ON LOVE; PART DI
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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“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).
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“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, 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 22:36-40).
Over the last few essays we have been discussing the our view of the realities behind discipleship and the journey from one’s existence as a man in the world, through the action of Repentance and into that seemingly difficult time of Transformation which leaves the man Transformed and ready for the next stage of divine Life which we see as Redemption. In this ALL we hold out the Truth that this ALL begins and ends in Love and that it IS through one’s understanding and expression of that Love that the Master teaches and as we see above, that the man in the world IS able to Truly see reality. It IS Love that takes the man away from his predisposition, his carnal predisposition, of seeing the carnal self as the most important part of Life; it IS Love that causes the man to see that there is really NO difference between himself and his brother whose True Life IS behind the outer appearance; it IS Love that brings a man to that gateway of realization and revelation where he can see more clearly that he himself IS NOT this temporal form in the world. There IS much in the words of the Master and of His apostles that tells us that we should look past the physical, past the thoughts, attitudes and actions of a man in the world, past the drive of self-aggrandizement, and past the desires for and the attachments to the wealth, possessions and pleasures of the world. Not much of this however IS understood and little of the reality behind these words is taught except in doctrinal terms which are generally not in the Master’s terms and we can readily this see in the commentaries regarding such things as treasure and forsaking. By example let us look as two references:
The Master’s words to the rich young man who seeks eternal Life should be seen as that this IS everyman who IS so seeking but this IS NOT the way that much of the Christian world sees this. The Master says: “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me” and here there IS some failure to understand the idea here of perfect and of the role of this to everyman. We should try to see that the Master IS inviting this man to join Him in discipleship and He IS answering this man’s question about achieving the Kingdom which is framed in this discussion as eternal Life; his question that clearly asks “what good thing shall I do , that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:21, 16). Perhaps it IS to further clarify this that we find Mark’s recollection of the Master’s answer differently as he tells us that the Master says “One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me” (Mark 101:21). Here we do not have that high criteria of perfection spoken in words but the reality of this IS that these ideas ARE the same; that this forsaking IS the gateway; the Master DOES NOT say that giving ALL away is the instant answer. Mark also includes the idea of the cross which we should see in the context that we discussed in the last essay. From our perspective this IS clear and IS NOT only addressed to this man as many believe, nor to the one who will physically be His disciple in those days; this is for everyman and it IS in this context that we find the reality of discipleship and the Truth of the Kingdom of God. We should try to see this in the context of Jesus overall teachings and understand that this particular man IS rich and in being such he IS attached and attracted to this material well being; it IS this that he must shed for the Kingdom and perhaps in the Master’s eyes this forsaking IS this man’s cross. Doctrine does not go to this place in their commentary and teaching as they try to protect the convenience of man and his individual wealth and well being; John Gill tells us this way:
go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: not that either the law of God, or Gospel of Christ, require this to be done of all men, and at all times; for though it is a duty binding upon all, and always, to relieve the poor and the needy, yet a man is not obliged to give all that he has to them; see ( 2 Corinthians 8:11 ) nor does either legal or Christian perfection lie in doing this: a man may give all his goods to the poor and yet be destitute of the grace of God, ( 1 Corinthians 13:3 ) much less can such an action merit the heavenly treasure of eternal life. Nevertheless of some persons, and in some cases, it has been required, that they part with all their worldly substance, for the sake of Christ and his Gospel; as the apostles were called to leave all and follow Christ, as this man was also; for it is added, and come and follow me 8.
