Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON GOD; Part XCIX
“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).
What we have been doing for the last several day is likely considered heresy or blasphemy by many in the various Christian Churches and perhaps in some Buddhists congregations as well. Contrary to this idea is the fact that while heresy is a divisive measure taken against a doctrine, our posts have had the intention of uniting. And, while both groups may consider our words as blasphemy, this is based upon their own lack of understanding and not on our intent. We are not indignant nor irreverent as regards God or His Avatars, the Christ and the Buddha, but we rather lift them up together as Great Brothers as they most assuredly consider themselves as well. There is no room in the reality of spiritual Life for the separatist attitudes built upon centuries of erroneous doctrines and the established pride that each religion and denomination has for itself as being the ONLY or the BEST way. From a strictly Christian perspective the Apostle Paul speaks out against this in the churches but few are listening to what he is really saying; so many believe that he cannot be talking about them because their own way is the ONLY or the BEST way. Paul, when he perceives the contention, tells the people of Corinth “For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:11-13).
While the church may see in this only the historic value, there is and has always been a present value as well. Is there much difference between this controversy in Paul’s day between these teachers as there is today with the multiplicity of denominations and sects. Can we identify the ideas of separation today in any different way? Wycliffe and Luther and Calvin and Wesley and others who came forth with New ideas which began movements throughout the world, establishing denominations in opposition to the Roman and the Easter churches. Further is the continued division of most all of these groups into yet more separatist and conflicting doctrine. All preach Christ, albeit a slightly different version, and in this they believe that they have unity. But in Paul’s day these men were preaching Christ as well and yet Paul rails against this practice of division. Vincent tells us of these verses that:
- Regarding the separatist attitude Vincent tells us: I am of Paul and I of Apollos. The repeated de and, expresses the opposition between the respective parties. The followers of Apollos preferred his more philosophical and rhetorical preaching to the simpler and more direct utterances of Paul. Others ranged themselves under the name of Peter4.
- On the differences between them he says: Cephas. Aramaic for Petrov Peter. See on John i. 42. It is Paul’s usual name for Peter, Petrov occurring only Gal. ii. 7, 8. Peter would be the rallying-point for the Judaizing Christians, who claimed him as the apostle of the circumcision. The state of the Corinthian church offered the most favorable ground for Paul’s Jewish-Christian adversaries, who took advantage of the reaction created by the looser views and practice of Gentile Christians, and by the differences of opinion on important questions, to press the necessity of legal regulation, and of ceremonial observances in non-essentials4.
- On the inclusion of Christ in Paul’s listing Vincent says: Of Christ. Many modern authorities hold that Paul thus designates a fourth and quite distinct party. This view rests mainly on the form of statement in this verse, and has no support in the epistle. The peculiar characteristics of this party, if it were such, can only be conjectured. It seems more probable that those who were “of Christ” belonged to the party of Peter: that they were native Jews, coming from abroad with letters of recommendation to Corinth, representing themselves as ministers and apostles of Christ, and using His name as the watchword under which they could most successfully prosecute their opposition to Paul and the gospel which he preached. The allusion in this verse would therefore link itself with those in the tenth and eleventh chapters of the second epistle4.
- Finally, on the overall division Vincent tells us that: Is Christ divided? (memeristai o Cristov). Some of the best expositors render as an assertion. Christ has been divided by your controversies. He is broken up into different party Christs. This gives a perfectly good and forcible sense, and is favored by the absence of the interrogative particle mh, which introduces the next clause.† Divided: so portioned up that one party may claim Him more than another. Christ has the article. See on Matt. i. 1. 4
Can we see parallels to today in these words by the apostle and the word studies of Vincent? Can we get from Vincent’s last statement a glimpse of what is and has occurred in Christianity over the centuries; that Christ has been divided by your controversies and that He is broken up into different party Christs. Writing “to the saints which are at Ephesus” (Ephesians 1:1), Paul tries to make clear the understanding of the Oneness of God and admonishes them saying: “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation where with ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:1-6). If we see this in the same light as the sayings above to the Corinthians, we should see the apostle tell the Ephesians to act with “all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” Vincent tells us of verse four, which is in bold above that: the connection with the preceding verses is as follows: I exhort you to unity, for you stand related to the Church, which is one body in Christ; to the one Spirit who informs it; to the one hope which your calling inspires; to the one Lord, Christ, in whom you believe with one common faith, and receive one common sign of that faith, baptism. Above all, to the one God and Father4. Can we see the relationship and can we understand Paul’s intervention to keep unity in both the church at Corinth and the church a Ephesus and by extension to the whole of the church throughout the ages? Was what has actually happened predictable? Likely so, in spite of the words of the apostle, as men never do see these things as speaking of them and this is again the effect of the illusion and the glamour that has ever been with us in the world. It is true also that these words are read today and the preachers and the pastors and the priests and the bishops who read them never apply them the current state of the church and, if they do, they apply them to others and not to themselves.
