Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON GOD; Part CIII
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also“(1 John 4:1-21).
We made it at last through this entire chapter for the First Epistle of the Apostle John which ends with some of the more profound sayings in the entire New Testament as regards the instructions from the Master on Love. We saw in the last post how the words “We love him, because he first loved us” are better translated and better understood as simply “we love“; Vincent tells us that the best texts do not include the word translated as him4 and this is reflected in many of the later translations of this saying which come from what are considered the best texts which are purportedly from later manuscript discoveries of the more reliable Alexandrian category. That there are differences in texts is a commonly understood fact but at the same time one that is not acknowledged in much of Christian teaching and this is likely because of the widespread teaching of the infallibility of scripture which likely could not be easily taught with this idea of differences in mind. The combination of a variety of source documents, an even greater variety of translations into English based on these different documents and the understanding that there are frequently not English words to exactly express a Greek thought put us in the position that we have taken which is to:
- Attempt to understand the intent of the Master’s message based upon a common sense approach. For example, KNOWING His teaching about the Fatherhood of God we see ALL of His sayings regarding Love and brotherhood as universal in intent.
- View each of His sayings from the perceptive that it is in some way parabolic which lends us the understanding that even those that are seemingly straightforward have some additional meaning hidden within them waiting to be discovered by each of us when we are ready as aspirants and disciples.
- Understand that the writings of the apostles are specific in tone to the audience that was to receive them which accounts for the variety of approaches to what seems like the same issue. With this in mind, much of the specificity of the writings to certain persons and groups must be understood in the light of the ways and beliefs of that audience. Mixed into this is the general teachings of the apostles that can be taken to be for everyman, an example of this would be the Great Chapter on Love in 1 Corinthians. There are also some parts that are spoken specifically to a group but which as the same time have universal appeal; in this category we should put the Seventeenth Chapter of Acts where the Apostle Paul is giving specific words to a specific group but his sayings affect us ALL universally.
- See every thought and idea which is propounded by the apostles as amplifications and explanations of the words of the Master and never intended to change what He has said. In this category we should see the understanding of Love as taught by the apostles as being NO different from the Great Commandments of the Master in their universal appeal; that the Master’s instructions can not be changed by the way that any particular saying of an apostle may be framed or translated.
In a sentence, we look at the sayings of the Master in the context of a Son of God speaking to Sons of God who can not yet fully comprehend the message because of the effects of living in this world; we see EVERYTHING that He says as UNIVERSAL in scope and we see the fullness of the the idea that God and the Master are NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS, seeing EVERYMAN as he TRULY IS…..as a Soul working out his discipleship in form. We must also understand here that there are times when we do not KNOW of alternative renderings and come upon a verse that makes little sense insofar as our overall understanding of the message of the Master. In these we have had some revelation regarding some sayings which is included as such in our posts; there are other times also that we have no revelation and must leave a difficult saying for another day. In ALL we rest upon the saying of John that tells us “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27) and which we interpret to mean that we can do as it says and discern the truth. What we receive of Him is for us from the Christ Within and the anointing is the Power of KNOWING which flows through the consciousness as part of the Light of the Soul which also shines for us the Light of Love and the Light of Wisdom. We should understand that this anointing Power comes in stages; we should see this message here as when we are heeding the call of the Christ Within, focusing on Him, that this Power of KNOWING can come to us and it is in this that we can properly discern the words of the Christ. We should see this also in that same Light, as we discussed recently, as regards the “wisdom from above” (James 3:17) and its ability to dissipate illusion and glamour and the resultant deception in our lives; this Wisdom can be understood in the same terms as the anointing written of by John. We need also to remember the words of the Master which, while they may not have been addressed specifically to these ideas of how and what we should understand from scripture, they are definitely speaking of this same theme in generality and deal with what we hear or read and from whatever source.
Although we have looked at parts of this before, we have never looked at this saying in its entirety; the Master says: “For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath” (Mark 4:22-25). There is much here that we have never before addressed and perhaps had never seen. The Master tells us here that ALL will be revealed but He does not say how this will happen so that any preconceived ideas of a great revelation at some point in time would be unfounded. He does however say that ALL will be revealed. Vincent has an interesting take part of this saying: Which shall not be manifested (eja<n mh< i[na fanerwqh|~). The A.V. makes Christ say that every hidden thing shall be revealed. This is wrong. He says that things are hidden in order that they may be manifested. Concealment is a means to revelation4. While this may be a truth it does not really alter our understanding that there ARE things hidden from the general population as He did tell us as disciples that “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand” (Luke 8:10). We know that the Master speaks this to His disciples yet so many believe that they KNOW, that they see and understand while they are not near the stage of discipleship as the Master has defined it and this saying plays well for our understanding of the verses from Mark as well.
