\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 nearly concluded our discussion on our selection from Paul’s words to the Romans. In this essay we will explore the real Life realities embodied in Paul’s words as they DO take us from our birth in this world to our communion with the Lord. We should try to see that it IS this communion that makes us disciples and saints <\/em>that ARE able to understand the reality of “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations<\/em>“. This mystery <\/em>“which is Christ in you, the hope of glory<\/em>” (Colossians 1:26, 27) IS the KEY to ALL mysteries<\/em>. Once we can KNOW the “Christ in you<\/em>” we can also KNOW God and in this come to KNOW the reality of what Paul calls “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body<\/em>“. This IS the culmination of our Life as a man in this world and the beginning of the Life of one who DOES “know the truth<\/em>“. It IS this Truth that will Truly “make you free<\/em>\u201d from the vanity <\/em>into which we ARE born. This reality IS beyond the ideas of birth and death as we understand those carnal ideas; this IS the reality of being freed <\/em>from sin, freed <\/em>from our focus <\/em>upon our little lives in this world. This focus <\/em>IS the result of our vanity <\/em>and IS the reality of our “bondage of corruption<\/em>“; here we should try to understand that it IS this focus <\/em>that IS the reality of sin. The idea of sin has been hijacked by religion and made to pertain to the illicit actions of men; this however IS NOT the reality of hamartia<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Greek word hamartia <\/em>IS defined by the lexicon as: to be without a share in; to miss the mark; to err, be mistaken; to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong; to wander from the law of God, violate God’s law, sin<\/em> 2<\/sup>. Viewing these ideas from the perspective of the Soul we should see that our sinful nature IS simply to remain succumbed to our vanity<\/em>. It is in our vanity <\/em>that we ARE in that perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends<\/em> 4<\/sup>. When we wander from the path of uprightness and honour<\/em> we ARE exhibiting our perishable and decaying condition<\/em>; as Souls we can ONLY watch as our opportunity to Repent <\/em><\/strong>and Transform <\/strong><\/em>passes by as we waste precious time. Surely as Souls we can prompt the carnal mind to Repent <\/em><\/strong>but this seldom results in the necessary Life changes without some motivating event. So long as our focus <\/em>IS on our lives in the world, upon the self if you will, we ARE without a share in<\/em> “the glorious liberty of the children of God<\/em>“. And, so long as we live in our deception<\/strong>, the deception <\/strong>of believing <\/em>that we ARE saved <\/em>by our allegiance to our doctrinal ideas, we continue to miss the mark<\/em>. While this last idea may seem unduly harsh, it IS nonetheless the Truth from the perspective of the Soul that wants ONLY to take advantage of this time in this world and to accomplish what Paul shows us as “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body<\/em>“. Repeating the text of our discussion from Romans we read:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in In the last essay we touched upon the last idea which Paul represents as “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body<\/em>” while linking this with Peter’s words saying “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust<\/em>” (2 Peter 1:2-4). While we DID discuss Peter’s words in some depth in the last essay, we DID so from the perspective of equating the ideas of being “partakers of the divine nature<\/em>” with entering “into the glorious liberty of the children of God<\/em>“, we DID NOT discuss the way that being “partakers of the divine nature<\/em>” relates to the communion that IS represented by “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body<\/em>“. Our first point here IS that we should remember that the Jesus and His apostles ARE speaking and writing to people who DO NOT yet comprehend the spiritual depth of the ideas that they present. It IS for this reason that the idea of the Father and the Son ARE introduced but never Truly explained and why the whole idea of the Holy Spirit remains undefined. From John the Baptist’s declaration that the Master will “baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire<\/em>” (Matthew 3:11) to the Master own words saying “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you<\/em>” (John 14:26), the entirety of the Trinity remains a mystery <\/em>and purposefully so. We must understand that mysteries <\/em>ARE NOT hidden as one would presume that idea; even within the Master’s parables where there ARE ‘hidden’ meanings, the Truths ARE available to ALL who can see