ON LOVE; PART MDLXX
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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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While we ended the last essay with our trifecta, our last point was in regard to Paul’s final words from our selection covering his interaction with the Epicureans and the Stoics at “Mars’ hill“. Paul tells his audience that “the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent“. The ignorance that Paul refers to IS the doctrinal religious practices of men, of the Greeks in this instance, where many worshipped according to the idea “that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device“. In regard to that particular saying, we said that such ideas still prevail in parts of Christianity, ideas which were apparent in the Greeks use of the “altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD” (Acts 17:23) and other statuary and shrines as the “temple of the great goddess Diana” (Acts 19:27). We should understand that while the use of statuary IS Christianity seems limited to the Catholic and the Orthodox sects, this IS NOT so. Several Protestant denominations and sects continue to use statues and while the idea IS that they should NOT be worshipped, they ARE still in accord with Paul’s ideas. We should remember as well that this IS NOT limited to statues of ‘saints’ but should be understood to include the crucifix and the empty cross that ARE displayed by most ALL denominations and sects. The whole of the idea IS grossly misunderstood in a church that allows such statuary, crucifixes and crosses as representations of ‘divine’ persons and which are ofttimes used as tools in worship.
It IS this ignorance that Paul is speaking about as he tells us that while the Godhead allowed for this in times past, “winked at” as Paul presents the idea, that in the change of times ALL men ARE commanded to Repent. The change of times should be understood to be the change that the Master brought to the world, a change that had yet to take widespread effect. The Master should be understood as “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2) and while the ‘faith‘ was NOT yet popularized by mens’ doctrine, the True components were already being recorded. We should remember that the first recorded commandment, Jesus’ first edict, concerned Repentance and this IS True despite the way that the idea of Repentance IS sorely misunderstood and misapplied yet today. Few Truly understand the reality of Repentance as the singular ‘tool’ that allows for a man to enter onto the Path to Truth, the Path to True discipleship if you will. Repentance IS NOT: deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing, or the like or regret for any past action* as it IS defined yet today. Repentance IS our decision to change from our actions as men in this world to the spiritual outlook that includes our striving to keep His words. While the idea of Repentance IS mentioned often in the New Testament, the idea IS NOT explained and some of its uses have led to the idea of sorrow; few however have looked past this idea of sorrow despite the reality that it was the Master’s first edict. We read in Matthew, that just after His ‘encounter’ with the ‘devil’s’ temptations, that “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). In Mark’s Gospel we read that “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). It IS this reality of the first edict from the Master that should have defined the idea of Repentance in the church.
As we often DO, we cite again Vincent’s defining ideas for the Greek word metanoeo which IS rendered as Repent. Vincent tells us that matanoeo IS: a word compounded of the preposition meta, after, with; and the verb noew, to perceive, and to think, as the result of perceiving or observing. In this compound the preposition combines the two meanings of time and change, which may be denoted by after and different; so that the whole compound means to think differently after 4. He goes on to tells us more specifically that: Repentance, then, has been rightly defined as “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice“4 and it IS this that we have adopted as the defining idea for metanoeo. Vincent goes on to deflect the idea of sorrow saying that: Sorrow is not, as is popularly conceived, the primary nor the prominent notion of the word 4. We should note here that Paul’s message at Areopagus IS NOT a Christian message and there IS neither mention of nor allusion to Christ in the entirety of his words. There IS however a mention by Luke who IS narrating the scene; Luke tells us that “Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection” (Acts 17:18). While we ONLY have Luke’s words as our guide, it IS for us unlikely that if talk of Jesus motivated these Epicureans and Stoics to inquire further, that there would be some mention in Paul’s words. There IS NOT however and here we should try to see that the Wisdom that Paul IS emparting to this audience IS general Wisdom about the nature of the Godhead and NOT a Christian message. Paul DOES speak in the same terms as the Master in this final phrase that tells the Athenians and us that the solution to the doctrinal problems that men have always faced IS found in Repentance.
