ON LOVE; PART MDXLII
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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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The last two essays were devoted to our Repentance and Transformation, words that have little traction in today’s church doctrines but which ARE of major importance in our spiritual journey. Both words ARE used sparingly in the New Testament but ARE alluded to in many ways through the Master’s words and the words of His apostles. As we have frequently discussed, the idea of Repentance IS used by John the Baptist and by the Master in the opening of the Gospels as the Way par excellence to begin one’s spiritual journey. The Baptist uses the word in regard to his baptisms three times in Matthew’s Gospel; he first tells those gathered to “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). Later we read that when Pharisees and Sadducees came to his baptism the Baptist told them “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matthew 3:7-11). In telling them to “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” he IS telling them that they should “bring forth fruits” answerable to amendment of life as the King James Bible tells us in a footnote. Meet IS rendered from the Greek word axios which IS most frequently rendered as worthy and between this and the footnote we should be able to see the Baptist’s point. The New Living Translation renders the verse as “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God” which better captures the point as DOES the Bible in Basic English where we read “Let your change of heart be seen in your works“.
The Baptist goes on to tell these Pharisees and Sadducees that “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance” and here we should see the greater idea of baptism as one’s immersion. Here the idea of immersion IS aided by the water and we should note that this immersion IS intended to help a man decide to change, to suffer such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice 4 as Vincent defines Repentance for us. The reality of baptism IS immersion and in the gospels the idea IS immersion into the Ways of the Lord so that baptism itself can become a part of that decision to suffer such a virtuous alteration of the mind. In the past we have cited an analysis from the lexicon regarding baptism which may help us here again. The lexicon tells us that baptizo should: Not to be confused with 911, bapto. The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be ‘dipped'(bapto) into boiling water and then ‘baptised’ (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change 2. This permanent change IS the intent of baptism and it IS unfortunate that the idea has been so diluted by the churches over the centuries. What we should see here IS that baptism IS an aid to Repentance and that a man’s decision to be baptized IS a decision to Repent and Transform. Of course this IS NOT the way that these ideas ARE generally understood.
Continuing in Matthew’s Gospel we come to the first precept uttered by the Master as He begins His ‘ministry’. We read that “Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Aside from this the ONLY other reference to Repentance as a precept in Matthew’s Gospel in and exchange with the Pharisees where the Master says “go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). What we should see here IS that bringing “sinners to repentance” IS the very definition of the Master’s work in this world. The rest of the uses of the idea of Repentance in Matthew’s Gospel ARE in regard to the actions, or lack thereof, of Repentance by others except for Matthew’s comments on Judas Iscariot who “repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders” (Matthew 27:3). There IS much mystery in the ‘betrayal‘ of Jesus by Judas that IS ignored by the church and a clear headed reading of the interactions between the two in the absence of doctrinal ideas can be very revealing for any that have sufficient spiritual collateral to have such mysteries revealed.
Mark’s Gospel and Luke’s Gospel offer similar ideas on Repentance as we see above but Luke also offers us some additional insights in such sayings as “Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish“. Jesus offers these words as part of His response to the tragedies that befell the “Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices” and the “eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell” (Luke 13:2, 3, 4 ,5). In this unusual use of the Greek word metanoeō we should try to see that the Master’s reference IS NOT a death similar to the Galilaeans or the eighteen, but rather a spiritual perishing akin to the ideas that we have in our definition of vanity. Vanity, as defined for us by Vincent, IS our perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. Ponder on this combination of ideas. Our final notes on Repentance ARE from Mark’s Gospel. Mark tells us of the recorded time when the Master sent out His disciples apart from Him. He tells us that “they went out, and preached that men should repent” (Mark 6:12) showing us the importance of this idea of Repentance as a teaching of the church. An importance that has been missed in the erroneos ideas that Repentance IS regret, sorrow and contrition; as we have previously discussed, Vincent tells us that: sorrow is not, as is popularly conceived, the primary nor the prominent notion of the word 4.