them. And this IS the point: it IS when one IS keeping His words<\/em> that the realizations <\/em><\/strong>of the Truths, the mysteries <\/em>if you will, become clear and this the Master tells us in such sayings as “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear<\/em>” which words follow His telling of the Parable of the Sower. Later, just before the Master’s explanation of the parable to His disciples, He tells them “blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear<\/em>” (Matthew 13:9, 16). Ponder on this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In using the ideas of the Trinity<\/em>, a word that IS NOT found in scripture, representing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Master IS humanizing the spiritual concepts so that there can be a starting point for understanding. Doctrines however have used these word ideas as the end point and has doctrinally defined the individual ideas while coining the idea of the Trinity<\/em>. In addition to DOING this, humanizing the idea of God, the Truth remains ‘hidden’ behind the Master’s words and those of His apostles. Among the many Truths that the Master offers us IS the three parts of our trifecta <\/em><\/strong>which show us in rather clear terms the reality of the relationship between man and the Godhead. We should rephrase this to say that the words of our trifecta <\/em><\/strong>ARE clear to us….they ARE NOT clear to most ALL of the doctrinal church which has applied their doctrinal norms to these spiritual words. Repeating our trifecta <\/strong><\/em>we read:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In these words we have the Way to discipleship; the Way to KNOWING the Truth and the freedom <\/em>it brings. In the Master’s words that ARE our trifecta <\/em><\/strong>we have the Way to the Kingdom, NOT as a place to go after death but as a state to enter into here and now. The final part of our trifecta <\/strong><\/em>has some ideas that ARE easily understood but ignored by the doctrinal churches; the Master clearly tells us that if we Love God that we will <\/strong>keep His commandments<\/em> and while this idea IS entirely missed by the doctrines of men, this IS NOT because this IS a mystery<\/em>. There IS however the mystery <\/em>of having the Presence of God through the idea that the Father and the Son “will come unto him, and make our abode with him<\/em>“. Everything here, save for the idea of Loving the Lord, remains a mystery <\/em>in a church where the Truth IS ‘explained’ in doctrines that dilute and change the reality that was intended. From KNOWING the Truth and being a disciple, to understanding the reality of entering <\/em>the Kingdom, the Master’s words have been hijacked by the doctrines of men and made to have ONLY carnal meanings that masquerade as spiritual Truths. This IS what the church has DONE to the Master’s words. As for the apostles’ words, the church has DONE even worse; they have taken snippets of their words, especially Paul’s, and created their doctrines from them rather than from the source. ALL that CAN NOT be Truly understood by doctrines remain as mysteries <\/em>waiting to be discovered by the man who strives <\/em>to keep His words<\/strong><\/em>, the man who Truly Repents <\/em><\/strong>and Transforms<\/em><\/strong>. Among these mysteries <\/em>ARE our subject words above: the “exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature<\/em>” and “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body<\/em>“. While we CAN NOT explain these ideas so that they can be understood by those that ARE NOT ready to understand; we can explain them from our own perspective and our own ability to KNOW the Truth, an ability that grows by measure <\/em>as we continually strive <\/em>and Transform<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the idea of adoption <\/em>has been discussed frequently in our essays, the reality of the idea IS difficult to understand by any who DO NOT see the relationship between the Soul and the personality that IS grounded in this world. When one can understand that he IS a Soul, that ALL men ARE Souls absent the carnal differences that have resulted in milenia of prejudices, then one can begin to understand the reality of the Great Commandment: “Thou shalt We should try to see adoption <\/em>as an endpoint and Repentance <\/strong><\/em>as a beginning as we try to understand that so long as we ARE bound <\/em>to our vanity<\/em>, neither Repentance<\/strong><\/em> nor adoption <\/em>ARE possible. Trying to see ourselves as Souls can be understood as a precursor of Repentance<\/em><\/strong>. Other means of coming to Repentance <\/em><\/strong>require some form of motivation; this can come through a dissatisfaction with our lives or through a sudden awakening <\/em>as we see in the lives of the apostles. For some their awakening <\/em>was the result