Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART CCLXIX

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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

Of all that the Master told us, He considered this as the Greatest of Commandments. So much of what we are to understand as aspirants or as believers is found in the precept that we must KEEP HIS WORDS:

“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).

We ask ourselves 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.

We add to this THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST which can serve to both give us an understanding of what it means to Love oneself and how it is that we can Love our neighbor:

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them“ (Matthew 7:12).

In the last essay we intended on beginning a new discussion on Love but instead continued on the previous topic; the words of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians that tell us of what we call True discipleship which he identifies as “a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). This brought us to the realization that in the apparent stages of discipleship, the cautions of the apostle are real; that is to the aspirant and the disciple who keeps the words of the Master and accomplishes the criteria that is set as a gauge, but who has NOT yet achieved perfection. What this means is that there is, from the apostle’s perspective, that chance for regression and that chance that the man who has realized some degree of Truth can still be attracted by the illusions and the glamours of the self and the self in the world. Now we must believe that one does not keep this realized Truth when he turns back to the ways of the world but that they will become interpreted by the personality in the world of which we can say has won this round. And perhaps it is against men of this ilk that the apostle cautions as he says “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” (Ephesians 4:14) and here we should see more than the sinister idea of those who “lie in wait” but we should see as well the idea of the selfish and self centered personality of a one who had achieved some degree of Truth, then taking this personality interpreted understanding to the world as a strong belief. This is of course the effect of illusion on this man and it is in the sense of glamour that he believes he IS right and here we can place many a Pharisee or Sadducee who perhaps had seen the Truth but reverted to the doctrinal views of the time. We should also be able to see this in a Christian view from Paul’s words here and elsewhere where he speaks of:

• “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself” (1 Timothy 6:3-5). Now these words are rather clear and they do not stand alone as Paul tells us in another place that:
• “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-9).

Can we see our point here regarding just who we are cautioned against in regard to religious matters? And we should understand that these are cautions against non religious doctrines as well as they surround us in philosophy, in politics and even in science. The one thing that we can be sure of in ALL of this, in every “wind of doctrine” and in ALL “the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness” there IS the common thread of the selfish nature of the perpetrator or his group and this regardless of whether they even realize what it is that they are doing. We should try to understand here the strength and the carnal power of the personality and groups of personalities that ARE focused upon the self and the self in the world and no clearer picture can be painted than to look at one’s own struggles in taking control of the carnal nature, even in the Light of the Soul. To make this even more difficult we have men and groups of men promoting wrong doctrines, some believing that they are right, and doing so under the guise of Truth so that the man who IS unaware of the real Truth is deceived. Here, if one is aware of the words of the Apostle James, he should measure always what he sees and hears and what become his thoughts, his attitudes and his actions, against the apostles words on the Wisdom from above as this IS for each of us our first and our last defense. Looking around at the panoply of thousands of denominations and sects of today, it is difficult for the man who IS awakening to see where the Truth may lie and we can only imagine the effect of the unawakened and while Paul’s caution is intended for us as aspirants and disciples as this IS who he writes to, his words are available to any who can rightly discern them and here is the rub, the unawakened and those who are just awakening rely upon the purveyor of the doctrines that need to be discerned by the individual seeking enlightenment. Here we should see the reality illusion and glamour both upon those who offer doctrines, believing them to be True interpretations of the Master’s words while containing much of the self or, as the apostle tells us above those who believe “that gain is godliness“, and upon those who hear and find place in their heart for such teachings as they may offer comfort to the man struggling in the world of things. This IS a topic of note in most every world religion and we should remember here these words from the Buddha that tell us: “Do not live in the world, In distraction and false dreams. Outside the dharma. Arise and watch. Follow the way joyfully Through this world and beyond” (Dhammapada, on The World); “In distraction and false dreams” as fed by the illusion and the glamour of ourselves and others whom we let have control….”Arise and watch“.

