ON LOVE; PART MCDXCIX
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “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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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? 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. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God.
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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
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We ended the last essay with Paul’s words saying that it IS “the love of Christ” that IS the KEY to our KNOWING and here we cited our own view that perhaps we should render this the Love that IS Christ. This of course IS based in the words of the Apostle John who tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). As most of the church maintains, God the Father and God the Son ARE One and, while their ideas of the Trinity vary regarding their separateness, most ALL agree that they ARE One. Jesus Himself tells us so saying “I and my the Father are one” (John 10:30). The possessive pronoun my IS rendered as the in the majority of the translations and we DO adopt that rendering as the better choice. Regardless of this choice however the idea IS clear as Vincent shows us saying: One [εν]. The neuter, not the masculine eiv, one person. It implies unity of essence, not merely of will or of power4. This idea of essence should take us to the spiritual realm with an understanding of the Master’s words saying “the Father is in me, and I in him” (John 10:38). This IS of course a part of the greater mysteries of Life itself and it IS the revelation of such mysteries that Paul asks for us in his ‘prayer’ which we repeat here saying:
“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen“
Ephesians 3:14-21
When we enclose such ideas as ‘prayer’ in quotation marks it IS our intent to try to distinguish the word idea from the common doctrinal understanding of the rendered word. Here the reference to prayer IS found in the opening line where Paul tells us that “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ“; the idea here of bowing one’s knees instinctively leads to the idea of ‘prayer’. Matthew Henry shows us this saying: He prays for the Ephesians. (13-19) And adds a thanksgiving. (20,21)8. Our point is simply that this IS NOT prayer as IS generally accepted in the church but rather a universal statement reflecting the Ephesians’ journey upon the Path to such realizations as ARE cited; a Path that begins and ends in agape. And this IS where we left off in the last post; the apostle asks the Ephesians in this form of a ‘prayer’ that they should have Christ dwelling “in your hearts” as the result of their “being rooted and grounded in love“. The Ephesians ARE asked to “be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man” and here we should try to see that there IS NO outside influence that Paul ‘prays’ for but rather that this be the result of one’s living according to His words and NOT according to their heretofore more carnal ways. While it may appear that this IS NOT what Paul IS saying, this because of the centuries of alternate interpretations of his words, this IS his message which we should take from his words of introduction saying that his intent IS “to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:9).
Perhaps the central theme in Paul’s words IS found in his saying that it IS our individual objective, as Ephesians or any others, “to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God“. What DOES this mean? How DO we come “to know the love of Christ” or the Love that IS the Christ? And how DO we become “filled with all the fulness of God“? To answer this simply we go to words that we often use from the Apostle Peter who tells us “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). We should easily see the link between being “partakers of the divine nature” and being “filled with all the fulness of God“; both of these show our ability to enjoy the rewards of keeping His words. We must understand that such rewards, while an idea denied by much of the church, ARE spiritual in nature and ARE devoid of material ideas. The Master shows us such rewards in the context of our expression of agape saying “if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?” (Mathew 5:46). These words ARE tied to the second of the Great Commandments which clearly shows us that our expression of agape must be universal and NOT directed to groups of loved ones, friends or those affiliated with us through religion, politics or in any other way. The Great Commandment tells us that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” and while some religious groups try to manipulate these words to lessen their impact, the reality IS that we must express agape to ALL. It IS for such expression, the pinnacle of keeping His words, that the reward will flow and here we must understand that there IS NO ‘overlord’ dispensing such rewards; they come naturally and by measure to ALL who will keep His words. The idea of rewards in Matthew’s Gospel IS reflected as charis in Luke’s Gospel where, regarding the same dynamic of to whom one should express agape, the Master tells “if ye love them which love you, what thank charis have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank charis have ye? for sinners also do even the same” (Luke 6:32-33). It IS unfortunate that the King James translators chose to render charis here as thank which IS a totally inadequate way to see the intent which many others render in equally inadequate terms saying things like “what credit is it to you?” and “why should you be commended?“. Only three translations in our library show the Truest idea of charis which IS grace and we should try to see that in every use of charis in such contexts the idea should always be grace. Grace IS ALL things that come from the Godhead. We should also see that the idea of reward can alternatively be understood as wages. Thayer’s shows us this effect saying of misthos that it IS reward: used — of the fruit naturally resulting from toils and endeavors, John 4:36; 1 Corinthians 9:18; — of divine recompense9. To be sure divine recompense IS grace.
