\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/em>” (Mark 12:29-31).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/em>” (Matthew 7:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the last essay we began with some additional thoughts on what it means to be a True Son of God according to the word ideas provided by the New Testament. We have discounted the doctrinal ideas regarding Sonship that minimize the idea and make ALL men in Earth sons of God because these rely upon the nebulous doctrinal ideas of faith <\/em>and believing <\/em>rather than the True intent of the Greek words pistis <\/em>and pisteuo<\/em>. It IS the dilution of the meaning of these Greek words that has emboldened the church and their doctrinal ideas as they claim authority over the lives of their followers and it IS this that brought us to Jesus’ words on what He calls the “the weightier matters of the law<\/em>“, words that themselves ARE NOT understood as they ARE intended. These words, krisis <\/em>which IS rendered as judgment<\/em>; eleos <\/em>which IS rendered as mercy <\/em>and pistis <\/em>which IS rendered as faith<\/em> ARE better explained through our discussion in ways that reflect the spiritual ideas that they ARE intended to reveal. As we have often said, the misunderstanding of many Greek words as they ARE rendered into English and other languages IS a limiting factor in men’s ability to understand the singular intent of New Testament scripture as many accept as Truth the ideas provided by those same doctrines that misapply the words. From our perspective there ARE four words that ARE KEY to understanding the Truth of the Lord’s words; words which ARE often grossly diluted to fit the doctrinal preconceptions of those who have led the Christian movement from the beginning. These words ARE agape <\/em>which IS rendered in terms of Love using carnal ideas that dilute and change the intent of its use. Pistis <\/em>which IS rendered as faith <\/em>and used in such a nebulous manner by the doctrines of men that it IS become rather meaningless when compared to the KNOWING that it should reflect. Pisteuo <\/em>which IS rendered as believing <\/em> and which IS a kindred word to pistis<\/em> albeit a more actionable idea. Finally there IS elos <\/em>which IS rendered as mercy <\/em>which IS grossly misunderstood yet today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Beginning with pistis <\/em>and pisteuo <\/em>we look toward Jesus’ own ideas to reveal the depth of these words; the Master tells us in several places that in order to have the ‘rewards<\/em>‘ of spiritual Truth one must believe <\/em>and surely common sense alone IS enough to KNOW that the nebulous ideas of doctrines ARE NOT His intent. Jesus tells us “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do<\/em>” (John 14:12); to be sure His reference IS NOT to the nebulous ideas of believing <\/em>that are the way of so much of the church. To compensate for this many bible commentators greatly dilute the idea of “greater works<\/em>” in an effort to minimize the Truth of this word idea which Vincent shows us to be much more spiritually oriented. Mr. Vincent tells us: to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life<\/strong><\/em>4<\/sup>. The doctrinal dilution of this idea of pisteuo <\/em>IS a great hinderance, a stumbling block if you will, to men’s right understanding of the Master’s intent in this particular saying where the idea of “greater works<\/em>” should reflect the reality of Jesus’ pwn works during His time in this Earth. Similarly we ARE told that we can “say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done<\/em>“, and that we can command “this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you<\/em>” (Luke 17:6). These ARE NOT idle words nor ARE they but an example of faith <\/em>as many see His words. There IS a reality here that IS closely aligned with the idea of “greater works<\/em>” and that reality IS that we must KNOW that we can DO such things; as we read in Matthew, moving the mountain <\/em>IS subject to our ability to “have faith, and doubt not<\/em>“. Jesus words ARE clear saying “Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done<\/em>” (Matthew 21:21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n While these words ARE not a simple example of faith <\/em>as this word IS understood, they ARE an example of what one can DO when the KNOWING Power of the Soul becomes the focused <\/em>Power of a man. We should be careful here however to realize that such power IS also available, albeit in a much lesser way, to the carnally oriented man; this we can see in powers of psychics and mystics throughout the bible. Carnal power IS NOT a match for the spiritual Power of KNOWING however, of having faith <\/em>without any doubt<\/em>, and this we can see in the way that the prophets and the