Understanding then that there are secrets, things hidden and mysteries that will be revealed, we take then the understanding that they will be revealed to His disciples from the combination of these two sayings. This is, of course, in line with many other sayings by the Master including the one we have been using of late that tells us “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). Do we get the fullness of this idea that as disciples we will KNOW the Truth and that in this Truth is All that is hidden and secret as well as the mysteries of the Kingdom? Do we also understand that discipleship is our goal and our objective as men in the world and that we WILL continue in this effort until such a time as we succeed to meet ALL of the criteria set by the Master? Do we realize also that we will then be in that class of men who have been able to realize the Kingdom of God within us and will be like unto Peter and John and Paul and the rest of those Sons of God who have achieved this High Calling before us and who stand ready to help us in every way? Going back now to the idea of hearing as it is presented in the verse from Mark “Take heed what ye hear” and in the verse from Matthew “and hearing they might not understand“, let us look at the common thread of thought. The word goes out to ALL and those that are disciples can understand what is presented to them but others will hear the words but not understand; this is clear. Behind this however is the understanding that they are hearing and they are making something out of what they hear even if it is not the Truth. Looking at this as we have discussed it over the last several days, we can see the presence of illusion, glamour and deception in the various interpretations that a man will place on what he hears. Using our example of the Love that is actually taught by the Master being turned into the various degrees of Love as found in doctrine, we should be able to see this idea of hearing but not understanding. It is in this context and in the context of the spreading of these doctrines that the Master tell us to “Take heed what ye hear” for He KNOWS that in the spreading of wrong doctrine a man can be led astray, he can be deceived either by a teaching or by his own devices. So the man now believes that he does not have to Love ALL, to Love his brother and his neighbour but he has only to Love fellow Christians or even more restricted as fellow Episcopalian or fellow Catholics; the man no longer sees the need to realize the words of the Christ and this is the next point by the Master.
In His words “with what measure ye mete” we find an interesting rule regarding the ideas above. These words measure and mete are related in that the first is an amount and the other is the measuring of that amount and we must look at this in the context of hearing which should be understood as not only what enters the ear but what is perceived and understood from it; hence, what we believe from what we hear. Strong’s tells us of the Greek word akouo that it means to hear, pay attention, understand, obey3 and from this we should be able to see our rendition of this as what a man may believe. So then we have that a man must be careful of what he believes and that it is in accordance with the amount of believing that he uses that that he will receive and there is no sense of direction placed upon this. It follows then that if we believe wrongly we will live in that wrong belief and it will grow and conversely if we believe righteously then this is what will grow. The Master goes on to clarify this and to carry it forward to the next saying; He tells us that “ and unto you that hear shall more be given” which is essentially the same as we have just seen and still with no direction, it is simply believing and the more one believes the more he will be given and this according to the measure and to what it is that he is hearing and believing from it.
The last part of this is one that we have discussed before and it appears several times in the gospels though with different meanings dependent on the context into which it is placed. Here we know the subject is hearing and believing and here we may need to go back to the general understanding of what this whole saying is in order to understand the ending; it is a teaching to disciples in a part of the gospel that follows upon the Master’s interpretation for them of the Parable of the Sower which is said thus: “when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve“. Can we see this then as a teaching to them as disciples as well as to us who would want to become disciples that ALL will be revealed to disciples and then as a caution to us He says “take heed what ye hear” and the why of this according to the law, the way that things work, which is “with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you” and that this can cut both ways, to the wrong beliefs and to the right. Can we see how this speaks to men on many different levels and that even in its straightforwardness it is also a parable. So then we have a teaching and a caution and a reason for the caution followed by a repetition of the reason in different terms and finally, based upon this all, the general statement that “For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath” In relation to a disciples that hath discipleship and the Kingdom, to him more shall be given; more of what is unclear but in our interpretation here it would be more of the things of the Kingdom; greater Light, greater KNOWING and greater Power in Love and in Wisdom as a conscious Soul in form. Who is it that hath not? As a contrast to the first thought, this would be the man in the world who is not a disciple, who has not done those things that would make him one and for this man, as we have posited before, whatsoever Light he may have had available in his personality consciousness will be lost by the lack of focus on the things of God. By focus on the world of things the Light from above will fade.
So again we have gone astray, away from the thoughts in the chapter above. We were today motivated again by the idea of the Love that the Master taught versus the Love that is taught by doctrine and here we try to offer as another tool for KNOWING the Truth of the words of the Master on being careful what we hear and what we believe. If we are at all hearing from our own Christ Within then we KNOW the Truth and if our Truth meets with the criteria set forth in the writing of James, it will be in accordance with the teachings of the Master. This is the measure and in the words of the Master that we have discussed in this essay are His thoughts to further guide us into ALL Righteousness.
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
Today’s Quote of the Day is a saying that garners much controversy as regards the inerrancy of the bible as some do use this as a corroboration of this as fact. That the Bible is infallible or inerrant should not be an issue when we understand the complexities of the Old Testament, that we do not know where allegory leaves off and where actuality starts, the multiplicity of written versions which in themselves differ and the the many translations through which one can see very different perspectives and meanings. This is not to mention that each denomination or sect defines words and sayings and ideas in different ways that suit their own needs
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
God inspired these scriptures are as are most every religious work from around the world. This idea of inspired, or as some like God-breathed, writings is however sorely misunderstood. We are told that the idea of inspired has its meaning in that the Holy Spirit wrote these words through the apostle or the disciple and this is True. For us however this Holy Spirit is the activity of the Christ Within working through the conscious personality of the disciple and the man’s works are then colored by the personality traits of the man himself and his customs and his use of language and what it is that he may believe. We will continue with these thoughts in the next post.
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 3 Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
