ON LOVE; PART MDXXIX
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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 some discussion on the eighth verse of chapter eight from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. For us this IS one of the most important chapters from Paul’s voluminous writings and we refer to it frequently for our discussions on vanity, on the adoption and Redemption of men and on the current selection which defines the comportment of the man whose focus IS on the Lord. This eighth verse IS, in our view, mistranslated or, better, translated according to doctrinal themes rather than the reality of the Greek words. Paul tells us that “`they that are in the flesh cannot please God” and we noted that the doctrinal idea here IS that we can actually please the Lord as though the Lord IS a person with an emotional response. We cited The Bible in Basic English rendering of this verse to show the ideas that ARE attached when the rendering IS that we can “please God“. This version rendered Paul’s words to say “So that those who are in the flesh are not able to give pleasure to God” and we should try to see that the idea of pleasing God has the same connotation in much of the church. Researching the Greek word aresko, we listed the defining ideas from the lexicon, Strong’s and Thayers and while ALL DO include pleasing as a definition, it IS generally NOT the primary meaning. For our purposes we have accepted the Strong’s definition of aresko which IS: to be agreeable (or by implication, to seek to be so)9a. ThIs makes much more sense than pleasing God DOES and it fits in with the overall theme that Paul has developed thus far in the eighth chapter. At the end of our last essay we rephrased Paul’s words to say “they that are in the flesh cannot please be agreeable with God as regards His law“. The final added part IS taken from Webster’s 1828 Dictionary where agreeable IS defined as: Suitable; conformable; correspondent; consistent with; as, the practice of virtue is agreeable to the law of God and our own nature 1. Repeating our entire selection we read:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For 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. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:1:14).
Paul next addresses his readers directly saying “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you“. Paul makes the idea of NOT being “in the flesh” contingent upon the idea that “the Spirit of God dwell in you” and while most ALL doctrinal Christians will claim this, will claim that “the Spirit of God” dwells in them, they ignore the Master’s own criteria for this to be True. While the word dwell here IS from a different Greek word than that which IS used in our trifecta, the idea remains the same. In our trifecta the idea IS from the Greek word mone which IS understood in terms of abiding and abode while the word here IS oikeo which simply means dwell; there IS NO real difference in the impact of the ideas. Jesus criteria for this idea that “the Spirit of God dwell in you” IS from the third part of our trifecta 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).
What we should see IS that the very idea that “the Spirit of God dwell in you” IS part of the Master’s reward for keeping His words. While the specific phrase more aligns keeping His words with our Love for the Lord, the whole of the selection clarifies that the reward for Keeping His words IS the Presence of God in one’s Life; a Presence which can be proven by our expression of the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22). This IS the reality of Jesus’ words saying “Ye shall know them by their fruits“ which He repeats saying “by their fruits ye shall know them“ (Matthew 7:16, 20). While some doctrinal Christians will find reasons to NOT put ALL of this together, their arguments ARE but carnal attempts to show that they have the “Spirit of God“. Our point here IS that the Master offers us a guidepost in the third part of our trifecta; the criteria set forth IS both clear and readily understandable but IS at the same time ignored by most ALL of the church through their doctrines. Much of the church tells the people that the Lord ‘comes to live in a person’ whensoever he ‘accepts’ Jesus as Lord and savior. The simple rebuttal to this IS simply where IS the fruit? Where IS the “fruit of righteousness” (James 3:18); where IS the fruit of which Paul tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5:9)? Again, “Ye shall know them by their fruits“ and “by their fruits ye shall know them“. Without such expression of the “fruit of the Spirit” then, one IS yet “in the flesh” and we should understand that our sporadic expressions of goodness DO NOT qualify us as those that Truly have “the Spirit of God dwell in you“. Here again we must try to see that ONLY a man Truly KNOWS if he has “the Spirit of God“; NO one can search another’s heart with any degree of certainty save for measuring for oneself their expressed fruits and, to be sure, this IS NOT measured against a single deed or even multiple good deeds but rather against the fullness of one’s comportment. Examples abound in such figures as Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama.