Despite the infrequent use of the idea of Repentance in the gospels, we should try to see that it IS an important component of the Master’s teachings and precepts. It IS used by Jesus to say that men must change if they Truly desire the spiritual rewards of DOING so. The word idea IS also used in the Book of Acts in a similar way; we read Peter’s words in Acts saying “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). This saying IS used by many to say that it IS in baptism that men have “the remission of sins” and “the gift of the Holy Ghost” without giving any weight to the primary directive which IS that they Repent. We should try to see that although the idea of Repentance IS understood simply as: deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing, or the like and regret for any past action* as defined in the dictionary and accepted this way by much of the church, there IS much more to it as we have been discussing. Even Google’s AI engine has captured the reality of Repentance saying “Repentance is the act of turning from sin and changing one’s mind, actions, and habits to align with a new direction, often in a spiritual context. It involves acknowledging wrongdoing, feeling remorse, and a conscious decision to change and follow a new path, which can result in forgiveness, peace, and a changed heart. In religious contexts, it specifically means turning toward God, seeking forgiveness, and changing one’s life to follow religious principles“**. We should ask here the question that if even a machine, summarizing the idea available data, can find the Truth of the idea of Repentance, why has the church failed in doing so. Comparing this AI definition to that which we use from Vincent IS Truly enlightening.
The idea of Repentance IS used in Acts in ways similar to that of the Gospels but there IS one phrase that DOES stick out for our consideration. Luke, giving us Paul’s words who, when speaking to the “Epicureans, and of the Stoicks” in Greece says:
“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” (Acts 17:18, 22:30).
While we have used parts of Paul’s words here in previous posts, we have NOT done so recently. Our point was usually Paul’s words saying “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“. The first part of this IS our motivation toward Repentance, that as we may come to have some degree of Realization that “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“, we will seek a deeper relationship with the Lord and come to the greater realization that “in him we live, and move, and have our being“. Few however come to these realizations as they continue in their daily lives and pursuits without recognizing that the Lord IS NOT “worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing“. Here we should try to understand that the subject IS NOT ONLY the physical idols of the Greeks but the full reality of idolatry, our devotions to any worldly thing. Our devotions to ALL that we see as our treasure according to the Master’s words saying “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). The Apostle Paul IS greatly revered in most ALL of Christianity and it IS through his words that most have created their doctrines. Most ALL however fail to take into account the full volume of his words as they selected out of context sayings and built their doctrines around them. They ignore for example the KEY phrase in the selection above saying “the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent”. Seeing this phrase from a strictly Christian perspective and on the heels of Jesus Life and teachings, we should understand that in the idea of “winked at” IS: to overlook, take no notice of, not attend to 2 as the lexicon shows us. Christ brought us the message of Truth that should have overtaken the Jews’ religion and it IS in this message that we should see the idea that the Lord winked NO more. In Jesus’ words we were given ALL we need for our own salvation.
The idea of Transformation IS even less sparingly used. In the KEY saying that men should “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 12:2) Paul uses the Greek word metamorphoo. This word IS rendered ONLY once as Transform, twice as Transfigure and once as change. In its rendering as change, the word could have easily been rendered as Transform: Paul tells us “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord“. The context here IS in regard to the Jews and how in the Jews’ religion there had been a vail upon the heart of the Jews. This IS based on Paul’s understanding of the errancy of the Jews’ religion which had vailed, covered if you will, the Truth, the Truth which IS revealed in the Master. Paul goes on to say, in regard to the Jews’ heart, that “when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:18, 15, 16-17) before going on to show us the idea of change. While the “glory of the Lord” IS metaphorically used and rather undefined, men can be Transformed into that same “glory of the Lord” whensoever their hearts “shall turn to the Lord“. We should try to see here that this IS the same Transformation that we can encounter in our Repentance and Transformation and the same that will become “the renewing of your mind“. Both ideas of metamorphoo cited above ARE similar and when compared to the ideas of Transfiguration cited in the gospels we should be able to see and to understand that our metamorphoo IS by measure.
