Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART CCLXXVI

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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).

Continuing on our topic of Love as it was sparked by World GoodWill Day or, as it is otherwise KNOWN, the Festival of the Christ, which IS the third of the Three Spiritual Festivals each year. This day, also KNOWN as World Invocation Day is intended to focus us on the meditative invocation that many do around the world as they pray for greater Light, Love and Power to be expressed in the Earth KNOWING that mass invocative appeal WILL NOT go unnoticed by the Christ and His Disciples, otherwise KNOWN as the Saints or the Spiritual Hierarchy. There are however limits in the interaction that these Spiritual Beings may have on the Earth and these limits are found in the limited free-will that mankind ‘enjoys’ as it IS essentially the responsibility of the man in the world to make the necessary changes that WILL bring that greater Light, Love and Power to fruition in this Earth. And this IS why we prefer the alternate name of World GoodWill Day as this title better illustrates this need for the man in the world to take that positive action of GoodWill rather than to concentrate on prayer and invocation which theme is largely out of the focus of the man who is not involved in some of the esoteric ideas of which this invocation is a central part. Speaking as we do to the Christian World, we have taken the position that those who will benefit from our words ARE those who are bewildered and confused by the lack of solid progressive teaching in the churches and who, looking for deeper meaning, may find us and in so doing find that the teachings of the Christ and His apostles are in their own right esoteric and deep when viewed from the perspective of the True man in form, the Soul, the Christ Within. It has been our intent then to present this Festival Day of the Christ as a day of Active GoodWill and as a reminder that it IS Love that IS the beginning and the end of our spiritual pursuits; Love IS the alpha and the omega of our existence here in this Earth and we should see this in the same way as the Apostle John presents the words of the Christ in his vision: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Revelation 22:13). Here, Christ IS these ideas of beginning and end and we MUST understand that since “God is love” (John 4:8, 16), the Christ IS Love as well and it IS this Love that is sent to us as Christ Jesus and, if we read His words in the Light of day, we will see that He came to show us “a more excellent way” than ALL of the religious wranglings that were before and after His Advent.

More than 2000 years later the lesson of Love still goes unlearned by the masses and untaught by the doctrines of the churches that maintain their religious stance, a stance that was developed in the early days of the Church Fathers and modified somewhat by the authors of the Reformation, nearly 500 years ago. Now we do not mean to imply that the church does not teach Love; what we are saying is that the Master made this Love the cornerstone of His teaching, the Master elevated the minor commandments of Jehovah as given through Moses to become the Greatest of Commandments, and these are of course the commandments on Love that are at the head of our essay and of which we so often speak; the teaching of the church however pales in comparison to His effort. And it is likely because the fulfillment of these commandments on Love IS difficult, perhaps the most difficult of human endeavors, and, in the grasp of the vanity, of the illusion and the glamour, man finds the easier way rather than “a more excellent way“. And this easier way is found in the pomp and the ritual, in the sacraments and in the so-called gifts of the Spirit and, in the common understanding by some, that if a man believes, and, following the edict of the Apostle Paul, performs as this: “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10), that there IS little else that he need do. We should ever remember these words from the Apostle James who tells us clearly that there are no shortcuts to one’s ability to express divinity; he says: “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22) and in this we should try to see the deception of the easier way.

Now if we were to search the scriptures, the gospels and the epistles, we would surely find verses that refute the easier way and we have published much on this over the course of our blog and the words of Paul below are an example of this as here the apostle calls out the importance of Love and shows how all other seemingly religious ways or gifts are of NO use without Love and, to help us more, the apostle gives us the better understanding of what this Love IS and what it IS NOT….he defines for us “a more excellent way“.

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

Yet this goes unrealized by the many who still believe that this idea of Love IS that Love that is of the personality in the world, that attraction and attachment to spouse and children, lovers and close relatives and friends and this IS that same sense of Love that man uses to express fondness for an array of worldly things and events. But this IS NOT the intent of the Master nor of the apostle who writes these words; their intent IS in the Great Commandments and the Golden Rule and in the broadest possible application of these words of emphasis offered by the Master: “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, so that we would get the point Jesus repeats this, saying again: “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” and yet again He says “These things I command you, that ye love one another” (John 15:12, 17). Now there are many who take these words from John as a substitute for the words of the Greatest Commandments, commandments that are ever so clear saying: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). And again we posit that this tendency to substitution is but a method of diluting “a more excellent way” so that it can become an easier way, a way that is not nearly as difficult but one that also IS not seen as of singular importance in the doctrines and the teachings of the churches. Here of course we are referring to that trend in Christian thought that says that in these words from John’s Gospel we should read that we must Love our fellow Christians, fellow disciples as the church may view that word; this is the restrictive and limited perception of Love by many in the church and we can get a sense for its understanding and origins in these words from John Gill who, in his  Exposition of the Bible tells us: love one another: as brethren in the same family, children of the same Father, and fellow disciples with each other; by keeping and agreeing together, praying one for another, bearing one another’s burdens, forbearing and forgiving one another, admonishing each other, and building up one another in faith and holiness: and this he calls “a new commandment”; that is, a very excellent one; as a “new name”, and a “new song”, denote excellent ones; or it is so called, because it is set forth by Christ, in a new edition of it, and newly and more clearly explained, than before; and being enforced with a new argument and pattern, never used before .

Can we see in Mr. Gills words that idea of these words framed as “love one another” are “a new commandment” rather than another way of stating the old commandment from the perspective of another writer? We note of course that this limited idea of Love is easier than the original and broader Way where one “shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” and that while this IS NOT meant to become a substitute, the new for the old, this is what has occurred in many parts of the church. Now we can look at this in the simplicity that the Master IS speaking here in these references ONLY to the Twelve and that in this context the wording is proper, that they must overcome ALL worldly personal faults and “love one another“. In this we can see the ideas that Paul brings us in patience, kindness, and a humble attitude that is not overly boastful nor envious nor selfish and an attitude of trust, that the apostles must fight against the worldly tendencies in these things. Seeing this as His private message to the Twelve DOES NOT take aught away from the original and continual intent of the Great Commandment but rather amplifies for His disciples the importance of this in their lives and the Master makes this yet clearer saying: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).

It IS here that we must look to the broadest possible interpretation because we KNOW the intent of the Master’s word is not to have Christians love Christians but that we Love ALL men, that we Love our neighbor, our brother and the stranger who qualifies as both and this reality in encapsulated for us in a saying that we recently discussed albeit from a different perspective. The Master tells us:

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:4-48).

Our eyes should go directly to “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?” as this IS likely the way that this Christian loving Christian would be and, as we can see, this IS NOT the intent of the Master here nor in John’s understanding of the Master’s words that we Love one another.

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
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com