apostles easily overcome the feats of carnally focused<\/em> men. Our point here IS that it IS that KNOWING that comes in our True spiritual focus <\/em>that can allow the disciple to DO such things as we read of in the lives of Peter and Paul and the other apostles of the Lord. And this IS the point also of Jesus’ words saying “If ye<\/em> continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free<\/em>”\u00a0(John 8:31-32). These words show us the Path that we must take in order to “know the truth<\/em>” and it IS this sense of KNOWING that can then exist without doubt<\/em>. These words also show us the validity of Vincent’s words that tell us that to “believe on<\/em>” the Master, “pisteuo eis<\/em>” in the Greek, IS: to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life<\/strong><\/em>4<\/sup>. While Vincent relates His commentary to the idea of “pisteuo eis<\/em>“, it should be extended to the noun form of the idea, pistis<\/em>, as well as to any stand alone uses of pisteuo <\/em>that relate to men’s spiritual pursuits. It IS through our accepting <\/strong><\/em>and adopting <\/em><\/strong>His precepts and example as binding upon the life<\/strong><\/em> that we ARE keeping His words<\/em> and it IS in our continual DOING so, our being “doers of the word<\/em>” (James 1:22) as James tells us, that we have access to our innate ability to DO those “greater works<\/em>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We began with pistis <\/em>and pisteuo <\/em>because these words ARE KEY to our understanding of the other two words in our list, agape <\/em>and elos<\/em>. We should note here however that it IS agape <\/em>that IS perhaps the most egregious example of the doctrinal misapplication of spiritual ideas. Agape’s <\/em>True meanings ARE adequately explained to us in Jesus’ words as well as the words of His apostles who tell us such things as “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>” (Galatians 5:14). In Paul’s words here we should see NOT ONLY the Ten Commandments but rather the fullness of Jesus’ expansion of this idea of agape <\/em>which represents much more than the ideas of Love embraced by the church over the centuries. The common ideas of Love ARE generally that emotional and mental attachment and attraction to others and to the things of worldly living while the idea of agape <\/em>IS a selfless one that enables us to Truly “love thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>” as well as to fully understand the meaning of the Golden Rule. This Matthew gives us as “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them<\/em>” (Matthew 7:12). Both the idea of agape<\/em> from the Great Commandment, that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>“, and the precept of the Golden Rule have become but trite sayings in the church where the common ideas of Love DO NOT lend themselves to our understanding of either saying. To be sure it IS in our KNOWING that comes in our striving <\/em>to keep His words<\/em> that the idea of agape <\/em>becomes clear as we begin to see that agape <\/em>and the common understanding of Love ARE NOT at all related spiritually. It IS for this reason that we led our discussion with the words of KNOWING, pistis <\/em>and pisteuo<\/em>, as without that KNOWING that IS our faith <\/em>and believing <\/em>we CAN NOT see the spiritual reality of agape<\/em>. We need ONLY to look at the Master’s words from His Sermon on the Mount to understand the depth of agape <\/em>and to realize how far away from that depth the doctrinal ideas of men have kept the world. Jesus tells us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful<\/em>“. <\/p>Luke 6:27-36<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n These precepts ARE NOT taught in the churches save for the way that Jesus’ words may be included in a Sunday sermon. The common ideas of Love DO NONE of these things save perhaps in relation to another person to whom we have an emotional or mental attraction or attachment. There IS a True conundrum in the church today regarding the meaning of Jesus’ words on agape <\/em>and the peoples’ understanding of His words as they relate to the common ideas of Love. Furthermore, to apply the common ideas of Love to Jesus’ words from Luke’s Gospel IS rather meaningless and this IS especially True when we relate His sayings to His revelation <\/strong><\/em>of “who is my neighbour?