IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1496

ON LOVE; PART MCXXXV

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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 with some words from the Apostle James which show the relationship between epithymia which IS most often rendered as lust, hamartia which IS most often rendered as sin, and thanatos which IS rendered in terms of death. ALL three of these words ARE largely misunderstood in their spiritual relevance and each has taken on a doctrinal connotation that DOES NOT reach the True meaning and intent of the writers and which ARE rather pigeonholed according to various doctrinal precepts.

Epithymia  IS seen as: desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden ^2,9 by the lexicon and it IS the latter idea that permeates doctrinal thinking. And while the most accepted understanding of the idea of lust IS largely sexual, the biblical usage of epithymia DOES NOT generally imply this. Common usage defines the idea of lust as: intense sexual desire or appetite; uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness ⁷ and the rendering of epithymia as this lust has done much to conceal the True intent which IS men’s overall desires.

The Apostle Peter shows us the greater idea of epithymia in his saying that it IS “the corruption that is in the world through lust” that must be escaped. Here, if we see lust ONLY in sexual terms, we miss his entire point which IS that such desire for the things of corruption, desire for the things that our vanity shows us to want, ARE what keep us from the “exceeding great and precious promises” and from becoming “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). It IS the doctrinal view of the idea of lust that has corrupted the teaching of the Master and His apostles and that has made the very idea of sex a forbidden part of Life.

And it IS the church’s fascination with the very idea of sex that has turned many of the New Testament ideas from a spiritual teaching to moral wrong and has created a total lack of understanding of the spiritual meanings of such words as moicheia, porneia, akatharsia and aselgeia which ARE rendered as adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and lasciviousness in the King James Bible. While these words ARE used in a moral context in some New Testament passages, the greater use of them IS in regard to one’s relationship to God versus one’s relationship to the world.

And it IS in this light that we should see the idea of temptation as well. Temptation IS but the carnal mind agreeing with the carnal emotion of desire and in this context such desire can be for anything and for everything. The dividing line IS again carnal versus spiritual and this we should be able to see in the temptations endured by Jesus which we discussed a few posts back. He and we ARE tempted by the things of this world as the mind and the emotions fix upon carnal offerings which can be things but ARE more often thoughts and attitudes that ARE contrary to the things of God.

Can we see here again the Apostle Paul’s “thorn in the flesh“? Can we see how that he and we can be buffeted by thoughts and attitudes that lean carnal whilst striving to be spiritual, and how that we ofttimes give in to our carnal desires. And this IS the lesson that we should take from James words which we briefly discussed in the last essay and to which we add another part; we should try to see here the relationship between “the man that endureth temptation” and the sense of patience that IS our striving toward being “perfect and entire, wanting nothing“. James tells us:

“let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:4-8).

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:12-17)

We should try to see that “the man that endureth temptation” IS much like Paul insofar as he IS struggling as the apostle shows us saying “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:24-25). There IS victory here in that regardless that this man succumbs to the “the flesh with the affections and lusts“, he IS aware of his plight and this IS the greater part of the human struggle.

We should try to see that in the end this man, as Paul, will Truly “endureth temptation” and will “receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” and here we should understand the dynamic reality of this idea. Not the idea of “the crown of life” of which Vincent tells us that: In Paul, στέφανος is always used of the conqueror’s crown, not of the king’s ⁴; but the idea of those things “promised to them that love him“. This brings us back again to the trifecta where Jesus shows us just how it IS that we DO Love the Lord; we read:

• “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).

Here Jesus NOT ONLY shows us how to Love the Lord but repeats His point from the negative view to show us that the man who IS NOT in accord with His words “loveth me not“; Paul tells us that this man will NOT receive that “crown of life“, that sign of victory which IS the Presence of God in one’s Life. And Peter further clarifies and amplifies the Master’s words as he tells us of the “exceeding great and precious promises” and shows us that it IS “by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature” Here we can equate the reality of Love for the Lord with the idea of “having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).

In these ideas we have additional examples of how the apostles’ words amplify and clarify the Masters teaching; in the last post we showed how that ALL of Paul’s words in his many epistles ARE intended to accomplish the same objective while being written in differing tones to different groups. Here we should see that this same idea IS easily found in the writings of the different apostles….ALL ARE saying the same things. But the doctrines of men miss the parallels that ARE found throughout the New Testament as they rely upon out of context ideas which were NOT intended to stand alone.

James tells us about the things of God in contrast to the lusts that can tempt everyman. The contrast here IS NOT hidden but the idea of “Every good gift and every perfect gift” must be discerned according to the fullness of the apostle’s words. We should try to see here how that “Every good gift and every perfect gift” ARE themselves the “exceeding great and precious promises” by which men can become “partakers of the divine nature” and there IS naught in this idea that IS of this world.