Paul goes on to tell us of those that DO who have “the Spirit of God dwell in you” saying “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness“. In these words we have a most misunderstood concept. For most of the church the idea IS taken to mean that in some ‘mysterious‘ way “the Spirit of Christ” comes into the Life of a Christian so that they believe that “the Spirit of God dwell in you“. The fallacy here IS that if “the Spirit of God dwell in you“, “if Christ be in you“, why IS there NO outward effect save for perhaps the euphoria one may experience when one IS first ‘saved‘. The reality IS and must be that “if Christ be in you” there must be a change in one’s comportment, one’s thoughts, one’s attitudes, and one’s actions. This IS what Paul means in saying that “the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness“. As a standalone statement these words ARE of little use but they ARE used to support the doctrinal ideas that tell men that whensoever one IS ‘saved‘, whensoever one ‘accepts’ Jesus as Lord and savior, that they rather automatically have “the Spirit of God dwell in you“. But Paul DOES NOT leave us in this state as his next statements show us what it means to have “the Spirit of Christ” as well as its effect upon the carnal and mundane lives of men. Before we go on however it IS important that we see the deeper reality of Paul’s words in this particular verse. First we have the idea that “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his“; here the idea should be focused on the reality of our Repentance and Transformation. It IS through our Repentance, rightly understood to be: Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice 4 as Vincent shows us, that we allow for the awakening of “the Spirit of Christ” in the heart of the Repentant man. It IS this awakening of the Christ Within, the “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) as Paul frames this, that both allows for our True Repentance and Transformation, and for that like virtuous change in the life and practice. This last part IS the part of importance as the idea here must be that the Life changes, one’s motivation changes, and his focus moves off of the self and onto the things of God.
It IS in this shift of focus that “the body is dead” and we should understand that the idea that this death IS “because of sin” IS in reference to our carnal focus and NOT the common ideas which sin provokes. The idea that “Christ be in you” has naught to DO with the doctrinal affirmations that one may make, the idea that “Christ be in you” has ONLY to DO with the third part of our trifecta where, through our Repentance, we DO begin to strive to keep His words. It IS in keeping His words that we attest to our agape Love for God and Christ and it IS to those keeping His words that the Master tells us that “we will come unto him, and make our abode with him“….hence the idea that “Christ be in you“. Save for the mysteries of Life itself, the mystery of the Godhead and mankind’s relationship to God, there IS NO mystery in Paul’s words here. Paul shows us the reality of the mystery as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” and the whole of his statement will help to show us that there IS a criteria and that criteria IS as the Master defines it in our trifecta. Paul tells us “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:25-27). Let us try to understand Paul’s words here beginning with the idea that “I am made a minister“; the Greek word ginomai which IS rendered as “am made” IS defined by Strong’s as: to become (come into being), used with great latitude (literal, figurative, intensive, etc.)9a. While one may think that the message IS that God made Paul a minister, the reality IS that he became a minister or that he came into being as a minister “according to the dispensation of God“; this we will get to next. First however we should address the Greek word diakonos which IS rendered as minister and which has certain doctrinal ideas attached to it. The word IS defined by Thayer’s as: one who executes the commands of another, especially of a master; examples ARE given as a servant, attendant, minister9. The primary idea IS of course that of the servant and the Master uses this idea in such sayings as “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matthew 23:11) and “For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among* you as he that serveth” (Luke 22:27). In the first example the Master IS telling His disciples that even the greatest must be a servant while in the second Jesus IS referring to Himself as the servant.
