Monthly Archives: March 2014

ON LOVE; PART DLXXVII

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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 essay we continued our discussion on the first chapter of the Epistle of James where we find his fascinating style and language usage which results in a straightforward and blunt assessment of the plight of the True seeker in the world as he tells us how that temptation can be both the enemy and the friend of a man and that the choice IS ever his. In the whole of his words here we find that it IS temptation that lures us into worldly behaviors, thoughts and attitudes and that this idea covers most ALL of a man’s functioning in the world of men; that he either succumbs to it or that he stays the Path where “he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12). Without going through James’ points again, we should tie here the end to the beginning, that is that we should tie the ideas of temptation as they effect most ALL of a man’s worldly affairs, to the reality of being a DOER and not a hearer ONLY and being a DOER and not one that IS thinking that he IS religious based upon some doctrinal ideas.

Our point here as we close out our discussion on this chapter IS that the ideas that cause a men to be  “hearers only” and that cause a man to think that he is religious, that IS that he is: imbued with or exhibiting religion; pious; devout; godly; scrupulously faithful; conscientious ⁷ as this word IS defined, ARE the product of this same idea of temptation as a man IS tempted to pursue the easier path to salvation. Most ALL men have the right sense of spiritual reality, spiritual Truth, and this IS man’s innate Inner sense, the sense that he glimpses in the prompting of His own Soul and it IS this sense that is pushed aside in favor of the easier ways that ARE much more appealing and much easier to perform. These men ARE deceived and they are deceived by their own selves as they are attracted to the path of least resistance. And it IS here that the words of the apostle that tell us of the progression of temptation ring loudly as this attraction becomes attachment which can be seen as well as that this illusion or delusion becomes glamour or a more steadfast stand that embraces the illusion as the Truth. The apostle tells us that:

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:12-17),

When we can understand that the desires, the lust, that a man has, IS NOT only toward the physical or the sexual but towards every ‘pleasure’ of Life in the world; when we can understand that this attraction, this enticement, IS what offers the mind and the emotions a way to go that seems easy and pleasurable in virtually ALL things, then we can begin to understand the complexities of sin, that sin IS ALL things, ALL thoughts, attitudes and actions, that are contrary to the Truth of the teachings of the Master and contrary to the Ways of God. And we can see then as well that to be in this sin is to be in the world and this IS the death of which the apostle speaks; it IS spiritual death. Here we must accept the idea that men are men in the world and ALL whose focus IS in the self and the things of the self are in sin; and we should understand that this works out in Life by degree; the apostle speaks on this idea in a later chapter. The illusion IS that the attractive way IS the right way or a way that IS as good in the end as IS the more difficult choice and it IS here that James tells us “Do not err“. He tells us of the nature of the Truly right way; that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” and that in this there IS NO variableness and NO darkness; there IS only Truth and Light. Here we should note the intentionally parabolic way of his saying this Truth.

And there are many ways that we see this choice of doctrine over Truth as this IS not limited to our common sense of religion but reaches across most ALL social issues where the church or some part of it makes allowances for behavior that IS NOT in accordance with the Master words, behaviors that, when measured in the light of day, would be seen as deficient by most ALL men. But the light of day IS missing and the man works in darkness while at the same time thinking that he IS in the light. he does not see the Truth. Perhaps we can see this as that once a man takes the path of religion of any form or kind that an illusory sense of right becomes his way, a way that he protects and even fights for. One example here would be slavery as it existed in this country and which likely still exists in many parts of the world in some form; there IS NO provision for this in the Truth of the Master’s words but provision was created by some doctrine and the people who acceded to this illusion were tempted by and succumbed to the easier way rather that to the right way. And the racial prejudices and hatreds that follow upon this legacy are still with us in many ways and, if we can look at recent history, we can see the effect of some church doctrines that allowed and even promoted these attitudes and thoughts. And, unfortunately, some of this IS still with us today and play out in the minds of men who believe that they are religious.

