Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART CCLIII
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
GoodWill IS Love in Action
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:13-18)
Working from the premise that we established in the last post, we summarized our understanding of the first two phrases in concise statements which we repeat here for clarity as we proceed:
- That the phrase “Till we all come in the unity of the faith” is reference to the single mindedness, the singleness of focus, that is necessary for spiritual progress and this IS True both individually and corporately but here, in Paul’s writing, he IS speaking to disciples as individuals.
- That the phrase “and of the knowledge of the Son of God” is reference to the reality of the Christ Within who is KNOWN by that single mindedness and that singular focus upon the things of God. It is here in this state that the Wisdom from above is made available to the personality in form.
We are intentionally moving slowly through these sayings by the Apostle Paul as the ideas that we are putting forth are contrary to most of what doctrine holds as True and because within these words by the apostle are certain KEYS to the realities of Life and the Kingdom, realities which can unlock some of the mysteries for those who CAN clearly see. Our basic premise here is that these words from Paul are generally misunderstood based upon preconceived ideas that were formulated centuries ago by a humanity that was emotionally based and devotional in their approach to God as well as in awe of the Master’s sacrifice and His divinity. Looking at God as a Supreme Ruler in heaven, the Church Fathers formulated doctrines based upon the Master’s Life which were but loosely based upon the teachings of the Christ and, as we have often said, doctrines that relied more upon the misunderstood teachings of the apostles than upon the actual words of the Master and, we can say here today, that the teachings of the apostles are mostly misunderstood because of the failure to rightly discern the teachings of the Master. By example we should look to the Sermon on the Mount; clear and concise direction and instruction it shows the man in form who IS NOT thinking through interpretations of scripture the Way to the Kingdom. In the Sermon on the Mount we find the way of Right, we find the totality of the Eightfold Path of the Buddha that we recently discussed and which is a central point of ALL True religion as IT IS the how of our interaction with others, with our neighbor, our brother and the stranger who qualifies as both. And this IS Love, this following of the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount is the Master’s dissertation to the common man on that Love that He teaches and in the Eightfold Path we have this SAME Love offered to the disciples of the Buddha as the Wisdom of the Ages. As we recently discussed, within the Wisdom that the Buddha teaches IS that Love that the Christ teaches and within the Love that the Master teaches is that Wisdom from above and we should understand that like the concept of ONE God, there is but ONE True Wisdom and but ONE True Love which is seen in the Master’s words that we so often repeat:
The Master teaches, as the continuing ideas from the Old Testament that:
“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 12:30-31)
To which we have added the question and the answer from our perspective: 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.
And to which we have added our comment here on the Christ’s unique understanding of the ideas above as we say 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)
This last point, the Golden Rule as this is commonly called, contains for us the KEY to the first saying from Mark’s Gospel. It is in this that we can see and understand the idea of how one does Love oneself which is simply by wanting only what IS right and just for the self; additionally we find the reality of how to Love ones neighbor as oneself which is simply by doing and offering to others what we would want for oneself whom we Love. This may seem simplistic by the reality of Love as we define this above IS found in these two sayings by the Master and in this we add again the thoughts of Emmet Fox who tells us in His Fifteen Points that he uses to define living in Truth that: I PRACTICE, the Golden Rule of Jesus instead of merely admiring it. He said, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” The important point about the Golden Rule is that I am to practice it whether the other fellow does so or not.** (the full text of the Fifteen Points and our comments on them can be found in In the Words of Jesus parts 577, 580, 583, 586-587).
As we did cite the Buddha’s message of the Eightfold Path, we should repeat these here as the activities of the man who is desirous of spiritual advancement, the same reality that we place upon the Sermon on the Mount, and we should see in the Buddha’s words that the emphasis can be placed upon the interaction of a man with his brother, his neighbor and the stranger who qualifies as both as well as upon one’s own relationship with God. We should see these things as well in the Master’s words from the Sermon which is too lengthy to post here but which can be found in the Gospel of Matthew as Chapters 5, 6, and 7. The Buddha’s Eightfold Path is translated as: Right Understanding, Right Mindedness, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Living, Right Effort, Right Attentiveness, Right Concentration and comments upon these Steps from our discussion on the Buddha at the time of the Wesak Festival can be found in In the Words of Jesus part 655*.