Our understanding of this encounter between Paul and the Athenians, like our understanding of most ALL of the New Testament, IS NOT limited to this particular scene; there IS a larger message. Doctrines DO see the message that IS beyond this time of Greek philosophers but their message is muted by their tying that message to their doctrines and fitting Paul’s words into them. This we have discussed over the course of our study of Paul’s words which we repeat here along with the words that lead up to our selection and those that follow; we read:
“Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest,is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them” (Acts 17:18-33).
We should note here that while Paul DOES NOT address Jesus in his discourse, there IS this final idea that IS presented as judgment day. This IS a doctrinal idea that DOES NOT fit into the teaching that Paul offers up to this point. We begin with the idea that “he hath appointed“; this phrase IS rendered from the Greek word histemi which IS generally rendered as stand in the King James Bible. The next word of note IS hemera which IS rendered here as day and IS generally understood in terms of days. The idea of which IS from the Greek word hos which references several pronouns: who, which, what, that 9a according to Strong’s; it IS most often rendered as which. Next IS the Greek word mello which IS rendered as the phrase “he will“; mello IS most often rendered as shall, here will, and is understood in the lexicon as: to be about which IS then expanded to to be on the point of doing or suffering something and to intend, have in mind, think to 2. Next IS the idea of judgment; it IS here that we must depart from the common reading of Paul’s words and this because the whole idea of judgment as doctrinally understood IS in error and while the idea appears often, it IS nonetheless misunderstood. The Greek word here IS krino; this IS defined by Strong’s as: properly, to distinguish, i.e. decide (mentally or judicially)9a. While we ARE limited in our ability to reframe Paul’s words here, we must note that the idea of judgment IS a doctrinal idea that IS based in a combination of Hebrew apocalyptic theology and Greek philosophical frameworks** according to Google’s AI. The idea of such judgment DOES NOT appear in the gospels save for some parabolic references, most notably the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats which we recently discussed in some detail. This parable ONLY refers to judgment in order to make its main point which IS in regard to our treatment of others. Our point IS that it IS Paul that brings up the idea of judgment as it IS depicted in our saying above and most ALL of the doctrinal ideas regarding this idea of judgment come from Paul’s writing. The gist in our saying above alludes to a final judgment and NOT to the individual judgment that doctrines tell us occurs after our demise on this Earth. We should understand here that Paul KNOWS much regarding the Godhead and we, as more carnal beings, ARE mistranslating and misunderstanding the reality of his words.
Here Paul IS relating this idea of judgment to the idea of Jesus’ resurrection but there IS NO real connection between these two ideas. The idea of judgment may be a valid idea to follow Paul’s words about Repentance, that men should Repent because of this future judgment, and there IS a Truth in this. However there IS NO judgment by God as this idea IS doctrinally understood, this judgment IS made in the Light of our own Soul’s ability to measure the spiritual success of its Life in this world. We must remember here that this IS a mystery, that the whole idea of “Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27) IS a mystery that IS ONLY revealed to the disciple and the saint. In the rendering of words into phrases as we have in our current saying, translators have created an allusion that IS it first God and then Jesus that DOES this judgment of men’s measure of righteousness and for the purpose of giving “assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead“. This makes little sense and while we DO NOT have a valid understanding of Paul’s intent, other than to point to judgment as a reason to Repent, we will lean on our understanding of judgment by the Christ Within and its mystery. Perhaps it IS Luke that uses these words to follow up on the prior statement where the Epicureans and the Stoics say “What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection“. As we noted earlier in this discussion there IS NO record of this teaching to the Athenians other than Luke’s words saying that Paul “disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him” (Acts 17:17). Perhaps the reference here IS to allow for the philosophers to say “We will hear thee again of this matter“.
