ON LOVE; PART MDXLX
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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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In the last essays we spent time discussing the idea of hearing as this IS presented in the New Testament. The Greek word rendered in terms of hearing IS akouo and the defining ideas attributed to it by the lexicon, save for the ideas of comprehension and understanding, DO NOT give the deeper reality that this word requires. The lexicon defines akouo as: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf; to hear; to attend to, consider what is or has been said
to understand, perceive the sense of what is said; to hear something; to perceive by the ear what is announced in one’s presence; to get by hearing learn; a thing comes to one’s ears, to find out, learn; to give ear to a teaching or a teacher
to comprehend, to understand 2. ALL of this IS from the perspective of the ear and concerns what we hear physically. Strong’s offers us little more than this saying that akouo IS: a primary verb; to hear (in various senses):—give (in the) audience (of), come (to the ears), (shall) hear(-er, -ken), be noised, be reported, understand 9a. Thayer’s lists much of what we find in the lexicon but they DO at the end add some additional clarity saying that akouo can refer to the idea of: to yield obedience to the voice from which they then add to perceive in the soul the inward communication of God and to be taught by God’s inward communication. Finally they add the idea that this hearing IS also: to be taught by the devil 9. These final words better align with our understanding of the complexity of the word akouo as we discussed in the last essay. Thayer’s uses as an example the words from John’s Gospel saying “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” in regard to the soul the inward communication of God (John 6:45). Regarding the idea of being “taught by God’s inward communication“, Thayer’s refers to the Master’s words saying “I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him” (John 8:26).
These ideas regarding akouo ARE but a few of the New Testament sayings that show us that our hearing IS much more than what enters into one’s ears and when combined with the many other sayings, we should have a broad foundation from which to understand the idea of akouo. We started this discussion on akouo because of the Master’s words from the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders where we read “whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them” (Matthew 7:24) where our point IS simply that we DO NOT have to hear Jesus’ say these words. Reading them IS equivalent to hearing them in the ear and, most ALL over the last 2000 years have relied either upon the spoken words of another or have read for themselves the words of scripture. Perhaps the best spiritual examples for us as men in this world come from the lives of the apostles; we read of Peter that “I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat” (Acts 11:7) and of Paul that “he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?“. In neither case does the apostle hear such things with his ears, these sayings reflect the inner sense of hearing from one’s own Soul and while this IS NOT the way that these events ARE painted for us, this IS nonetheless the Way. In this chapter of Acts it IS written that those with Paul “stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man” (Acts 9:4,7) and we should note here that the Greek word that IS rendered as voice, phone, means first a tone (articulate, bestial or artificial) 9a by Strong’s and as a sound, tone by Thayer’s 9. Our point here IS that the idea of voice is presumed by the translators because they had NO foundation for any other understanding; we should look at this event in much the same way as we look at Peter’s experience above. Similarly, with much more mysticism, there is in the same chapter the story of Ananias who in a vision IS instructed to go to Paul. We must remember here that ALL these persons ARE disciples of the Lord and ARE imbued with the Powers that come in discipleship; for them, hearing the prompting of their own Souls should be understood as a part of such Powers.
Our point here IS NOT to cast aspersions on the text of the New Testament but rather to open up for ALL the possibility that much has been lost in the translations of the original texts. Our point here IS simply that we hear in many ways and for the man striving to focus upon the things of God, the most important way IS from our own Souls. It IS this idea of hearing that we call the prompting of our own Souls and, to be sure, there may NOT be any idea of words involved at ALL. This prompting IS perhaps best described as a message of KNOWING something that one DID NOT realize before, a realization if you will. While we have frequently used the idea of revelations in our writing, we have NOT spent the time on this idea that it deserves. Our realizations ARE ‘bursts’ of KNOWING that come upon us and while there IS a physical counterpart to this, that IS NOT the direction that we ARE going. Our view of realizations must become spiritual if we ARE to understand the point of the prompting of our own Souls. We should understand while we ARE discussing this topic of realizations that it IS possible that such realizations that come from our Soul can have a physical component as in suddenly realizing some worldly Truth of which one was unaware. This effect should NOT be underestimated. Our main point here IS that the Soul IS continually attempting to get the attention of the carnal mind, a mind that IS so entrenched in daily living that it DOES NOT hear the prompting and here the idea of hearing should be understood as perhaps getting a glimpse of some spiritual Truth. Often this will happen in passing and will fade from the attention of the man. We can use our own experience to perhaps furnish an example. We run through our days DOING our jobs or whatsoever takes up our time; working, preparing food, eating, shopping watching television or listening to music ARE daily activities through which it may be difficult to hear the prompting of our own Souls. However, there comes a time in the day where we sit down and DO things that DO open up the channel to our inner self and the vast store of Truth that resides in this ‘higher mind’ if you will. This ‘higher mind’ IS, from our perspective as men in this world, our Souls, an indescribable aspect of Life that makes its presence KNOWN.
