ON LOVE; PART DLXXX
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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“The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 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 12:29-31).
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“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, 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 22:36-40).
In the last post we began our look at the second chapter of the Epistle of James where we discussed our view of the relationship of the first verse to the last verse from the first chapter. We noted how that the idea IS instruction that the Truly religious and the DOER of the word show this in Life by acceding to his words: “To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). We should note here that this IS NOT a forced action on the part of the aspirant and the disciple who are the Truly religious and the DOER and those who strive to be such, this IS rather their natural action in the world of men. Here, James’ words on the “fatherless and widows in their affliction” are intended to set forth that aspect of Love where there IS NO “respect of persons“, that these “fatherless and widows” who may have been overlooked and ‘disrespected’ by others, should NOT be treated such by the man who seeks God. Our premise IS that it IS for this reason, this mistreatment, that there IS a law given to Moses by Jehovah to cover this idea which, according to the gospels, was not followed by the self proclaimed religious in Jesus Day.
The law IS clearly stated as: “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless” (Exodus 22:22-24). And the Master’s railing against the scribes and the Pharisees so many centuries later should show that this law IS NOT followed even by the religious as He says: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer : therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation” (Matthew 23:14). In our view this segue to the next topic of NO “respect of persons” is the most logical idea regarding these words from James and that they are intended to show that the Truly religious, that their “Pure religion and undefiled before God“, IS to express this aspect of Love AND “to keep himself unspotted from the world“. This use then of the “fatherless and widows” IS James’ example, his parabolic way of instructing the True seeker in the reality of His next words:
“My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called” (James 2:1-7).
While most take these words on the “fatherless and widows” as they are presented and as we tried to do, the greater reality seems that these are but an example of the Truth that the aspirant and the disciple should NOT have nor express any “respect of persons” but should maintain an attitude of equanimity as we find in the Life example of the Master and in His teachings as we discussed in the last post. And this sense of example goes on into the next verses which again ARE taken quite literally by many which even affect some translations of the first verse as we read yesterday from the Good News Translation which renders the verse as: “My friends, as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, you must never treat people in different ways according to their outward appearance” (James 2:1). We should understand the error here, that it IS NOT the outer appearance only that the Master nor James refer to but that the idea here is that there be NO “respect of persons” of any kind. ALL men ARE children of the ONE Father and should be seen and treated as such and they should also be seen and treated as we would want to be treated ourselves. And this idea IS NOT only in relation to the extra idea of ‘if I were in their shoes’, this should be the everyday attitude toward ALL men at ALL times. The same idea comes forth in the Great Commandments as we read that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“; here, regardless of the appearance, the actions, the thoughts and attitudes; regardless of rich or poor, bright or dim, religious or not and any other differences, ALL should be seen the same and Loved in the same way. It IS here that we must understand that this Love IS NOT the emotional and mental attraction and attachment to others; it IS in seeing ALL men the same and treating them with the same respect that we ourselves would be treated; it is according to ALL men what we would accord to ourselves.
James’ words however are seen by many to be in regard to the rich and the poor which are the examples used here by the apostle where he uses graphic and colorful words to express his thought. The Truth of the whole idea is found in the succeeding verses where we read “Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? ” which should be seen against the whole array of reasons for prejudice of any kind. Here then we can add to our ideas above matters of color and of custom which, when added to the ideas of any kind of status as recognized by men, can show us the full array of ideas that separate men that the light in which the apostle’s words must be seen. Again we should see this word rendered as evil as mean worldly and see James’ idea as judges of worldly thoughts; seeing things as men in the world instead of men whose focus IS upon the things of God. This IS the same dividing line that IS established for so many of the actions of men and this IS the reality of the aspirant and the disciple. James words are an example in the futility of offering one respect above another as he shows that to respect the rich does NO True good because, as he says, “Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called“. And, to emphasize his point about the man who may be despised because his position the apostle “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom“; in this comparison we should see James’ reference to the futility of this separation, of this “respect of persons“, in a man’s thoughts, attitudes and actions. That there IS Truly NO good that can come from it.
And there should be lessons here for the rich as well as these should not expect treatment above others and this NOT for the rich in worldly goods alone. We should remember that this idea of being rich is relative to one’s own position against his peers and again in most ALL aspects of Life. Many men from many different places on every scale, from worldly goods to position to even one’s sense of intelligence, do compare themselves to those below them and thinking themselves richer while being at the same time poorer that those above and it this reality we should be able to see how ludicrous this whole idea of respecting one above another can be. It IS against the partiality of men’s vision that the apostle speaks and the crux of his intent to the True seeker IS that they understand that in having “respect of persons” that men ARE then “partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? “. We see here the example of rich and poor as that it IS intended to reach across ALL things that separate men into classes of an kind and that in the apostle’s words IS his showing the reader the futility of such separations. James then relates this to the reality of Love, to the reality of the Golden Rule and the Great Commandments, as he continues saying:
“If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment” (James 28-13).