The reality of these words from Paul has little to DO with the logistics or the interaction of the apostle with the philosophers; the reality of the apostle’s words IS found in his teaching to them and us regarding the Godhead. The central points that we should take from Paul’s words IS found in his words regarding the Lord saying “him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:23-30). These words ARE the crux of Paul’s message; these words explain the very nature of the Godhead for those that can glimpse the Truth. We should try to see that the church at large has NOT been able to glimpse the Truth of the relationship between God and man, how that in the words “he be not far from every one of us” IS the reality of “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles people; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27). The Greek word here rendered as Gentiles IS ethnos and we should try to see that the doctrinal idea that Gentiles ARE simply non-Jews IS yet another error that affects many New Testament sayings. Thayer’s tells us that the idea IS first: a multitude (whether of men or of beasts) associated or living together; a company, troop, swarm and second that gentiles ARE a multitude of individuals of the same nature or genus; the human race 9.
The point IS that the message of “Christ in you“, the mystery if you will, and the idea that “he be not far from every one of us” should be understood in much the same way. “Christ in you” IS the spiritual essence that IS the Christ and which we refer to as the Soul, the True man and, from this perspective, “he be not far from every one of us” or, as Tennyson frames this “Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet“*^. For us this IS the reality of the Immanence of God, active and alive in His creation as the Soul of ALL things and of which we ARE as Souls part and parcel. The next part, “in him we live, and move, and have our being” IS just as profound and just as misunderstood by most ALL of the church that sees the Godhead as above and separate from His creation. While we see the Transcendence of God in Paul’s words saying that we live within the reality of the Godhead, the church sees differently; the doctrine of divine transcendence states that God exists above, entirely apart from, and independently of the physical universe. It emphasizes God’s supreme majesty, infinite nature, and total “otherness” from His creation, meaning the world is not God, nor is God limited by the constraints of space and time**. Of course two opposing ideas CAN NOT be True at the same time and here, based upon Paul’s words and a non-doctrinal view of the world and the Universe, we believe what Paul says over the machinations of men. Church doctrines seem to purposely disagree with anything that may be in some way related to the gnostic beliefs that existed at the time of the early church and while we DO NOT completely understand the gnostic views of God and His relationship to man, we DO KNOW that the early church staunchly disagreed with any gnostic views. While we CAN NOT accurately say that the early church often molded their doctrines to purposely disagree, it DOES at times seem that this IS True.
In ALL that we say about the Immanence and the Transcendence of the Godhead there IS ever the reality of Life in this world and how that Life corresponds to our view. This world, this Solar system and perhaps the entire visible Universe ARE the physical manifestations of the Godhead that we see around us. This would necessarily include the human body as well of the bodies of the myriad creatures that co-exist with us in this world. ALL of these ARE physical manifestations and it IS here that the whole idea can be confounding. We will explore this part of the mystery from a strictly human perspective as other creatures in their species, genus, family, class, etc. exist in their own evolution of which we KNOW very little. As humans, we ARE this body complete with a mind and emotions which comprise our personalities. While it IS the personality that IS considered as the man in science and in religion, and while it IS the personality that Christianity believes to survive after death, the reality IS that the personality IS a product of our physical manifestation. The personality with the mind and the emotions ARE our link to the greater reality that we call the Soul. The personality is the ‘tool’ that the Soul uses for its expression on this Earth. However, until such time as the Soul IS able to influence the Life, one’s expression on this Earth remains carnal. It IS here that the spiritual idea of measure takes on its True meaning and this from the perspective that with whatever measure the carnal mind allows the Soul’s influence, with the same measure the carnal mind becomes less carnal and more oriented toward the spiritual Life that IS the Soul. This IS the reality of the Master’s words saying “with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38).
