ON LOVE; PART MDXXXVII
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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 used the last essay to recap our journey through the first twenty two verses of the eighth chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. It IS NOT often that we have so much to say about the meaning of a specific chapter from any New Testament epistle and we should understand here that the eighth chapter IS among the most informative and important in the entirety of the New Testament. We ended with the apostle’s words saying “we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:22-23). Having addressed the first part that tells us of the suffering of the creation, a suffering that affects both the individual and the whole, we ARE ready to move on the the climatic ideas that Paul provides for us. First however we must understand that this idea of suffering which comes from a previous verse IS NOT a physical suffering and that the idea that “we suffer with him” (Romans 8:18) has naught to do with the Master’s crucifixion. The suffering of Jesus the Christ IS the suffering of the Holy One who looks out at the world and despairs over the failure of the creation to find the Path as most ALL ARE content in their vanity and their bondage. We should try to see that the apostles had much the same reaction to the ways of the world and that some, if NOT ALL, set out to try to add to the Master’s teachings. Jesus’ teachings were intended to show us the Way out of our vanity but because of the power of our vanity and the resultant illusion and glamour that it creates in the lives of men, few were willing to follow the Truth of His words. While many believe to this day that the apostles’ writings, especially Paul’s, set forth a new doctrine that men should follow, the reality IS that their words were never intended to DO so.
The apostles were NOT setting new doctrines; the apostles writings were and ARE intended to amplify and clarify the Master’s own words. It IS Jesus who set forth the doctrines that the church should have readily accepted but, like the Jews did with Moses commandments, they opted to interpret the Master’s words into carnal ideas and to adopt out of context sayings and ideas upon which to build the doctrines of men. This they did despite the Master’s cautionary words saying “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7). The church seems to have never understood that these words applied to their doctrinal efforts and many still believe that they applied to the Jews alone. However, the view of the church seems to accept the principle that they should NOT be “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” while they continue to DO so. Could it be that while they ARE aware of the caution that they DO NOT see themselves in the same situation of “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men“? From our perspective this IS exactly what the church has been doing over the last 2000 years as they quote the Master and teach on His words while they accept Paul’s words on ‘salvation‘ as their guide. Our point here IS that while Paul’s words ARE important components of Christianity, they should NOT be taken out of context and used to create the doctrines that the church teaches especially when such doctrines run contrary to the words of the Master who should be understood as “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
Paul’s writings in the eighth chapter of Romans ARE explanatory of the Way of the disciple and the aspirant to discipleship can learn much from them. The apostle IS showing us the meaning of being “led by the Spirit of God” (Romans 8:14) and the Way to accomplish this in one’s Life. He shows us how that “they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:5-7). From these words we should be able to clearly see the difference between our striving to “Enter ye in at the strait gate” (Matthew 7:13) and remaining in our vanity, our “bondage of corruption“. This brings us back again to the plight of humanity and then the spiritual solution to that plight; we read: “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered made free 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 firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:20-23).
We have addressed the first part of this selection many times over the course of our blog posts because we see its great importance in understanding the plight of humanity. The words apply both individually and corporately and show us that ALL ARE born into a condition which Paul calls vanity. In the last essay we addressed the other bible verses that use the Greek word mataiotes which IS always rendered as vanity in the King James Bible. Others render mataiotes differently in this verse using such ideas as futility, frustration, “the power of change“, “changed to become useless“, “failure and unreality” and “God’s curse” which IS a direct reference to the idea of the ‘fall of man’. None of these equals the depth of the idea of vanity however despite the way that the word IS understood today. While the idea today IS defined in terms of pride, the deeper definitions DO follow; today’s dictionary defines vanity as: excessive pride in one’s appearance, qualities, abilities, achievements, etc.; character or quality of being vain; conceit; an instance or display of this quality or feeling; and something about which one is vain or excessively proud*. This IS NOT Paul’s reference in mataiotes nor in the rendering as vanity. Today’s dictionary DOES continue to say that vanity IS: lack of real value; hollowness; worthlessness; and something worthless, trivial, or pointless*. These latter defining ideas ARE closer to the apostle’s intent and we can see the ideas worthlessness and trivial, or pointless in our adopted defining idea that mataiotes IS our: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. The dictionary’s latter definitions DO at least show us the idea of pursuing false ends. We should remember here that we ARE speaking from a spiritual perspective as we try to understand the idea of mataiotes and, in addition to our adopted definition, Vincent also tells us that the idea IS that: Mataiov expresses aimlessness. All which has not God for the true end of its being is mataiov. What we ARE DOING here IS trying to combine the defining ideas for mataiotes and vanity to offer a more decisive view of the idea; to this end we read from Strong’s definition of mataiotes which tells us that this IS: inutility; figuratively, transientness; morally, depravity 9a and from this we should be able to see that even the rendering as vanity IS lacking ideas of moral depravity. Thayer’s calls mataiotes: a purely Biblical and ecclesiastical word before defining it as what is devoid of truth and appropriateness; perverseness, depravation; frailty, want of vigor 9 again using ideas that ARE NOT part of our definitions of vanity.
