IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 270

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part LVI

We have been exploring some new ideas regarding the Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit as it is more properly rendered from the Greek, and we have centered on two sayings by the Master to help us to understand our approach. As there is not a clear approach to our understanding nor to the overall idea of the Holy Spirit in scripture, our interpretations so far have been a bit choppy as we try to discern from the words of the Master His admonition to “good works” and that we “bringeth forth much fruit” which are from these two sayings by the Christ that we have been using:

• “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 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. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing . If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will , and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified , that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 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 15:1-10).
• “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

In these two sayings the Master is telling us to let what we are, or have become as disciples, show forth in our activities in the world of men. In the one as fruit and in the other as good works and in both the idea of glorifying the Father; in “good works” and in bearing “ much fruit“. We have not finished our look at the complete saying from John but before we continue there let us look at a word that is difficult to understand in our parlance. Glorify is from the Greek word doxazo and it is translated in the King James Version (KJV) as glorify 54, honour 3, have glory 2, magnify 1, make glorious 1, full of glory 1.

• The lexicon tells us that doxazo means: to think, suppose, be of opinion; to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate; to honour, do honour to, hold in honour; to make glorious, adorn with lustre, clothe with splendour; to impart glory to something, render it excellent; to make renowned, render illustrious; to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged². Of these, the only ideas that can apply to our sayings above would be the very last. From the perspective that these things, “good works” and in bearing “much fruit” are from God and from the God Within,. Can we see the intent of the Master’s telling us that the disciple can cause the dignity and worth of the Father to be seen by others and that this sense may become manifest in them and acknowledged as True. God IS and as such does not need the variety of of emotions and feelings that are also a part of the defining terms of doxazo.
• Strong’s give us this: to glorify, give praise, honor³. Which leaves us on our own in understanding the idea of glorify; can we get some idea here of the use of this English word in doctrines where it is not uncommon to hear a preacher say in prayer to God ‘give glory to Yourself‘ or to lead the congregation saying ‘give glory to the Lord’. Paul puts this in perspective for us in his dissertation to the Greeks and the Epicureans saying “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” (Acts 17:24-25).
• Vine’s tells us this among other ideas on doxazo: “As the glory of God is the revelation and manifestation of all that He has and is …, it is said of a Self-revelation in which God manifests all the goodness that is His, John 12:28. So far as it is Christ through whom this is made manifest, He is said to glorify the Father, John 17:1,4; or the Father is glorified in Him, John 13:31; 14:13; and Christ’s meaning is analogous when He says to His disciples, ‘Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be My disciples,’ John 15:8. When doxazo is predicated of Christ …, it means simply that His innate glory is brought to light, is made manifest; cp. John 11:4. So John 7:39; 12:16,23; 13:31; 17:1,5. It is an act of God the Father in Him. … As the revelation of the Holy Spirit is connected with the glorification of Christ, Christ says regarding Him, “He shall glorify Me,’ John 16:14” (Cremer). Can we glimpse Vine’s idea here in relation to our thoughts from the lexicon? He tells us that this is a Self-revelation in which God manifests all the goodness that is His and can we not see this as the working of the Christ Within as well? He goes on to tell us: and Christ’s meaning is analogous when He says to His disciples, ‘Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be My disciples,’ John 15:8 where we should see this same Self-revelation in which God manifests all the goodness that is His on the part of the disciples. He tells us also of the Christ that When doxazo is predicated of Christ …, it means simply that His innate glory is brought to light, is made manifest and, although this is not Vine’s intent, we should see this as the whole idea of our  “good works” and of our bringing “forth much fruit“; that the innate glory of the Christ Within is brought to light, is made manifest⁶. Vine’s however takes a different tact in regard to our saying above from Matthew and he relegates this to the general ideas of to magnify, extol, praise” (see doxa below), especially of “glorifying;” God, i.e., ascribing honor to Him, acknowledging Him as to His being, attributes and acts, i.e., His glory (see GLORY), e.g., Matt. 5:16……⁶, although this is the same Greek word and a very similar context.
• Vincent has a few things to say as well about the idea of glorified and he begins with this idea from John’s comments on a saying by the Master. John is telling us that Jesus is not yet glorified and so the Holy Spirit is not yet available and this we covered in In the Words of Jesus parts 256, 259 and 262. Vincent tells us of glorify here that: Was glorified (ejdoxa>sqh). We have here one of John’s characteristic terms, even as the idea is central to his Gospel — to show forth Jesus as the manifested glory of God (1:14). The beginning of our Lord’s miracles was a manifestation of His glory (2:11). His glory was the expression of the Father’s will (8:54). By His work He glorified the Father upon earth (12:28; 17:4), and in this was Himself glorified (17:10). The sickness and resurrection of Lazarus were for the glory of God (11:4). The consummation of His work was marked by the words, “Now was the Son of man glorified, and God was glorified in Him” (13:31). His glory He had with the Father before the world was (17:5). It is consummated at His ascension (7:39; 12:16). The passion is the way to glory (12:23, 24; 13:31). The fruitfulness of believers in Him is for the glory of God (15:8), and the office of the Spirit is to glorify Christ (16:14)⁴. Vincent’s relationship of the glory of God an the glorification of God to the death, resurrection and the ascension of the Christ  is shared by many and at the expense of the practical application of the ideas on glorifying God. He continues in another part where there is the dialogue at the supper and Judas is sent out; Jesus tells us here “Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him” (John 13:31-32). Vincent’s comments on this are: glorified (ejdoxa>sqh). Literally, was glorified. The aorist points to the withdrawal of Judas. Jesus was glorified through death, and His fate was sealed (humanly speaking) by Judas’ going out. He speaks of the death and consequent glorification as already accomplished⁴. This is the doctrine of much of the church.