When Paul shows us the mystery that IS “Christ in you, the hope of glory“, he IS showing us the reality of our own Souls, our own “Christ Within”, and here we should try to understand this against the Master’s words saying that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). While the doctrinal church sees the Master’s words as saying that: the kingdom of God is among you which John Gill explains as that the meaning be, that the king Messiah was already come, and was among them, and his kingdom was already set up 8, the reality IS that Christ and His Kingdom ARE inseparable and they ARE “within you“. We should understand that this IS “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations” and one that IS still a mystery for most ALL despite the explanations provided in scripture and the many words written by the non-doctrinal writer over the centuries. ‘The Truth is out there’ was a rather famous saying from a TV series and while this IS True, few DO actually work to find that Truth. Most simply accept the doctrinal pronouncements of men despite the clear words from Jesus saying “in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7). We should try to understand that such doctrinal pronouncements ARE the product of our individual and corporate vanity which IS our bondage to the ways of this world, our conformance to it if you will. It IS in the illusions and the glamours that ARE our vanity that we see ourselves ONLY as men, as personalities, ‘governed by an unseen God’ or by the happenstance of living in this world. It IS in our vanity that we choose to remain as men; despite our involvement in religion we remain as carnal creatures in this world most often ONLY interested in the self and in those close to one’s self. Some of course see beyond the self and regardless of religion, or even the lack thereof, some DO step out and see the plight of others and respond. These ARE keeping His words and this IS True regardless any possible religious affiliation; keeping His words DOES NOT require one to be a Christian as His words ARE the spiritual impulses that every Soul constantly tries to instill upon every carnal mind. For the Christian keeping His words should take on a rather clear meaning; His words ARE a part of the available Truths that ARE provided to aid humanity in allowing the Soul, the Christ Within, to have ever greater influence on the carnal Life and its expression. There IS NO greater revelation of the Way to understand “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations“, which IS provided “to his saints” than the way that revelation flows to those that pursue discipleship. Discipleship comes in keeping His words as we read again in our trifecta:
- “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).
Much like the way that the idea of the saint has been diluted by the church, so has the idea of the disciple. Both words ARE bandied about in some parts of the church where everyday congregants ARE called by these titles. These titles should be reserved for the Truly holy as the Greek word hagios, which IS rendered as saint, IS defined. As the Master tells us above, it IS those that “continue in my word“, abide IS the better rendering, that qualify as disciples. In John’s Gospel the Master tells His disciples “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10). We should see how that this saying corresponds with the third part of our trifecta. This leads us to the next topic for our discussion which we will begin with the Apostle John’s words saying “the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27). The idea of anointing has been discussed several times in our blog-posts and here we take it up again in relation to the idea of abiding. The idea of abiding occurs several times in the fifteenth chapter of John’s Gospel where the Master relates this idea to vines and branches, a parabolic analogy to be sure. What we should see here IS the reality of the Christ, the anointed as the word christos IS properly defined. We should remember here that the matter of “Christ in you” IS “the mystery which hath been hid” and if we can see that John IS speaking of the Christ within, the Soul, as the anointing here. In understanding this much of the mystery can be made clearer. We should be careful here to understand two things; in the idea of “the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you” there IS a dual nature, the first IS that ALL ARE born with a Soul, ALL have from this perspective “received of him“. The second IS more obtuse and IS related to our realization of having this anointing, this Christ within. The Greek word meno is rendered in several ways including as continue in the first part of our trifecta; there IS a deeper meaning however.
Vincent captures the essence of the spiritual idea of abide in his commentary on its use by the Master in John’s Gospel where we read “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness” (John 12:46). Before we get to the deeper ideas for abide, we should define the parameters of Jesus words here as He speaks of “whosoever believeth on me“. This idea, also captured by Vincent, should be understood as: to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4. This IS the criteria for those that “should not abide in darkness“, that they must accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life; that they must keep His words. Vincent’s commentary on abiding IS indirect and begins with the previous verse where we read “he that seeth me seeth him that sent me” (John 12:45). Here Vincent tells us that the better idea IS beholdeth and then tells us: The word is purposely chosen to mark an intent, continuous contemplation of Christ, issuing in ever larger knowledge of the Father…..The perfect tense, pointing to the abiding result of His manifestation 4. The point here IS that in our believing on the Master we believe also on the Godhead and the result is His manifestation as we read above in our trifecta where the idea IS that the Godhead will “make our abode with him“. We should try to see that ALL these ideas work together; as we keep His words we NO longer “abide in darkness” and we have realization that “the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you“. A more direct commentary on abiding is shown us through John’s Epistle where the idea IS defined as: To abide in Christ is more than to be in Him, since it represents a condition maintained by communion with God and by the habitual doing of His will 4. Here we should understand that the condition effects abiding in both ways, as “the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you” and “ye shall abide in him” as we read above. This IS shown us also in the Master’s words saying “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4).