This brings us then to our topic for this week of the Festival of the Christ or, as it is alternatively called, World GoodWill day or World Invocation Day; regardless of the name the topic for us IS Love as this IS the mainstay of the Master’s teaching and the one lesson that ALL can learn and must learn if they are to find that Peace of God that ALL men seek and of which Paul tells us:

• “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds  through Christ Jesus”  (Philippians 4:7) which is alternately rendered in Young’s Literal Translation as “and the peace of God, that is surpassing all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus“
• “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:14-15). Here in this word Charity we should see the same Love as we see below in these other words by Paul to the Corinthians and remember that both are translated from the same Greek word agape which is otherwise translated as Love as we see in the New King James Version that we have been carrying as our Quote of the Day now for several days.

Seeing the sentiment of Paul here as he tells us “And above all these things put on charity” or Love, we should see the importance as “all these things” are listed by the apostle as the universal use of these things that he tells us: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye“. And to identify universal Paul tells us “seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:9-13). And this IS NOT unlike his understanding below where he talks about “the best gifts” which we KNOW from the previous verses are the so called ‘gifts of the Spirit’ which words are taken from the general way that this IS presented by the apostle and about which most of the church has made much doctrine while, in our view, missing the intent of the apostle completely. This is however for another day as today we are speaking on Love or agape, which Paul tells us below IS “a more excellent way” and which we have always called the Way par excellence for any spiritual advancement in this Life in form. Young’s renders these words this way: “and desire earnestly the better gifts; and yet a far excelling way do I shew to you“. From the New King James Version we have this then which was our Quote of the Day:

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

We should note as well the end verses here that tell us of three human ideals that are sparked by the Soul in man; faith, hope and Love and he defines here for us this same understanding of the overriding supremacy of Love. And this is not a theme that is isolated to Paul as it is carried for us in ALL the apostles’ writings. When we look at these words, faith, hope and Love we should not see the human understanding that is so prevalent in doctrine and which man is comfortable in understanding:

• Faith IS NOT the whimsical idea that seems to be some combination of hoping and wishing in common use NOR is it that idea of believing as we commonly understand that word which is that we accept the assertions of others as Truth without questioning the veracity of the saying and this likely based upon the ones views of the author or the speaker. Faith should bring us to our understanding of KNOWING, and in the context that we have in the gospels and epistles we should see this as KNOWING from the perspective of the Soul, the Christ Within as we can see in this between the Master and the Apostle Peter as the apostle affirms that he KNOWS that the Master is the Christ: “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17) and we of course understand that such communication IS through the Soul, the God Within.
• Hope is another word that is misunderstood as we have related in our discussion on the words from Paul that we so often use regarding the vanity to which mankind is subjected. Here the word rendered as hope IS in relation to a ‘thought’ of God and we should be sure that there is no hope in His Great and Awesome Plan; that He does not hope that we will be delivered. This Greek word, elpis, should be regarded as expectation and anticipation, a KNOWING that things will eventuate but involving things that are not in one’s control. Here, based upon the free will of mankind there is no assurance but only expectation that what IS the Plan will happen. Contrasted to faith  which is rendered from the Greek word pistis, we should see in faith a more divine, Soul based, KNOWING.
• If then we see faith as that more complete KNOWING as it comes from the Soul and can understand the fullness of faith from the Master’s words: “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20) we can see reality. In this ultimate of KNOWING, the hallmark of the True disciple, there IS NOT, nor can there be any doubt; that doubting part, the human personality, MUST be totally under the influence of the Soul. In ALL its stages however this KNOWING IS divine and this KNOWING IS that same dynamic that brings a man in the world to believe on or to believe in the Master which terms we have defined from Vincent’s writing as regards the Master as: 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 ⁴, and this we adopt mostly for the end part as this concerns our actions in the world and this should be understood in ALL things on which we Truly believe. 
• Hope then, IS from the more carnal perspective of the personality but here, in True hope, we should see this as expectation based upon the KNOWING that the Soul provides to the aspirant and the disciple in the world and this in regard to those things which we may have little or not control over. We may hope for, expect, world peace and this IS a high ideal but we have no control over this happening and even in the face of the conflicts and the strife that we read about daily, we have that hope, that expectation, that the race will not destroy itself. Hope then carries a sense of prayer and of invocation and these surely can be ways to enhance those things that we hope for.
• Now faith and hope are important aspects of the Life of the aspirant and the disciple and the apostle acknowledges this but tells us as well that the ideas conveyed by agape ARE of greater importance and we should see from our sayings at the top of our essay today that this IS True as well from the perspective of the Master who tells us that this agape IS the center point of the Great Commandments. And, if we read His words honestly, regardless of what our perspective, we should see the impact of this idea of Love as it can affect most every wrong that has ever been committed and this includes our personal and corporate lives. But we must see this idea of agape as that Love that binds men together and not that Love of selection; we must see that his Love does qualify as both of the rendered English words, of Charity and of Love. As we have been stressing this Love IS NOT that emotional attraction and attachment of carnal life as the Master never teaches us carnal things but only how to govern our carnal Life through the divine; the Master calls forth the Inner Man that he can be the expression of the Life of the man in the world. And in this is our idea of Love as we say above, our definition, which is actually the Webster’s ¹ definition of Charity as this word had a much broader meaning in earlier times and carries the connotation that there is NO respect of persons in its fulfillment and, as we KNOW this universally equal look at the world of men is a mainstay of the apostles’ understanding of the Nature of God. And so it should be, it MUST be, for our understanding of Love, that we Love ALL regardless of place in society or religion or any other separating factor