In equating the ideas of being “partakers of the divine nature” and being “filled with all the fulness of God” we should try to see the ideas of divine recompense and the Paths to such rewards. Paul tells us that to be “filled with all the fulness of God” we must perforce be “rooted and grounded in love“. He tells us that in being “rooted and grounded in love” we “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be “partakers of the divine nature“. These ARE our reward, our divine recompense, and our grace. Peter shows us another view as he tells us that to become “partakers of the divine nature” we must escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust” and we should understand here that such corruption IS inclusive of our views of agape as Love in this world; such forms of expression of agape that DO NOT reap spiritual rewards. It should NOT be difficult to see the symmetry between these seemingly different Paths to our rewards but unfortunately it IS NOT at ALL clear in the doctrinal teachings of men. To be “rooted and grounded in love” IS to express agape continually to ALL men in accord with the Master’s words and the ever more ancient idea that we must “love thy neighbour as thyself“. It IS this that Paul shows us IS the reality of keeping His words and the commandments of God saying that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). This should be clear to ALL who sincerely seek the rewards and we should be able to understand here that this idea of agape IS the singular Way to True salvation. While Paul’s words show us the Path of agape Love, there IS NO real church strategy that teaches men this Truth nor the deeper meanings of agape as a Path. Peter’s words ARE a even more cumbersome to the doctrinally religious; he tells us that we must escape, that we must leave behind, “the corruption that is in the world through lust“. While this idea of corruption may seem to be undefined, it IS NOT as it IS attached to the desires of men and here we must understand lust as the entirety of men’s carnal desires. The idea of corruption IS also ill defined in bible dictionaries and commentaries where the best ideas ARE found in Vine’s where we read that phthora: primarily signifies “to be a retailer, to peddle, to hucksterize” (from kapelos, “an inn-keeper, a petty retailer, especially of wine, a huckster, peddler,” in contrast to emporos, “a merchant”); hence, “to get base gain by dealing in anything,” and so, more generally, “to do anything for sordid personal advantage9b.
The ideas to take here ARE our carnal drive to get gain and to do anything for sordid personal advantage without relying however on the idea of sordid. The True effect of Peter’s words IS that we must escape ALL that comes into our hearts as lusts and desires and, again, we must NOT constrain the idea of lust to sexual matters. We should remember here that Paul ties the idea of corruption to our vanity which IS defined for us by Vincent as: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends4. It IS our focus upon ALL things carnal that ARE such false ends and which DO keep us separate from God. Hence, the idea here should be understood as that we must escape from our pursuing false ends in order to take us out of our perishable and decaying condition. Again, we should understand that becoming “partakers of the divine nature” and becoming “filled with all the fulness of God” ARE our rewards for “being rooted and grounded in love” and for our “having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust“. We should try to see as well that both of these ARE integral parts of keeping His words and here we should understand that the rewards cited ARE but examples of the spiritual benefits we acquire through keeping His words. Other views of our rewards ARE offered to us in our trifecta of Jesus’ words which we repeat here saying:
- “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
- “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. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).