In a proper understanding of this idea of abiding we can gain great insight into the reality of the anointing; as the anointing abides in us we have realization in our heretofore carnal mind and “need not that any man teach you“. These ideas ARE complex and are made increasingly so by the doctrinal views that have been attached to them. While men outside of religion ARE generally set aside by the doctrinal church as NOT be ‘eligible’ for the benefits of realization of the Truth; it IS the doctrinal church that IS most harmed. Men obliged to their doctrines have ‘closed the door’ if you will to their own realizations of the Truth as their doctrines have supplanted that Truth and have encouraged men to NOT seek beyond them. It IS in this reality that we often quote that esoteric saying that “The church today is the tomb of the Christ and the stone of theology has been rolled to the door of the sepulchre“^^ and we should note that this IS more True today than when it was written nearly a century ago. The point of John’s words regarding the anointing has naught to DO with religion and at its heart little to DO with transliteration as Christ. As we understand that the Greek word chrisma which IS rendered as anointing IS NOT related to the other Greek words that ARE rendered as various forms of anoint, we can perhaps better see the reality of “the anointing which ye have received of him“. This anointing IS from chrisma which IS a kindred word to christos which IS rendered as Christ. There IS much confusion in the words rendered in terms of anointing and we should note again that while the defininition of christos IS anointed, it IS never used doctrinally in this context. For us the reality of the anointing from chrisma IS the Soul, the Christ within, showing us the clear relationship between the anointed Jesus and the potential for being anointed in man.
The Master tells us that “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” and in these words we should see the idea that it IS the Christ Within or the Soul that “will come unto him, and make our abode with him“. From every perspective these words ARE difficult to understand and that includes the doctrinal ideas that have been created by the church. Doctrines paint this idea in terms of the Holy Spirit who will take up permanent residence in the ‘believer‘. First this IS NOT what the verse says; it says that the Father and the Son “will come unto him, and make our abode with him“. The doctrinal view IS NO clearer than our view that the analogy carries through most ALL of these chapters, that the subject that IS referred to as Jesus through personal pronouns IS ofttimes the idea of the Christ within, the anointed from the Greek word christos. It IS this that John explains to us in saying that “the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you” and we should understand this as the realization of the Christ, the Soul, abiding in the heretofore carnal Life of a man. This begins with our ability to “continue abide in my word“, to keep His words in our terms, and here we should try to see the relationship between the Master and His words. We should remember here the prologue to John’s Gospel where we read “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). We should try to understand that the Word in this verse and the word that we should keep ARE from the same Greek word logos and while their use seems distinctively different, they ARE brought closer together whenever the idea IS my word(s) as spoken by the Master. In the idea that “In the beginning was the Word” we should try to see the idea of the Christ and NOT Jesus as much of the Church believes. We should understand here that while we may believe that we understand these words, they ARE yet a mystery to most ALL. In the beginning was the Christ or in the beginning was the Soul ARE macrocosmic ideas while the microcosmic ARE essentially the same as the Christ within or the Soul of man.
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
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
- ** Google AI on the doctrinal ideas of God’s Transcendence
- *^ The Higher Pantheism by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809–1892
- ^^ From The Reappearance of the Christ by Alice A Bailey; © 1948 by Lucis Trust
those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