While is was not our intent to go this far astray, there is a reality and a great importance in what we are saying here today; we came to these sayings from our discussion of clarity of the Master’s words in the Sermon on the Mount versus the confusion of the doctrines that come from this clarity, much of which have been unchanged since the times of the Church Fathers. And, these doctrines are contrary to what we are saying about the words of Paul above as well as much of the True intent of the Master. We must remember here that there IS a place for doctrine in the evolution of the race of men but there is also a need for some advancement in the terms of what is taught and believed yet today. Continuing with our thoughts on these sayings from Paul, let us begin by trying to clarify our two points above.
In the first one we see the reality of the aspirant and the disciple ALL understanding and his seeing the same Wisdom and faith which we understand as the KNOWING of the man who is focused upon God. In the minds of men in the world who are focused in the things of the world this faith is that affirmative believing that this or that IS True or will happen; this is an occasion of the personality and not that KNOWING that comes in one’s right focus on God, the Soul and the Christ Within. It is this faith that IS of the world that many believe will heal them and will bring them those things that they desire in prayer but, as we have pointed out, there is in these ideas a dysfunctional approach to God. True prayer will not bring a man anything of and for the self in the world and this Truth is seen in many sayings by the Master and His apostles and today we offer this from the Apostle John to illustrate that there is no worldly thing that IS divine: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). This is of course instruction for the aspirant and the disciple whose reality IS in “take no thought” (Luke 12:22) and whose understanding of divinity IS seen in this from Paul: “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24). Now while some may actually receive what they are praying for there is no consistency to this effect and in this world where mind and emotions play such a large role, there is likely some mental or emotional link involved rather than the common understanding in failure….that it was not God’s Will. For the disciple faith IS KNOWING and for the complete disciple faith is KNOWING without a doubt and for us, as aspirants, faith is whatsoever we can find and seize from that Wisdom from above. So then this phrase says to us that it is when we can come to this right sense of the Truth of faith, of KNOWING without a doubt, individually and corporately, and we should see both ideas in this single Greek word pas which we discussed in some detail in the last post, we are in partly in position to realize ourselves as “a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ“. We should not forget here the other idea from this phrase that we discussed which IS the single mindedness of the man whose focus is upon the things of God, the man who has broken free from the illusion and the glamour of the world.
The second point, the second phrase from the saying above, can be seen as an extension of the first and this we took from a different angle in the last post. When one IS focused upon the things of God, when one IS living in the Light of the Soul, when one IS a True disciple, then the reality of his being a Son of God is KNOWN; this is a great part of the KNOWING that is the faith that we see above. In the last post we spent our words trying to tie together the reality of the Master’s words and those of His apostles that tell us that we ARE Sons of God and that while this is ever a Truth from the perspective of the Soul, it is a realization in the consciousness of the man in the world. And this IS the apostle’s point; that in the single mindedness of the man in the world who IS focused upon the Soul, the Christ Within, there is that realization of the faith, the KNOWING, that one IS a Son of God and thus his knowledge, as a man in form, of the Christ through the Christ Within.
Tying these ideas together as we believe that they should be can then be easily done and when we replace the translation of the Greek word kai with the alternate understanding of it as even, we can get this picture even clearer and it would say to us that “Till we all (individually each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything collectively 2) come in the unity of the faith (KNOWING without doubt), and (even 2) of the knowledge of the Son of God“.
We will continue with out thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect of God |
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
|
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.
Staying on the theme of Love we repeat again the sayings of the Apostle Paul that put this Love into perspective.
But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13 (New King James Version)Regardless of our daily theme, the underlying theme of our posts and of this entire blog is Love. In these words from Paul we should be able to see the overriding importance of Love in the Life of each of us. This is a common theme throughout the gospels and the other writings of the apostles and a theme that is not nearly understood. In our theme today regarding Paul’s writings to the Romans and in the previous discussions on them we seek to impart the better understanding of the reality of Life, the Life of the True man as the Christ Within, the Soul, as it is from this perspective that we can gain that revelation of Truth and, as Paul says above, be free from the condemnation and the vanity of Life in form, free from the illusion and the glamour. We repeat here what we said about these verses in a prior post:
Today’s Quote of the Day from the Apostle Paul is his testimony to the power of Love. After speaking at length about the gifts of the Spirit that one should desire in order to be of service to the Lord, he says plainly that Love is a more excellent way. Love in the context of these verses is not the sentimental or affectionate kind that we ordinarily think of but rather 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. This defining of Love is covered in some depth in a previous post; In the Words of Jesus part 47.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- * Buddha: His Life and Teachings; Peter Pauper Press, Mount Vernon, New York 1 1 r v
- ** From The Fifteen Points by Emmet Fox; © 1932 HarperCollins Publishers Inc
