ON LOVE; PART MDXXXIV
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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).
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We ended the last essay with some additional thoughts on the Way “into the glorious liberty of the children of God” which idea comes from our current selection from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. These words offer us the culmination of our journey as Souls from our birth into vanity, our birth into our “bondage of corruption“, to the endpoint where we ARE “led by the Spirit of God” and ARE as Paul tells us “sons of God“. The simplicity of this journey IS defined for us by Vincent who shows us that our starting point, our vanity, IS our: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. This IS our condition as Souls as we incarnate into a infant human form in which we find ourselves helpless as Souls; then, through the long years of nurturing and indoctrination, we find ourselves with the ability to be aware of our True nature and our ability to communicate with our own carnal minds. In this state of potential awareness begins the prompting of the Soul but this attempt to communicate IS deterred by the focus of the carnal mind on the self and the things of the self. As Souls, it IS this focus that we seek to change and to help us in this endeavor we have scripture. ALL scripture IS NOT equal however and a large part of the Christian error has been the reliance put on the Old Testament. While the Pentateuch, the five Books of Moses, ARE an outline of the Way back to the Godhead, we must be able to sort out the Truth from the ancillary ideas added by Moses. We should try to see that Moses was a Truly spiritual figure who was in “the glorious liberty of the children of God” from the time of his awakening which coincides with his self imposed exile from Egypt and which brought him to Midian and his encounter with the ‘burning bush‘.
We should try to see how that Moses awakening in Egypt IS the result of his rather sudden realization that he was NOT who he thought he was; that he was NOT an Egyptian ruler but that he was a Jew. This IS the result of the prompting of his Soul finally reaching through to his carnal mind and eventually contradicting ALL that he had been nurtured and indoctrinated into. If we can look at this period of Moses Life as his time of True Repentance, we will have made much progress in understanding that the dynamics at play in Moses Life ARE the same as they ARE with ALL men. At the same time as we try to understand this, we should also try to see that the story of Moses IS written for people of that era and in a way that they could understand. This IS True for most ALL of the Pentateuch and the way that the Christian world has come to rely upon these writings as literal fact IS perhaps the beginning of the Christian error. Moses IS awakened to the Truth, he self-exiles himself to Midian, and it IS here that he begins his Transformation where the same rules apply as Paul writes about saying “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12). It IS in his Transformation that he becomes “led by the Spirit of God” and so begins his journey back to Egypt and the rest of the story; a story which we should remember IS but a story that explains a Truth….an ancient parable if you will. Through this story we should be able to see the words of Alexander Maclaren who tells us: “Nor must it be forgotten that this vision of creation was given to people ignorant of natural science, and prone to fall back into surrounding idolatry“12. While these words were offered in regard to the Book of Genesis and the creation story, the idea remains that Moses was dealing with a “people ignorant of natural science, and prone to fall back into surrounding idolatry” which they did several times under Moses.
Two point that we should take from ALL this; first is that ALL scripture IS NOT equal and a large part of the Christian error has been the reliance put on the Old Testament as a literal depiction of creation. The barbarous ways that Jehovah instills in the Israelites should be enough to shed doubt on the veracity of the Pentateuch as a literal text. And the colorful way that the historical books show the Jews as a ‘chosen people’ who venture in and out of God’s grace with the same superstitious and barbarous ideas should help us to understand that this too IS but a story. Secondly, we should try to see that ALL men must Repent and Transform if they ARE to be Truly “led by the Spirit of God“. The reality of our Transformation IS according to Paul’s words above but we must understand that as DID Moses, we must Repent. Not as the common ideas of Repentance ARE understood but rather as Vincent shows us saying that our Repentance IS: “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice.” Sorrow is not, as is popularly conceived, the primary nor the prominent notion of the word. Moses had such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose which began with his awakening and which changed the direction, the focus if you will, of his Life.