<\/em>” (Luke 10:29), a concept that IS little understood in the church yet today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This brings us to the last of our four misunderstood and misapplied words from the New Testament, elos<\/em> which IS rendered as mercy<\/em>. It IS unfortunate that even in the lexicons, bible dictionaries and bible commentaries the idea of mercy <\/em>IS restricted to the miserable and afflicted joined with a desire to relieve them<\/em>2a<\/sup>. From the perspective of the Lord this idea IS problematic as the Lord DOES NOT react to the worldly misery <\/em>and afflictions <\/em>of millions upon millions of persons while we ARE told that we should “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful<\/em>“. In previous posts we explored the common ideas that ARE attached to mercy <\/em>and while there may be an expression<\/strong><\/em> of agape <\/em>in these ideas, it IS a segmented expression <\/strong><\/em>offered ONLY to a select few who may be among the miserable <\/em>and afflicted<\/em>. As one of “the weightier matters of the law<\/em>” mercy <\/em>should NOT be so restricted but should be seen as our offering to ALL as our expression <\/strong><\/em>of Love and here again we should see the idea that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>” along with the ALL inclusive nature of the neighbor<\/em>. In this it IS easy to understand Luke’s version of Jesus’ words saying “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful<\/em>“. We should remember here however that Matthew frames the Master’s words in terms of perfection <\/em>saying that we should “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect<\/em>” and in this we should see the relationship between being merciful <\/em>and being perfect<\/em>; both come from the same ideas given us by the Master. We should note here as well another idea that helps us to define agape <\/em>which IS that “there is no respect of persons with God<\/em>” (Romans 2:11); we should understand here that this goes in every direction and that in the ‘eyes’ of the Lord ALL men ARE equal and that NONE get special favors<\/em> or grace<\/em>. To understand this however requires that we see men as Souls and NOT as the man in this world. The man in the world gets naught from the Lord save what he has earned though his focus <\/em>on the things of God. This IS contrary to the teachings of the church regarding prayer and faith<\/em>. Both of these expose the nebulous nature of such ideas and while a positive result IS attributed to the Lord, a negative result IS blamed on insufficient or wrongly motivated prayers and faith<\/em>. That “God is no respecter of persons<\/em>” becomes a moot point whensoever any individual IS favored above another. There ARE NO carnal rewards <\/em>offered to men from the Lord and our spiritual rewards <\/em>come NOT from a Transcendent <\/strong><\/em>God who discerns our spiritual striving <\/em>but from our own Souls, God Immanent <\/strong><\/em>in our lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Apostle James compliments this nature of God, His expression <\/em><\/strong>of equanimity in regard to men who ARE equal as Souls with words that apply this nature to men. James tells us “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But 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<\/em>” (James 2:8-10). Here we should understand that as “God is no respecter of persons<\/em>” neither should we be; here we should understand then a deeper meaning of the idea that we should “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful<\/em>” as we express <\/strong>agape <\/em>to ALL equally according to Jesus’ defining ideas regarding “who is my neighbour<\/em>“. We should understand here that God IS merciful <\/em>toward ALL equally and that His mercy <\/em>IS NOT directed ONLY at a select few but rather to ALL men, with NO “respect to persons<\/em>“; this IS the nature of the Lord. This IS the nature as well of the man who expresses<\/em><\/strong> agape <\/em>in this world; this IS the same man that expresses <\/strong>mercy <\/em>to ALL as the natural product of his focus <\/em>upon the things of God. We should understand here that when we embrace agape <\/em>as it flows from the Christ Within through the process of Repentance <\/strong><\/em>and Transformation<\/em><\/strong>, our expression <\/em><\/strong>of ALL of “the fruit of the Spirit<\/em>” IS a seamless and rather automatic one. Starting with our Repentance <\/strong><\/em>we begin to express<\/strong><\/em>, measure by measure, the deeper meanings of Paul’s list from Galatians as we become ever less inclined to participate in the deeper ideas from what he lists as “the works of the flesh<\/em>” (Galatians 5:22, 19). To be sure the carnal interpretations of both lists increase and fade as well but the deeper meanings ARE the hallmark of the aspirant to discipleship which IS the ‘hidden’ objective of everyman we seek to be loosed from our own “bondage of corruption<\/em>” and to enter “into the glorious liberty of the children of God<\/em>” (Romans 8:21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n This returns us to the discussion we began two posts back regarding becoming and being Sons of God. This of course must begin with Repentance <\/strong><\/em>and