IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 251

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part XXXVIII

We did a brief review of our two sayings yesterday that we had been covering for several days and which have brought us to our conclusion that, based upon the very straightforward words of the Apostle John who tells us that: “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him”  (1 John 4:16), we can see the reality and the meaning of the Master’s words that tell us that: “I am the way , the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). This conclusion is, of course, that the WAY is LOVE and we should understand that there are several other sayings and teachings and ideas from the New Testament that can lead us to this same conclusion. From here we did get a bit tied up with the word propitiation from our next saying on Love and we noted that this is another of those ideas that have fed the church and its doctrines on the separatist teachings that they have developed. Our understanding of this should be clear in that there is noting in the teachings of the Master nor Apostles that was ever intended to cause the reader and believer to think along these separatist lines for the teachings are, all of them, intended to amplify the basic understanding of the Love that Our God IS and that Our Master told and showed us how to use. Much of the teachings of the New Testament are based on very complex themes, some of which the Master and His apostles have called mysteries, and are couched in language and terminology that are not easy to understand. The Master and the apostles told us of the parabolic nature of the teachings of the Christ and the epistles are amplifications of those teachings and carry some of that same parabolic value. We recognize that behind this all is that steady stream of LOVE and WISDOM that stream forth from His Kingdom and enlighten all “that hath ears to hear……let him hear” (Matthew 11:15)

Continuing with our sayings:

• “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love“. (1 John 4:7-8). We should note that many of the sayings in our list are related and this one is basically the same as that one that we used above and which has provided much for us over the last several days. Here we see again that “God is love” and we have also specific instructions on the idea of “love one another“. We must here remember that the idea of one another is a subject of controversy with much of the church seeing this as merely to Love one’s Christian brother or one’s fellow believer. Now it is true that there are times when the apostle is speaking to ‘believers’ about ‘believers’ but this should not be assumed to be the general objective of the teaching and we say this in the Light of the teachings by the Master and the non-specific direction of John’s words. John’s writings are replete with references to this Love and its importance in one’s spiritual journey and in several places he refers back to the commandments of the Master. Again we must ask: in the overall tenor of Christianity and the teachings of the Master, is it right to practice His words in their narrowest or in the most inclusive manner? The Apostle goes on here to let us know that  the Love that we are to practice is “of God” and he frames this in a way that should affirm much of what we have said; that the Love of God is known by the Soul, the Christ Within, and that by living in this world in that great Light of the Soul that one’s personality consciousness becomes born again and “knoweth God“. Can we see here a testimony by the apostle that when the Light of the Christ Within is flowing through into the personality, that it is in the form of Love. We can add here that when we consider the Holy Spirit as the activity of the Christ Within in the personality, we can then see another reality in that the Holy Spirit is Love as well; and this we should see also from the reality that “God is love“.
• “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). This saying is similar to our others but from the worldly perspective and says to us that which the Master told us: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Can we see the affirmation in this saying of the words of the Master? Now this is clear but apparently not nearly understood based on the ideas that we see in the teachings of much of the church. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” takes us to another form of the idea that we have developed on Love which, although it is from the same Greek word agapao, is related to things and may bring into play the ideas that we spent time saying are NOT LOVE; these are sentiment, attraction and emotion which are all words that are at play in the realm of physical consciousness. What are we saying? Simply that there are two different directions in which a man can live; in the world of things or in the spiritual world and, of course, there is yet that infinite array possible values in between to be considered. In black and white however and in Light of what the Master tells us of “God and mammon” we should see this all as a matter of how and where we focus our lives. If our focus is on the world and the things of the world then the apostle is telling us that “the Love of the Father is not in him“. As a matter of focus this is plain and clear and, in our understanding, when the focus is placed upon the things of God, then all is a matter degree. We should see also in this that the idea of Love in this context, Love of the world, is not the activity of one who is focusing on God.
• “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (1 John 3:11). We alluded to this in the first point above as one of those sayings that reverts back to the teachings of the Master and even, if we broaden our understanding, to the commandment that the Master cites from the Book of Leviticus which tells us ever so clearly of this manner of Love spoken of here by John and which saying is then uplifted and given great place by the Master:
• “Thou shalt not avenge , nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:18).
• “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it , Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).
• “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment” (1 John 3:23). Here we have a combination of the words of the Master affirmed by the apostle. The Master admonishes us to follow Him and to keep His words and this John phrases as believe on Him; this the Master says in regard to being His disciple and in regard to attaining to the Kingdom as a necessary step; here John ties this together for us with the idea of the previous point and that is that we must “love thy neighbour as thyself” as well. We should remember the tone set for us by Vincent regarding these words by John: believe on. Vincent tells us that to believe on the Master is to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life⁴ and in this is the reality of our understanding of to follow Him and to keep His words. 
• “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well” (James 2:8). We come no to a saying that is not from John and that is clearly in regard tot he Master’s teaching of the Old Testament law from Leviticus. The context in which this is framed by James is one where he is teaching about regard for one man above another and in this he uses the idea of rich and poor. His admonition is that we should not regard one person over another which can be seen in the better idea of treating all equally and the same. James tells us: “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my foot stool:4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?” (James 2:1-7). The apostle closes this with our saying above telling us that to do this, to “love thy neighbour as thyself”, it the correction of the attitude of which he speaks above; it is the correction of being “partial in yourselves“, of “becoming judges of evil thoughts” and of being one who has “despised the poor“. Can we see the application of these things in today’s world?
• “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried , he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12). In this second saying by the apostle James we find again his warning to those who tend to the things of the world, those that he calls rich. This saying made its way into our grouping because of the idea of Love and the role of temptation in keeping a man out of that Love. The ways of the world are contrary to the ideas and the ideals of discipleship; they are selfish rather than selfless. The ways of the world are also ever the lure and the easy path for a man to follow and herein is the growth of one who has sensed the call of the Soul and has begun to focus his Life upon the Christ and the Christ Within, on Love. It is to us who can endure the temptations and stay on the Path who “shall receive the crown of life” which is the reward and the sign of one who Loves the Lord and, as we know, to Love the Lord we must Love our brother and our neighbor.
• “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law“(Romans 13:9-10). Here we have Paul’s affirmation of these same ideas of Love; that is Love of one’s neighbor, Love of everyman. Here Paul, who in so many places appears to the church to go out of his way to decry ideas of keeping the law and of works and righteousness, speaks of the law as a thing to be fulfilled and tells us with certainty that the better way to fulfill the law is to “ love one another” which he later relates for us to the saying from Leviticus which the Master repeats as part of the Great Commandment: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. Here in Paul’s words is the synergy of these two phrases used by both the Master and His disciples and in this should be the lesson for all who would want to narrow the scope of any of these sayings. It should also say something to all who tend to grasp at Paul’s other sayings regarding faith and grace and interpreting these to mean that there is nothing else required of a man.
• “But as it is written , Eye hath not seen , nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). We will close today with this saying which should give us some idea of the awesome nature of what we have and can have when we actually “love him“. We should remember here the words of John regarding the idea of Loving God with Loving ones brother, or one another or one’s neighbor; that it is impossible to do so. John frames this for us as “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:20). In this saying from Paul we should see the reality and the beauty of what we can have in our everyday consciousness if we Love God and, of course, we Love God by Loving our fellowman as we are told in so many ways by the Master and by His apostles.

We will continue with the balance of our list in the next post. 

• “Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him” (1 Corinthians 8: 1-3)
• “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14)
• “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23)
• “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:14-15)
• “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”  (John 14:21)
• “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. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. (John 15:10-12)
• “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth , let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another” (Romans 12:6-10)

Note on the Quote of the Day