays, the whole context of the apostle’s words on awakening ARE in the context of this sense of Love, of agape. If we could but see how that “the fulfilling of the law” IS tantamount to keeping His words and then tie this idea to the trifecta where we read that “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me“, we can better understand the eternal law of Love. And when we can see that the whole of this idea of Love IS the reality of Jesus’ words that show that it IS the man “that hath my commandments, and keepeth them” who Truly has His Presence, His Truth and His Kingdom, we can then understand the whole idea of what it means “to awake out of sleep“.
It IS in the Unity that IS behind the diversity, a Unity that IS NOT seen in the illusion and the glamour, the vanity, of Life except by the man who IS awake to the Truth, that the whole concept of Love as agape can be understood. These ARE universal concepts of Truth; these ideas ARE NOT separated by those things that separate men in this world; ALL True religions teach this Truth of agape, NOT as Love as IS commonly understood but rather under the reality of respect and of understanding. We have often discussed our ideas of Love, how that agape IS NOT that common understanding of Love as the mental and the emotional attraction and the attachment that men have for others and for their things of this world. And we have often discussed how that Love as agape DOES NOT see the differences and the divisions of men but sees the reality of the True man that steadily tries to commit the personality to that Love.
This IS the Life of everyman; this IS the reality that it IS the spiritual man who IS ever trying to bring the personality out of the illusion and the glamour and into the Truth, a Truth that IS found in keeping His words which ARE in turn found in one’s expression of agape. ALL of Life IS tied to this ideal expression of men, an expression that the Master shows us in the Great Commandments and the Golden Rule, an expression which His apostles clarify and amplify for us in their words on Love. Paul’s words above ARE but an example of the importance of agape in the Life of everyman as he shows us that to “love thy neighbour as thyself…..is the fulfilling of the law” and, as such, IS the reality of keeping His words.
It IS the “bondage of corruption” that IS the bane of humanity; it IS in this corruption that men see their differences and their divisions and it IS from this that men “shall be delivered….into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20) according to the Awesome and Glorious Plan of God. When we can see that this Greek word eleutheroo that IS rendered as delivered IS the same word that IS rendered as “make you free” in Jesus own words, we can then begin to grasp the relationships of ALL of these ideas and see that this journey to freedom IS our escape as the Apostle Peter frames this for us saying: “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).
In this we should try to see and to understand how that it IS lust, desire for the things of the self and the self in this world, that IS based in the common understanding of Love that IS the antithesis of the reality of agape which the Apostle James frames for us as to have NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9). We close today with these words from the Bhagavad Gîtâ which ARE for us another picture of the reality of that Unity in Diversity that IS the reality of agape; we read:
“Anyone who sees that all activities certainly in all respects are the result of material conditioning and that one as the soul is not the doer, sees perfectly. When one following that tries to see that the diversity of the living beings is resting in oneness and that it expanded to that reality, at that time one attains the Absolute of the Spirit” (Bhagavad Gîtâ 13:30-31).
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
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