The reward cited above in return for keeping His words, continuing in them as the Master frames this, IS our access to the Truth and we should understand that it IS in KNOWING the Truth that we KNOW by measure the very nature of the Godhead as well as spiritually KNOWING our selves. We should try to see that both of these, KNOWING oneself and KNOWING God, ARE in the end synonymous and this under the adage ‘as above, so below’. This ancient concept of Life IS a metaphysical idea and a Truth that can ONLY be Truly discerned in our KNOWING and this of course ONLY by measure. We addressed the idea of measure in some depth over the last few essays and here we will just cite the idea from the Master’s words as He tells us “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 7:2). This idea of measure IS offered in the three synoptic gospels through a variety of different topics and while it can be easily understood according to the topic cited, the reality IS that this IS also a stand-alone statement. This reward of KNOWING should be understood as we understand those rewards cited by Peter and Paul above. KNOWING the Truth can then be seen as equivalent to being “filled with all the fulness of God” and becoming “partakers of the divine nature“. We should reflect here on the Apostle John’s depiction of the Christ saying “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Ponder on this.
The next promise of reward from Jesus’ words IS in regard to the “the will of my Father which is in heaven” and here we should try to see that this Will IS the same as the Will of the Son. We should also understand here that this Will IS stated for us in the Master’s words as the commandments of God and here we should especially focus on the Great Commandments. While the Great Commandments ARE not the focus of much of the church, they ARE in fact the great KEY to our understanding of our individual human role as well as the Way to True salvation. The promise here IS our entering “into the kingdom of heaven” and while this idea has been relegated by doctrines to be that place for the ‘faithful’ to go after death in this world, the reality IS that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). It DOES NOT matter that we understand this as the Kingdom IS within everyman or the more doctrinally acceptable idea that it IS ‘in our midst‘, as both point us to the reality that the Kingdom IS here and now. This IS the reward again for keeping His words and to see the symmetry between His words and “the will of my Father” we need ONLY to look to the Master’s words from the next part of our trifecta where the Master tells us that “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me“. To make this clear to the Christian world we should always look at the next words that Jesus offers us, words that ARE NOT associated with what we KNOW of the Old Testament Jews but ARE rather targeted to the potential and perhaps fledgling Christian community. Jesus effectively shows us the way that men will “saith unto me, Lord, Lord” telling us in context that:
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it“
Matthew 7:21:27
This IS the full context of the Master’s words as He moves from His teaching on how to discern the “false prophets” (Matthew 7:15-20) which we should understand as false teachers under the fuller understanding of the Greek word prophetes. In the ideas presented we should try to see Jesus’ intended point as well as the alternative reward for those who DO NOT keep His words which IS the reward of being “a foolish man“. The intended point IS of course that we can “enter into the kingdom of heaven” and be understood as “a wise man” if we keep His words, if we “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“. In these words, we should have more clarity regarding the idea of DOING “the will of my Father” by weeding out the ideas of religion that ARE NOT centered on keeping His words. Religious ideas which embrace the prophesying, healing and DOING whatsoever one sees as “many wonderful works” in the absence of keeping His words. As we often DO, we should look here at Luke’s version of this same idea in which the apostle gives us ONLY a single clear statement before showing us the same Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. Luke writes the Master’s saying as a rhetorical question that asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
The final promise of reward from our trifecta IS perhaps the most important, it IS having the Presence of the Lord in our carnal lives directing the Life away from its heretofore carnal instincts. The clarity in Jesus’ words here should have offered men a rather deafening blow against the doctrinal ideas that the early Christians carried forward from the Jews’ approach to the Lord. They DID NOT however and we ARE left with the Master’s words which have become rather meaningless in the church, a condition that persists yet today. Jesus’ words ARE clear as He tells us “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“. While this idea of manifesting Himself lacked clarity in the minds of His disciples who continue to ask questions regarding it, Jesus DOES explain the idea in clearer terms saying “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him“. There IS NO ambiguity in these sayings that measure manifesting against His coming to abide in one’s heart and, to be sure, the heart IS where this manifestation must come. This latter saying should eliminate any confusion regarding the Greek word emphanizo which IS ill defined in bible dictionaries, lexicons and commentaries. Strong’s defines emphanizo as: to exhibit (in person) or disclose (by words):—appear, declare (plainly), inform, (will) manifest, shew, signify9 and here we should note that this IS NOT the Master’s intent in using this word; His intent IS strictly spiritual. This manifesting of the Lord in the Life of the man that “hath my commandments, and keepeth them” IS the reward for keeping His words and Jesus’ explanatory statements that follow should serve to clarify the idea of His Presence. We should try to see the hidden ideas that ARE encapsulated in His words here; hidden ideas that ARE in regard to His abiding. The disciple must discern His intent and this teaching from the Master goes on for several chapters where His abiding becomes a KEY part of our journey. Jesus’ begins His words on abiding and abode in the beginning of this same chapter where unfortunately it IS rendered as mansions. Several translations render mone as mansions and this carnal word which IS affiliated with riches has taken on doctrinal significance. The better rendering IS of course abode and here perhaps we should try to see through whatsoever mystery exists regarding His abiding.