For men who ARE perhaps less concerned with spiritual matters this same dynamic can work when we come to that time in the day where we ARE NOT concerned with the carnal and the mundanes aspects of our lives. Einstein can be seen here as one who was able to open that channel to the inner self’s vast store of Truth and indeed there have been and ARE many who have achieved this ability. True world leaders can be counted among these and, of course, a realm of discipleship that IS concerned about world affairs and perhaps teaching others. It IS through such persons that the world IS affected and it IS in this that we should see the ‘hand of God’ in relation to worldly affairs. Such ARE NOT what we wish to deal with here however except from the perspective that once this channel to our inner self and the vast store of Truth IS opened and working, the Path forward IS dependent upon the proclivities of the Soul involved. Our personal example IS one where we ARE fully consumed with our little lives in this world for much of the day with perhaps intermittent thoughts regarding what Truly matters in Life. When however we find the time to sit and write, we open that channel to the degree that we ARE able, our measure of realization if you will, and the words begin to flow unimpeded from our individual access to the vast store of Truth. Our objective IS to allow this open channel to continually transform our heretofore carnal minds; to make our measure of Truth replace more and more of the carnal thoughts that we have during the time when we ARE consumed with our little lives in this world. It IS this that we should take from the Apostle Paul’s words 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 12:2).
These words from Paul show us a process and we must understand that the “renewing of your mind“, which IS the result of our continuing Transformation, IS the process by which we can come to discern (a better rendering that prove) “what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God“. Paul also offers us a caution that we must heed if we ARE to make progress in our Transformation and that IS to NOT allow the yet carnal mind to use whatsoever revelations that we may achieve to cause us to believe that we ARE further along spiritually than we actually ARE. The message IS to be humble. Paul tells us “I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). This idea of being humble has much importance in our journey upon the Path to Truth. The lexicon tells us that the Greek word tapeinoo which IS rendered as humble means: to make low, bring low and then to level, reduce to a plain; metaph. to bring into a humble condition, reduce to meaner circumstances; to assign a lower rank or place to; to abase; to be ranked below others who are honoured or rewarded; to humble or abase myself by humble living to lower, depress; of one’s soul bring down one’s pride; to have a modest opinion of one’s self; to behave in an unassuming manner; devoid of all haughtiness 2. While there ARE many defining ideas provided here, the single word by which we should understand this word IS humble. The rendered word humble IS indeed the meaning that Paul intended us to take from this verse and here in these ideas from the lexicon we should be able to see the common understanding of the English word which IS: humble describes a quality of being modest, not arrogant, having an accurate view of oneself, and putting others first**.
The idea of being humble IS used frequently in both the New and Old Testaments. The Master uses the word to tell us that: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4). This IS perhaps the most pointed use of the idea when it IS properly understood. Vincent helps our understanding by telling us that in this verse tapeinoo IS: Not, as this little child humbles himself, but, shall make himself humble as this little child is lowly; shall willingly become by spiritual process what the child is by nature 4. This IS an important distinction. The value of being humble IS shown us several times using the word tapeinoo and in other places where the word IS rendered differently. Matthew’s IS NOT the ONLY gospel where we read the idea of being humble specifically; variations ARE found in the other gospels. The Master’s also tells us that “whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted“. These words follow upon Jesus’ direct instructions to His disciples saying “Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matthew 23:12, 10-11). We should note here that the Master refers to “your Master” as Christ, that He does NOT refer to Himself, Jesus, which IS the doctrinal understanding of His words. There IS much said in these words….ponder on this. In the above saying there IS a sort of conundrum however in the way that both the idea of being abased and of being humble ARE from the same Greek word tapeinoo. We should remember here that the definitions of tapeinoo include the ideas of to make low and bring low 9b and we should try to see the reasoning as that if one exalts himself the spiritual result will be abasement while if one voluntarily humbles himself, abases if you will, he will be exalted.