Other examples are in the atrocities of war and here especially the Crusades and the Reformation Wars which were specifically religious wars that were not only condoned by the church but ofttimes organized and promoted by the church. And today’s social ills around the world; billions of people starve while the richest look on and many of these richest ARE the churches or are among those who think that they are religious; many will give their millions to the college building fund of their alma mater or to missionary work to ‘save’ Souls while millions starve and die. This IS the ways of the world, ALL that IS NOT Truly in accordance with the words of the Master ARE the ways of the world. And so James’ point; if a man believes his religion or if a man IS religious in his way or thinks that he is religious, ALL IS for naught if that man IS NOT keeping the word of God. The strictness built into this by the apostle IS found in the way that he frames his thoughts and the Truth of the idea that: “whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work” (James 1:25) where we should understand that the keywords ARE “continueth therein” and their effect. There IS NO safe harbor to be found in the doctrines that DO NOT approach the Master’s Truth in its fullness but many DO believe that there IS; it IS here that we see the role of temptation in religion as men seek what they presume as a safe harbor but which in reality is but illusion. There ARE NO safe harbors, there ARE NO affirmations and there ARE NO rites or ceremonies that can make a man accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God, there IS ONLY the DOING, the keeping of His words. In this IS the Truth of James’ words so far and in the rest of his epistle he builds upon this.

The last verse which we have yet to discuss IS another that is taken out of context and misunderstood; the apostle says: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). Here we have a picture of what religion is, that IS, what “Pure religion and undefiled before God” IS. In these words are the ideas of clean which IS an alternate meaning for the Greek word here rendered as pure, and not stained which according to Vincent IS the meaning of the Greek word amiantos; Vincent tells us: Undefiled (ἀμίαντον); From ἀ , not, and μιαίνω , to defile, though the verb means especially to defile by staining, as with color; while μολύνω , also translated defile (1 Corinthians 8:7), is to besmirch, as with mire. We might render unstained, though the word is not used with any conscious reference to its etymology ⁴. Here we can see the similar idea compared to cloth and if we can take this to religion as that cloth, we might see that the apostle is defining clean and unstained religion or, from our perspective, religion that IS NOT tainted by the ways of the world in which it must exist. Now this IS NOT James’ definition, that follows, this IS the nature of the religion that James IS implying that a man should have; this IS True religion which IS NOT tainted by the world of men. Doctrine however sees this differently as we read:

• The Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible tells us: Pure . . . and undefiled–“Pure” is that love which has in it no foreign admixture, as self-deceit and hypocrisy. “Undefiled” is the means of its being “pure” [TITTMANN]. “Pure” expresses the positive, “undefiled” the negative side of religious service; just as visiting the fatherless and widow is the active, keeping himself unspotted from the world, the passive side of religious duty. This is the nobler shape that our religious exercises take, instead of the ceremonial offices of the law ⁸.
• John Gill tells us: Pure religion and undefiled; That which is sincere and genuine, and free from adulteration and hypocrisy: before God and the Father; or in the sight of God the Father of Christ, and all his people; that which is approved of by him, who is the searcher of hearts, and the trier of the reins of men, “is this”: not that the apostle is giving a full definition of true religion; only he mentions some of the effects of it, by which it is known, and without which it cannot be true and genuine; and they are these: to visit the fatherless….⁸
  

Here Mr. Gill has an idea of religion that is rather clear and, while more specific in intent than our idea of tainted, does offer some understanding of the nature of the religion that James is speaking of. The Commentary Critical on the other hand seems to be referring to these ideas as though they ARE the definition and they then work in the idea of religious duty which is not the issue here; the Jews in the days of the Temple had religious duty as prescribed by the law but this idea IS NOT what the apostle speaks of. Nonetheless, we see this as the nature of the religion that a man should have if he IS thinking that he IS a religious man as this follows upon the previous idea; that his religion should be untainted by the world which IS the opposite of that vain religion where the man DOES NOT control his outward expression. Can we see the overall meaning here? that the man who thinks that he is religious, thinks that he IS: imbued with or exhibiting religion; pious; devout; godly; scrupulously faithful; conscientious ⁷, that he must have spiritual control over his thought, attitudes, words and actions or else his sense of religion is vain or futile and worthless. Here we have the definition if you will of vain or worthless religion, and we should see this from a spiritual perspective; the converse of this in James’ words is religion that IS untainted by the world, religion that IS pure and undefiled. In this we can take away the idea that the man who IS NOT in spiritual control of his own expression but who IS expressing the thoughts, attitudes, words and actions of the world, of the carnal nature which IS tainted by the ways of the world. Here then we have two ways of religion, two natures of it; the vain, or futile and worthless, and the “pure and undefiled before God“, or untainted, which we should be able to see in the whole saying using our interpretations of the parabolic words and terms of the apostle:

“If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:26-27).

