Monthly Archives: March 2014

ON LOVE; PART DLXXIX

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

“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).

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ

“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 essay we concluded our thoughts on the first chapter of the Epistle of James with some final comments as we moved on to a discussion about the Master’s conversation with Nicodemus on being born again. The reality of this idea is found of course in the same Truths of discipleship and attaining the Kingdom that the Master teaches throughout His words and that reality IS that a man must keep His words. It IS ONLY in this that a man can be born again and we note again that there IS NO specific criteria on how this may happen. While doctrine relies upon the grace of God as given to them who confess the Lord, ask forgiveness and ‘give over’ one’s Life to Jesus, if we can use this term to explain that nebulous dictate of some doctrines, the greater reality IS in our view centered in the idea that one MUST Repent; that IS that he must decide to change the focus of His Life from the things of the world to the things of God. In this part there is likely little difference between our thoughts and some doctrine as we discussed in the last essay but the divide grows from here as doctrine says that this ‘giving over’ IS ALL that is necessary thereby lessening the individual responsibility of the seeker. For us this Repentance IS just the beginning of a long and arduous journey from the man whose thoughts, attitudes and actions are in and of the self in the world to that state of being where the totality of his thoughts, attitudes and actions are of and in the things of God. It IS through this period of Transformation that the man goes from the True seeker and the aspirant to the reality of discipleship.

While it IS likely True that there ARE some for whom this idea of ‘giving over’ one’s Life to Jesus will result in this same striving toward the Good, the Beautiful and the True of the Kingdom of God, this becomes an unconscious quest  which likely works out in the same way as we depict above; the taking up of the journey to the Kingdom. For this man his quest is likely founded in the man’s heeding the call of his own Soul and Christ Within as we would cite as the Inner Path as compared to the outer Path of Repentance above where the man in the world actively decides to Repent, to change the focus of his own Life. On the outer Path a man works out his Life in the world according to the word of Truth, the word of God, and thereby brings himself closer to the Kingdom while on the Inner Path the man heeds the Inner call of his Soul and implements the necessary changes in his Life in the world. In the end these ARE essentially the same approach as seen from different perspectives as it IS always the Soul that prompts the reality of change and the only difference lies in the degree of conscious participation in the process. Our point here IS that in the doctrinal approach, an approach without True understanding of the dynamics and the intended end, there IS little or no participation as the conscious personality continues in his daily routines realizing ONLY those changes dictated by doctrine which are in the end the only changes that the man may see. While we see the totality of the Master’s words on Love, on keeping His words, and the required idea eschewing the ways of the world, the doctrinal aspirant will more likely see the status quo in the world and some greater degree of devotion to the Master and to the religious rites of his particular doctrine.

However, we should understand here that the Light IS the Light and that the doctrinal aspirant CAN come to see its fullness as it IS recorded for us by the apostles and perhaps come to understand that while the doctrines of the various churches may keep a man closer to God, the True Way IS clearly in keeping His words of discipleship instruction which IS the intended purpose of the His words in the Gospels and the amplification and clarification of these in the other writings of the apostles. The paramount importance of the New Testament IS in Jesus words, in His commandments and His instructions and those of the apostles should NOT become the center point of any doctrine as IS the case from many today.

In the end of our discussion on the first chapter from James, we alluded to the link between this and the next words and reminded that in the original manuscript there ARE NO chapter or verse breaks as we see in our bibles. Our idea of the link IS between the apostle’s most mysterious comments on the fatherless and the widows and the next words regarding the Love found in the Truth of the eternal idea that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). James’ brings this same idea down to the level of the man who keeps His words, the Truly religious man. We were reminded that there IS a law, not a Ten Commandments law, but a law much like those on Love cited at the top of our essay; a law of the Jews that IS intended to result in the right action of the man in that day toward the fatherless and the widow. We commented that this law like so many others are likely ignored by the Jew in Jesus day as so many of these laws are yet today in the Christian world; it IS in this lack of fulfilling this law that perhaps these words are used by the apostle as a segue from his instructions on keeping His word and being Truly religious to the next thoughts that ARE plainly on the concept of Love. In this light perhaps the right view of the idea of the Truly religious, that they would “visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27), is indicative of the fuller responsibility of a man in Love that James is showing in his parabolic style. In this idea we did venture to say that the law as it IS presented by Moses IS intended to dissuade men from neglecting the fatherless and the widows and from holding them is low esteem and we should note that laws ARE used to change and to prohibit the actions of men. We should remember that the Master railed against the religious Pharisees regarding this same idea as we read: “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).

Of ALL the ideas we explored regarding this saying from James on the fatherless and the widows, this idea of its being a symbol of the Love that must be shown as well as the respect that should be equally given to ALL does make the most sense and it does segue into the similar ideas of the next verses. In these words we have the idea of this Love and in the next we have the Truth of the man who IS the DOER and the Truly religious….that he will “keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27) which IS the reality of discipleship. The next sayings from the apostle which are the beginning of the second chapter go thus:

“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” (James 2:1-6).

