Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part CXLI

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry , Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:14-23).

Our last post and the few before this have centered on our perception of the divergence of the doctrines of the Christ from the actual words of the Christ and of His apostles. The part of the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans that we have been using is a portrayal of some of the deeper divergences that we see but, as we have discussed in past posts, such divergence is widespread throughout the teachings of the Master and the apostles. In our saying above, which we have been posting now for many days, there is a reality to the words of the apostle that are lost in the doctrines of the church and this is the testimony by Paul of the innate divinity of man, of man’s descent, as the Soul, into the world of form and the trials and tribulations that are inherent in this and that ALL proceeds according to the Great Plan of God. We must always remember that the view of the Master regarding the Truth of spirituality in firmly wrapped up in one’s relations to his fellowman and not in the pomp and ceremony nor the affirmations and rituals of the churches and that it is people who are upon the former line, those that Love their neighbor and thereby follow the Master’s words, that are the audience to whom the apostle writes. For people with the right understanding of Love, the words of Paul here and elsewhere resonate with a much deeper meaning. To those who do not understand the reality of the teachings of the Master or those who, by way of habit, appear to be the religious among us, these words are lost in doctrine.

The Apostle James gives us his vision of True religion saying that “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:22-27) and in this we should see two things and the one more clear than the other. First there is the idea of “unspotted from the world” which means that the ways of the world do not blemish our otherwise divine being and this is the clear part; the second is “To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction” which we rely on Vincent to help us to understand; he says that To visit (ejpiske>ptesqai). See on Matthew 25:36. James strikes a downright blow here at ministry by proxy, or by mere gifts of money. Pure and undefiled religion demands personal contact with the world’s sorrow: to visit the afflicted, and to visit them in their affliction. “The rich man, prodigal of money, which is to him of little value, but altogether incapable of devoting any personal attention to the object of his alms, often injures society by his donations; but this is rarely the case with that far nobler charity which makes men familiar with the haunts of wretchedness, and follows the object of its care through all the phases of his life” (Lecky, “History of European Morals,” ii., 98)⁴. Can we see the depth of Love for one’s neighbor in this idea by Mr. Lecky and can we understand also that to visit for the sake of visitation is not the objective of the apostles words.

This interpretation of the words of James brings us here to the idea of money, that in place of actual works of GoodWill men were more inclined to give of their plenty and much can be said the same today. Understanding what the Master has to say about riches, one would think the Christian world would have a more Christian approach and a doctrine of some depth as regards money. There is however little said regarding this and it sometimes seems that so long as the churches are getting  their share that there is little, if anything done to teach the True meaning of the Master’s words and not just by way of platitudes. We should not see money nor the various scriptures about money to be only in regard to that coin or paper that represent it but should be seen as the power of it to furnish what a man may desire. Money is not the physical thing today nor the electronic measure of it in the banks and markets but it is the influence and the power that it wields in this world of things. In biblical terms it should be seen in similar fashion and the rich man be seen as one who has that influence and that power that money and possessions provide. It is the use of this influence and this power by the rich that provides to the world of men their view of the rich and also supplies their own vision which can result in the Love of those things and which can motivate a man to want similar for himself. This is the Love of money, both in having it and in wanting it, which sets a man on a course of working arduously toward that goal of having more along with the influence and power by which it is defined. It is unfortunate that money has the power to turn men, presumably Christian men, away from the reality of the Master’s teachings and toward the self-centered lifestyle that it encourages. Most ALL of us are subject to this powerful force as it exists in the world today and this is one of the most difficult chains for a man to break and, at the same time, one of the most important. The effect of money on the psyche of man today is likely the strongest that it has ever been and it feeds the illusion and the glamour of Life in form more than any other single ‘vice‘; to have it and to have the power and the influence that it provides is a matter of degree as it is perceived by men. A man seeks to maximize his ‘riches’ within the socioeconomic class in which he finds himself and, then, as he progresses in class, he seeks to again maximize what he has and this goes on in an ever increasing spiral becoming at times a man’s sole focus.

It is into this very idea that a man is indoctrinated by the education and social systems of the world and the church has become a part of this instead of an antagonist against it. There is a presumption in the church that a man has this ‘success’ as a goal in Life and there are some parts of the church that actually preach that prosperity, that is the riches of the world, are ordained by God and are the promise of a man; that they should earn ever more and be successful in their business ventures as this allows them to tithe in ever greater amounts. All of this is contrary to the teachings of the Master yet shied away from by the preachers and the pastors to the extent that those that may disagree with this so called prosperity gospel condemn it but offer no further education on the Truth of riches except as is in their own doctrine and which is, on a lower turn of the spiral, much the same as what they condemn. The reality of this is simply put by the Master in so clear a way that the point is missed by many. He tells us that “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).