We must remember here that the context of Jesus’ words IS spiritual and NOT carnal while at the same time recognizing the interaction between these two poles. We should also try to see that the doctrinal view of these ideas IS NOT grounded in the spiritual reality of the mystery that we discussed in the last essay, the mystery “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory“. Here we come upon another use of the idea of manifestation and again the idea IS a spiritual one; Paul tells us that this IS “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints” (Colossians 1:27, 26). The idea here IS that this mystery, this Christ Within, becomes clearer by measure to those that can be considered as His saints and here we should again see the disciple and the aspirant to discipleship. It IS the unspoken part of this that IS discovered by the saint and the disciple and while this unspoken part IS ONLY seen by the disciple, hints of it appear throughout the New Testament. To understand this on a most basic level we must go again to the ideas of revelation and realization, words that often play a large role in our writing. “Christ in you” IS a universal principle that effects ALL men in ALL religions around the world as well as those that hold NO religion. “Christ in you” IS the Christ Within; “Christ in you” IS the Soul of everyman, his anointment if you will. For the vast majority of men incarnate at any given time this IS unrealized; it IS an unknown component in the Life of everyman. As ALL men have Souls, ALL men have the Christ Within but this IS a reality that IS obnubilated by the vanity in which we live as our focus IS upon the carnal and the mundane things that men have come to see as important. Some DO become dissatisfied with the carnal and the mundane as they seek a deeper meaning for their lives and it IS in this dissatisfaction that many begin to seek a greater Truth. We should try to see here that this seeking may involve doctrinal religions but this IS NOT the Path to Truth as most ALL doctrinal religions ONLY reflect the carnal and the mundane albeit from a ‘religious’ perspective. The Truth IS found in Repentance and here we should understand that this word IS NOT a Christian idea but one that spans ALL religions and signifies our change of focus off of the carnal and the mundane and onto the Truth of God. It IS in our Repentance and our subsequent Transformation that we can begin to see the value of keeping His words and here we should see the universality of His words; we should see that His words transcend ALL that separates men and DOES so under the banner of agape. It IS in keeping HIs words then that revelation comes into the hearts of men and it IS in keeping HIs words that men can have realization of the Truth in their conscious minds, in their hearts if you will.