James echos this idea saying that men should “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up“. James also shows us that “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:10,6) and we should remember here that our definition of grace IS ALL that comes from the Godhead and therefore from our own Souls. There ARE many references to this idea of being humble and they ARE ALL offered with the same idea of the exaltation of the humble and perhaps if we try to see this exaltation as the acceleration of our own revelations of Truth, we can better understand the whole purpose of our humbleness. Returning to our discussion on the “renewing of your mind” through Transformation we should understand that Paul’s intent in the next verse IS intended to show us that we must be humble and NOT allow our feelings of exaltation that may stem from our measure of Transformation have any effect on our personality’s outward behavior before others.
Repentance and Transformation ARE the KEYS to our spiritual success and it IS important that we understand these ideas that will lead us to what Paul calls “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23). We should remember that our Repentance IS the actual beginning of our journey and that it IS a special moment in time. Yes we may have to cycle through this moment several times as we discussed through the Parable of the Sower’s stages where the carnal mind rebels and causes one to start anew. This however DOES NOT detract from the importance of that moment where we understand that our Repentance, our change of focus off of the the self and the things of the self and onto the things of God occurs. With each attempt we have that special moment and ARE better prepared to endure than we were previously as we build upon whatever measure of Transformation that we may have achieved. It IS important to understand that the ‘way of salvation‘ taught in the doctrinal churches bears little or NO relationship to the process of Repentance and Transformation. What the ‘saved‘ persons ARE feeling, a sense of euphoria perhaps, in their doctrinal process IS just that, a feeling and while this can lead to the reality of Repentance and Transformation, it generally DOES NOT. While Repentance IS a special moment, it IS generally NOT a euphoric one but IS rather a point in time when we come to realize that what we ARE embarking on IS a journey based upon the idea that we have had: Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice 4 as Vincent defines Repentance for us.
This virtuous alteration or the urge to DO so also DOES NOT come upon a man in an instant but rather through a thought process that begins with perhaps an brief glimpse of the prompting of the Soul through which we see a different future. Many factors can lead us to this stage where we desire to Repent, to change the focus of our lives and we should understand that this first step DOES NOT change our lives, it simply changes our focus. As a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose we begin to see glimpses of the Truth that we had perhaps seen before but never attended to. It IS this alteration of the mind and purpose that begins our Transformation, that puts us onto the Path to Truth where, for the Christian, we begin a period where we ARE ever more conscious of the need to keep His words. As our Transformation builds momentum we become more in tune with the realities of the Master’s words and begin to Transform our behavior to be in accord with them. This IS the work of the aspirant to discipleship and perhaps our success and failure at each attempt IS in direct proportion with the distance our thoughts and behavior were from the goal of keeping His words. It IS in our Transformation that our virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose then begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice. It IS here that we need to understand the role of measure and its effect upon our success as we move, step by step, deeper into the Truth and the other rewards that the Master sets forth for us in our trifecta. Repeating our trifecta 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).
The clear idea of our trifecta of sayings from the Master IS that we keep His words. The idea IS worded differently throughout but the idea IS ever the same; it matters NOT if we see His instruction as keeping His words, keeping His commandments or DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven”, ALL give us the very same message. This IS also the same idea presented to the Jews throughout the Old Testament where again it takes a variety of forms with ALL having the same meaning. In the Old Testament the idea IS offered as “keep my covenant“, “keep my commandments and my laws“, and “keep my statutes, and my judgments” to cite a few. It IS against this idea of keeping His words that the Master rails against the Jews as they chose to follow their doctrines, their carnal interpretations that allowed them to be men in this world. It IS in regard to this that Isaiah tells the Jews “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men” (Isaiah 29:13). We should note here that this IS NOT a prophecy that puts forth the prophet’s words to another time, this IS a clear saying that the prophet received from the Godhead and repeated to the people. When Jesus uses this same idea to tell the Jew’s in His day that “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, 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), He calls it a prophecy because it IS the words of the prophet and because they still mattered in His day. John Gill tells us that: the prophecy of Isaiah not only described the hypocrites of his time, but had respect chiefly to the Jews in succeeding ages, in the times of Christ 8; here Mr. Gill affirms the timelessness of these words but stops with the Jews in succeeding ages, in the times of Christ.