ALL of this discussion of the Old Testament stories IS intended to show that we should NOT, as Christians especially, see the Old Testament as scriptural Truth. Surely there IS some Truth in the words of the Old Testament but these should be seen as historical foundations, for lack of a better term, rather than a guiding Light for the Christian world. The Master took the Old Testament to task, especially the interpretations of it by men as doctrines and traditions, in His words. We should understand here that Jesus words contain ALL that we need to understand of the veracity of the Old Testament which He used to teach the Jews the better Way 2000 years ago. Even in the New Testament, the origin of Christian scripture, there ARE some translation and interpretation problems and this IS especially True with those bible versions that paraphrase the words and thoughts. Paraphrasing translations ARE easily subjected to the interpretations of men and while most ARE NOT based on a specific denomination’s doctrines, they ARE nonetheless the creations of men who may have denominational ties or ARE targeting certain Christian audiences. For us the word for word translations offer the clearest picture of the writer’s intent and while some may be difficult to understand this IS based more on one’s ability to KNOW some Truth. As we have said over the course of our blog posts, men gain the ability to see biblical ideas by measure and while this most often applies to parables and other obscure ideas, it IS also True for the whole. We should understand here however that even the word for word translations rely upon men. For example, in the King James Bible that we use the resultant text IS a negotiated product based on the ideas of the fifty four who were chosen to translate the manuscripts.
As we frequently point out, many of the translated words across the many bible versions in our library ARE contradictory and we often find that the words chosen by the translators ARE NOT accurate. This IS why we use Strong’s, Thayer’s, Vine’s, our Bible Study Tools’ lexicon, and Vincent to help us determine the most accurate ideas. We also try to caution our reader to understand that many of the translated words ARE translated according to carnal ideas rather than spiritual. This brings us back to our selection from the eighth chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans which we repeat here:
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:15:23).
While we have been addressing the ideas of keeping His words and the way that our expression of agape IS keeping His words, our main topic IS Paul’s words saying “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). In the last post we combined this with the Apostle Peter’s words 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). We see these two seemingly different sayings as telling us the same thing. While Paul shows our end, should we choose to follow the Lord, as being “made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“, Peter shows us the Way saying that we must have “escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” if we ARE to become “partakers of the divine nature“. Our point IS that these two outcomes ARE the same in reality while different in words. There IS NO difference between being in “the glorious liberty of the children of God” and being “partakers of the divine nature“; both require that we keep His words which IS ever the result of our being “led by the Spirit of God“. It IS this that brought us to the scriptural idea that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love agape thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14).
The reality here IS simply that if we ARE Truly “led by the Spirit of God“, we must perforce keep His words and the Way that we can do this IS through our expression of agape according to the Great Commandments given us by the Master. Up to now our focus has been on the second of the Great Commandments and, since there ARE two, we should take some time to discuss the first which tells us that “thou shalt love agapao 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“. The idea here IS simply our total focus on the Godhead, on the things of God and while this may seem like an arduous task, the Way IS the same as it IS for the second commandment which tells us “Thou shalt love agape thy neighbour as thyself” (Mark 12:30, 31). Both commandments require our total commitment to our expression of agape to ALL with NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9) which IS where we left off our discussion. We ARE told by Peter and Paul that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) and “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). While both of these sayings and others should have destroyed the carnal and doctrinal idea that the Lord favors some over others, it has not. What this tells us most clearly IS that the Lord sees ALL men the same and while this sameness IS NOT explained except by inference, we should be able to see that ALL men ARE created equal and ARE seen equally by the Lord. We must understand here that we ARE NOT talking about the physical form but rather about the Soul, the Inner Man and the Christ Within. It IS on this level that ALL men ARE Truly equal….a Soul born into and living a Life in a form in this world. That there ARE such a variety of forms IS NOT the issue as these forms ARE the product of millenia of evolution resulting in the racial differences that ARE NOT and CAN NOT be explained by Christian scripture nor the doctrines established by men.
ALL of these various forms come in shapes and sizes and when we consider color there IS also a broad range of tones. And, aside from the general principle that the differences ARE evolutionary, we have NO real knowledge of the origins and purpose of these differences. We DO KNOW however that ALL are born into the same vanity and ARE nurtured and indoctrinated according to their inherited cultures and religions so that ALL ARE in the same: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. Each culture approaches Life differently but in the end the goal for ALL IS the same from the perspective of the Soul. ALL Souls seek to become “partakers of the divine nature” and to enter “into the glorious liberty of the children of God” as incarnate Souls in this world. What we ARE saying here IS NOT intended to promote Christianity over any other religion but rather to show the reality that the Master’s words ARE Universal and ALL men, regardless of race, gender, religion or place in the world, will benefit in the same Way by keeping His words through the expression of agape. This IS the reality of our realization that there IS but One World, One Humanity and One God; in this ALL carnal differences ARE eliminated in our thinking and there ARE NO longer the prejudices and hatreds that abound in our carnal cultures. Applying this to the Great Commandments IS the True objective of every race, every culture, every nation and every religion regardless of how their doctrines may see the objectives of Life in this world.
