Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART CCLXXVII

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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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).

Yesterday’s essay was again on our theme of Love as we present it above from the Master’s perspective and below from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. The Master sets the rule, the law, for the man who would be His disciple and He does so by reiterating two more ancient sayings and adding to them both His personal commentary, the Parable of the Good Samaritan explaining the True nature of the neighbor is one example, as well as the Golden Rule which says this same thing on Love as regards the purpose and the intent of Love in the world of men: that they should keep in mind both the idea of “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” and “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31) in their interrelationships with ALL men. Paul gives us some additional clarity on Love, frames it so that we can understand that this IS NOT that selective emotional attraction and attachment that one may have for another but is rather that non-selective Active GoodWill toward ALL men and while we have seen that some of these ideals of Love, patience, kindness, and a humble attitude that is not overly boastful nor envious nor selfish and an attitude of trust, may be necessary to the success of ANY type of Love, the intent IS in the latter and in ALL a man’s dealings with others. We focused somewhat on the words of the Master in the accounts of the Apostle John’s Gospel; here the terminology is quite different as John never refers to the Master’s sayings on Love thy neighbor but rather focuses on Love one another as Jesus speaks these words to His disciples. Since the entire nature of John’s writings strike a different tone, we should understand this in how we read his words; the synoptic gospels are written for the masses and for the disciples with much alternating in the Masters audience as we read in each, while the Gospel of John does not carry the same historical perspective but rather centers upon the Master’s relationship with His apostles almost exclusively. The word rendered in English as neighbor does not appear at all in John’s writings; in John’s narrative of the Master’s words to His disciples, the apostle speaks exclusively in regard to Love one another.

Now as we said in the last post, this does not mean that what we have in the synoptic gospels is of no use or is superseded by the Master’s words according to John but we should see this rather as an expansion that reaches to the very core of the disciple’s Life. We should understand that the disciples with whom the Master is speaking and who He IS teaching ARE already disciples and fall into that small band of men who:

• Are keeping His words already as this is the way of the disciple and the Master tells us this saying: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (John 8:31). Here we should understand that these disciples are already keeping His words which per force includes the teaching on Love thy neighbor and we should try to see that in the many sayings in John’s Gospel where Jesus refers to Love one another that there is a somewhat deeper meaning. Knowing that there had been some degree of competition among the disciples as we see in James’ and John’s desire to sit on the right and the left in the Kingdom and in this from Mark’s Gospel: “And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest” (Mark 9:33-34), we can perhaps better understand this admonition by the Master that they Love one another for them to do so beyond ALL other considerations.
• KNOW His words include the Great Commandments and understand how the Master has elevated these to a place above ALL others in importance and they are aware as well of ALL that the Master had said regarding discipleship including the need to forsake ALL, which we KNOW that they have done as we read: “Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold , we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” (Matthew 19:27). Again, these ARE disciples and they are already in lockstep with the Master as regards Love which is at the forefront of keeping His words and in this understanding the added idea of Love one another has additional emphasis for them and perhaps we can find some clarity in the way that Jesus frames these words to include the understanding that the disciples’ Love is to be the same Love as expressed by the Master Himself; we read: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34) and again “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

We should be able to see here that there IS NO change in the intention of Love for ALL by any of these words of the Master in John’s Gospel and that we should be seeing the idea of Love thy neighbor as having overriding importance as a part of the Great Commandment and then, we should see these words of “love one another, as I have loved you” as a special added understanding for the disciple. While it may seem that these ideas are of little value to the man who sees clearly that ALL men are his neighbor and his brother and the stranger who qualifies as both, this issue of interpretation into the words of John as Love one another as the message of paramount importance afflicts much of the church and this apparent in sermons and commentary as well as in a generalized look at the separatist nature of church teachings which tend to demean most other religions. We should try to see in this the unnecessary prolongation of this way of viewing the Master’s intent on Love. Reading again the words of Paul to the Corinthians we should note that there IS NO hint of this separation in his tone, just a general attitude toward and of Love; its importance and its character to ALL.

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.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease;

whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child;

but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.

Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13

And Paul reinforces the universality of his words in other sayings that tell us that ALL are ONE in the eyes of God and of Christ and, while we may believe that this universal nature comes to us as we embrace Christ and Christianity this is only because we read the words as men who are wound up on our own doctrines and interpretations of what the Master and His apostles Truly say. We should remember that the words of Paul and the other apostles are written to Jews and Gentiles in that day who were believing in the Christ and what He represented from most recent history and many of these had become disciples according to the criteria of discipleship. These men KNOW the meaning of being His disciple and the apostle spends his word as encouragement and correction as these are still men in the world. How many Paul is successful in keeping is unknown but we can surmise that at least those that he addresses individually had kept the bar high. We KNOW that Paul, in addressing the Colossians, does make that universal statement saying “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. 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 above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful” (Colossians 3:10-15). We should note here the similarity in terms to our sayings above and that this dialogue follows after Paul’s instructing them on the opposite of what he here includes as the sign of “Christ is all, and in all“; we should note as well that there IS NO thing said here that makes one in Christ except that he Love as is so stated and IS included again as the most important part as he tells us “put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness“. Now from the normal and mundane approach to Christianity and the Christ, this part of Love is rather forgotten and the emphasis is put only on being ONE in Christ which IS of course not possible without fulfilling the words of Love. Also, from our perspective, it IS to the man who lives in this Love that the understanding of the Christ will come as the Christ Within and the reference to this intent by Paul is likely missing because this IS ONLY KNOWN to those whose expression IS the Love of God. This KNOWING IS the reward, if we can use that word here, of the disciple and to a lesser degree the aspirant.

It IS from this perspective that we always maintain that the paramount teaching of the Master IS Love and that this same Love is the general topic of the writings of His apostles as well. While there IS much that pertains to keeping His words, we should note that Love is “the bond of perfectness” as we read above in Love IS the Greatest of all the commandments and of ALL that the Master tells us so that keeping His words must be seen from the view of Love as this IS the KEY to understanding His words and the testimony of accomplishment. From our view Love IS the intended expression of Christianity as it IS the expression of the Christ and the Christ Within and any other interpretation is likely contrary to the overall intent of the Master’s teachings and, we should see this Love as it is expressed by Paul insofar as its importance and its character as we already understand from the Master that of ALL the commandments, of ALL His words, the idea of Love thy neighbor is the Greatest. Of course we should see this as the co-Greatest as we read in the words at the top of our essay with the other part in regard to Loving God and here too there IS much confusion.

Can we understand that if the ideas above about the nature of Love are True, that these ARE also the nature of God? John tells us that God IS Love and the Master tells us that He and the Father are ONE and in this combination we should note two things; first that God, as Love, IS and DOES these things that the Apostle notes above and which we paraphrase as patience, kindness, and a humble attitude that is not overly boastful nor envious nor selfish and an attitude of trust and, while we may not be able to visualize God in this way this does not mean that this is untrue. The second thing is that the Christ also IS and DOES these things as the apostle notes and here we can visualize better as we can see Jesus in the world of men. However, Jesus is only the Christ from an historic perspective as He brought to mankind and the world the essence of the Love that IS God; the principal of Christ reaches far beyond Jesus and each man born in this world has as his True being that same spark of Christ, of God as Love, as did the Master Jesus and the difference IS that He was born expressing this “fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9) while we have to develop that same expression through living in this world according to His words. Seeing then that Love IS the True nature of God and Christ, we should be able to see as well that this Love IS the True nature of the Soul, the God Within and the Christ Within which ARE inseparable except in discerning their potencies as we outline in our chart below.

Paul, in the accounts of his Life in the Book of Acts, makes a speech at Athens and he is speaking here to the philosophers of that day, philosophers who, while we may think them heathens, are the educated men of their place and day and have interesting and unique perspectives on God and Life, perspectives that are historically understood from a worldly perspective as few men can actually understand the type of religious reality that they held in those days. Much that can be said of their religion can be said of many religions where the potencies of God are viewed as gods in their own right in the beliefs of a superstitious civilization; this is True of the Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians and the Persians as well in these times and it seems easier to consider these as heathen than to try to understand their perspective. Paul however understands these things as a disciple of the Christ and a KNOWER of the mysteries. Paul addresses them as follows:

• “Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said , What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection” Here we are told who it is that approaches the apostle questioning his teachings as being alien to their current beliefs and who see Jesus as “strange gods” being taught by Paul.
• “And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.” Here the parenthetical part is the opinion of Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts, and, whether accurate or not, we should see in these verses that these Greeks are curious and wanting to KNOW about these thing that Paul is speaking….they DO NOT just turn away because he is speaking new and strange things.
• “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” In the idea of ignorant here we should see the idea of unconsciously or not knowing as Vincent ⁴ tells us and not the rebuke that would be felt in ignorant and this not KNOWING is understood in their own inscription as they DO NOT KNOW the Truth of God, they ONLY KNOW what they see and perceive. The important part here however is that the apostle affirms that this God that they DO NOT KNOW IS the same ONE God as Paul is speaking about and this reality should be seen as carrying over to most any religion as there IS but ONE and there can ONLY be ONE God regardless of what He is called.

We close here for today with the words above that tell us that there IS but ONE God and our point here is that there IS but ONE Son of God, ONE Christ, and regardless of what this Aspect of God IS called, ALL must eventually understand that this IS He and He belongs to ALL and IS in ALL.

We will continue with our 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 others.

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!

• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888