of their proximity to the Master which awakened <\/em>a predisposition based upon some degree of spiritual collateral and here we should understand that many in this world have some degree of collateral of their own. For others, like Paul, there was a sudden awakening <\/em>that was perhaps sparked by his participation in the death of Stephen. Many in this world today DO have some degree of spiritual collateral that lies dormant because we become so engrossed in carnal living that it IS never recognized. Others, may feel some motivation to move past their vanity <\/em>but resist because of the unknown nature of spiritual living. Still others DO feel some motivation and choose to pursue esoteric teachings or Eastern religions while failing to understand that the ideas of Repentance <\/strong><\/em>and Transformation <\/em><\/strong>ARE Universal and necessary for True discipleship in every religion.We should understand that we ARE looking to be disciples of the Christ which idea should be understood as becoming disciples of our own Souls, the Christ Within which idea tears down any religious differences. Discipleship IS beyond religion and to hold on to religious discipline IS to hold on to the doctrines that keep us away from the Truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regardless of how one arrives as his awakening<\/em>, it IS one’s awakening <\/em>to the Truth of the Soul and the Oneness with ALL Souls that of the greatest importance. In the end we come under the reality of the anointing <\/em>where “ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things<\/em>” (1 John 2:27) but we must first get to this point. During this journey we may rely upon the teaching of another and while this teaching may come from scripture, it must be free from the doctrines that dilute and change it. In Christian scripture we have a starting point; we have the Master’s words and through our study of His words and the clarifying and amplifying words of His apostles we can discern the Truth. The very first Truth that we should try to understand IS “Thou shalt Perhaps it would be right to look at this change of attitude from seeing the world around us in colors, races, cultures and social status as the beginning of our Repentance<\/em><\/strong>. From a True Christian perspective this IS the most important change that a man must undertake and by ‘forcing’ oneself to accomplish this, one IS Truly stepping upon the Path to “the glorious liberty of the children of God<\/em>“. This IS True freedom<\/em>; free <\/em>from hatreds and prejudices and free <\/em>to see the world as it was intended to be; while this vision is limited to one’s personal perspective, it IS the reality of the Master’s words saying “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven<\/em>” (Matthew 5:16). The reality of Repentance<\/strong><\/em>, that virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice<\/em> 4<\/sup>, IS the beginning of our Transformation <\/strong><\/em>where we strive <\/em>to accomplish 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<\/em>” (Romans 12:2). It IS in our conformance <\/em>we hold onto our prejudices and it IS in our Transformation <\/strong><\/em>that we ARE freed<\/em>. It IS in our Transformation <\/em><\/strong>that we can escape <\/em>“the corruption that is in the world through lust<\/em>“. There IS a reality in Peter’s use of the Greek word epithymia<\/em> which IS here rendered as lust<\/em>. While the common understanding of epithymia<\/em> IS: a longing (especially for what is forbidden)<\/em>9, 9a<\/sup> according to Strong’s and Thayer’s and as a desire, craving, longing, mostly of evil desires<\/em> 9b<\/sup> by Vine’s, the idea IS much broader. We should not that whenever the idea of epithymia<\/em> IS deemed to NOT be in regard to ‘sin<\/em>‘, it IS rendered as desire<\/em> and it IS the doctrines of men have made these distinctions. Our point here IS that doctrinal authorities and bible translators ARE frequently wrong in these distinctions and this error IS aided by the doctrinal perspective on the ideas of sin <\/em>and evil<\/em>. Here in Peters words the idea of desires<\/em> IS much more foundational that the rendering as lust<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The “the corruption that is in the world<\/em>” IS based in the desires<\/em> of men which in turn are based in the cumulative vanity <\/em>of humanity through the ages. These desires <\/em>that ARE founded in vanity <\/em>include a desire <\/em>to be different which has led to the formation of much of prejudices that exist yet today. Our individual desires <\/em>ARE generally selfish and perhaps often take the form of the more intense idea of lust <\/em>and we should understand that this idea of lust <\/em>IS far greater than the sexual ideas that it engenders. The primary definitions for lust <\/em>in