Mr. Gill references here are likely carefully selected in support of his theme but we should note that this IS not so clear as in the first we read Paul’s advice to aspirants and disciples at Corinth where it appears that he is extorting them to give of what they may have. Here while Mr. Gill sees that this is saying that they need not give ALL, the following verses grow into the admonition to live in equality and the apostle quotes a proverb saying: “As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over ; and he that had gathered little had no lack” (2 Corinthians 8:11). Can we see the point here? Can we see that while Paul frames this differently that the reality IS the same as the Master’s admonition above? The second citation is not appropriate here as the apostle’s ideas here are that if one gives ALL to feed the poor, and if this IS just to comply with the Master’s rule and IS without Love, that this giving is spiritually lacking. These words are from that part of the apostle’s epistle which is about Love and the reality that no matter what one DOES according to law or ritual, that without Love is is of no spiritual use; he says in part: “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity(love), it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). Our point here is to show what we see as typical of much doctrinal teachings, that the words of the apostles are used to change or dilute the pronouncements of the Master and here in this we can see this rather clearly.
The Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible offers these ideas as commentary to this same dialogue with the rich young man from Luke’s Gospel: lackest . . . one thing–Ah! but that a fundamental, fatal lack. sell, –As riches were his idol, our Lord, who knew if from the first, lays His great authoritative grasp at once upon it, saying, “Now give Me up that, and all is right.” No general direction about the disposal of riches, then, is here given, save that we are to sit loose to them and lay them at the feet of Him who gave them. He who does this with all he has, whether rich or poor, is a true heir of the kingdom of heaven. Here the authors offer their judgement of the Master’s motive and try to show the reality in the most nebulous of terms saying that: we are to sit loose to them and lay them at the feet of Him who gave them. This reminds us of the Mr. Gills ideas on the subject of treasure8.
The Master’s words regarding treasure are rather clear to us as we understand that the reference IS NOT ONLY in regard to wealth and possessions but IS about the idea of what IS important to the man. Mr. Gill however sees this in much the same way as the nebulous part of these comments above. First he ranks the idea of treasures upon Earth as only the most gluttonous and this IS SURELY NOT how the Master intended this idea; we read: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth; Meaning either treasures that are of an earthly nature and kind, the more valuable and excellent things of the earth, worldly wealth and riches; or the things and places, in which these are laid up, as bags, chests, or coffers, barns and other treasuries, private or public. Christ here dissuades from covetousness, and worldly mindedness; an anxious care and concern, to hoard up plenty of worldly things for themselves, for time to come, making no use of them at present for the good of others: and this he does, from the nature of the things themselves; the places where they are laid up; the difficulty of keeping them; and their liableness to be corrupted or lost 8. From our perspective the whole of the Master’s message here IS lost and it is yet more confounded by Mr. Gill’s ideas on the other side of this, the idea of treasures in heaven, where we read: But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven; That is, either be concerned for, and seek after heavenly treasure, the riches of glory, the joys and glories of another world, which infinitely excel everything that is valuable on earth; and which can never be corrupted, or taken away: or rather, lay up your earthly treasures in heaven; that is, put them into the hands of God in heaven; and this is done, by liberally communicating to the poor; by which means men “provide themselves bags which wax not old, and a treasure in heaven that faileth not”, ( Luke 12:33 ) . They shall never want any good thing here, and they “lay up in store for themselves, a good foundation against the time to come”, ( 1 Timothy 6:18 1 Timothy 6:19 ) . This is the way to have worldly treasure secured from moth, rust, and thieves; for to lay it up in heaven with God, to give it to him, to his poor, to make use of it for his glory, is to lay it up in a place 8. Here again Mr. Gill speaks only of riches while giving to the poor IS a good thing, in the context of his remarks we find the opposite motivation to what we see above in Paul’s idea that the giving MUST be in Love and not for some personal reward.
As we build our way toward discussing and understanding the reality of the Master’s admonition to forsake, it IS important that we understand how this is viewed as this Christian view has at least some impact upon our own understanding of these things. That there IS a divide between the spiritual and the carnal is also given us by the Master and His apostles and this we can see in the sayings above as well as the words of the Apostle Paul and of the Apostle James that we reviewed a few posts back where James tells us that “the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4) and Paul says: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). These ideas are clearly stated but the message IS not received even when we read the Master’s words that tell us that “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36) and the Apostle John’s words that we recently discussed that tell us of the man that is “born of God“; that “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4). This divide IS clear for those who look to see the Truth, those who can look away from their carnal existence in the world. If we can look at our objective and our goal as being “born of God“, of being Truly “born again“, then we can also see the reality of overcoming the world and this should be viewed in the totality of Life; physical, emotional and mental.