In the combination of ALL of these defining ideas we should be able to see that mataiotes IS our vanity when it IS defined as a: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. This defining idea IS what we reference whenever we refer to vanity in our essays and it becomes the starting point for our understanding of the plight of men as they ARE born into this world. We should remember here that the man IS NOT the form but rather the Soul that gives Life to that form and that it IS the Soul that IS cast into this condition of vanity “by reason of him who hath subjected the same“, which IS by reason of the Plan of God. We should understand that our birth into this state IS “not willingly” and that ALL men ARE born in this same way; this IS our starting point in Life which IS compounded by our next subjection which IS to the nurturing and indoctrination that ALL receive in some form. The result IS a person that IS separate from God, and pursuing false ends. Separate from God because our Souls have not yet found the Way to effectively communicate with a carnal mind that IS busy with the ideas of living experienced by one who IS just coming to an age of some understanding and conviction. Pursuing false ends because this IS what years of nurturing and indoctrination into the ways of the world have set in motion. This IS the state of a man as he reaches some measure of maturity while unaware of the prompting of his own Soul; save perhaps for some pangs of conscience. Paul goes on to tell us then of the expectation that the Souls will be freed from their subjection to mataiotes and he tells us how in the previous verses from this chapter. Paul tells us that the Godhead expects that “the creature itself also shall be delivered made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” but we should understand that there IS NO timetable for this to happen in the lives of individuals nor the whole of the creation. While there IS much uncertainty regarding this matter of Life in this world, Paul DOES go on to show us and end point in the next verses.
What we say here IS in contrast to the doctrinal ideas of heaven and hell as the singular choices set before every man, every soul if you will, which doctrines say IS the surviving aspect of a man that goes to either place. Some claim that heaven IS a place of bliss where the soul will live for eternity while others see heaven as a place where the souls take on human likeness and can interact with those that have gone before them. Still others have different views of what heaven IS like but NONE Truly KNOW anything about the afterlife. Some rely on the dreamlike visions that some claim to have had while others who endured a near death experience will tell of what they believe that they have experienced. NONE of this IS heaven nor IS the reality found in the Master’s parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus where there IS even a depiction of hell. This parable IS NOT designed to portray the reality of heaven and hell but rather to show the reality of the ideas that control the carnal minds of men. First it IS based upon the belief of the Jews in those days regarding heaven and hell, a belief that was easily transferred to the fledgling Christian religion 2000 years ago. It IS according to the Jews view of heaven and hell that the idea that “between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us” (Luke 16:26) IS used by Jesus in His telling of this parable. Here hell IS depicted as a place where men ARE tormented in the flames of hell but never burn; here the story goes that the tormented man cries out “‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:24). NONE of this IS the purpose of this parable however and the adoption of such ideas IS purely doctrinal. The most basic idea to be gleaned from Jesus words here IS that those that abuse their Life in this world by being “clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day” (Luke 16:19) will fail on ‘judgment day’ and be sentenced to ‘hell’ while those whose lives DID NOT revolve around the self and the things of the self, the beggar in the story, would be “carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom“. It IS interesting to note that Luke places this parable at the end of the second part of his writing on the Sermon on the Mount where the ‘rules’ for righteousness are portrayed including the idea that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13).