today’s dictionary ARE: intense sexual desire or appetite; uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness<\/em>; this IS how most view this word. This IS NOT Peter’s reference however; Peter’s reference IS ALL that we desire <\/em>for the self in this world, desires <\/em>that ARE contrary to the reality that the Master teaches us. James tells us about a more general idea of lust <\/em>or desire <\/em>saying: “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts<\/em>” (James 4:1-3). From this mixture of personal and corporate ideas we should be able to understand the role of desire <\/em>and how that, through wars, such desires <\/em>feed the prejudices and the hatreds that consume the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bringing this back to our Repentance<\/strong><\/em>, we should try to see that in forcing ourselves to see ourselves and others as Souls occupying bodies in this world we ARE forcing ourselves to shed our prejudices and our hatreds. We ARE forcing ourselves to see past race, color, culture and social status and to see each individual as we see ourselves. This allows us to see the deeper reality of that ancient phrase “Thou shalt While we discussed the idea of awakening <\/em>and the need to be motivated to awaken <\/em>and Repent<\/strong><\/em>, we should try to see here another way. Forcing ourselves to see ALL as Souls effectively brings us to the point of seeing ALL as we see ourselves and in this we can initiate our hope, Because<\/s> expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered<\/s> made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body<\/em>” (Romans 8:20-23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
love<\/s> agapao thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>“. Although this may seem unrelated to the idea of the adoption <\/em>that Paul speaks of, this understanding IS a necessary component for any realization <\/strong><\/em>of the Truth of adoption <\/em>which we should see according to Mr. Merivale’s words saying “the adopted son of God becomes, in a peculiar and intimate sense, one with the heavenly Father”<\/em>4<\/sup>. This Oneness IS Universal and while the idea of adoption <\/em>ONLY serves to enable our understanding of this relationship which IS stated in terms of Father and Son so that our finite minds can make some sense of it. As Souls we ARE ever One with the Godhead, part and parcel if you will, and, as we come to understand this we can bring this Oneness into our heretofore carnal lives as our realization <\/em><\/strong>of the Truth. In the idea of adoption <\/em>we should see the reality of our Transformation<\/strong><\/em> and here we should add that both our Transformation <\/em><\/strong>and our realization <\/strong><\/em>that we ARE Souls in this world living through a body of flesh ARE both the product of our Repentance<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nlove<\/s> agapao thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>“. This IS NOT carnal Love, this IS NOT that mental and emotional attraction to others that IS understood as Love in this world. Agapao <\/em>Love IS based in the reality that ALL ARE Souls and ALL ARE the same; through this understanding we NO longer see the differences of race, color, culture or social status; we see ONLY other Souls. This IS for many a difficult task as we must overcome a our own vanity<\/em>, nurturing and indoctrination plus the systemic prejudices that ARE ‘baked into’ our cultures. In our undertaking this change we have the basis of agapao <\/em>and the ability to “agapao thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>“. As we strive <\/em>to see this way, we ARE effectively striving <\/em>to keep His words<\/em> and it IS in this striving <\/em>that we build, measure <\/em>upon measure<\/em>, the necessary realizations <\/strong><\/em>that will take us to the next plateau.<\/p>\n\n\n\nlove<\/s> agapao thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>“. Changing our attitude toward others in this way IS the fundamental meaning of agape <\/em>that IS hidden in the phrase “Thou shalt love<\/s> agapao thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>“. Do we still see race? Of course. DO we still see color? Of Course. DO we still see culture and social status? Yes we DO but we DO NOT allow such differences to affect our view of the person….we see the person as a Soul and as ourselves. In this IS the reality of another ancient phrase: Unity in diversity. This idea of diversity covers ALL aspects of human appearance and attitude; we ARE unified because we share the same essential nature as Soul’s living as men and women in this world regardless of our appearances and attitudes, our religions and our cultures. We ARE One Humanity living on One World under One God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n