The message so far IS that Paul became a servant “according to the dispensation of God” and here we have what can be a confusing thought. The Greek word that IS rendered as dispensation IS oikonomia which Strong’s defines as: administration (of a household or estate)9a. Using this we can see that it IS “according to the dispensation administration of God” which idea some DO use. However the whole flavor of the saying IS often changed by phrasing the idea as “I have become its minister, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known” and other like renderings using the idea of stewardship. Vincent tells us that: Here the meaning is stewardship – the office of a steward or administrator in God’s house4. We should understand that there IS NO actual office and NO God’s house; there IS ONLY the relationship between Paul and the Godhead and we should understand here that the idea IS likely intentionally cryptic. Paul has made of himself a disciple of the Lord; this IS his office and it IS from this office that he serves humanity. Paul goes on to say that he has become a disciple to serve and that in His discipleship he has come to KNOW his measure of the Truth and that he IS sharing this Truth “to fulfil the word of God“. What might this word of God be? The commandments to be sure but we can take this a bit further because of the wording of the following verses; we can see that Paul IS fulfilling the Great Commission which clearly tells everyman, especially His disciples, to “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). Can we see the point here? So Paul’s charge, as a disciple attuned to his own Soul, IS keeping the Great Commission by “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” including “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints“. Here we need to understand that as aspirants to discipleship, those whom Paul IS teaching ARE by measure the saints and it IS by that same measure that they can KNOW the mystery. We have discussed this several times in past essays but we should repeat here that the saint, from the Greek word hagios, IS defined as: most holy thing, a saint2 and while many have adopted these appellations to themselves, few actually qualify, even by the smallest measure. It IS then to His saints that the mystery IS revealed and this mystery IS clearly stated as “Christ in you, the hope of glory“. An idea which parts of the church deny.
Up to this point Paul has been speaking about the “Spirit of Christ” and “if Christ be in you“. Next he turns his attention to the fullness of the Godhead saying “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you“. This IS now in line with the Master’s words from our trifecta where we read that “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“. Note that the idea here IS that “my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” showing us that the Father and the Son ARE ever together in ALL things. Paul picks this up in the saying at hand as he speaks about the Father as “the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead” so that the conversation now includes both the Father and the Son dwelling in a man. Paul’s point becomes that regardless of whether we see the Father or the Son in our hearts, both ARE endlessly together and they will perforce “quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you“. Let’s explore these words. The KEY word here IS quicken which IS from the Greek word zoopoieo; Strong’s defines the idea simply as: to (re-)vitalize (literally or figuratively). The idea of vitalize DOES help us to somewhat understand Paul’s point. It IS the Spirit in man, the realized Spirit IS a more accurate idea, that vitalizes the mortal body and we should see this in two ways. First it IS the Spirit and the Soul that give Life to the animal body of man; this happens regardless of realization but this IS NOT the idea that Paul IS presenting. What the apostle IS showing us IS that it IS our realization of the Spirit and Soul as the primary drivers of mortal Life. This realization IS dependent upon one’s having “the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you“; this goes again to Jesus’ words from our trifecta and could be stated as “if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you” because you keep His words. It IS in this state that this Spirit will vitalize “your mortal bodies” by the measure of KNOWING that one’s keeping His words can provide. Simply put, it IS NO longer merely a mortal body but one that IS infused with one’s measure of spiritual Power from the Christ Within. It IS here that we approach the fullness of discipleship and sainthood: from the starting point of Repentance.
Paul goes on to say that “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh“. This should show us that when we have “the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you“, we no longer need “to live after the flesh“, we NO longer need to “mind the things of the flesh“. Can we see the journey that we ARE on in following Paul’s words? Paul begins by laying out rather clearly the choice put before the awakened man, that he can continue to “mind the things of the flesh” or he can “be spiritually minded“. We should remember that Paul IS speaking about the awakened man and NOT the ordinary man in the street who has NO basis for understanding the depth of his words. This we take from the opening of his Epistle to the Romans where he clearly addresses his words “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints” (Romans 1:7). Both the “beloved of God” and those “called to be saints” are specific terms that have meaning beyond men’s walking “after the flesh“. The idea of the “beloved of God” IS tied to Jesus’ words from our trifecta where we read “ 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“. It is here that we should see the depth of the idea of beloved as those that keep His words; it IS to this man that the Master says “my Father will love him“. While it IS True that “God is love agape” (1 John 4:8, 16), the idea here IS NOT that God Loves ALL as the idea IS commonly understood. In the idea of agape Love there IS a different dynamic at play which IS NOT captured by the defining ideas of agapao and agape as most ALL are offered in carnal terms. Agape IS a spiritual idea that would have been best served untranslated; it holds the KEY to ALL that is of importance in Life. From the perspective of the Godhead agape IS what holds ALL things together, it IS the force of attraction and cohesion for ALL that exists and it IS under this type of understanding that we should try to see the idea that ‘God Loves ALL’. This sense of agape holds within it the idea of the Unity of ALL and, when taken to a personal level, the idea IS much the same as we come to see ALL men, indeed ALL things, as part and parcel of the Godhead. The idea of agape on a personal level incorporates this understanding of Oneness on every level of existence and the opposite of this idea IS NOT hatred, nor IS it simply indifference or apathy as some like to frame the idea. The opposite of agape IS perhaps best understood as disunion. In disunion ALL of creation would lose the cohesion of agape and each part would stand alone. This IS understandably a deeper conversation that we should have here but ponder on this: without agape ALL would fail.