The English rendering of the first verse here and in many translations is a bit choppy in our view as to “have not the faith of our Lord” has not the meaning that it deserves as it IS stated. Young’s Literal renders this as “My brethren, hold not, in respect of persons, the faith of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (James 2:1) and it this we have a different feel for James’ words as that the message is that one not believe that “respect of persons” IS in any way according to the intent of the Master’s message. This IS the way that we have always read this as this IS James’ message to us, that we NOT have “respect of persons“. There are some odd ways that this is presented by other translations and while some may mean the same thing, others leave this idea quite muddy:

• Common English Bible: “My brothers and sisters, when you show favoritism you deny the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has been resurrected in glory“.
• Bible in Basic English: “My brothers, if you have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory, do not take a man’s position into account“.
• Good News Translation: “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“.
• New International Version: “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism“.

We should see here that some of these convert this idea of “respect of persons” to favoritism which, while similar, does not show the same equality of approach in EVERY way that “respect of persons” does; others convert this to a mans’s position while yet others see this as only outward appearance, likely borrowing from the example of the next verses. The reality of this message IS that we see every man the same, as a child of God who is among us as a diverse physical and psychic person. Insofar as the apostle’s words here, we should see how this idea of faith is understood as the values range from denying the faithfulness of the Lord, to have the faith of the Lord to these words just standing for the idea of believers in the Lord. For us the Young’s version gives the better idea as we understand that we should NOT take the whole of this idea of “respect of persons” as that it IS according to the Lord. Some commentary takes this idea, as they do with many of the Master’s ideas on Love, and accords them to fellow believers:

• The Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible tells us: brethren–The equality of all Christians as “brethren,” forms the groundwork of the admonition. the faith of . . . Christ–that is, the Christian faith. James grounds Christian practice on Christian faith. the Lord of glory–So 1 Corinthians 2:8 . As all believers, alike rich and poor, derive all their glory from their union with Him, “the Lord of glory,” not from external advantages of worldly fortune, the sin in question is peculiarly inconsistent with His “faith.” BENGEL, making no ellipsis of “the Lord,” explains “glory” as in apposition with Christ who is THE GLORY ( Luke 2:32 ); the true Shekinah glory of the temple ( Romans 9:4 ). English Version is simpler. The glory of Christ resting on the poor believer should make him be regarded as highly by “brethren” as his richer brother; nay, more so, if the poor believer has more of Christ’s spirit than the rich brother. with respect of persons–literally, “in respectings of persons”; “in” the practice of partial preferences of persons in various ways and on various occasions ⁸.
• have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the] Lord of glory, with respect of persons: that is, such as have, and hold, and profess the faith of Christ, ought not along with it to use respect of persons, or to make such a distinction among the saints, as to prefer the rich, to the contempt of the poor; and in this exhortation many things are contained, which are so many arguments why such a practice should not be encouraged; for faith, whether as a doctrine or as a grace, is alike precious, and common to all; and is the faith of Christ, which, as a doctrine, is delivered by him to all the saints….or else that glory which Christ has in his hands, to bestow upon his people, and to which they are called, and will appear in, when he shall appear, and about which their faith is now employed: and since this glory equally belongs to them all, no difference should be made on account of outward circumstances, so as to treat any believer with neglect and contempt ⁸.

This is only the beginning and the end of Mr. Gill’s comments as we left out the center parts which are purely devotional ideas because our focus here IS on how these commentators address James’ words as that they apply to Christians only. This IS a fundamental flaw in much Christian doctrine as while the apostle IS speaking to believers, to aspirants and disciples who are following in His Way, he IS NOT speaking about Christians only as the objects of their actions. The greater reality here IS that these are ALL Jews and His message IS that they should not think that the Master, the one that they follow, has any or that they themselves should have any “respect of persons“…..that they should offer that Universal Love for ALL men as does the Master. Jesus never singles out believers against non-believers and this in itself IS a form of the “respect of persons” that the apostle IS speaking against.

The reality of this idea of having NO “respect of persons” IS an unspoken part of the Master example and His teachings and the thread of the universality of the Love that He teaches runs through ALL His words. We see this in the True idea of neighbor which IS offered without any criteria and in the True intent of the Apostle John’s use of the word rendered as brother and in his idea of Love for one another as both of these are John’s vision of the neighbor, a word that he DOES NOT use. We see this as well in the reality of Jesus words from the Sermon on the Mount as He tells us of the equanimity in the giving of God saying: “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“. We should see here how this idea IS tied to Love as it IS shows to offer ALL to ALL as one’s expression of Love. And the intent should be clearly seen in His words on giving; that we should “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away” (Matthew 5:42, 44:45). There is no criteria here that we should give to one and not to another, the idea IS universal as we see in Luke’s recollection of His words saying: “Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again” (Luke 6:30).

The reality of this idea of “respect of persons” is intimately tied to the Master’s words on Love and to the Golden Rule as there IS NO thing but Universal Love found in His intent; there ARE NO barriers intended. The Master’s intent IS Unity in Diversity; that IS that among the many differences and apparent separations that we can find among our neighbors and our brothers in the world, ALL are tied together by the ONENESS of His creation. It IS in this reality of One World, One Humanity and One God, that the answer to ALL that ails the human family can and will be found. 

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.

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!

• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com