When we ARE “transformed by the renewing of your mind” we ARE NOT Transfigured; our appearance DOES NOT become “shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them” (Mark 9:3) as Mark tells us. Matthew offers us and even deeper picture of Transfiguration saying that “his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light” (Matthew 17:2). It these ideas of Transfiguration we should be able to see that metamorphoo works by degree, that our Transformation IS but the beginning of our changes and that Transfiguration IS the endpoint. We have discussed this idea in previous post but, again, not for some time. Based upon scant use of the words involved, we have put together our own picture of the journey that men make as they move from carnal creatures to spiritual beings as men in this Earth. This journey begins with our Repentance, proceeds through our Transformation and results in our “adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“. This IS the Master’s state of being for most ALL of His time with His apostles; Jesus’ body was NO longer a carnal interface with the world, it had become an outlet for the spiritual Power that flowed through Him. While the Greek word apolutrosis IS defined in terms of Redemption, the idea here IS NOT simply: a releasing effected by payment of ransom which idea goes back to the Jews. The idea of apolutrosis here IS much deeper and reflects the effects of our adoption. We should try to see that in “the redemption of our body” the idea of ransom can ONLY be found in the way that the carnal mind gives itself, accepts if you will, to the spiritual reality of our full Transformation. It IS in the fullness of our Transformation that we Truly ARE in accord with John’s words saying “as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). While this idea IS yet another that we can understand by measure, our full Transformation is perhaps the final measure. As men with Souls we ARE also “as he is” but in the fullness of our Transformation we ARE fully so. This IS perhaps our own point of Transfiguration.
We should understand that this IS a four part journey that begins in our being a carnal creature born into vanity as Paul shows us saying that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:20). This IS of course based upon the Plan of God, it IS the Plan that “hath subjected” the creature and the creation to this idea of vanity and if we can see that the Plan of God and the Godhead ARE the same in effect, we will have a better glimpse of the spiritual reality in which we exist. We ARE effectively born into what Paul calls “the bondage of corruption” and in this we should try to understand that our bondage IS to our vanity, to that: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. As men we CAN NOT escape this state of being and most ALL live and die in this condition which begins at birth and IS exacerbated by the years of nurturing and indoctrination that we ALL endure. This vanity IS ALL that we KNOW until such a time as we awaken or, better, ARE awakened by the prompting of our own Souls; a prompting which most never hear over the din of daily living as carnal creatures in this world. Most ALL never get past the first stage that we discussed in the last two posts, the stage of the Parable of the Sower where we ARE the wayside. It IS here that we may have an inkling of change based in the prompting of our Souls which IS finally heard over the din of daily living; but the carnal mind, yet strong in this world, revolts and we revert until the next prompting to change; most ALL never Truly Repent. While it may seem a harsh assessment, we must remember that doctrinal religions DO NOT help our escape as this indoctrination into such religions ONLY deepens our involvement in the world as carnal men. Indeed doctrinal religions may help some through their thinking on the things of God and some may come to see on their own the divergence between the doctrines they ARE taught and the Truth of the Master’s words if they can come to Truly accept the idea that we must “love agape thy neighbour as thyself“. It IS this expression of agape that IS the Way par excellence to move away from doctrines and into Truth. Those that DO express this agape for ALL DO find some measure of spiritual progress even while remaining in their doctrines.
Here again we should reflect upon the Master’s words that tell us of the doctrinal approach to the Lord. Jesus, repeating the words of the Prophet Isaiah, tells the Jews “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:7:9). We should note here that while Jesus tells us that “Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites“, that Isaiah DID NOT speak these words as a prophecy. The prophet speaks these words to the Jews in his time saying “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men” (Isaiah 29:13). That Jesus calls them prophecy IS to say that they ARE as True for the Jews in Jesus time as they were 700 years earlier when the prophet spoke them. That most ALL of the church believes that these words from Jesus were ONLY intended for the Jews IS Truly unfortunate. The reality IS that the ‘prophecy‘ continues on and IS as applicable to the Christians’ teaching of doctrines as it was to the Jews in both timelines and yet today. This IS perhaps one of the greatest failures of the church over the last 2000 years as they have deferred to their doctrines over the Truth of the Master’s words, words that include the precepts of our trifecta which we repeat here 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).