There IS NO biblical reason to stop here as we have ever maintained. The Christian church from the beginning placed the force of this saying ONLY on the Jews as they themselves embarked upon the same folly with their own carnal interpretations that allowed them to be men in this world. The idea behind these words IS timeless and applies to ALL that ARE “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” as ALL of the Christian denominations and sects DO to this day. This has been one of the major failures of the church from the beginning; beginning with the church fathers, the ideas presented as doctrines have been largely contrary to the words of the Master and His apostles who DID begin their teaching according to the so called Great Commission. These words from the Master ARE themselves subjected to the doctrinal whims of men as the most basic tenet of them IS largely ignored. Jesus tells His apostles, and us through them, to “Go ye therefore, and teach make disciples of all nations people, baptizing immersing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). First we should try to see that to “make disciples of all people” requires the teaching be done by disciples; instead we have teaching being done by doctrinal adherents who teach what they have learned in seminaries. In other words, they teach ONLY their individual doctrines and NOT the Truth of “all things whatsoever I have commanded you“. Second IS in the idea of baptism; the True idea IS that one should be immersed in “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost“; instead this has become but a rite and a ritual adopted in different ways by different denominations and sects. Vincent helps us to understand the meaning of “in the name of” here saying that:
To be baptized upon the name is to be baptized on the confession of that which the name implies : on the ground of the name; so that the name Jesus, as the contents of the faith and confession, is the ground upon which the becoming baptized rests. In the name has reference to the sphere within which alone true baptism is accomplished. The name is not the mere designation, a sense which would give to the baptismal formula merely the force of a charm. The name, as in the Lord ‘s Prayer (“Hallowed be thy name”), is the expression of the sum total of the divine Being : not his designation as God or Lord, but the formula in which all his attributes and characteristics are summed up. It is equivalent to his person 4.
While our first point IS NOT likely attainable today as there ARE few if any True disciples within the church, the idea of what they teach surely IS. This however IS NOT the way; the way IS that most ALL continue to be “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” leaving it to individuals to find their own path to Repentance and Transformation. While the church has failed the world in teaching the Truth of the Master’s words however, they have been instrumental in keeping the idea of God on the minds of many. While this IS a good thing overall, there ARE areas in which there IS greater concern. That many have promoted Christianity as the ONLY way to God based on a few words from Jesus, words that were NOT intended to convey that message, IS unfortunate and IS perhaps a leading cause for the unwillingness of many to join the church. People of thought beyond the doctrinal thinking into which they were nurtured and indoctrinated, see the fallacy of this doctrinal precept as it rebels against both the idea that “God is love agape” and simple common sense. We DO NOT wish to vilify the millions who believe Jesus IS the ONLY Way to ‘salvation‘ and to God, we merely want to point out that their doctrinal beliefs have overwhelmed their common sense in this regard. Our point here however IS NOT focused on the overall good of the churches’ ability to keep the minds of men on the idea of the Godhead, it IS to strongly condemn the fringe ideas that ARE so apparent today especially in America.
The prosperity gospel movement IS one of these fringe ideas that has crept into the more mainstream and is now a more worldwide approach to the Christian religion. NOT ONLY IS there NO real New Testament support for this breach of Truth but even the Old Testament ideas that they use to support their teaching ARE corrupted by the ideas of men. The attraction IS much the same as the reason for the doctrinal movement away from the words of the Master: men what to have a religion that allows them to live as men and, in the case of the prosperity gospel, the attraction IS evermore concerned with men’s fiscal success….a great attractant. The whole idea of this IS against the specific teachings of the Master which ARE reinterpreted by this faction so that they appear to agree with their teachings. This however IS NOT the worst of what has become of the religion named after the Master, Jesus the Christ. More against the True concept of Christianity IS the ‘Christian supremacy movement’, the ‘white Christian supremacy movement’, the ‘white Christian nationalist movement’ and any other related offshoots that inject into Christianity prejudices and hatreds of others. The first IS defined as ‘belief that Christianity is superior to other religions and a form of identity politics that asserts that Christians are superior to others and are, therefore, better suited to rule‘ ***. This IS of course more a political view than a religious one but one that incorporates religion into politics where it DOES NOT belong. Adding the idea of white to this makes this idea even more egregious as it now takes on ideas beyond the reality that the Master was NOT a ‘white man’ as that idea IS understood today. In the ‘white Christian supremacy movement’, in America, we have ‘an ideology that blends white nationalist identity with Christian theology, asserting that the United States was founded as a Christian nation for white people and that its laws and culture should reflect this dominance‘****. This ideology has found its way into the higher ranks of both American politics and denominational leaders.