It IS against our goal of being in “the glorious liberty of the children of God” and being “partakers of the divine nature” that we strive as Souls in this world but this must be understood more broadly because we ARE “in the flesh“. The Soul himself IS always in “the glorious liberty of the children of God” and Souls ARE always “partakers of the divine nature“; this IS the very nature of the Soul. The form, on its own, has little vision of the goal for ALL humanity and the ideas provided by doctrines DO NOT outline our goal in terms of Life but in terms of death and the possibility of heaven. It IS the prompting of the Soul that reveals to men that there IS a goal but for this to happen the form must become aware of that prompting which IS most always missed through the din of daily living. This IS NOT because the Soul IS incapable of penetrating the noise, it IS because the carnal mind IS so preoccupied with the self that it deflects the prompting and, while a tinge of this prompting may be recorded by the mind as conscience, this IS seldom enough to cause a man to Repent. It IS our Repentance, our True intent to change the course of our lives, that puts us on the Path as men somewhat awakened to the prompting. It IS here that we can begin to think seriously about becoming “partakers of the divine nature” and, through scripture come to understand that the Way IS that we keep His words or, as Peter frames this, that we can become partakers by “having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust“. This idea of escaping the corruption IS to take our Life’s focus off of the self and, to be sure, the whole of our focus on the self IS the result of our lusts, our desires for more and better for ourselves at every turn. The question here becomes how can we DO this through our understanding and our following of the Great Commandments and the most applicable answer here IS through our True Repentance which we should understand as our virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose which in turn begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice.
Without our Repentance the Great Commandments ARE but words that we can try to understand spiritually while in our Repentance these words take on a new Life. Without Repentance the idea that we should “love agape thy neighbour as thyself” ARE merely words on a page which IS the way that these ancient words ARE seen by most ALL men in and out of the church. Even with these ideas being ONLY words however a man can make some modicum of spiritual progress based on the activity of his conscience. Again, so much of the confusion regarding these words, and most others that involve agape, IS directly due to our misunderstanding of agape as the common idea of Love. Simply changing this understanding can bring about a dynamic change in the awareness of men and this is the focus of these blog posts. The definition from Vincent regarding Repentance IS a clearly worded idea that DOES NOT care about the perspective of the man who seeks to Repent. Our Repentance is simply that we change the focus of our lives off of the self and the things of the self and onto the things of God. We should remember here that the primary idea that we should see in the things of God IS agape and this because agape IS the very nature of the Godhead. The Apostle John tells us this saying “God is love agape” (1 John 4:8, 16) and these ARE NOT idle words. Vincent tries to explain this for us as he compares this idea with other statements of what God IS. Vincent tells us that: See on God is light (i. 5), and the truth (i. 6); also God is spirit (John 4:24). Spirit and light are expressions of God ‘s essential nature. Love is the expression of His personality corresponding to His nature 4. Vincent’s references ARE to the first chapter of this epistle; on “God is light” he tells us that this IS: A statement of the absolute nature of God 4 at the beginning of a long dissertation on the idea. Regarding the idea that “God is Spirit” Vincent tells us that: The phrase describes the nature, not the personality of God 4. Our point here IS that John IS showing us three ideas concerning the Godhead, that the Godhead IS agape, it IS Light and it IS Spirit but we need NOT see these ideas as separate aspects of the Godhead; ALL of these exist together as the nature of the Godhead and while Vincent attributes some of these to the ‘personality‘ of God, this idea misses the point. the Godhead DOES NOT possess a ‘personality‘ as we understand that idea. Part of the confusion here IS again the way that men have interpreted agape as Love; as Love the idea that “God is love agape” may lead men to see a personality because Love flows from the personality of men. Agape, simply IS; it IS a state of being for the Godhead and therefore its very nature along with Light and Spirit.
We should try to see that ideas such as these require some measure of Repentance and Transformation to Truly understand them. We should understand as well that the Truths that flow from the Godhead via the Soul to the human mind ARE filtered by that mind and whatsoever interpretations the mind provides. Vincent for example sees the Godhead through his understanding of the Godhead as the Father and in this we can easily see how that he applies the idea of personality through his doctrinal understanding. Most of Vincent’s commentaries, as the commentaries of most ALL who endeavor to interpret the bible, ARE steeped in his own indoctrination and sense of church doctrine. Through this however there often flows a deeper Truth that IS contrary to doctrine or explanatory of it in ways that most others DO NOT see. For us, many of Vincent’s commentaries ARE indispensable to our understanding of the New Testament but we should understand here that even his commentaries leave us wanting an even greater understanding. His commentary on our subject verse IS a clear example. The way that he approaches the idea of vanity is Truly unique among commentaries on the subject as Vincent helps us to understand the idea that we ARE, as Souls, born into a condition called vanity which IS our: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. What we see in these words IS NOT necessarily what Vincent saw as he offers this at the end of a rather carnal look at the idea. His conclusion of what vanity IS however IS NOT carnal for us; it IS a spiritual understanding of the very nature of Life in this world from the perspective of the Soul. Vanity shows us the way that ALL are introduced into this world as Souls taking form. This however IS NOT the way that the doctrines of men see Life and it IS likely that Vincent agreed with the doctrines of his denomination. This leaves us to wonder why, if his focus was doctrinal, his words on vanity ARE so spiritually revealing. Of course not ALL will see what we see and we would venture to say that the reality of these words IS ONLY apparent to one who IS Repented, changed if you will, and IS in the process of Transformation which IS the source of the “renewing of your mind” and the flow of Truth into that mind.
Despite Vincent’s doctrinal bent in his writing, he has provided us with several ideas that ARE well beyond his doctrinal allegiances. We should remember here that Mr. Vincent was a Presbyterian minister and was a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York. We should note as well that most all of his commentaries from his Word Studies in the New Testament are along doctrinal lines and while we have found some that ARE revealing of a deeper spiritual tone, we ARE unsure if this tone was his intent. Our point here IS that much of the New Testament along with the insightful commentaries of Vincent ARE NOT understood spiritually and it IS this spiritual understanding that IS the reward of men who will Repent and keep His words. The Master tells us to “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Matthew 7:6) as a caution against revealing to the unaware the Truths that one has garnered in Transformation. This IS an important point which we often consider as we write our essays. While we DO reveal much and we DO speak harshly about the doctrinal religions, it IS the latter that mostly applies to the Master’s words. It IS the way that we speak against the doctrines of men that would result in the idea that “they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you“. It IS never wise to ‘insult’ others especially in discussions on religion. Our focus IS NOT on ‘insulting’ the church however, it IS on providing a deeper look into the Truth of the Master’s words as well as a clearer Path to men’s salvation. It IS to this end that we write and to this end that we repeat in virtually every blog post our trifecta of the Master’s words on how that men can achieve that salvation which doctrines ARE unable to provide. Repeating our trifecta 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).
These words from Jesus tell us about the importance keeping his words and show us the rewards for DOING so. They ARE relatively ignored by most ALL of the church which believes that they have these rewards without keeping His words. While we see this as a nonsensical position, the church, through their doctrines, DOES NOT and likely never will as this sense of doctrines IS so embedded in Christianity that it appears to be unmovable. The form of doctrines used by some rely heavily on the Apostle Paul’s words which ARE used out of context to push forward the doctrinal idea that men ARE saved by faith, saved by affirming their belief in Jesus as Lord and savior. Others doctrines rely upon the role of sacraments to push men toward salvation and while many of these sacraments require instruction, it IS instruction in the doctrines that are held and NOT in the reality of keeping His words. There ARE others in the broad array of Christian denominations and sects but none focus upon the idea of keeping His words. None of the thousands of denominations and sects Truly understand the simplicity of the Master’s words saying: “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) nor the longer version in Matthew’s Gospel that we see as Jesus words directed at the future Christian religion. In Matthew’s Gospel we read “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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23).
While it seems that we have wandered far from our topic and the verse at hand from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, we actually have NOT. ALL of these doctrinal actions of the churches ARE based in the vanity into which ALL ARE born. ALL ARE based in the way that men ARE nurtured and indoctrinated into the ways of the churches and the particular doctrines held by the denomination or sect in which they find themselves. Each denomination and sect has its own belief and most of these ARE not compatible with most others and many ARE ‘miles apart’ from others. Trough this diversity of beliefs, ALL DO seem to see Jesus as Lord but few if any can answer his rhetorical question affirmatively in their conduct or their teaching. The question IS clearly stated as “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). While this should have informed the early church that the words of Jesus ARE important to follow, it did not as the church fathers set about to create a doctrinal view of the Truth based more in worship than in what it IS that He said. This IS what Paul IS showing us in our selections from the eighth chapter of Romans. A few posts back, as we discussed the first fourteen verses, we came upon the idea that we must “mortify the deeds of the body” but save for the church’s concentration on their view as such deeds ARE sexual ‘sins’, this idea IS NOT held as important. And even the sexual ideas have been mollified over the centuries to the point where the church accepts some sexual deviation. The Master’s words and the words of Paul and the other apostles ARE seldom concerned with sex save for some specific ideas given us by Paul. To “mortify the deeds of the body” IS simply to stop living “after the flesh” and to allow the Spirit to control the heretofore carnal mind. This we should easily see in the context of Paul’s words saying “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14-15).
It IS in so DOING that we “shall be delivered made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. ALL of this IS a function of our Repentance and our Transformation; through our striving to keep His words which is accomplished in our embrace of the concept of agape and our expression of agape to ALL with NO “respect to persons“. We should understand here that to “mortify the deeds of the body” and to escape from “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4) ARE equivalent statements and it IS these things that ARE accomplished through our Transformation. A part of our dwelling on these ideas of Repentance and Transformation in conjunction with our selected verses IS to help prepare us for the next few verses which show us the achievement of the goal of the Soul in incarnating into a Life in this world. Before we move on, let us take one final look at what we see as Paul’s statement regarding Life in this world and our freedom from it, our freedom from the “bondage of corruption” that our vanity has created. Again, ALL are “made subject to vanity” according to the Plan of God which Paul frames as “by reason of him who hath subjected the same“. In this he IS telling us that our subjection IS NOT “not willingly“. This IS a statement of fact saying that we ARE here and we ARE in a condition of vanity through the Plan which also carries the “expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. This IS a statement on the Life of mankind both individually and corporately. We ARE here as Souls confined to a Life in form which has taken away our focus so that the Soul CAN NOT readily influence our lives, except in flashes of conscience, until we become focused enough to hear the prompting of the Soul. We should remember here that our freedom from our bondage IS here and now and NOT in some future state, some heaven if you will.
The next verse from Paul IS “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” which should show us the universality of our predicament, the universality of our being in this “bondage of corruption” which IS the product of our vanity. For us this verse IS a stepping stone to the next verse that holds for us the KEY to the completion of our Soul’s goal. Let us look at these together then. Paul tells us “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“. There IS much here to cover; first is the idea that “we know” and here we should try to see that it IS as Souls that “we know“. We must remember that Paul IS a disciple, a full disciple so to speak, and for him and those disciples to whom he IS writing this KNOWING has been made available to their heretofore carnal minds. Hence this the idea that “we know” IS applicable to KNOWING the cosmic idea that “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now“. We should remember that the source of our KNOWING IS shown us by the Master’s 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” (John 8:31-32). KNOWING this comic idea IS a part of that Truth that frees us and IS made available to those that will “continue in my word“. Can we see the point here? We have discussed the idea of ktisis in previous posts on the last verse; the word IS applicable to both the whole of the creation as well as the individual creature but, if we follow the defining ideas, the rendering as creation works in for most every use. The implication here IS that as Souls and as disciples “we know” a great Truth about the creation, its vanity and its freedom and while millions can read these words, but a few will Truly understand them.
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 |
- 2 New Testament Greek lexicon on biblestudytools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- 12 Expositions of Holy Scripture–Project Gutenberg’s and Baker Book House’ Expositions of Holy Scripture, by Alexander Maclaren–(1826-1910)
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