Can we find also in these words by Vincent the tone that we have set above regarding the ability and the responsibility of the Christ ,and the disciple through the activity of the Christ Within, to cause the dignity and worth of the Father to be seen by others and that this sense may become manifest in them and acknowledged as True. In our limited ability to provide adequate definition to this idea, we should try to develop the understanding that in the ideas of dignity and worth there is a sense of the awesome presence of the Father in the world and in the Life of the disciple and it is this that is to be revealed to all that it may become manifest in them and acknowledged as True. This is the essence of glorifying God. All things that Christ did were to this end; to reveal the Truth of God; for us as disciples it is to continue to do this through the “good works” and in bearing “much fruit” and each of these things should, as the Activity of the Christ Within, be seen as His expression as the Holy Spirit through the man in form. The death, resurrection and the ascension of the Master were Truly glorifying in our sense of the word but this is not the message of the Christ. The message is ever found in how the man reading these words can so organize his Life to focus on the Master and let that Light of the Soul flow through his personality consciousness so that everything that the man does is done as a disciple of the Master and can be seen as his “good works” and his bearing “much fruit“. This is the disciples activity and this activity is the Holy Spirit.

The ending part of our saying from the Gospel of John is “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 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” and it is in this that the Master gives us a view of the realty of Love insofar as one’s relationship to God is concerned and through this His relationship to ALL. Through the first several verses of this saying we find the word abide; to abide in Christ and for Christ to abide in the man, that the disciple cannot bear fruit except he abide in the Christ and the Christ Within and if one abides in Christ then His words abide in the man. In this last part we have the added understanding of Love and we should be able to see in this that to abide in Christ is to abide in Love. We should remember here that theme that we spent much time on: “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). The Greek word meno is rendered as abide and dwell and, in our saying above as continue as well and is a concept that we discussed before (In the Words of Jesus part 243) when we took these ideas from Vincent regarding the John’s saying: “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him“. We said then:

The word dwelleth here is generally rendered abide in other translations and it is a rather mystical and misunderstood message using either word. Vincent tells us regarding this Greek word meno that: To abide in God is a more common expression with John than to be in God, and marks an advance in thought. The phrase is a favorite one with John. See John 15:4 sqq.; 6:56; 1 John 2:24, 27, 28; 3:6, 24; 4:12 sq.; 15 sq. Bengel notes the gradation in the three phrases “to know Him, to be in Him, to abide in Him; knowledge, fellowship, constancy.”⁴ We should be able to get a glimpse here of the reality that is intended; Can we get here the idea of living in; not physically but spiritually. We have our Life in God as the Life is the Spirit and it is this Life that is potentially expressed by the personality consciousness. The personality consciousness is not the Life, it merely expresses it to the world. To “dwelleth in love“ is therefore clearly to Live in Love. This is a high idea that one should Live in Love as it carries the connotation that all that one does is in Love. To live in the world requires the same thought, that all that one does is done in the world and we speak here from a practical sense and not from the spiritual.

Can we apply this to our saying above as well and tie this all together:

• If we keep His commandments we abide in His Love.
• If we keep His commandments we are His disciples.
• If we keep his words then we Love Him.
• We keep His commandments because we Love Him
• If we abide in God then we Live in Love
• If we Love one another then we are His disciples
• If we are His disciples we will bear much fruit

We could go on and on here but the point should be made and that is that there is no difference in these terms of God and our understanding of being His disciple includes so many things. We will develop these ideas a bit more in the next post.

Note on the Quote of the Day