Monthly Archives: April 2014

ON LOVE; PART DCV

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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 returned to our discussion of the Epistle of James’ third chapter and to that section the tells us what IS and what IS NOT Wisdom from above. As we reviewed our progress, which was interrupted for several essays regarding the death and resurrection of the Master and Easter, we again established our points; first in the inter relatedness of these words from James with his previous sayings regarding teaching and the expression of a man who would be or who believes that he IS a disciple of the Lord. In teaching we see James’ caution to us that we must teach the Truth and that there IS an additional burden on the teacher to DO so, and in this we see the apostles division of Truth from those things that a man may believe to be True. This teaching IS a man’s expression and the idea here of teacher should be seen rather broadly as should James’ ideas on the tongue; ALL that a man says with any authority is teaching and this DOES NOT require a classroom or a profession; and ALL that a man says and DOES IS his expression so that the entirety of this IS much more that words from the tongue; it is the thoughts, attitudes and actions of the man.

And, as we have said in previous essays, James’ words on teaching are the furtherance of his earlier words on the reality of the disciple, the man whose focus IS upon the things of God and how it IS that such a man will be a DOER of the word and not just one who believes this or that; and, he will be one who can “keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). The apostle’s message IS in the reinforcement of the idea of who IS the disciple against one who may believe he IS but IS NOT; the man who keeps the words of the Lord against the man who deceives himself in believing that he DOES. In reading James’ words a man should query himself as to whether he is resisting temptation and being a Doer of the word; he should search his own heart as to whether he IS keeping the royal law and he should KNOW the reality of his faith and believing….that they bear fruit in works of righteousness. This IS the intent of James’ words; not as individual sayings but as a whole treatise on the very nature of the disciple and the ways that a man can KNOW that he IS living in Truth.

And it IS in this vein of thought that the apostle takes us to this idea of teaching which we should see in the broadness that we show above and not in the narrowness of the common understanding. We should understand that the entirety of a man’s expression IS his teaching if it has effect upon others and can sway another in choosing the unreal pr  the real, and the doctrines or the Truth. While this may seem to be a harsh assessment that hurts the sensibilities of men, it IS nonetheless what the apostle IS saying albeit he IS saying it in a way that is likely understood only by the man who can see some degree of these Truths. This brings us then to Wisdom which we should see as Truth and the ideas that ARE and ARE NOT Truth from above; our sayings from James that discuss this part are:

“Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:11-17).

In the last essay we reviewed again our ideas on these words that describe what IS NOT Wisdom from above, that the idea of the self and the self’s interests in the world IS NOT in the Truth from above and that when the self IS involved “there is confusion and every evil work” as these self-absorbed ideas ARE “earthly, sensual, devilish“. We reviewed as well our thoughts on the list of the attributes of Truth, of the Wisdom from above, and as we continue we should remember that this Wisdom IS “first pure“, that IS that it IS from God. Our next idea is that such Wisdom IS “without partiality“. This idea of without “without partiality” can bring to mind the ideas presented earlier by James regarding that one Love in such a way that there IS NO “respect to persons” which IS to show that ALL men ARE Loved equally and in the same way. While having NO “respect to persons” is a rather straightforward idea, the apostle’s example of the rich man and the man in “vile raiment” has caused many to view this as that it pertains just to these ideas while the intended reality IS that this IS in regard to a man’s expression of the “royal law“: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (James 2:9, 8 ) and thereby covers ALL relationships with ALL men. Here then we can see the idea of “without partiality“; as that it IS related to this idea. John Gill says here that: without partiality: to one another; or making a difference between them; showing no respect to persons; bestowing upon the poor and indigent, without any distinction ⁸.

We should however see this as far greater than this single idea of “respect to persons” and we should remember that the subject of these words IS that they are attributes of the Wisdom from above and in this there is no logic in Mr. Gills relationship which IS the common doctrinal idea here. Wisdom itself would not make distinctions as Mr. Gill notes though we can see his point from the perspective of whatsoever one thinks IS Wisdom IS not if it reflects these preferences. There IS some question regarding the rendering of this Greek word which IS ONLY used here in this saying as partiality; if this rendering is accepted, then the idea should extend to ALL things and NOT ONLY to persons and we should be able to see that Wisdom from God would not be partial to any thing, NOT to any thought or attitude or doctrine of man but would only reflect Truth. This however would be a difficult thing to discern especially in a list of ideas that are intended to show a man how to discern this Wisdom.

Vincent tells us that this should NOT be rendered as partiality as he says that: Without partiality (ἀδιάκριτος); Only here in New Testament and very rare in classical Greek. Rev., without variance or doubting ⁴. This idea does play better with the entire theme of Wisdom from above as we can read here that in the presentation of such Wisdom there would be NO doubt…there would ONLY be certainty as to what it means. In this we can see this as akin to the previous thought that this Wisdom IS “easy to be intreated“, which we see as easily understood and easy to be believed, as well as James saying that such Wisdom IS peaceable which we understand in a similar way…that this Wisdom would bring that sense of Peace and confidence in its veracity. The Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible tells us that: without partiality–recurring to the warning against partial “respect to persons,” james 2:1 james 2:4 james 2:9 . ALFORD translates as the Greek is translated, James 1:6 , “wavering,” “without doubting.” But thus there would be an epithet referring to one’s self inserted amidst those referring to one’s conduct towards others. English Version is therefore better ⁸. While we DO NOT KNOW what the reference to the English Version means, we can see that the authors lean toward the original idea of “without partiality“; they clearly DO NOT see this as we do nor as Vincent.

