IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 463

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART LV

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α

GoodWill IS Love in Action

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α

As we pointed out a few posts back, we are approaching another United Nations Day and with this in mind we will try to present some pertinent information which, from our spiritual perspective, may give us some additional Light and some better understanding of the role that the body MUST play in the world today. We should try to see the United Nations as an outgrowth of the incoming energies of the Aquarian Age, an age the we have said has for its keynotes Peace, Harmony, Love and Understanding to name but a few. United Nations day is fixed to the 24th day of October each year as declared by the General Assembly in 1947 and it is as well the anniversary of the day in 1945 when its Charter became the international rule among member states.

The United Nations is not unlike the American Congress nor any world Parliament except insofar as the members are not voted into office but rather come into the assembly by way of their being recognized countries of the world who have agreed to the provisions of the United Nations Charter. The goals and the objectives of the this body and its General Assembly of 193 member countries are clearly stated in the Charter but, as in ALL things human, there are differences of opinion, national agendas and motives. Regardless of the differences we should understand that the United Nations is the planet’s BEST HOPE for an enduring WORLD PEACE and can be seen as singularly responsible for the glimmering hope of the ONE WORLD attitude that is necessary for the advancement of ALL OF ITS PEOPLES regardless of race, religion, culture or the political philosophy of the people themselves or their leaders, chosen or unchosen as the individual case may be.

Here in these United States of America there is a rather short history which brings us to today and the roots of many are blurred in this melting pot of humanity. For this and likely many other reasons it is difficult for some to see clearly the state of existence of our brothers around the world and while our reaction could be ‘there but for the grace of God go I‘ it becomes for many a matter of looking down disparagingly upon our brothers and our neighbors in other lands. While the most recent past has shown a large increase in the average ‘well to do’ person’s charity toward those who are devastated by natural disasters, there is still a basic lack of understanding of the social and political status in many of the nations around the world. This is the role of the United Nations; to bridge the gap between the apathy of those nations who live in peace and plenty and those where there is significant need; need for the basic components of survival, need for healthcare, need for education and the list could go on and on. Additionally the United Nations is the forum through which world change can and does occur; through programs like the Millennium Development Goals, Truly Christian ideals can be accomplished for our brothers around the world and this regardless of their religious affiliations. These ideas and ideals should lead the Christian World much more so than their chosen goal of evangelizing and converting the many to the Christian Faiths of which there are also many.

In America we have a document called the Declaration of Independence and in its Preamble we find the words: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Can we realize that these inalienable rights are likely not even a remote possibility for many millions around the world yet today and can we understand that the United Nations is the single avenue on which to bring some sense of these High Ideals to the ALL the peoples of the world. This is no easy task and it requires much compromise among the members and it requires that ALL give up their own, sometimes petty, agendas for the benefit of the whole. And, most importantly, can we see the need for the support of the people of this country and every ‘advanced’ man in every country, for the ideas and the ideals of the United Nations. This support begins with each of us and is motivated in the Truth of Christianity, by the teachings of the Christ, who, above ALL else, teaches that we MUST Love….that we MUST Love ALL. Love is, as you KNOW from our headers, the primary theme of ALL that we write here and in this occasion of speaking about Love from the perspective of a planetary need, we leave again our Quote of the Day which is the view on Love of the Master, the Apostle Paul and our understanding of just what this Love IS.

For some more timely information on the current structure and affairs of the United Nations, please follow this link to a PDF of the 2012 UN Backgrounder. http://www.un.org/en/ga/66/meetings/elections/presskit67/backgrounder.pdf

Returning now to our topic from the last two days which is the right discernment of the ideas of evil as presented in the gospels by the words that are translated as evil. We have gone through several sayings by the Master and commentaries by the gospel writers and we have found that our premise on the True nature of the ideas engendered by this word evil are workable and that they more accurately portray the reality of the message of the Master. We continue:

