ON LOVE; PART DLXXVIII
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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).
We finally have completed our discussion on the first chapter of the Epistle of James and there IS still so much more that we can say as his words are extremely pertinent to the reality of the aspirant even today. From the frank talk on the temptations that afflict a man in the duality of seeking God and living in the world, to the caution that a man refrain from participating in the corruption and the darkness of the world and maintain his focus upon “Every good gift and every perfect gift” (James 1:17) as these come ONLY from God through a man’s own Soul, he teaches us the Way of the disciple. He cautions us to be patient in our reactions and on our steadfastness against falling back into what is rendered as wrath but which has much deeper meanings as regards the ways of the world, and he tells us the Way of DOING and how that one can imagine and think that he IS when he is not and how this self-deception can deter the Life of the True seeker. And, in the end, he tells us of the reality of the DOER and the reality of the Truly religious man; that he will “keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27) which we understand as untainted by its ways.
We should understand that the DOER IS the man who “looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein” (James 1:25) and that he IS the same as the religious man who keeps himself untainted from the ways of the world. Both of these describe the disciple and, along with the criteria that the Master sets forth on discipleship and attaining the Kingdom of God we can find a complete understanding of just what it IS that must be accomplished to achieve this High Calling. As aspirants we are but a work in progress, men who are on a journey along that Path to the Kingdom of God, and we are likely the ONLY one’s who will KNOW when we Truly arrive. Herein IS a part of the caution of James, that we DO NOT think too highly of our own ways and that so long as the things of the world and any ideas of our own achievement ARE in our thoughts, then we ARE still in the world.
As has become our habit that at the end of a chapter we address some of the points contained in what has been the Quote of the Day during the course of our discussion, today we will look again at the idea of being born again. This IS an idea that has come up several times in our discussion as the doctrinal church believes that this can be accomplished by rite and ceremony and affirmation and this IS a part of the deception that afflicts men who believe that they have done what is required for salvation without understanding the reality of the Master’s words about discipleship and the Kingdom, and without understanding these points offered to us by the Apostle James. Although this is a topic that we mention quite often, we have not discussed this topic in earnest in quite some time; we devoted several posts to this early on, In the Words of Jesus parts 52-57, and we did center in on this as one of the ways to attain the Kingdom of God as the Master clearly says that “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God“. Our point has ever been that there are many other words that the Master offers us regarding our attaining the Kingdom and what must be the attitude of the man who does but these are overlooked in the ease of the doctrinal idea of being born again. From our perspective it IS this doctrinal idea that leads many into that deception that James speaks of; there are many who believe, many who think that they have done what is needed, but who ARE NOT keeping His words, who ARE NOT DOERS of the word of God. The Master’s words to Nicodemus are clear yet they are parabolic and in the doctrinal view they ARE NOT seen as they were intended: Jesus says:
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:3-8).
We should note here that the Master IS answering a question that IS NOT asked by Nicodemus who says to Jesus: “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest , except God be with him“. The Master however answers as we see above and in this idea of born again we should see the central point of His parabolic teaching to Nicodemus who the Apostle John tells us IS “a man of the Pharisees….a ruler of the Jews” (John 3:1-2). We KNOW from the text that this idea IS NOT understood by Nicodemus and it IS NOT understood by so many yet today. But we have the extra keys that Nicodemus lacked at this early time in his relationship with the Master; we have his other words on attaining the Kingdom of God. As time goes on we can see that Nicodemus does come to understand some of what the Master teaches and overcomes his own fears. We read that “no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews” referring to Jesus and then that “Nicodemus saith unto the,….Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?” (John 7:13, 50-51). We should remember here our premise that those close to the Master and those who are His ready help in his mission have come into incarnation along with the Master for such purpose and this man Nicodemus may be among them as he is one of the few religious leaders of the Jews to come to Jesus’ defense. This does not matter for our discussion as it IS what the Master says that matters here and the Master explains the primary point of “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” with His second saying that “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God“.
There IS little understanding of these words and there is much disagreement yet regarding their meaning. Our older commentators are rather clear on this being a relationship with the Christ although they do paint this with doctrinal terms and the reality here IS that this IS the relationship of discipleship where the man in the world is led by his own Spirit, His own Soul and Christ Within, which becomes the focus of his Life. This idea of being born again is seldom used in the New Testament; there are the two mentions above by John and this from the Apostle Peter:
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever” (1 Peter 1:22-25).
Here we should see the True idea of being born again, that to be so IS to “have purified your souls in obeying the truth” and in this word rendered as Soul we should see the better rendering of Life as the Soul IS ever pure. Then the apostle continues to describe the man who IS born again, that he expresses “unfeigned love of the brethren” and here in this Greek word philadelphia we should see the more expansive meaning of brotherly Love without the restrictive doctrinal ideas of Love for fellow Christians. Peter goes on to explain that born again is “by the word of God“; not hearing it as we KNOW from James but by DOING. The apostle then details the difference between the flesh and the man born again and he likens the man born again to the word itself as we read that the flesh IS the corruptible while the word of God IS incorruptible and “endureth for ever“. While the Master tells us that born again IS of the Spirit, the apostle tells us that it IS “by the word of God” and we should be able to see the synergy in these ideas….that it IS in DOING the word of God that the Spirit comes to be the focus of the Life of the man who seeks God. We should also see here the relationship between Peter’s words on the nature of the flesh and the words of James on what is rendered as the “rich man” but which means for us the man whose focus IS in the self and the world, the man who lives after the flesh. James tells us that: “But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways” (James 1:10-11).