Agape Love IS an active part of Life for the awakened and this because to be awakened one must understand the idea of agape and its working in Life through such Universal sayings as “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Mark 12:31) and its companion saying that “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12). This IS the action of agape in the world of men. So then, while the Love agape of God IS Universal, while agape IS the cohesive force that holds ALL things together, it has naught to DO with what we see as Love in this world. It IS this confused attitude toward agape that IS likely responsible for most ALL of the doctrinal ideas of Love, ideas that CAN NOT work out in the world of men as regards the Master’s words above. It IS NOT possible to embrace ALL men with the same idea of Love that we have for our own families; this form of Love IS emotional and falls into our own defining idea for what Love in this world IS. Love in this world IS the mental and emotional attraction and attachment that we have for others and for the things and ideas that ARE important to our carnal minds. Agape on the other hand offers us a vision of the world, indeed the whole of creation, where there IS NO emotional or mental affinity that describes our relationships, there IS ONLY the sense of Oneness based on the cohesive force of Unity….agape. In agape we see ALL men the same and it IS in this that the True expression of agape requires the input from the Soul. Surely some people do have the propensity to express some level of agape without the appearance of such input but, to be sure, the influence IS there but unrecognized as such. And this idea of agape reaches beyond other men, seeing ALL as the same; this idea of agape requires that we see and understand the idea of Oneness as Spirit, spiritual sparks from the same Divine Fire; as Souls, the intermediate between the purity of Spirit and the grossness of carnality; and body, the form taken in a wide variety of appearances: colors, shapes, sizes, etc..
The model for agape IS shown us by the Master who tells us of the Godhead that: “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” (Matthew 5:45 and “for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35). This IS the Universal view of the Godhead toward humanity, a view that Luke continues for us telling us of Peter’s encounter with a vision from which he says “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). This same idea IS repeated several times by Paul who tells us that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) and from the perspective of Jesus Paul says “Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him” (Ephesians 6:8-9). While Paul brings this down to a human behavior here the greater idea comes from James who tells us “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:9-10). That this idea of “respect to persons” IS alien to the church IS both unfortunate and alarming; while humanity IS expected to see the self as one’s primary motivation, the church should have seen past this from the beginning. Perhaps there were some that DID see and understand the greater Truth but these were likely called heretics and shunned because their views were contrary to the church’s doctrinal mindset.