There ARE two different Greek words rendered as gift in this passage from James and rather than looking at the differences in these words, it IS better to look at the context in which they ARE offered. The context of the one IS as a “good gift” and if we can see this in the same tone as Jesus offers us saying that “there is none good but one, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17) and understand that this idea includes that which comes from God….that ONLY this IS good, we can then see James’ point. God IS the source of ALL that IS good. Similarly, the idea of the “perfect gift” should show us the same thing, again based in Jesus’ words as He tells us that “your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48); here we should see that God IS the source of ALL that IS perfect.

Our point here IS that there IS NO thing good and there IS NO thing perfect in the desires of men….the desires that tempt men ONLY lead to sin and death. We should understand here that just because doctrines have been formulated to promise men carnal gifts from God, that DOES NOT make this idea True; the Truth IS in the right discernment of the ideas that ARE presented. Here we should see the strong dichotomy that IS between the things of this world and the Truth that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights“.

James shows us this dichotomy and the error of men and their doctrines as he later tells us that “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:2-4). Can we see that it IS in this sense of friendship with the things of the world that shows men’s desires for them and that based in this sense of separation NO thing from this friendship can qualify as “Every good gift and every perfect gift“.

That men DO NOT understand this IS a function of the vanity which IS Life in this world and when we can see this vanity as the corruption, the illusion and the glamour of men, we can then better understand its role and the way that the Master and His apostles teach us to look past it and form that True friendship with God. While it IS difficult to see the underlying Truth that James shows us saying “whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God“, the reality IS found in the Master’s words and the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles.

Jesus warns of “God and mammon” and he shows us where our focus should be in His words that most clearly tell us that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:24, 21) but these words ARE NOT seen by doctrine with the importance that they command. Much of this IS based in the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, that tell a man that he can focus upon the things of the world and still be ‘saved’ and it IS upon this that most ALL doctrines ARE based. Doctrines DO NOT see that this view IS contrary to the Great Commandments and contrary to the overall tenor of the whole of the New Testament.

We have shown this sense of Life in this world several times over the course of our posts; in the whole of the Master’s words in Matthew’s version of the Sermon on the Mount we have a definite picture of where the attention, the focus, of the man who Truly seeks God must be. When we couple Jesus’ words on “God and mammon” with His words on one’s treasure and add to this the idea of “Take no thought for your life“, what emerges IS a clear set of instructions on the way of Life that brings men closer to the Truth and to the Love that IS God. And this picture IS clear without understanding His more parabolic idea that begins with “The light of the body is the eye….” (Matthew 6:25, 22).

That men CAN NOT see the Way to do these things IS a function of the doctrinal approach to the Lord, an approach that DOES NOT see the Truth and DOES NOT Truly KNOW God. It IS in their failure to see the Way to God that they have invented their doctrines which intentionally seek out the out of context ideas that appeal to the yet carnal mind and then convince themselves that their view IS right. And it IS the rather blind way of doctrines that hold fast to ONLY their own myopic view of reality, while the ultimate Truths ARE at their fingertips, that reaches out to generation after generation with the same tired and old ideas that ARE founded in the Jewish religion which Jesus dismissed 2000 years ago.

Doctrinal thinkers DO NOT see NOR DO they want to see any vision of Truth that separates them from their doctrines and from their active participation in “the corruption that is in the world through lust“. Most ARE so entombed in the vanity, the illusion and the glamour of Life here in this world, that they CAN NOT escape and so they continue the archaic ideas of ‘original sin’ and the ‘fall of man’. Such ideas perpetuate their wrongly simple ideas on this wondrous creation which they interpret from a few paragraphs from the Book of Genesis.

So much of the problems of humanity ARE tied to men’s religious beliefs and in most every religion the doctrines of men ARE but a shadow of the Truth that IS found in a True understanding of the world’s scriptures. And Paul shows us the basis of the way of doctrines, the way that they DO NOT see a Way according to the Truth, in the words that we have been discussing from his Epistle to the Romans. Paul shows us the duality in the Life of everyman who Truly seeks God, everyman who Truly strives towards His Kingdom, and he DOES so using himself as the example of the struggle. We read the apostle’s words again saying:

“I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:18-25).

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:1-10).

We should remember here that the True heart of everyman IS visible ONLY to himself and that one’s inner thoughts and attitudes DO NOT necessarily reflect upon one’s outward expression to the world. It IS this that we should see in Paul’s words and NOT the reality of his specific words that imply a different outward expression than that which we see in his apostleship. Some of his ideas here ARE statements of fact such as his admission that “in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing” and we should understand this as the affliction of everyman while understanding the spiritual concept of good and remembering that ALL ARE “made subject to vanity” (Romans 8:20).

Other ideas ARE more personal and in these we should see Paul’s view of himself….a view that IS shared with us but which IS NOT reflected in his outward expression. And, of course, to understand the apostle’s words we must first understand that it IS our common understanding of such ideas as sin and evil and death that prevent us from seeing that those things which Paul perceived in his own psyche ARE NOT the extremes of these ideas but ARE simply his own thoughts and attitudes which remain carnally focused. Remember too the things that Peter expressed to the displeasure of the Master.

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

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts