ON LOVE; PART MCCXLI
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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 discussed how that the whole idea of True salvation IS the same idea that we should take from such words that ARE rendered as adoption, at-one-ment and the most mysterious idea of Redemption as this IS framed by the Apostle Paul who tells us of “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23). In the idea of salvation we should see the deeper idea of: rescue or safety (physically or morally) according to Strong’s 9a and of: deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation 9 which Thayer’s shows as the definition of the Greek word soteria. While we DID NOT write about this idea specifically, this was the gist of our discussion through the words of the Apostles Peter and Paul who write on very similar things albeit in different terms. This idea of salvation and the kindred idea of being saved ARE a central part of the Christian doctrinal experience and we should note here that soteria IS used but two times in the gospels as Jesus’ words and three additional times by the Apostle Luke as he repeats the words of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist.
We should remember here that Zacharias IS a Jew speaking to Jews of Jewish things and it IS in this context the idea of soteria should be understood. Zacharias offers us two different meanings for this word; first he says “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us” (Luke 1:68-71). Here we have what Strong’s tells us IS rescue from the physical perspective and we should understand here that this IS his prophecy of something that he sees as happening without a time frame. Here the idea of soteria IS rendered as salvation and then as saved.
Strong’s other idea of rescue IS cited as morally but if we can exchange this idea for spiritually we can perhaps see the greater point of Zacharias, speaking to the infant John, saying that “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:76-79). These prophetic words, as well as those spoken to Zacharias in his vision while in the Temple regarding a son “who shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15), ARE the destiny of that Soul who would come to be known as John the Baptist.
We should try to see here that the Baptist’s birth IS NOT an accident but a part of a carefully choreographed Plan to introduce the Master and His teaching to the world of men which, represented by Israel, had been in spiritual darkness. Jesus tells us several times such ideas as “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12) and while men may acknowledge the idea of the Baptist being “sent from God” (John 1:6) as the Apostle John tells us, few accept the idea that Jesus own disciples were sent much the same way albeit without the fanfare. Jesus tells His disciples that “Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) and many doctrinal thinkers place themselves in this same place without understanding that these words ARE spoken to them apart as disciples of the Lord. We should see this in the Apostle Mathew’s narrative saying that “seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying” (Matthew 5:1-2).
While many interpret this into the idea that ALL who followed him to this place were His disciples, they fail to see Jesus’ own defining ideas on being His disciple and perhaps we can take some clarification from Luke’s portrayal of this; we read that: “seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying….And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases….And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said….” (Luke 6:12-13, 17, 20). If we can see that the Master IS speaking to disciples, NOT only the twelve according to Luke but disciples nonetheless, we can then understand a bit more of the dynamic picture that He IS painting….a picture in which the True follower can be among those that “are the light of the world“.
Our point here IS that ALL centers around the twelve who ARE NOT accidental participants but purposeful parts of the choreographed drama and while we DO NOT KNOW the much of the lives of them ALL, we can be sure that they DID have a part to play. We should try to see here that these twelve, represented by the main characters James, John and Peter, ARE Souls of much distinction, Souls that had progressed in their ability to somewhat overcome the vanity, the illusion and the glamour of Life in this world, and to stand ready for their participation. We CAN NOT say that they KNOW this before they encounter Jesus but, at His sight, they DO. We read that Peter and Andrew “straightway left their nets, and followed him” and that John and James “immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him” (Matthew 4:20, 22). While Luke DOES NOT show us these ideas as DOES Matthew, he DOES conclude his version of the four fishing at Jesus’ request adding “when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him” (Luke 5:11).
The Apostle Mark sets their revelation of Truth the same as Matthew while John tells us that ALL begins with Andrew who, as a disciple of the Baptist, heard John’s words saying “behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:36) as Jesus passed by and went to follow Him. Regardless of the version of this that one may adopt, the reality behind these encounters IS the same: that upon seeing the Master and perhaps even hearing of Him, these twelve ARE moved to join Him without KNOWING much at ALL about Him. They ARE awakened by their own Souls out of their sleep which IS their prior focus upon themselves as men in this world. The Apostle Paul’s experience shows us more; Paul shows us the Life of a man who believed that his own destiny was in the doctrines of the Jews and he IS so affixed to these doctrines that he becomes himself a Pharisee. He tells us his story in his Epistle to the Philippians saying “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:5-6). So inured to his doctrines, Paul sees himself as blameless in the things that he DOES “persecuting the church” then, in a flash, he IS awakened to the Truth on the road to Damascus.
The focus of the twelve IS on their more simple lives and for them this IS an easier thing to leave, to forsake as Luke tells us the True disciple must DO while Paul Life IS NOT so simple. He DOES hear of the Master and perhaps was even in His audience and while there IS NO KNOWN interaction we can be sure that Paul KNOWS of the Master, of His works and His teachings as it IS against this that he becomes the zealous persecutor. The point here IS that in the simplicity of the lives of the twelve it IS easy for them to awake and here we should understand that aside from the main characters and a few others, we DO NOT KNOW how the others came to be with Jesus….we DO NOT KNOW what awakened them. Perhaps they heard of Jesus and perhaps they were in His audience or perhaps their exposure to the Master was similar to Paul’s; since their lives were the more simple they too ARE more easily awakened.
Paul however IS NOT the ONLY one that we read about who IS keenly focused upon his carnal Life, there IS also the Apostle Matthew, a publican and also a ‘persecutor’ of the Jews albeit NOT in a religious way. We should note here that Matthew, or Levi as he IS called by Mark, has also heard of the Master but, being more enthralled in his work and his Lifestyle, DOES NOT leave this to join the Master until after a personal encounter of which we read that “as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him” (Matthew 9:9). In Matthew we have a Soul whose Life IS more deeply centered in the vanity of Life but NOT so much as to NOT see his own True purpose through his encounter with the Master. Against this we should see Paul whose Life IS NOT a simple one; like Matthew he IS deeply centered in his own sense of vanity but unlike Matthew, Paul’s vanity IS the religion into which his IS nurtured and indoctrinated.
Here we should see that NOT ONLY IS he NOT awakened by the works and the teachings of the Master, works and teachings of which he IS undoubtedly aware, but that his sense of doctrine IS such that he sees ALL that Jesus IS and DOES as wrong….so wrong as to go about “persecuting the church” while seeing himself as blameless. But Paul DOES awaken, he DOES overcome his own nurturing and indoctrination as DO ALL of the apostles and we should see that there IS A lesson here for ALL. For the man whose Life IS simple the change of focus IS the more simple; he has little that will encumber him….little to Repent. For the man whose Life IS bound by his position, his desires and lusts for the things of the self and his superficial focus on himself, there IS more to overcome and more to forsake; for this man the self IS likely paramount, he IS a man who IS ever driven to more.
We should understand here that the more simple Life IS NOT the Life of a simple man but rather the Life of a man NOT so driven to more and NOT so fixed upon himself and the things of the self. While much of society may look down upon the more simple man as NOT ambitious, the greater reality IS found in his more ready ability to “to awake out of sleep” as Paul admonishes men to DO in our selection from Romans on Love. It IS unfortunate that most ALL that DO seem to awaken ARE awakening to their doctrines and NOT to the Truth that those doctrines conceal and from this perspective we should try to see the Life of Paul and the role of illusion and glamour in the Life of the man whose doctrines obnubilate any sense of the Truth. To be sure, such doctrines need NOT be religious as they ARE in the Life of Paul….these can be social or political or whatever it IS that hardens the thoughts, attitudes and even the ideas of a man.
Can we see in this the biblical idea that says “He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them” (John 12:40). We should note here that the attribution of this to God IS NOT specifically in the Greek text and we should understand that such a negative idea would NOT come from God but rather from the personality of the man who refuses to see the Truth. The ONLY affiliation of this idea with the Godhead comes in the idea of vanity and how that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:20). It IS this vanity that “hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart“; it IS this vanity which Vincent defines for us saying: Here, therefore, the reference is to a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4.
It IS the human condition which has “blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart” and there IS a wide range of effects in this aspect of vanity; the more focused one IS upon the self and the things of the self, the greater the hardening against an opposing view. And, in religion, the greater the effect of one’s indoctrination into the variety of religions, denominations and sects, the more difficult it becomes to even admit that there IS a valid opposing view. This is the plague of the Pharisees and the other religious rulers in Jesus’ day and it IS this that the Master rails against. From our position of hindsight we should easily see that they DO “not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart“….and it IS this that they authoritatively teach to the people.