Worldwide this idea has become ‘a widespread belief among adherents that white Christian culture is being deliberately destroyed by non-white immigrants, resulting in a “white genocide“‘****, this IS the so called ‘great replacement theory’ that IS afflicting nations where immigrants have been welcomed across the globe. In America this has become the ‘white Christian nationalist movement’ which combines the aspects of outward prejudice and the ideas cited above but with a distinct Nazi flavor that sees force as a necessary means to achieve their goal which for some embodies the idea that “white Christians cannot coexist with non-whites”****. NONE of these ideas, from the prosperity gospel to the various Christian supremacy movements, ARE Christian in nature and ARE perhaps the True warning that we find in the words of the Master. Jesus offers us words that ARE interpreted by many as referring to the so called ‘end times’ and there ARE many denominations and sects that dwell upon such ideas that they wrongly garner from Jesus’ words and the interpreted words of John in the Book of Revelation. Much of the words of Jesus are simply misunderstood and misinterpreted while the words from John ARE the product of dreams and visions which men have tried to interpret and understand for centuries. As a rule we DO NOT comment of the Book of Revelation as to DO so IS to offer our understanding of words and ideas that ARE NOT at ALL meaningful to the reality of Christianity. The Master’s words however ARE more understandable and here we should remember the reality that they ARE largely parabolic and that, like ALL of His True Parables, they contain some hidden Truth. In the three synoptic gospels there IS a similar presentation that we take today from Matthew’s Gospel. Two things however before we cite the Master’s words; first that they include a direct warning to His disciples in that time and that this warning can also be applied to the modern day people who ARE True believers in the words of the Master. Second IS that these events came to pass in their day and that the conflict was an internal one and NOT a world event which should allow us to believe the same, nation by nation and culture by culture, today. The Master tells us:
“For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:5-24).
We should understand here that these words have been translated by men whose belief was doctrinal and that this has led their interpretations and translations into the words we see here. We should understand as well that the whole of this idea IS highly parabolic and that while it may offer us ideas of what will come, it , at the same time, DOES NOT portray any particular world event save for the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD. What these words DO however IS point us to the many conflicts that have consumed the world where the ideology of men, their basic religious ideas if you will, were part and parcel of the overall effect. From the Crusades, to the Reformation Wars, to the more recent World Wars, ALL can be seen through the Master’s words here and while few see any relationship to religion as we understand that idea, there ARE definite realities to be considered perhaps beginning with the idea that “many shall come in my name“. Remember that the idea of His name IS NOT merely calling oneself as Him but rather that the idea involves the ability of men to portray themselves as a Christ. Jesus DOES NOT say that this involves men proclaiming that they ARE Jesus, He says that they will be proclaiming that “I am Christ” and, as we should KNOW from any review of our writing, these ARE NOT one and the same. This IS an important point to remember as we try to see that anyone who proclaims to speak for God, for the Master, or in any way of ‘spiritual’ authority IS among those many that “shall come in my name“.
It IS in this idea that the entirety of the church will disagree but as we come to understand that as the True man, the Christ within, that we ARE ALL effectively Christ, the anointed of God. To proclaim this as a man without True discipleship however IS the reality of what the idea means. This IS the reality of “saying, I am Christ“.
Our study of these words from the Master IS a departure from the tone of our blog posts which, while they allude to the fallacies of Christian thought and action, have NOT taken on such ideas as we ARE about to embark on.
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 |
- 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
- ** Google AI on humble
- *** Google AI on Christian supremacy
- **** Google AI on white Christian supremacy
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