Can we see the apostle’s intent here? Can we see by this relationship that to have “respect of persons” IS against this royal law, against the second part of what the Master calls the Great Commandments and can we see how that this idea of “respect of persons” must transcend the rich and the poor and apply to every thought, attitude and action of a man in regard to his fellowman? The first point in these sayings IS the apostle’s equating this treatment of others under the banner of having NO “respect of persons” with the royal Law of Love; this IS the primary part of the law, the royal part and here we should see that the apostle takes the Master’s point head on as he elevates this law above the rest. The second point here IS in the reality that if a man breaks any part of the law, if he DOES NOT keep the whole law, he IS guilty of breaking the law in a general statement and NOT only in relation to the rule broken; the man IS a transgressor of the Law and it IS in this sense that the right understanding of sin IS important. It is interesting that John Gill agrees with this interpretation as do the author’s of the Commentary Critical and likely because there IS NO other way to see these words but, at the same time, these ideas ARE NOT presented in their other commentaries. The reality here of the first and second points governs Life for the man who Truly seeks God and it IS in accepting and performing the ideas; first the Love and then the relentless pursuit of keeping ALL the laws, of keeping His words, that the seeker becomes the disciple and accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God.
In the next thought we see the idea being a DOER again albeit in a slightly different form as the ideas of speak and DO here can be seen as synonymous; here again the idea of speak should reflect the entirety of a man’s expression of his thoughts, his attitudes and his actions, and NOT ONLY what may come from his mouth. Perhaps here we can see James’ word speak as the first two ideas, the expression of thoughts and attitudes and, in the word DO, the reality of one’s actions as there IS a reality in the way that thoughts and attitudes result in actions. In this presentation, the apostle does accommodate the speaking and the DOING and while the former IS thought by most to be the utterance of words only, we can see the greater reality of expression which, for the aspirant and the disciple, forms the reality of action; it IS the focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True, the things of God, that result in his thoughts and attitudes and then his action. There is NO line drawn here where to “So speak ye, and so do” has an alternative for the True seeker; this IS a statement of the reality of one’s thoughts, attitudes and actions, that in keeping this royal law of Love a man will be “be judged by the law of liberty“. In this there IS again NO ONE who does judge; rather James is offering us a parabolic saying that simply means that those who say and DO, as he frames this, are among those who “looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:25).
The idea here is the same as the apostle has been bringing forth, the reality of the DOER, the Truth of the Truly religious man, and the relationship of this man to the Truth of the Master’s words on Love; James shows how these MUST include the idea of NO “respect for persons” and that to have this respect is the same as any other transgression of the Law. We should perhaps see there that men did NOT link the idea of the equanimity of one’s Love, that it IS equally offered to ALL, with the more simple words of “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“; and we should see that although this IS written in James words, as well as the other apostles from a different perspective, this IS still True today…many DO NOT link these ideas together. James however intentionally links these so that when we see the royal law, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” we see with it the universality of it in the idea that there must be NO “respect of persons” in that Love. In the idea that one IS judged by the law is simplicity that in KNOWING the law, one KNOWS his True relationship to the law in his own heart. ALL men who can honestly assess their own thoughts, attitudes and actions KNOW their own Truth according to the law.
John Gill tells us this regarding the words: as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty: Heathens will be judged by the law of nature, Jews by the law of Moses, and those who live under the Gospel dispensation, according to the Gospel of Christ 8. There is of course no truth to this as ALL men, without “respect to persons“, ARE judged by the same realities but our purpose in citing this is not for this denial but for his idea that those who live under the Gospel dispensation, according to the Gospel of Christ. The reality here should be seen that the very Gospel of Christ IS these ideas on the royal law and the law of liberty and a man’s relationship to them; few among the heathen, the Jew or the Christian understand the complexity of these laws nor how that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14).
The apostle goes on to tell us about mercy and here we have another word that is misunderstood and especially in this application. Mercy should be seen as an extension of the whole idea of Love; perhaps we can see mercy as the more physical aspect of one’s thoughts and attitudes of Love itself and not just as the lexicon tells us where we read that this Greek word eleos means: kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them 2. We should remember here that the whole idea of the apostle’s words is to show the importance of having NO “respect of persons” and we should understand that this would go both ways; that we would not hold the lower in mercy over the higher nor the higher over the lower and, depending upon one’s perspective, this higher and lower can have many meanings. But the point should be clear, that his use of this word eleos CAN NOT mean this kindness as the lexicon defines it. Vincent sees this word in a similar way as we read that: Mercy (ἔλεος) The word emphasizes the misery with which grace (see on Luke 1:30) deals; hence, peculiarly the sense of human wretchedness coupled with the impulse to relieve it, which issues in gracious ministry. Bengel remarks, “Grace takes away the fault, mercy the misery 4.
There IS no logic in this depiction of mercy as it is used here in James nor as is used in the gospels; this definition offered by Vincent is from the use of the word in Luke’s Gospel where we read of Mary’s depiction of God saying: “For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation” (Luke 1:49-50). There IS no wretchedness nor misery to be seen in these words.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
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.
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 3:12-15).
In this Quote of the Day we find the Apostle Paul speaking to the followers and believers at Colosse and instructing them in how it is that they should act and be. These are the virtues which establish the ways of disciples of the Master. We note here that Paul tells us the importance of Love which is translated here as Charity but which we know from previous posts is from the same Greek word as Love. We should see also that it is the same Love that we defined as a combination of our English definitions of both words, Love and Charity:
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 High Ideal as taught by the Christ: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
Paul ends this with what comes naturally when we are in the Presence of the Master and this is to be in His Peace; as we seek and we strive toward Him we should notice the aura of Peace that overcomes us and in that Peace we find all of the virtues enumerated above.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
