IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 229

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part XVI

Our next verse of interest is again not specifically an attribute of God in the context that we have been discussing but it is rather the Nature of God and this is that “God is one” (Galatians 3:20). Now this is not intended to be in the normal context that we have viewed this saying before as the Apostle Paul has a specific point in mind that he is trying to convey to the Galatians and this is a point that is much misunderstood as it relates to the Blessings of Abraham that we discussed earlier under our saying that “God is faithful” (1 Corinthians 1:9, 10:13). There is a specific lesson in this for the Galatians and there is a universal message in this for us all as it relates to the Oneness of God. It is interesting that Paul begins this segment of his epistle with the salutation “O foolish Galatians” (Galatians 3:1) which comes across as a bit harsh and in recognition that there is something amiss in their beliefs or their actions. Aside from its use as a New Testament evidence of eligibility for the Blessings of Abraham the crux of this segment addresses the ideas of Faith and works from the perspective of Paul who speaks much on this subject. The issue can be seen as Paul’s consistent attempt to convince new believers and Jews that to do things merely because they are the Law is not evidence of any spiritual progression and that this puts them into that same class as the Master rails against in repeating the prophecy of Isaiah saying that: “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Matthew 13:15). From this saying we should get the message that the Master has given and that Paul is trying to reinforce in his teaching and this is that man, in general, does not keep the spiritual part in their hearts and, in that day, that they did what they thought was spiritual because it was the law. Paul’s message here is that a man should do, or not do, a thing because it is in his heart to do or not do it and not because he is compelled by the law. This is the message also of the Christ on Love; if a man keeps the commandment of Love in his heart, and this is one commandment for which there is no alternative, then he will keep all the commandments because they are against the Love that is in his heart. Let us look at a part of what Paul says to the Galatians as it leads up to our saying above:

“Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law” (Galatians 3:15-21).

Paul goes to great length to explain here something for which there are not adequate words to easily express. The idea he is propounding is that the promises to Abraham that we discussed briefly yesterday were free, that is that the covenant was one sided. The land was given to Abraham and his seed; all that Abraham has to do is to go and claim it. This is the actual promise and blessing to Abraham who was at that time called Abram: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed“. After a few verses of the history of Abram’s travels we find this: “And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said , Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him” (Genesis 12:1-3, 7). This is, in its essence the promise to Abraham and the Blessing and it is to this that Paul refers. We should remember here that Paul is attempting to convince the Galatians of the error of their thought and in this tells them that Christ is that seed that is spoken of by the Lord to Abraham. We should remember here also that Paul is trying to create a real distinction between Faith and the law or, as it is more easily seen, between having the spiritual law in one’s heart and doing what is right as against doing the tenets of the law because it is the law.

Paul reminds the Galatians that the covenant between the Lord and Abraham came four hundred and thirty years before the law and as such it is from the heart. He tells them also that since the law, which was devised because of transgressions, men’s tendency steadily leaned toward the law and away from that sense of right from within. Paul’s crediting Christ as being the seed of Abraham that was waited for can be seen more as a point of example in that present day than it is as factual statement and at the same time it is True that Christ is that seed insofar as He does what is right from the heart. Paul ends here with the understanding that there is no Life in following the law but Life comes by following the righteousness of God by the heart. For us this means heeding the call of the Christ Within and focusing of the Lord with our hearts, our personality consciousness, which leads us to His Presence and to His Kingdom. Earlier in this dialogue, in the part that we posted two days ago, Paul speaks about this and references one’s following from one’s heart as though there is no law but Faith. Now Faith in this context is not much different than we have previously discussed; encapsulated within this word is the conviction and the believing and, in its highest degree, the KNOWING that comes in following the Master and keeping His words and here lies much of the disconnect between the current set of common belief and what we KNOW is True. In all speaking of Faith the common thread is the Christ and, as Paul tells us, it is our Faith that delivers us and in his writing, delivers the Blessings of Abraham.

Now we have discussed before that there are degrees of Faith and therefore, according to all that we know, degrees of blessing as well. We covered this all in our look at the Miracles of Jesus and especially in the actions of His apostles and the degree of Faith without doubt that they grew into. In this regard we noted that these men were, from the start, those who believed on Christ which we know as following Him and keeping His words. The same points should be seen here; Paul is not writing to average citizens, he is writing to those who profess to believe on the Master and in this is the assumption that they are following Him and keeping His words; this is so much more than is currently seen in the idea of Faith. By our definition of Faith, there is no need for the law as the law that is in our hearts is the Master’s commandment of Love; in this we are one with Him and one with Abraham as well. In this we should see the resolution of our saying that God is One both as Paul intends and as we KNOW. When one believes on the Christ, he is One with God; inseparable; when one believes on the Christ and His word there is no need for mediation against the law as ALL is reconciled into His word. Finally, there is but One God and One Law which is Love.

Our next point insofar as attributes of God is this saying from the Epistle to the Hebrews which is but a reiteration with a slightly different tone to that one from the Book of the Law in Deuteronomy: “For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29) and “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24). There is a great mystery in this saying which is hinted at in the Old Testament as regard the relationship between God and His people as a nation and on a very personal level in the Epistle to the  Hebrews. In Deuteronomy these are the words of Moses and are spoken as one who has been with God; Moses is warning the people that they keep watch over themselves and keep the covenants so that they do not fall back into the ways that are against the Lord. The message is that in keeping the word of the Lord that the people are consumed, as with a fire, by the Goodness of God; they are in His blessing and their worldly lives are consumed by the Good, the Beautiful and the True. This is the objective of the Lord, to bring ALL the people into His Light, to consume them in the fire of His Love. Can we see the reality here of the intent of God and that the consumption is tantamount to the reward, to the Kingdom?

Much the same can be seen in the verse from Hebrews. In this chapter this is the last line and it stands alone though related to the prior and the next which is the first line of the next chapter. The text tells us that: “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire. Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 12:28-29, 13:1-2). We should first see in this that the writer of Hebrews is talking to disciples or, as we are, aspiring disciples and we can assume from this that they are believing on the Christ; that is they are following Him and keeping His words. In the context that these words appear, which is rather unrelated to the mainstream understanding of the text, we should get the understanding that as we move closer to God, to our Souls and to our Christ Within, that the personality consciousness through which we function is more and more consumed by the Glory of God until our worldly lives are consumed by the fire that is our God and we can then stand with Him in His Kingdom.

So our saying that “our God is a consuming fire” has naught to do with His wrath or His displeasure but is rather a statement of Truth and an idea that is welcomed by well meaning aspirants to discipleship. It has nothing to do with how or when one worships the Lord but has to do with the intensity with which we apply ourselves to His precepts and the more that we apply the more our outer and worldly lives are consumed.

We will continue with our next points in the next post.

• God is light, and in him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5)
• God is love (1 John 4:8)
• God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1)

Note on the Quote of the Day