Then we have the apostle’s defining ideas on this untainted religion, that is means “To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction” which we CAN NOT take at full face value but rather as an indicator of some greater DOING and then the greater definition of True religion: “to keep himself unspotted from the world“. This idea works into the apostle’s other thoughts of clean and unstained and for this word unspotted we can also use our idea of untainted. But what of the idea of the fatherless and the widows, how do we reconcile this to the right actions of the religious man? Some commentary leaves this as IS that the Truly religious man will do this visitation, others see the idea of the fatherless as the ‘lost’ children of God yet ignore the idea of the widow while still others relate this phrase to the natural objects of charity in the community. There is nothing in the previous ideas that would lend the idea of charity as the giving nature of a man and the singling out of the fatherless and the widow contains no logical end as it leaves out so many others in need. In the idea of visit we should see the broader points that are brought out by the lexicon, that this Greek world includes the ideas of: to look upon or after, to inspect, examine with the eyes in order to see how he is, i.e. to visit, go to see one the poor and afflicted, the sick; to look upon in order to help or to benefit to look after, have care for, provide for ². Here we can take the idea of that the Truly religious man will look after whosoever may be represented in the apostles words of “the fatherless and widows in their affliction“

For us this would mean the expression of Love to ALL who may be afflicted, to go out of one’s way perhaps to care for them and if we can see this from a more spiritual view, we can include here ALL men who have NOT yet found the Path to God. The Greek word that IS rendered as fatherless here IS orphanos and here the lexicon offers us the definition as: bereft (of a father, of parents) of those bereft of a teacher, guide, guardian; orphaned ². In this we should take away two things; first the idea of without teacher guide or guardian which idea takes away the idea of the child as fatherless and second that in the Master’s teaching on the Fatherhood of God there would be no fatherless children of any age, there would only be those who have not the True realization of this intimate relationship. Can we see guidance and instruction for them in the apostle’s words as the True work of the Truly religious over the caring for the fatherless child or even adult? And what of the widow? What can be discerned from James’ use of this word which only means widow? Can we perhaps see the person who has lost their guiding light as the wife would experience in the loss of a husband in those days? And how does one KNOW the True widow and care for her without seeming to be out of place as a spiritual man.

We CAN NOT answer these questions but we can say that the apostle IS perhaps coloring for us a picture of Love for one’s neighbor who IS represented by the fatherless and the widow and from the perspective of the Truly religious man this Love would likely include guidance and provisions of those things which the Truly religious man would have. Remembering that there ARE NO chapter breaks in the original text, we should note that his idea from James flows into the next idea which IS about Love and about the “respect of persons” and here perhaps we can find another hint to this reference of the fatherless and the widow. That perhaps these were not held in high esteem and that this saying provides for the apostle a segue from the current topic on DOING the word of God to the essence of that word in the Love of the next verse. The idea of how to treat the fatherless and the widow are a part of the law of Moses where we read: “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). We should see that if there is the thought to create a law, that there must have been a behavior to correct and if this part of the law is treated by those who think themselves religious as are the other parts of the law, then our idea regarding the current treatment of these IS qualified; again, we DO NOT really KNOW. 

Regarding the ultimate Truth of this particular saying however there IS much clarity and that is found in the idea that the Truly religious man remains “unspotted from the world“

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.

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)

Today’s Quote of the Day is in regard to the new birth which Nicodemus did not understand and which many today do not understand either. The words of the Master tell us of a total commitment to the Lord as the way to the Kingdom and these verses say that as well. This total commitment is being born again. The differences in language aside, we should try to see the relationship between these ideas of being born again which is the essence of discipleship for it is only in discipleship that one can Truly see the Kingdom. These are much misused ideas because they are seen from the perspective of the man in form and no from the perspective of the Soul living through form.

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
• ⁷ Dictionary.com Unabridged based on Random House Dictionary – 2011
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com