Transformation <\/em><\/strong>and will ultimately lead us to our Redemption <\/strong><\/em>which Paul phrases as “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body<\/em>” (Romans 8:23). While this idea of Redemption <\/em><\/strong>IS NOT easily understood, it will be perhaps easier to glimpse this stage of our individual evolution as our ability to have full control of the flesh<\/em>, full control of our heretofore carnal nature. We should try to free <\/em>ourselves from the doctrinal ideas regarding Redemption <\/strong><\/em>which work under the defining ideas of ransom <\/em>and ARE generally fixed upon the Redemption <\/strong><\/em>of men through the ‘blood’ of the Christ. We can see this in a verse from Galatians where Paul writes “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree<\/em>” (Galatians 3:13). This idea has become the meaning of Redemption <\/em><\/strong>but there IS ever more based upon our individual efforts to be so Redeemed<\/strong><\/em>. Paul tells us later about the individual saying that: “Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father<\/em>” (Galatians 4:1-6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul’s idea of change from being children <\/em>IS NOT according to the ideas of “children of God<\/em>” as we would express this idea under the reality that ALL ARE “children of God<\/em>“. Paul’s idea here IS as children <\/em>of the world that ARE “in bondage under the elements of the world<\/em>” which we should understand as that “bondage of corruption<\/em>” from his Epistle to the Romans of which we often speak. The idea of Redemption <\/em><\/strong>here in Galatians IS NOT intended to be seen as being by the action of Jesus dying on the cross but rather in regard to the Master’s showing us the Way that men can be Redeemed<\/strong><\/em>, removed if you will from the law. We should note here that this idea of the law IS NOT specific to the Jews mitzvot ONLY; this idea of law IS better seen according to the defining ideas of the lexicon where we read that the law IS: anything established, anything received by usage, a custom, a law, a command<\/em>2a<\/sup>. In this ALL of the effects of “the elements of the world<\/em>” ARE considered. Jesus often speaks about the Jews’ traditions and we should try to see how that this idea of traditions IS become the law for the Jews religiously. In addition to this we should see the secular rules that governed the day, the secular traditions of men, as what IS become the law for that segment of Judaism. Similarly we can apply these same ideas to the Christian world where again we have the religious and the secular marching to a different drum, a different set of laws from the perspective of tradition; this DOES NOT address the established legal system which IS beyond Paul’s views regarding the law. It IS from the established ways of men that we ARE Redeemed <\/strong><\/em>by His precepts and example<\/strong><\/em> and when these become binding upon the life<\/strong><\/em> of the aspirant, he IS then Redeemed<\/em><\/strong>. We should remember here the idea of measure which must ever be applied to spiritual pursuits. The Redeemed <\/strong><\/em>ARE NO longer merely striving <\/em>toward this goal but have reached the goal of Truly keeping His words<\/em>, it IS these that have found the Truth, have ‘entered’ into His Kingdom and have the fullness of the Presence of the Lord in their mortal Lives. It IS these that ARE the True Sons of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul gives us a glimpse of this high calling as he tells us that he himself IS NOT yet ready in his own mind and from his own perspective; the apostle tells us “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<\/em>” (Romans 8:22-23). Perhaps Paul’s sense of waiting IS founded in his own humbleness as he DOES NOT see himself in the role of a Son of God yet as he waits for his adoption<\/strong><\/em>. We should try to see here that Paul IS likely beyond merely striving<\/em>, that he has arrived as his goal. While Paul may not see himself in the fullness of the disciple of the Christ, we should see, through our ability to view the past, that it IS most likely that he has answered his own prayer so to speak. We should see that he has come “to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God<\/em>” (Ephesians 4:19). We ARE ALL waiting for this adoption <\/strong><\/em>whether we believe it or NOT, we ARE ALL waiting to be loosed from our own “bondage of corruption<\/em>” and to enter “into the glorious liberty of the children of God<\/em>” (Romans 8:21). This “glorious liberty of the children of God<\/em>” IS the freedom <\/em>that comes with the Truth, it IS our entry into His Kingdom and it IS our full realization <\/strong><\/em>of His Presence, the realized presence of the Christ Within; ALL of this is the