In these words we have ALL of the benefits, the rewards if you will, that the church believes that they have in their doctrinal approach to the Lord. In their doctrines most ALL believe that they have found their ‘salvation‘ through the easiest of ways, through accepting and believing that Jesus died for our sins. Most Christian doctrines use a prayer to secure one’s ‘salvation‘ while others rely upon the use of sacraments which ARE deemed to be ‘outward signs of inward grace’ or ‘significant Christian rites, seen as visible signs of God’s grace‘. The former way, the prayer of salvation and the latter way of performing the rites ARE believed to be ALL that one need to DO while living a carnal Life in this world. An example of the prayer IS: “Heavenly Father, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe that Your Son, Jesus, died on the cross for my sins and that You raised Him from the dead. I now turn away from sin and ask Jesus to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. I thank You for saving me and for the gift of eternal life. In Jesus’ name, Amen“. The idea of turning away from sin here IS in relation to the common ideas of sin and NOT the reality that sin IS living a carnal Life, with or without the offences of the common ideas. To profess that one will DO so carries NO real weight in the church as allowances ARE made for much that the church sees as sin. The predominate idea in most of the Protestant denominations and sects IS that a man need DO nothing but have faith and believe, that Jesus DID it ALL for us. The sacraments that ARE held as the way to ‘salvation‘ by other denominations, starting with the Roman Catholic, ARE listed as: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance (or Reconciliation), Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony with the first four fundamental to one’s spiritual success.
In contrasting these doctrinal ideas against the Master’s words, we should try to see the Master’s point in saying “in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7); the differences ARE easily seen in our trifecta. It IS the failure to teach the Truth of Jesus’ words that has been the bane of the church from the beginning and while the cause may seem unclear, we see it as being an unwillingness to teach men NOT to be men bound to their vanity. Returning to our theme of Repentance and Transformation, we should try to see that this failure has also caused most ALL of the church to believe that in their acceptance of the doctrines of men that they ARE ‘saved‘, that they need NOT Repent. Most fail to see the reality of this word and the way that it was the first precept of the Master and the objective of His disciples. This IS clearly laid out in the Master’s words and the commentary by Mark who tells us that “they went out, and preached that men should repent” on their first ‘solo’ attempt at ‘ministry’.
It IS when we can realize that our Repentance IS the foremost idea that we should understand as we begin that we can Truly enter onto the Path to “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). This IS the goal of the Soul that becomes the goal of the man in this world through his Repentance and the beginnings of his Transformation. We should try to understand that as soon as we decide to follow the Lord, our Transformation begins and while we may be subjected to the stages of failure that we cite from the Parable of the Sower we will eventually succeed so long as we continue to strive toward that goal. This IS framed by the Master’s words saying “Strive to enter in at the strait gate” (Luke 13:24) and here we should try to understand that this striving, this agonizomai in Greek, IS NOT an idle word. Our striving IS to: endeavour with strenuous zeal as the lexicon tells us. While this IS the final defining idea offered by the lexicon, our striving can also be seen in the primary defining ideas for agonizomai which ARE: to contend with adversaries, fight and metaph. to contend, struggle, with difficulties and dangers 2. Here, as we tried to see through Paul’s struggles in the last essay, and as we mentioned above in regard to the parable, there IS ever a struggle to succeed spiritually. The carnal mind IS indeed strong in this world and it requires our constant striving to overcome that strength which has been built through our vanity, our nurturing and indoctrination and our Life’ experiences. It IS through our striving to Repent and Transform that we ARE enabled to DO as Paul instructs us 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 12:2). It IS in “the renewing of your mind” that we succeed to overcome the carnal mind.