And our idea of 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. Our idea of Love is as Active GoodWill and as Right Human Relations which ideals we take from the Golden Rule which should and MUST BE the rule of Life for the aspirant and the disciple.

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.

We should ever understand that the purpose of our aspiration and of our discipleship is to bring into the world our expression of the Love and the Power of the Soul both as an example of the righteous Life and as a ready aid to our brothers, our neighbors and the stranger who qualifies as both. Our intent should be to serve and in our service to instill in others that same sense that we have; from a spiritual perspective to the spiritual man, and from a worldly perspective to the man who is yet grounded in the world. The Apostle Paul puts it this way for us from his own Life and personal experience:

“for if I may proclaim good news, it is no glorying for me, for necessity is laid upon me, and wo is to me if I may not proclaim good news; for if willing I do this, I have a reward; and if unwillingly — with a stewardship I have been entrusted! What, then, is my reward? — that proclaiming good news, without charge I shall make the good news of the Christ, not to abuse my authority in the good news; for being free from all men, to all men I made myself servant, that the more I might gain; and I became to the Jews as a Jew, that Jews I might gain; to those under law as under law, that those under law I might gain; to those without law, as without law — (not being without law to God, but within law to Christ) — that I might gain those without law; I became to the infirm as infirm, that the infirm I might gain; to all men I have become all things, that by all means I may save some. And this I do because of the good news, that a fellow-partaker of it I may become;  have ye not known that those running in a race — all indeed run, but one doth receive the prize? so run ye, that ye may obtain” (1 Corinthians 9:16-24).

With this in mind we redo a past Quote of the Day and one that we have been using from very early on in this blog. The sentiment here is the fulfillment of our duty as aspirants and disciples and our duty it to instill these ideas in the hearts and minds of other.

Values to Live By

A Love of Truth—essential
for a just, inclusive and progressive society;

A Sense of Justice—recognition
of the rights and needs, of all.

Spirit of Cooperation—based
on active goodwill and the principle of right human
relationships;

A Sense of Personal Responsibility—for
group, community and national affairs;

Serving the Common Good— through
the sacrifice of selfishness. Only what is good for all
is good for each one.

The world of the future depends on what each one of us chooses to do today.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ¹ Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888