Returning to Paul’s words saying “if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you“. We should understand here that if one has the Spirit according to the third part of our trifecta, the effect of this IS seen in the vitalization of the body. It IS in keeping His words that we develop, by measure, the capacity to be His True disciple and this IS the greater reality of our bodies being quickened which is better seen as vitalized by the Soul, by the Christ Within. It IS in this state that we come to more fully realize that we “we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh“. This IS an important point to understand; the unawakened man KNOWS only to “to live after the flesh“. It IS into this state that a man IS born, nurtured and then indoctrinated and we should understand that our indoctrination never Truly ends until we step out of the necessity “to live after the flesh“. Our indoctrination IS what frames our character and while it IS rather easily changed by yet another round of indoctrination which may change one’s character, this DOES NOT necessarily allow one to ‘step out’ of his mode of living “after the flesh“. From the beginning the motivation of the church should have been to teach men to “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” and this IS the most basic idea that we can take from the Great Commission. It IS this that should have been the motivation of the church from the beginning but the early church set a different tone that allowed for men to be “debtors….to the flesh” as they formed doctrines that allowed for men to live as men in this world. Surely men DO need to live, work and Love in this world of men but this should NOT be the full focus of men. Men can choose to focus on what IS important to them, to focus on “treasures in heaven” rather than “treasures upon earth” (Matthew 6:20, 19) and to change “the abundance of the heart” (Matthew 12:34).
The idea of being “debtors….to the flesh” IS NOT a clear idea as it shows that we would owe something to the flesh; this IS NOT the idea that the apostle IS presenting. The better idea IS in obligation, that we ARE NOT “obligated to the flesh” as some render the idea while another renders it in terms of having “a duty“. What Paul IS saying then is that we have NO duty, NO obligation to our lives in this world and, without saying it, Paul IS telling us that our obligation IS to the things of God. Men ARE NOT taught this however, what they ARE taught IS that they should live ‘normal’ lives ever striving to DO more, get more and be more as men. Most DO NOT see that the words of the apostles which they cleverly edit to agree with their doctrines, ARE telling us to follow the Lord and keep His words. Paul’s next statement from our selection tells us the Truer story about the lives of men in this world. Paul says “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live“. Here again we must understand the ideas of dying and living in a spiritual sense and NOT a carnal one. We have covered this Truth several times and we should try to understand this living and dying according to the Master’s words saying “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it” (Mark 8:35). Without getting into the dynamics of saving and losing again, we did so in the last post, we should just try to see how the point IS used here by Paul. The apostle tells us that “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die” and here understanding that this death IS NOT of the body IS just the beginning. This dying IS reference to the way that the Soul, the True man, IS locked out of the Life of the man in this world because he simply DOES NOT recognize a difference between spiritual Life and carnal Life. Paul goes on to say that “if ye through the Spirit if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” and while this should have fully explained the apostle’s point, it has NOT effectively impinged on the minds of men.
We should understand here that this change IS brought about by the Spirit, by the Soul if you will, which IS continually prompting the carnal mind to change its focus from the carnal to the spiritual. It IS through our heeding the prompting of the Soul that we can effectively change the carnal mind which idea is framed by Paul as that we “do mortify the deeds of the body“. We ARE NOT mortifying the body, killing it in any way, we ARE mortifying “the deeds of the body“. What then ARE these “deeds of the body“? The Greek word here IS praxis which IS defined by Strong’s as: practice, i.e. (concretely) an act; by extension, a function 9a. In this we should see that the idea IS NOT specifically those things that we DO, our deeds if you will, but rather the practice and the acts that bring such deeds into the world. Thayer’s makes this a bit clearer by defining praxis as: a doing, a mode of acting; a deed, act, transaction 9. These “deeds of the body” then ARE NOT mortified or killed; we ARE NOT killing the things that we DO but we ARE rather killing the propensity to DO them. Most ALL translations render the idea in terms of killing or putting to death “the deeds of the body” and most frame this as to say that such deeds ARE always sinful as that idea IS understood in the church. Few understand that the idea of sin IS much more complex and that it includes ALL that men DO when focused on their carnal lives which IS the focus of most ALL men. In this explanation the idea of propensity works best as it IS the result of the vanity into which ALL ARE born; ALL ARE born into this vanity and then nurtured and indoctrinated into the ways of the world. In this our carnal living IS the natural inclination to live as men in this world….this IS the propensity of most ALL. And this IS what Paul IS writing against: the propensity to live as men focused on the things of the self. What the apostle IS writing for IS our mortifying of this propensity through the prompting of the Soul; it IS through this that we can become “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). This IS what the Soul brings into the Life of everyman when the prompting of the Soul IS heard over the din of daily living and heeded.
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
- 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
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