Changing our subject here we should note in Paul’s saying to the Ephesians the ideas expressed regarding the Oneness of God and our Oneness in Him. Paul places no parameters upon his saying that “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all“, he does not say that one must believe or that one must profess or follow, he makes this statement as if to all who would take the time to read it. This is much like the sayings that Paul tells to the Greeks at Athens regarding God that we have covered several times saying: “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being….” (Acts 17:24-28). Paul says yet a similar thing to the Corinthians in telling them that: “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1 Corinthians 8:6).
Here above are three places where the apostle tells his readers of the Oneness of God and how we are ALL IN Him yet this is a saying that is not understood nor acknowledged for what it is. The Master says this of Himself as we saw in yesterday’s post; He tells us “that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him” (John 10:38) and of course we can not forget the saying from our chapter by John above that tells us that “as he is, so are we in this world“. Between the saying by the Master and the affirmation by John we should be able to see the same message and intent that we can now see in Paul’s words and this is an idea that the church has always been rather firmly against and would rather believe that God and His creation are separate. Much of the problem in all of the views of God are in the fact that men look at the creation and themselves as these physical bodies and their motivating personalities and we KNOW that this is not the case. When we look at the fact that we are Spirit and that there is a spiritual essence behind ALL of the manifest universe we can begin to see this all in a different Light. If we could do as the Master says: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” we can then understand this ALL in its proper perspective and, as we get closer to this state of discipleship, as aspirants, we begin to glimpse these Truths. The Master completes this saying by adding that: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32) and not this Truth only that we are here discussing but ALL Truth, the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.
The next verses in our chapter above are about fear and is this ALL not the basis of fear, the lack of understanding is the basis of fear and it is also the basis of illusion as well. When we cannot understand a thing it becomes a part of the unknown and of this we fear. Can we see in this the reasoning for the doctrines that explain away uncertainty into a web of faith and comfortable conclusions? John tells us that there is one weapon against fear; he says “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” and, of course, this is the Love that IS God and the Love that is of God, this is “perfect love“. This is the Love that brings us to discipleship and it is here that we “shall know the truth” and shall be made free……free of fear, free of attachment to this world of things and free of everything that is contrary to His word. There is a saying by Cicero that goes thus “Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude” and in this we should get the idea that as we become more and more free and that there is a naturalness about the process. As one comes closer and closer to the righteous expression of the Love that flows through the Light of the Soul, he becomes more and more free but until he thinks back on how and what he was, he does not recognize nor appreciate what he has done in Love, and just how free he has become. The concerns and the worries about daily living dissipate; fear of the future is gone; the aspirant has a new look at Life itself and can echo the saying of Paul “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is a reward of discipleship, a reward of Love for if we are in Christ, we must be in Love as John goes on to tell us in these next verses.
So here we are back again on the idea of Love and rightly so as this is the central part of the Master’s message to us directly and through His apostles. Love is what God IS and Love is the Power of the Christ and the Christ Within; it is also the underlying motivation for all of our existence which is beginning to show itself ever more clearly and we move forward into the New Age. More that 2000 years ago the Christ taught us to Love and it has perhaps never been so possible as it is in this time that we are living as the forces of the entire universe are on the side of Love and Brotherhood. This can be seen by many and can be seen by all who take the time to look at what is happening in the world today. Yes there is still strife and selfishness and greed but there is also that sense of ONENESS that bringing more and more international cooperation and unity which will ultimately break the bonds of separatism as it still exists today.
We will continue with our thoughts on Love in the next post.
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.
In today’s Quote of the Day is the resolution for all of our fears. That everything that we read and write in these posts exhibits the nature of the sayings below is our goal and or mission.
KEEP HIS WORD
“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 stren-gth: 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 12:30-31)
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.
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)
There is nothing more important in the True Christian Life than our sense of Love as it relates to these sayings of the Master. The Truth of our closeness to the Master and His Kingdom is found in the degree to which we live a life as He instructs us in relation to our fellowman. This is the essence of all of His words and His teachings and in doing these things all other things will come to us as well.
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