• “And when the people were gathered thick together , he began to say , This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet” (Luke 11:29). We KNOW here that the Master is not accusing an entire generation of being evil as this word is commonly understood and as it is depicted in the defining terms that we find in our reference books and dictionaries. In the Words of Jesus part 458 we go through many of our reference sources and repeat here only the lexicon’s view of the particular Greek word, poneros, that is used here; the lexicon tells us of poneros that it means: full of labours, annoyances, hardships; pressed and harassed by labours, bringing toils, annoyances, perils; of a time full of peril to Christian faith and steadfastness; causing pain and trouble; bad, of a bad nature or condition, in a physical sense: diseased or blind, in an ethical sense: evil wicked, bad. The word is used in the nominative case in Mt. 6:13. This usually denotes a title in the Greek. Hence Christ is saying, deliver us from “The Evil”, and is probably referring to Satan². Is there any thing in these ideas from the lexicon that could rightly fit the the Master’s view of an entire generation? Reference here to anything Christian should be seen as doctrine as there was nothing ‘Christian’ when these words were written and there are certain aspects of these definitions that require their own interpretation such as full of labours. Strong’s, a recognized authority on the bible, tells us in stronger terms what poneros means saying it is: bad, the negative quality of an object; evil, wicked, crime, the negative moral quality of a person or action opposed to God and his goodness ³. Again, can we see anything in these defining ideas that the Master could be saying about an entire generation. Here then our premise again, that while these words that are defined as evil may include these ideas from the lexicon and from Strong’s, this is not their intended meaning. The intent here is that the Master is telling these people that they are focused upon the world, they are a generation focused upon the world and the things of the world and not upon God. He tells them that in this worldly focus they fail to see what the Master is about although they are witness to the teaching and to the miracles, they see only the things upon which they focus in themselves.
• “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John 3:19-20). In this saying we have the understanding of God and mammon from a different perspective, as darkness and Light. Light is of course from the Soul, the Christ Within from the perspective of the man in form and this we can see from the chart below where Light and Activity are Aspects of the manifestation of the Soul in the world and in form. This is an extension of the Master’s words “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) and in this saying which should need little interpretation we can see the source of Light as the divinity of man. In our subject verse we have this reality; the darkness of mammon is loved or preferred by the man in the world and this is as True today as it ever was, working against the Light, the Christ Light and the Light of the Christ Within. In that day John is telling us that even though the Light of Christ is present, men prefer the darkness and this because their works and their lives are in the world, focused on the world. He goes on to say that men that are so focused upon the world will not come to the Light, to the Soul Life, because their focus on the things of the world must cease in this repentance, this change to living in the Light. We should remember here that the True man, the Soul, acts as conscience and it is this conscience that reproves when one looks to it; it shows the error and it shows the Truth and, because of this, conscience is largely ignored by many.
• “And shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29). This saying is largely misunderstood and the doctrinal teachings about it are based in the theories of heaven and hell. First the word translated as damnation is better translated as judgement as Vincent tells us and even selection as cited by the lexicon. Vincent also tells us of the word translated here as evil, the Greek word phaulos, that it means light, paltry, trivial and so worthless ⁴. These word ideas in and of themselves shed a different light upon this saying although the meaning for us can be seen as the same insofar as evil is concerned. Looking again at the ideas of the Master on Good we should see the divine, the disciple, as those doing Good and for them is the resurrection of Life and the ability to be “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). For the rest, those who are focused upon the world and the self and the things of the world, theirs is the reality of continuance in this cycle of Life and death and the karmic responsibilities that one can incur by such a way of living. We should note here also that in a sense this is damnation and that the judgement is of one’s own doing under the Law.
• “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:15). Here in the Master’s prayer for His disciples and through them for us aspirants and disciples and ALL that are spiritually aware, we should be able to see the reality of His intent based upon the ideas of evil that we have heretofore discussed. Looking at a bit more of this prayer we read: “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:14-20). We should note here that the subject of most ALL of this is the world; these are disciples of the Master and He tells us that they are “not of the world“. We KNOW that they were ALL born in the world and that they ALL live in the world and therefore this idea of “not of the world” must be of a spiritual significance and this is the message of the Master and the message that we have been delivering as well; focus upon the things of God puts us into the Kingdom of God while we still walk upon this Earth, we can be in the Kingdom here and now. The Master’s prayer is that they should remain in the world as men in form but they should be kept from the evil and here is where the varied doctrines come into play. Vincent tells us that this should be see as the evil one ⁴ but we see little reason to go there; John Gill tells us that we should read this as either of sin, which is an evil and bitter thing, being committed against a good God, and a righteous law, and brings ruin and destruction upon men; from this the apostles were kept, and all the saints are; not from indwelling sin, nor from the commission of sin, but from the dominion of it, and from falling into it and by it, so as to perish eternally: or from the evil of the world; not from afflictions in it; nor from the reproach and persecution of it; but from its wickedness and lusts, and from the evil men of it: or from Satan the evil one, who is eminently, originally, and immutably so; not from being tempted by him ⁸. In this is hidden a doctrinal approach to the reality of the Master’s intent which is that He prays that the can remain in the world but, by the Power of God and the God Within, that they should be kept from the ways of the world and any attraction that it may pose that can lure a man back into focus upon the carnal ways.

We have one more saying to discuss and because of its importance we will leave this for the next post where we can devote the needed time to it as we close out this series of essays on the reality of the ideas of evil as this word is translated in the gospels. We add here one more saying at the end from the First Epistle of Paul to Timothy, a saying that when properly understood can bring a new and better understanding of our plight in this world.

•  “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Matthew 6:13).
• “For the love of money is the rootof all evil: which while some coveted after , they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10).

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of God	Potency	Aspect of Man
Father	Will  or Power	Spirit or Life
Son, The Christ	Love and Wisdom	Soul or Christ Within
Holy Spirit	Light or Activity	Life Within

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.:

So that we do not forget that the reality of this ALL is still LOVE which is our Truth regardless of whatever other realizations may come to us in Life, we present here again the Apostle Paul’s words followed by our own understanding of this reality:

….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 13:8-10).

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)

We should remember always to link to this Greatest Commandment that other saying of the Master that gives to us the practical understanding of how to love one’s self plus the practical instruction on how it is that we CAN Love our neighbour; He tells us:

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them

(Matthew 7:12)

Unlike so much of the Master’s sayings that come to us in the form of parables and for which we can only surmise that we have the spiritual presence to understand, these sayings are very straightforward and they are the key to many of the promises of spiritual life; they are the very key to the Kingdom of God. To these sayings we add our adopted definition of the Greek word agape (agapao) which is translated into the English words Love and Charity and which is:

‘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’

• ² from 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
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com