Now our trifecta shows us in its three sayings from the Master how we can continue in our striving after we have made our Repentance a True decision to change. This IS found in our striving to keep His words which IS the precursor to the rewards that ARE shown us. We should understand here that this striving follows upon our firm decision to follow the Lord; it IS this that we should take from Vincent’s defining idea on Repentance. As we discuss above Vincent tells us that our Repentance IS: such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice 4. This we can break down into phases; first IS the virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose which IS our decision to change and second IS the like virtuous change in the life and practice which IS found in our Transformation. What we should see here IS that when we decide to change we ARE faced with the ONLY real way to change which IS to keep His words; this however IS what has kept men from Transforming from the beginning. Men, and the church at large, have ever resisted this idea of keeping His words when the idea involves the rote obedience to the precepts shown us in the commandments and in the teachings of the Master. Paul however saw past this difficulty and while he DOES share his reasoning with us in his epistles, most have NOT yet had a True realization of what he means. His reasoning IS however clearly shown to us with ONLY one missing link to the Truth and this missing link IS found in the rendering of agape as Love and then understanding Love as the common human emotional response to others and to the things of this world.
As we often say, agape IS NOT related in any way to the common understanding of Love which can be described as our emotional and mental attraction and attachment to others and to the things of this world. This attraction and attachment IS far reaching and has much control over the carnal minds of men; it IS the harbinger of desires and lusts for worldly things, for relationships, for careers….for virtually everything carnal. This IS NOT agape however; agape IS NOT a feeling, it IS NOT emotional nor IS it mental, agape flows from the Soul. Agape sees ALL men the same, NOT in appearance nor in any other carnal idea but as the Truth that ALL ARE Souls living for a time in a form in this world. In this respect we ARE ALL the same and it IS here that a firm understanding of Unity in Diversity can help us to KNOW what agape IS. When we read the words “Thou shalt love agape thy neighbour as thyself” we should see the word Love as agape as it IS this that will enable us to DO as the commandment says. We often say that it IS impossible to Love ALL men, the definition of “thy neighbor“, using the common ideas of Love yet the church has allowed men to think that this IS the meaning of this saying, a saying which has unfortunately become but a trite adage. It IS NOT impossible however to see ALL men as we see ourselves and to follow the Master’s version of the Golden Rule which tells us “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12). In these words IS the function of our expression of agape. In DOING this we ARE DOING as the commandment prescribes. There IS one more facet of agape that we often cite from James Epistle which in our understanding of the apostle’s words IS the KEY to our understanding of agape itself.
James tells us “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:8-10). The KEY here IS of course that we should have NO “respect to persons“, we should have NO better view of one over another and we should try to understand this in individual and corporate terms. In having NO “respect to persons” ALL of our prejudices fade away and ALL of our attitudes toward another’s appearance or comportment become meaningless. Yes we still will notice our carnal and physical differences but they will have NO effect on our view of any the other person, NO effect on our view of our neighbor. In accomplishing this we ARE keeping His words and this Paul shows us very clearly. In words that we frequently discuss because of the their importance to ALL who Truly seek the Lord; the Apostle Paul tells us:
- “Owe no man any thing, but to
loveagapao one another: for he thatloveethagapao 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 shaltloveagapao thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: thereforeloveagape is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8-10). - “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt
loveagapao thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14).
In these words we have the equivalence between keeping His words as commandments and keeping His words through our expression of agape to ALL. While a host of ideas from Paul have generated Christian doctrinal precepts, these words ARE among those that have NOT. While the idea that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” IS a foundational saying in most ALL Christianity, it IS also a saying that has lost its True meaning and IS, as we have discussed, become based in the common ideas of Love and NOT the uniqueness of agape. Paul’s point IS also NOT taken seriously by most of the church because of the doctrinal idea that men need DO nothing to secure their ‘salvation‘; because their ‘salvation‘ IS based in the crucifixion of the Master. From such misunderstood words as “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3)) and “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8) entire sections of church doctrine were built while ignoring the idea that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. This IS but another example of the way that ONLY select sayings from the New Testament, and here from Paul, ARE used in doctrines while some of the most important words and ideas ARE skipped over or treated with far less importance.
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
- 9b Vine’s Expository Dictionary on blueletterbible.org
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
- ** Google AI on Repentance
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