When we can see that this same blindness and this same hardening of men’s thoughts and attitudes has afflicted the Christian church from the beginning, we can then perhaps see the plight that the church has brought upon itself. The choice of binding the role of the Chief Priest, the Pharisee, the scribe and the lawyer into the fledgling church while binding as well the Old Testament ideas despite Jesus warnings against both, has afflicted Christianity in much the same way thus creating another reality in which the blind and the doctrinally hardened teach authoritatively to the people. While this IS a harsh assessment of the early church and its influence over the centuries it should be understood that this IS NOT generally done in a malicious way; many yet today are firmly convinced that they ARE right much as the Jews were similarly convinced in their day. That there ARE some that ARE in the religious game for the personal benefits of control and wealth, this IS NOT the norm and, to be sure, some of these ARE equally convinced.
ALL of this however, ALL the doctrinal ideas on salvation, on at-one-ment, adoption and Redemption, ARE gleaned from the misinterpreted, misunderstood and misapplied words of the apostles; ALL of this IS what Paul calls for us “another gospel“. This gospel of doctrines IS NOT the gospel of the Master who teaches Love and who shows us that it IS in keeping His words that men ARE freed. This gospel of doctrines IS outwardly contrary to the great Truth as doctrinal ideas ARE substituted for that Truth; ideas which dilute, change and ignore the most simple spiritual ideas that ARE the Great Commandments….that ARE the Way of the disciple. As we have often said, the doctrines of men look past the clearly stated ideas of Truth while they try to interpret and debate those ideas that ARE often purposefully obscured. NO place IS this more apparent than in 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).
If we could but see that the reality of salvation IS found in these words from the Master where He shows us the reality of the Presence of God in one’s Life, NOT as an outside force but rather an inner force which IS the Soul, the Christ Within everyman. It IS in the Greek word emphanizo that we can perhaps find a key to understanding how that it IS the realization by the man who keeps His words that IS the reality of His Presence. While rendered as manifest, emphanizo IS defined by Strong’s as: to exhibit (in person) or disclose (by words) 9a but this idea DOES NOT fit cleanly in this context. Neither DOES Thayer’s defining idea that emphanizo means: to manifest, exhibit to view 9, both of these seem to imply sight and or hearing which IS NOT as the Master goes on to explain saying that “we will come unto him, and make our abode with him“. Vincent tells us that: A clear, conspicuous manifestation is indicated 4 which also agrees with the defining ideas; by the very nature of Jesus’ words however we should be able to see how that this idea of emphanizo can ONLY be understood spiritually.
For us it IS God Immanent in every part of His creation that becomes the realization of the man in the world, the man who can somewhat overcome the thoughts, attitudes and ideas that ARE of the flesh. We should remember here that this idea of manifestation IS spoken to men who have little or NO basis by which to readily understand and this IS apparent in the questions that the apostles ARE asking throughout this fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel. While some parts of the church DO recognize the idea of God Within, they have distorted an idea that IS loosely spoken of and which IS cloaked in mystery by inserting their sense of glamour; based in their doctrinal approach of salvation most assert that God Within, Christ Within and/or the Holy Spirit come into the Life of a man at such a time when he IS “born again“.
But this sense of being “born again“, lifted from a very different part of the New Testament, IS for most the product of the affirmation and the confession shown us by the Apostle Paul. For us the apostle’s idea IS tied to Moses words and Paul’s updating of the idea as we discussed in the last post; for doctrines this IS become a standalone scripture by which one IS ‘saved‘ and, in being saved IS “born again“. Paul IS inserting the idea of pistis into Moses saying that “the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it” (Deuteronomy 30:14) and here we should try to see that the substituting of the idea of DOING the word with the “word of pistis” IS NOT such a material change as doctrines presume. What IS the “word of pistis“? It IS that word by which one can move the mountain; that word by which one can plant the sycamine tree in the sea.