Our journey is a psychic one and we use this word to depict our True nature as psychic beings and not as the physical presence; we ARE the Life and the consciousness that animates and motivates the physical form and does so through the mind and the emotions….the body merely follows along as best it can based upon the equipment. If we can extend these same ideas to the world around us we can perhaps gain a Truer perspective and it IS in this light that the Master offers us His words on the treasures which a man can seek. It IS the treasures of the heart that we must forsake when they are concerned with the self. When a man’s thoughts, attitudes and actions are concerned with and focused upon the self, it IS his mind and his emotions that are doing so; he feels and he thinks about those things that bring him pleasure physically, emotionally and mentally and we should understand here that the physical sensations are interpreted by the psychic man.
As we have discussed in previous essays, it IS the personality of the man in the world, his emotional and mental being, that conduct his affairs in the world. It IS this personality that is the face of the man to others and it IS how one portrays his thoughts, attitudes and actions to the world. For the man that IS focused in the self and the self in the world this personality IS fed by the proclivities of the carnal man, by his learned behaviors plus his inclination to pleasure; this IS what he knows and he likely KNOWS well. This leads the Master to tell us that “the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light” which is one of His own comments in telling the Parable of the Unjust Steward which we also recently discussed. The lessons of the world are KNOWN by most ALL men but the True lessons, the lessons regarding the Truth of Life, are only learned in communion with one’s own Soul, by the revelation and by realization that comes with that change in focus and which is glimpsed in the prompting of the Soul; can we see how this ALL ties together?
Here then we should try to see that whichever aspect of a man controls the personality in whole or in part will be his expression to the world and the face of the man and in this there are likely infinite combinations. And we should understand that for the man who desires to be counted among the “children of light“, the man who Truly seeks the Kingdom and discipleship, that his focus must constantly be changing toward the divine aspects of Life. We should see here also that there IS great Truth in the Master’s words that CAN NOT be minimized to align with the ways of the world as this IS the polar opposite of the ways of God. In our pursuit of the Truth of Life we MUST look past the self in the world and what he may believe to be true and focus ourselves on the True man and what IS Truly righteous in the eyes of God; and this begins and ends in Love as it is depicted in our sayings at the top of this essay; in the Great Commandments. Here, as aspirants, this IS our objective, to change what aspect of the man in the world controls the personality. We end today with these words from Paul to the Corinthians that show us this reality of tearing down what it IS that has been erected by the proclivities, learned behaviors and inclinations to pleasure that clouds our minds and emotions; in this we should try to see each our own cross.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
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.
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.
God is love;
and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness
in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love;
but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.
He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
We love him, because he first loved us.
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?
And this commandment have we from him,
That he who loveth God love his brother also
1 John 4:16-21
Today’s Quote of the Day from the First Epistle of John is his reflection on God and on Love. John tells us that God is Love and, as we have discussed, Love is certainly as aspect and an attribute of the Godhead and one which is supremely represented by the Christ. John tells us further that without Love there is no relationship with God and likens the Truth of dwelling in Love to being in His Kingdom and in His Presence. He draws for us the idea of Love for ones fellowman being the prime prerequisite for Love of God for although one may say that he Loves God, it cannot be True unless he first Loves his fellowman. In John’s words the equation is certain: “he who loveth God love his brother also“. And, lest we forget that the idea of Love that the Master teaches in not the emotional attraction that we live with daily, we repeat again: LOVE 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’. To this we add the ever important High Ideal as taught by the Christ: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