It IS the final portrayal of the state of the “certain rich man” (Luke 16:19) that IS the message to be heard from the parable. Suffering in ‘hell’ the “rich man” implores Abraham to allow the beggar to warn his “five brethren” against being as he was: “clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day“. The summation of the whole parable IS found in the last words from “father Abraham” saying “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:30, 31). While there have been many interpretations of this parable in the church over the centuries and while many of them depict the Master’s words as an actual event, these ARE ALL but interpretations. Our view IS that this IS NOT an actual event and was NOT intended to understood as such. It IS instead an obscure lesson for the Pharisees listening that shows the difficulty in changing the mind of men focused upon the things of the world, changing the minds of those bound to their own vanity. In past posts we related our vanity to our illusion and glamour and while we have NOT done so recently, we will again try to show how that this works out in the lives of men. Our illusion IS the product of our vanity coupled with our nurturing and indoctrination as the mind IS trained to see whatsoever it wants to see and believe whatsoever one IS indoctrinated into. This IS the foundation of our illusion which IS ONLY broken by new thoughts and realizations seeping in and here we should try to see that this IS the moral of the parable. It IS ONLY on our own, it IS ONLY when we ourselves change our thought patterns and realizations that we can accept that what we thought we KNEW was but illusion. No amount of outside information can accomplish this on its own; a man will NOT be persuaded by the words of others that run contrary to what one believes….it must seep in.
Men’s ideas of heaven and hell ARE essentially doctrinal creations which, for the Christian world, are based in part on the beliefs of the Jews and their views of an afterlife. Both DO exist but NOT as they ARE depicted by the churches and we should try to understand how that these exist here and now and NOT in some future state of being after our deaths. The Master tells us that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 16:21) and while the church has ever sought clever ways to make this agree with their doctrines, the Truth remains….”the kingdom of God is within you“. Much less can be said regarding hell as the Greek words that ARE rendered as hell, geenna and hades, ARE NOT descriptive of what the church perceives them to be. Let’s begin with hades; Hades was originally the name of the God who presided over the realm of the dead 4 as Vincent tells us. Vincent goes on to tell us that the idea of Hades IS similar to the Hebrew Sheol and that: the classical Hades embraced both good and bad men, though divided into Elysium, the abode of the virtuous, and Tartarus, the abode of the wicked 4. He goes on to tell us that: It cannot be successfully maintained that it is, in particular, the place for sinners 4. Strong’s, somewhat in agreement, defines Hades as: unseen, i.e. “Hades” or the place (state) of departed souls 9a with NO regard to it being the place for sinners. Thayer’s tells us that Hades IS: a proper name, Hades, Pluto, the god of the lower regions; so in Homer always and that it IS an appellative, Orcus, the nether world, the realm of the dead; again there IS not mention that Hades IS the place for sinners. For us Hades IS NOT that fiery place depicted in the parable, nor IS it the eternal residence of those that ARE ‘wicked’ in this world. Hades IS simply the state of being for those whose bodies could NO longer support Life in this world, the state of being for the dead. We could say here that ALL that are born into this world will die and enter into a state of being which we can call Hades. The rest of this idea IS against the teachings of most ALL doctrinal churches save for the few that DO believe that they can communicate with the deceased. This communication occurs on the astral plane, a place that we can describe as perhaps a holding state for the recently deceased where, although disembodied, the dead exist as personalities. The rest of this takes on a rather occult nature and we should understand that this word conveys NO sense of evil but IS rather as it IS defined, occult IS: beyond the range of ordinary knowledge or understanding; hidden from view; concealed*. For our purposes here, the idea of Hades then IS the destination for ALL who die.
The other word IS geenna which IS an easier idea to explain and which IS equally NOT related to the Christian ideas of hell as a place of fire and torment for sinners and, as some Christians tell it, a place for those who DO NOT believe in Jesus. Geenna IS a place; it IS described by Thayer’s as: the name of a valley on the south and east of Jerusalem [yet apparently beginning on the West, cf. Joshua 15:8; Pressel in Herzog, under the word], which was so called from the cries of the little children who were thrown into the fiery arms of Moloch [which see], i. e. of an idol having the form of a bull. The Jews so abhorred the place after these horrible sacrifices had been abolished by king Josiah (2 Kings 23:10), that they cast into it not only all manner of refuse, but even the dead bodies of animals and of unburied criminals who had been executed. And since fires were always needed to consume the dead bodies, that the air might not become tainted by the putrefaction 9. The word IS rendered as both hell and as hell fire when the idea of fire IS added. Using the Master’s words saying “if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:29) we should be able to see the idea of the valley with a body being “cast into” it.
Hopefully we have been able to show that the common ideas of heaven and hell ARE doctrinal fabrications and that the Truth of heaven, the Kingdom of God, IS as the Master tells us saying that “the kingdom of God is within you“. The Kingdom of God IS a realization that one has overcome his vanity, that he IS Repented and Transformed. Hell on the other hand IS our state of being whensoever our bodies die; it IS the personality in a state of transition; a state of which NO one Truly KNOWS save for those to whom the mysteries have been revealed. Paul’s statement saying “the creature itself also shall be delivered made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” also pertains to those to whom the mysteries have been revealed; they can be in this “glorious liberty of the children of God” as Soul infused men in this world. It IS for this realization that “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22) and this IS so for the individual and the whole. As we discussed in previous essays, the idea here of “travaileth in pain” has naught to DO with childbirth or the pain thereof as cited in some translations. It IS the Greek word sunodino that IS rendered a the phrase “travaileth in pain together” and the idea of the word IS: to have (parturition) pangs in company (concert, simultaneously) with, i.e. (figuratively) to sympathize (in expectation of relief from suffering)9a according to Strong’s. While the main idea of the word IS found in the word pangs, parturition DOES relate to childbirth but this IS NOT the idea that Paul IS trying to express. The pangs of the creation ARE as defined; the idea IS: a sudden feeling of mental or emotional distress or longing* according to today’s dictionary and sans the idea of sudden, the idea of distress best defines idea of the pain. The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary tells us that such pangs ARE: Extreme pain; anguish; agony of body; particularly, a sudden paroxysm of extreme pain, as in spasm, or childbirth 1. and here the idea of anguish best describes the distress. Simply, we should try to understand that “the whole creation” IS suffering from anguish and distress and we can view this from both the spiritual and the carnal perspectives. As Souls we ARE distressed by our vanity, by our perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. The distress IS found in the way the Soul, the Christ Within, the Inner Man, IS ever trying to prompt the carnal mind to Repentance and Transformation but generally to NO avail. This IS True individually and for “the whole creation” as we seek to be “delivered made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. This IS the Soul’s objective from the time his birth into vanity.
To see the idea carnally IS a bit more difficult as there IS NO clear Christian teaching that shows us the futility of living in this world of desires and lusts. The Buddha however DOES show us the reality of the anguish and distress of the man in the world in His Four Noble Truths; these can be summarized as:
- The Truth of Suffering ((Dukkha)): Life inevitably involves suffering, dissatisfaction, and stress. This suffering is seen in physical pain, emotional distress, and the impermanence of happiness.
- The Truth of the Cause of Suffering ((Samudaya)): The root cause of suffering is craving or grasping (tanha), which includes desires for pleasure, existence, and non-existence.
- The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering ((Nirodha)): Suffering can end. It ends when the craving that causes it is eliminated.
- The Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering ((Magga)): There is a path that leads to the end of suffering, which is the Noble Eightfold Path. This path provides the principles and practices for living a life that leads to liberation from suffering and the cycle of rebirth.
The Noble Eightfold Path IS NOT unlike the teachings of the Master that we have in the gospels; Buddha’s Path IS designed for the culture to which He was the Avatar while Jesus’ Path IS designed for what has become the Judeo-Christian cultures. English translations of the Noble Eightfold Path tell us that the cessation of suffering or, for us, the cessation of the distress and anguish as felt by men, require: Right Vision, Right Values, Right Speech, Right Actions, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Meditation. The point to be taken here IS that the Buddha’s words set out the same ideas as DO the Master’s albeit from a different cultural perspective; ALL ARE seeking the same end which IS to be “delivered made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. So the creation, “the whole creation“, continues to”groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” and we should try to understand that the idea of “until now” DOES NOT ONLY mean the day that Paul wrote these words. It means “until now“. This brings us to the final verse from our selection where we come to see what it IS that we “groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” for; Paul tells us “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23).
Let us begin here with the idea that Paul and those whom he writes also “groaneth and travaileth in pain together“; that ALL suffer the anguish and distress including the apostle. Paul IS showing us that despite the apparent fullness of his own Repentance and Transformation, he IS still NOT finished; he has yet to fully “overcome the world” (John 16:33) as DID the Master. We should understand here that this IS the method, the Way to be fully “delivered made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. We overcome by measure and each man’s success depends upon the effort, the striving if you will, that he puts forth in achieving that goal. We should understand here that while Paul IS admitting that he IS still on the Path, he IS perhaps following his own caution as he tells us that we should “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly*,[a] according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith“. This he tells us after showing us the very idea of our Transformation saying “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:3, 2). While Paul IS telling us that he too “groaneth and travaileth in pain together“, he IS also telling us that he IS among those “which have the firstfruits of the Spirit“. This idea signifies that he and those to whom he writes have advanced on the Path to a place where they KNOW that they “have the firstfruits of the Spirit“. We should be careful here to NOT fall into the trap that ensnares many doctrinal Christians who consider themselves among those to whom the apostle writes simply because they ARE reading his words. Paul writes to a specific audience; he writes to those who “have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:5-6). The KEY here IS the idea of “obedience to the faith“; this IS NOT the sense of faith that surrounds the churches today, this IS the idea of faith according to the words of the Master. This IS “obedience to the” tenets of Truth given by Jesus which simply means those that keep His words.
It IS then those that keep His words that both “groaneth and travaileth in pain together” and “have the firstfruits of the Spirit” and we should understand this idea of fruits as the spiritual properties instilled in a man through keeping His words. Paul shows us these fruits in his Epistle to the Galatians which, although some of the words ARE poorly translated, should give us some idea of what he and his audience have as “the firstfruits of the Spirit“. Paul tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:22-24). We have discussed “the fruit of the Spirit” several times and one should refer to our last series of essays on these verses to understand our point that some of the words ARE poorly translated. Today we have left in the final idea of being Christ’s to show the reality of the attitude of those that “have the firstfruits of the Spirit“. We could ask here if ALL that DO live according the ideas presented as “the fruit of the Spirit” would have “the firstfruits of the Spirit” and the answer here would be yes, they have “the firstfruits of the Spirit” by measure. At the same time it IS important to understand the deeper spiritual ideas behind the Greek words rendered as these fruits. We will NOT get into these deeper spiritual ideas here today but we should be able to revisit them again as we close out this series of essays based on chapter eight of Romans. Meanwhile the information IS in previous posts which ARE searchable. The idea of firstfruits IS from the Greek word aparche which IS defined by Strong’s as: a beginning of sacrifice, i.e. the (Jewish) first-fruit (figuratively) but this DOES NOT help us to understand the apostle’s point.
The idea here according to Strong’s definition IS that these “firstfruits of the Spirit” ARE NOT fruits as we describe at all. If “the firstfruits of the Spirit” ARE indeed associated with the ideas from the Old Testament which Vincent describes saying: The figure is taken from the requirement of the Jewish law that the first – born of men and cattle, and the first growth of fruits and grain should be consecrated to the Lord 4 then the idea IS simply that of consecration to the Lord. Paul however IS speaking of those that “have the firstfruits of the Spirit” so that this idea of consecration should have little impact on Paul’s intent. James uses the word to say “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18) and here we should try to see that he IS speaking of mankind in general; that humanity IS the firstfruits of the whole creation. In this idea we come back to the idea of the “fruit of the spirit” or the activities in this world make a man among “the firstfruits of the Spirit“. Thayer’s breaks the idea of aparche down further for us saying first that it IS: to offer firstlings or first-fruits 9 which idea DOES NOT apply here. Second they tell us that the idea IS: to take away the first-fruits 9 which they go on to explain saying that when looked at from the Jews’ perspective of things consecrated to the Lord the idea takes on different meanings. Thayer’s says that the idea, in a transferred use, employed certain things. First the idea IS employed of persons consecrated to God 9 which idea we can easily see in our subject verse. Second Thayer’s says the idea IS employed of persons superior in excellence to others of the same class 9 which we can also see in our subject verse when viewed from a spiritual perspective. Finally Thayer’s says that the idea IS employed to those who have the first-fruits (of future blessings) in the Spirit 9. This final idea IS applied by Thayer’s to our subject verse to which they add that these “which have the firstfruits of the Spirit” are distinguished from the great multitude who will receive the Spirit subsequently. This however, while showing us the difference between the disciple and the multitude, DOES NOT work according to our view of the entire verse which we will address further in the next essay.
We close today with our trifecta, the words of the Master that show us the importance of keeping His words and show us the rewards of actually coming to “have the firstfruits of the Spirit“; we read:
- “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).
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 |
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
- 2 New Testament Greek lexicon on biblestudytools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
- 12 Expositions of Holy Scripture–Project Gutenberg’s and Baker Book House’ Expositions of Holy Scripture, by Alexander Maclaren–(1826-1910)
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