While these ARE the Master’s words, they ARE largely discounted by much of the doctrines of men which actively teach that to keep His words IS an impossible task unless one IS “born again” according to those doctrines; and many proclaim and teach that in being so keeping His words IS NO longer necessary. ALL of this IS squarely placed onto the idea of pistis and the kindred word pisteuo which ARE rendered into those nebulous doctrinal ideas of faith and believing. But Jesus tells us different; the Master tells us that if we have the smallest amount of pistis, any amount at ALL perhaps, that we can move the mountain and plant the sycamine tree in the sea. Can doctrinal Christians who have doctrinal faith and doctrinal believing DO so?
The answer here IS a resounding NO. Many leave out these ideas of mountains and trees as they go to Mark’s version where it follows that the Master says “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them“. Most ALL minimize the idea that such Power comes to the man who “shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass” (Mark 11:24, 23), a sense of pisteuo that IS well beyond the nebulous ideas applied to it by men. Such KNOWING flows into one’s Life from the Soul, from the Christ Within, and Jesus’ words here ARE intended to show us this Power.
And there IS a follow up comment made by the Master which, while it seems out of place when comparing His like sayings among the gospels, IS the natural result of such KNOWING which pistis and pisteuo ARE intended to convey; Jesus says: “when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses” (Mark 11:25, 26). It IS the measure of KNOWING that matters in these saying and NOT the nebulous ideas of faith and believing and this KNOWING comes according to the Master’s words which ARE the first part of our trifecta of spiritual reality; this KNOWING IS of the Truth, the One Truth which Jesus the Christ represents to the world of men and this KNOWING comes according to His words in our trifecta.
When one KNOWS some measure of the One Truth, one has NO alternative but to forgive and this IS NOT unlike saying that when one KNOWS some measure of the Truth his expression must perforce become agape. There IS NO difference here; ALL spiritual fruits come to everyman who will keep His words and by measure to everyman who will Truly strive toward this most universal goal. What IS this KNOWING? Simply IS it one’s revealed and realized measure of KNOWING God; NOT in religious terms and NOT according to the various doctrines of men but rather according to the idea that Paul presents saying “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach” (Romans 10:2-8).
We should try to understand that this idea that began in Moses’ words 1500 years earlier has the same effect but from different perspectives. Moses shows us that “thou mayest do it” which idea should be understood as that “thou accomplish it” from the Hebrew word asah as Strong’s 9a shows us. Thayer’s tells us that we can see this idea as: to labor, to work about anything 9a. Can we see the deeper idea here and how that rendering as mayest only weakens Moses intent. Moses point IS that one should DO ALL that the Lord commands while Paul shows us this same thing from the perspective of the result….from the idea of pistis which IS KNOWING the Truth of the word. Here we should try to relate Paul’s ideas that ARE offered later in this same epistle, words that equate the idea of DOING ALL that the Lord commands with the ‘new’ reality from the ‘new’ dispensation of the same Truth; Paul tells us:
“Owe no man any thing, but agapao one another: for he that agapao 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 agape thy neighbour as thyself. Agape worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore agape 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” (Romans 13:8-11).
This Truth IS the reality of agape but the idea that Paul presents here IS become lost in the wrangling of the doctrines of men. Paul tells that to express agape IS to keep ALL of the law which much of doctrine DOES NOT see as a priority in the Life of a man and, in this view, the force of the Great Commandments IS greatly diminished. The reality that Moses’ commandments, sans the dietary and ceremonial parts, ARE tantamount to keeping the Master’s words and commandments and that DOING so IS the key to True ‘salvation’ if we can use that word here, has been lost in the cruciform ideas of the early church and NOT found again by most. Jesus shows us the force of keeping His words in our trifecta as He shows us that the Way to the Truth, to His Presence and to His Kingdom flow through DOING so.
Here we should recall Jesus’ words, His rhetorical question that asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) and we should understand that the doctrines of men ignore this precept and disregard most ALL of His words as they defer to the writings of His apostles….especially Paul. But they leave off in their teaching the words of the Apostle James who tells us most clearly to “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22) as they relieve themselves of this responsibility which many see as ‘covered’ by the ‘blood’ of Jesus. Most ALL ignore James words on sin as well; they DO NOT see the reality that “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10)….this IS a most inconvenient Truth.
judgement, sin or faith.
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 |
Quote of the Day:
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