It seems to be a very difficult thing for the Christian world to even try to grasp the universality of the Master’s words and the Way that they apply to ALL cultures, ALL religions…..ALL men. Regardless of the religion that one IS born into or takes up later in Life, the words of Truth that Jesus offers us ARE the Universal Way to True salvation. Yes one can continue to be a Hindu, or a Buddhist, or a Muslim or follow any other Way to God and still benefit from the Master’s words of Truth and agape Love. Each religion brought forth Life philosophies that were pertinent to the culture to which they came as well as their time; each brought forth perspectives of the Truth that were invaluable. However, as with Judaism and Christianity, each religion found itself succumbing to the doctrinal numbness, the machinations of men if you will, that rendered them ineffective in bringing the masses to the Truth. It IS unfortunate, but likely a KNOWN aspect of human vanity, that the Truths of the Great World Teachers was diluted into doctrines that have NO end other than the nebulous emotionally religious ideas of men. This IS likely apparent in ALL world religions and, for us, most apparent in the way that the Christian religion relies upon ideas of worship rather than the reality shown us by Jesus who clearly tells us “If a man love me, he will keep my words“. Throughout the gospels and the writings of the apostles this IS the singular message that has been lost nearly from the beginning as men have ever sought out ways to diffuse the ‘harshness’ of His words by dilution and change. But there was NO ‘harshness’; there was only the perceived effect on the lives of men, an effect that was and IS deemed to severe because it DOES NOT let men live as men in this world. The Apostle John shows us that such ideas as the harshness of the Truth ARE moot saying that “this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). These words reflect the Truth of Christianity and ARE perhaps John’s view of Jesus’ words saying “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). These words from the Master show us that it IS our lives in this world, our lives “conformed to this world“, that makes Life “heavy laden” but this idea has never taken hold in most ALL of the church because it IS the carnal lives of men that most deem as important.
It IS in the misconceptions of men regarding the teachings of the Master, the Teacher of Angels and Men Alike, that doctrines ARE created. And it IS in the misconceptions of men that their doctrinal ideas have come to trump the reality of His words. Returning to Paul’s ‘prayer’ from his Epistle to the Ephesians we should look again at the apostle’s saying that men should come “to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God“. This IS ever the objective of Life in this world and it IS against this that doctrines teach that ALL can be so filled without ever Truly KNOWING “the love of Christ” which for us has become the Love that IS Christ. While “the love of Christ” IS shed to ALL, it IS the idea of agape that governs this Love. As Souls we have “the love of Christ” regardless of our comportment in this world. This we should see through Jesus’ words regarding the Father who “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mathew 5:45) and it IS in this Way of agape that we ARE told to express the same to ALL. John shows us the Way of agape saying “whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (1 John 2:5). Here there ARE two KEYS to this Love; first it becomes the realization of those who “keepeth his word” and second that this Love IS perfected. And we ARE encouraged to be as the Master and as the Father through our expression of agape. We must understand here that while this Love IS applied to ALL men, few have True realization of this Love because few Truly keep His words. Again, this becomes a matter of focus; when we focus upon the things of God in Repentance and Transformation we can have realization by measure of this “love of God ” because in this Repentance and Transformation we strive to keep His words. John shows us this idea of focus saying that men should “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). Can we see the point here? Can we see how that the apostles amplify the Master’s words and clarify them for us? Can we see how that Jesus’ words ARE incorporated into the words of the apostles? Jesus tells us that:
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect“
Matthew 5:43-48
From our trifecta and the Master’s words above we should see that this Love IS a compound idea, that the Love of God and the Love for God ARE connected by the reality of keeping His words. In our trifecta we have the idea that to Love God we must keep His words; Jesus gives us NO alternative to this sense of Love. To see the other side, the Love of God, “to know the love of Christ“, however we must go to the words of His apostles and here we go again to John who speaks so much on this Love. The apostle tells 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” (John 4:20). These words should show us the intimate relationship that exists between our Loving God and our Loving our fellowman, our neighbor if you will. This of course reflects upon the Master’s words and here especially His words regarding what we DO for our fellowman. Jesus tells us “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). It IS this statement that should allow us to realize the intimate connection between Loving God and the most ancient idea that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. In the end our Love for God and God’s Love for us ARE tied to our understanding of the most important word, agape. It IS ONLY when we Truly understand the concept of agape as it IS intended, as that universal idea of Love that transcends ALL of the carnal and common ideas that define it today, that we will Truly understand the Love of God and our Love for God.
Paul ends his ‘prayer’ saying “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” and here we should see several things that we will continue in the next essay.
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 |
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- 9b Vine’s Expository Dictionary on blueletterbible.org
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