Many have the right idea from a doctrinal perspective as the idea of Jesus coming into one’s heart or the Holy Spirit coming to live within a man which IS for us realization of the Christ Within and his activity. Some tell believers that it IS by Repenting that this comes about but this IS a more simple Repentance than that change that we see as Truly necessary, that change of the entire focus of the Life; in doctrine we read such things as this from from Billy Graham Ministries: Jesus Christ says that we must be born again. How do we become born again? By repenting of sin. That means we are willing to change our way of living. We say to God, “I’m a sinner, and I’m sorry.” It’s simple and childlike. Then by faith we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master and Savior. We are willing to follow Him in a new life of obedience, in which the Holy Spirit helps us as we read the Bible and pray and witness**. In its deeper meaning this IS Truly the way but they downplay the importance of DOING and tell us that it IS the Holy Spirit that changes us as an outside force; we read that: We cannot work our way to God, either. The Bible says that salvation comes “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Nor is reformation enough. We can say, “I am going to turn over a new leaf,” or “I am going to make New Year’s resolutions.” But Isaiah said that in the sight of God “all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6)**. This view IS of course contrary to many of the words of the Master who is seldom cited and, as we have discussed, there IS a dual approach to this idea of salvation; one by the DOING because in this one expresses the result of this Transfromation step by step according to His words and, in one’s performance of keeping His words, one grows ever closer to the Truth that IS God. The other approach IS by heeding the constant prompting of the Soul to the Good, the Beautiful and the True, the things of God, which prompting leads a man to become a DOER, a man who keeps His words.
It IS the greater reality of being a DOER and how that this IS the way to work our way to God, that doctrines such as this are missing as they choose instead the more nebulous ideas that are found in the more carnal understanding of faith. We should note that full commitment to such doctrines can bring a man closer to God but so long as the doctrine limits the Truth of His words on Love and on righteousness in eschewing the ways of the world, this closeness IS limited. Full commitment IS not however how this is taught nor explained as stated in doctrinal terms such as: To be born again means that “[God] will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26). “Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4); we have “passed from death into life” (John 5:24). The new birth brings about a change in our philosophy and manner of living **. The reality here IS that the change must be that we keep His words beginning with those at the top of our essay on Love, that Universal Love, and the other precepts as taught by the Master. While there IS an understanding in doctrine of the grosser ideas of sin, this IS NOT related to the ways of the world in general as is understood from the Truth of the Master’s words. Some doctrines understands the idea of perfection as well but not from the idea that the Master presents, that men should become perfect; they rather see this as a gift as we read: Where are we going to get that perfection? We don’t have it now, yet we can’t get to heaven if we don’t have it. That is why Christ died on the cross; He shed His blood and rose again to provide righteousness for us**.
These doctrines are those of atonement, that the Christ died as atonement for the sins of men; then, if a man believes, he will find the reward which can vary dependent upon the doctrine cited. Our point has ever been that the Master’s words are clear to any who can look away from the preconceived ideas of doctrine and with the right intent of seeking the Kingdom of God. And these ARE the words that we spend our time on and which ARE encapsulated for us in the Sermon on the Mount which we recently spent many days discussing. The idea of the primary doctrine of believing in the Christ and repenting and that the Holy Spirit will guide a man could be much more successful in the world if it were not for the various teachings on atonement and on the idea that one ONLY need to believe and perhaps obey the Ten Commandments. The very idea of merely keeping these Ten Commandments is dismissed by the Master himself in His discourse with the rich young man; in Matthew’s version the Master includes Love thy neighbor and tells the man that even in keeping these that there IS one more thing, the final commitment of giving up ALL worldly claims for the Kingdom of God. This IS of course a difficult undertaking and one that IS realized by the few and not the many; but this IS the objective and the way to the Kingdom which, if more people understood this reality, more would strive and more would understand rather than seeking cover in the comfort of doctrine.
It was not our intent to get into these ideas on born again but they did present as we reviewed doctrine and ARE from a respected Christian camp. There are however a variety of different doctrines regarding this and many compete with each other as we see in this from another website: Mark 1:15, “repent ye, and believe the gospel.” The object of repentance is to believe the Gospel, not to clean up one’s life. When a man repents he believes. There is a popular false teaching in MOST churches today that says a person must try to stop sinning to be saved. That is self-righteousness ***. What is here called false teaching is in reality the only Truth. There are many such ideas in the multiplicity of Christian denominations and we post one more here as we close: You become saved (born again) when you make Jesus the Lord of your life. Romans 10:9, “… If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Are you ready to make this life-changing commitment? Just pray this simple prayer: “God, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. I ask You to come into my life. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is my Lord and I believe in my heart that You have raised Him from the dead. I turn my back on sin and commit to follow You for the rest of my life. Thank You, Father, for saving me.” Congratulations! You are now born again, forgiven and on your way to heaven. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, you are a new creation in Christ, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” In order to successfully live this new life, it is important that you renew your mind to God’s way of thinking and living. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” ‡
While we DO NOT present ALL views here, these should suffice to show the more common understanding of this idea of being born again and its relationship to salvation in the doctrinal Christian world. None of these use the words of the Master on the matter of except for the citation from Mark’s Gospel which several approaches to this cite and which we read as: “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). Here the reality of the gospel is as the good news and here the good news IS simply that “the kingdom of God is at hand“; while some believe that this idea of gospel refers to the body of teachings from the Master and His apostles, this simply IS NOT True. The greater reality of being born again or of any other idea that shows a man as accounted worth of the Kingdom of God IS found in our new Quote of the Day below.
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!
- ** http://billygraham.org/story/how-to-be-born-again/
- *** http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Basics/ye_must_be_born_again.htm
- ‡ http://www.solidrockfaithcenter.com/bornagainmailer.aspx?parentnavigationid=383