There should be no mistake in understanding this saying; mammon is the things of the world and when this becomes the the focus of one’s Life, it becomes at the same time the one that he serves. As we have said before, this should be interpreted as that it is not possible to serve both for this it the meaning of the Master’s words that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon“. In this context from the Sermon on the Mount this saying is not an isolated reference to riches but is is among several that mean to tell us the same things from different perspectives. He tells us a few verses before this that we should “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). This is also clear and straightforward and tells us plainly that we should “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth“, that is that we should not focus upon these things of the world but rather upon the “treasures in heaven” but this is only taught in a superficial way as it goes against most all that Life in form has become. The Master’s teaching does not end here but continues, after his saying “Ye cannot serve God and mammon“, to even more poignant words saying: “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on . Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Where withal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew6:25-34)

Can we see that this whole dialogue is about the same ideas and that is that we should not be concerned with the things of the world but that we should spend our focus upon the things of God? There is no mystery here yet the churches do not teach the reality of  these things and when they do broach these ideas and these verses they play down the very reality that the Master seeks to emphasize. The ideas of “take no thought” is represented for us in the lexicon as: to be anxious; to be troubled with cares; to care for, look out for (a thing); to seek to promote one’s interests; caring or providing for². Strong’s cites a similar note saying that this Greek word merimnao means to worry, have anxiety, be concerned³; in both of these we have a doctrinal approach to a difficult series of sayings. Vincent gives us however a bit more insofar as the words themselves saying that: Take no thought (mh< merimna~te). The cognate noun is me>rimna, care, which was formerly derived from meri>v, a part; meri>xw, to divide; and was explained accordingly as a dividing care, distracting the heart from the true object of life. This has been abandoned, however, and the word is placed in a group which carries the common notion of earnest thoughtfulness. It may include the ideas of worry and anxiety, and may emphasize these, but not necessarily. See, for example, “careth for the things of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:32). “That the members should have the same care one for another” (1 Corinthians 12:25). “Who will care for your state?” (Philippians 2:20). In all these the sense of worry would be entirely out of place. In other cases that idea is prominent, as, “the care of this world,” which chokes the good seed (Matthew 13:22, compare Luke 8:14). Of Martha; “Thou are careful” (Luke 10:41). Take thought, in this passage, was a truthful rendering when the A.V. was made, since thought was then used as equivalent to anxiety or solicitude. So Shakespeare (“Hamlet”): “The native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought.” And Bacon (Henry VII.): “Hawis, an alderman of London, was put in trouble, and died with thought and anguish.” Somers’”Tracts” (in Queen Elizabeth’s reign): “Queen Catherine Parr died rather of thought.” The word has entirely lost this meaning. Bishop Lightfoot (“On a Fresh Revision of the New Testament”) says: “I have heard of a political economist alleging this passage as an objection to the moral teaching of the sermon on the mount, on the ground that it encouraged, nay, commanded, a reckless neglect of the future.” It is uneasiness and worry about the future which our Lord condemns here, and therefore Rev. rightly translates be not anxious. This phase of the word is forcibly brought out in 1 Peter, 5:7, where the A.V. ignores the distinction between the two kinds of care. “Casting all your care (me>rimnan , Rev., anxiety) upon Him, for He careth (aujtw~| me>lei) for you,” with a fatherly, tender, and provident care⁴. While verbose, this by Vincent is telling in its frankness of the meanings of the words as well as the our potential to understand how it is used elsewhere. However, it is likely a doctrinal bent that causes Vincent to relegate the words of the Master in these sayings to the idea of worry and not to the ideas that he reports for so many other uses saying that In all these the sense of worry would be entirely out of place. Can we see that this is an assumption on his part and on the part of much of the church and that when we look upon these sayings in the Light of the overall message of the Master, that there is nothing that can be found to support the ideas of worry in this if they cannot be found in the others.

We leave today with these other verses from scripture which can help us to define our understanding of money, riches and the things of this world. We will continue with these thoughts in the next post.

“The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say,  Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us” (Micah 3:11).

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after , they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10).

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.

We leave this Quote of the Day again for today with the hope that we can discuss these important points in the next post. We should remember here the premise that we presented near the beginning of our posting of this Quote of the Day: It is interesting to note that the ideas of the Quote of the Day embody much of the Master’s teachings and can set the stage for the beginning of each man’s revelation and realization of the Light of the Soul; that is, that by the intentional practice of these ‘rules’ of conduct one can put himself in the position of a follower of the Master and an keeper of His word and this regardless if he has ever heard of the Christ or wants to be affiliated with any ideas Christian. By keeping these sound principals of Life in mind and practicing them a man can lift himself up above and beyond the world of men and into the world of the Good, the Beautiful and the True as it exists for those in whom the Christ Within, the God Within, is awakened. Ponder on this.

In accord with the ideas that we close with above we bring again to your attention the ideas by which a man should Live. This Quote of the Day is the realty of how we should focus our lives and in so doing, all the other things alluded to above will take care of themselves and this is a great part of the selfless attitude of the disciple and his ability to forsake ALL.

Values to Live By

A Love of Truth—essential
for a just, inclusive and progressive society;

A Sense of Justice—recognition
of the rights and needs, of all.

Spirit of Cooperation—based
on active goodwill and the principle of right human
relationships;

A Sense of Personal Responsibility—for
group, community and national affairs;

Serving the Common Good— through
the sacrifice of selfishness. Only what is good for all
is good for each one.

The world of the future depends on what each one of us chooses to do today.

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ³ Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888