Here again we have James using a word that IS vague and here again we see that this IS intentionally so. In viewing these ideas again in the right context, we can find the reality of its meaning from James’ perspective. The idea of “respect to persons” IS a personal choice of behavior and NOT something that would come in a sense of Wisdom from above or a word from God; at least NOT in the Life of the disciple and the aspirant who KNOW that this IS a wrong behavior from James’ prior words and as on his natural understanding of the reality of Love. Here we should understand that without the reality of Love one CAN NOT be a disciple nor an aspirant; without Love one stands in the world as a man whose focus IS on his self. In Vincent’s rendering of without variance or doubting ⁴ there IS the real possibility that these can come forth in an idea that could be interpreted by a man as that it IS from above and this IS especially so in doubting. The lexicon offer us these ideas as the definition of the Greek word adiakritos: undistinguished, unintelligible; without dubiousness, ambiguity or uncertainty ². Can we see in these ideas the reality of the apostle’s thoughts? That Wisdom from above IS sure; it IS unquestionable and that in this IS the idea that such Wisdom would NOT leave one wondering if it were such Wisdom; that if one is drawn to wonder if a revelation or thought IS True that it most likely IS NOT.

We should understand that in this list of words, this list of the attributes of that Wisdom from above, the apostle’s choices are unique and in many cases DO NOT reflect the ideas that are generally attributed to them; often the range of meanings is large enough to cast doubt upon what James Truly means. This IS True in the words that ARE rendered as “bitter envying and strife” where the better renderings would concern emulation and faction which express the idea of the self-absorbed man who IS actively protecting his own beliefs in those thoughts that he may believe ARE from God. Here we could see a man whose religious beliefs are strong but doctrinal and the man stands for them because they ARE his and this regardless that another can point out the flaws in his interpretation of Truth. Many can see these ideas in these Greek words but they ARE NOT the common understanding which has become jealousy and selfish ambition. Similarly the Greek word rendered as pure which IS NOT the only word rendered as such, and which, if one would look at the few times it IS used in the epistles, he could see the idea of Godlike over the simplicity of pure. To this idea of pure or Godlike we attached the idea of holy which IS rendered from a kindred word; in this we can see that God IS holy and men can be pure and can be Godlike.

Then there IS the word rendered as peaceable which some render as peaceful. This word IS used only twice; once here by James and another in Hebrews where the author speaks about the “peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11). There are other words that are used to express the idea of Peace including the one used by James in the next verse. Here we take the idea of the sense of Peace which we can see in the lexicon’s definition which includes: bring peace with it ². Our view IS similar then to that idea presented by the Master who gives to His disciples Peace saying: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). Here we can try to see that the Peace that the Master gives leaves one with a sense of Peace such that there is no fear, nor trouble about one’s state and in James’ words there IS no fear nor trouble about the revelation of Wisdom; there is ONLY the certainty that it IS such. Much the same ideas can be seen in James use of epieikes which IS used only five times in the New Testament and its rendering as gentle DOES NOT really meet the call of James’ intent in its common understanding which is kindly and easy. Here Vincent tells us of forbearance and in this we should see the greater reality of the apostle’s intent; that Wisdom from above IS not such that it will be overwhelming to any, that the Truth of that Wisdom would NOT seek to overcome nor impinge upon the sensibilities of the man who receives this and, here again we should be reminded that we are speaking of the word of God, the revelation from above. If a thought were to come to a man that says that he should do or think this or that and this thing IS an offense to others, it IS NOT from above as it IS only Love that will come from God. Perhaps we can see in this most difficult idea a sense of meekness.

We have shown these same ideas regarding the apostles use of the Greek word eupeithes which IS rendered as”easy to be intreated” and which IS ONLY used here by James; in this we took our own route to finding some meaning by breaking the word down into its parts; eu and peitho and in this approach found the idea ‘well believed‘ which we take to say ‘easy to believe‘. In this idea we find what can be an attribute of that Wisdom from above, that in the sensibility of the aspirant and the disciple such a thought or revelation would NOT be alien nor far removed from a sense of reality. Finally there IS the combination of the ideas of “mercy and good fruits” which we addressed separately and which ARE NOT uncommon words although the idea of both IS NOT Truly understood by most. In mercy we find the implementation of Love and so in this context that this Wisdom from above IS filled with Love or with lovingkindness as this IS rendered in the Old Testament, and NOT that sense of compassion or pity for the needy and downtrodden as IS commonly understood. This Wisdom then IS a thought that IS filled with Love, a revelation that exudes the lovingkindness of God so that there IS NO room for any worldly ideas; here we have such Wisdom that expresses the kindness of Love which we can be better seen as that understanding of ALL. Then, in “good fruits“, we can see NO ideas other than the fruit of the Spirit, the realty of ALL things spiritual of which the Apostle Paul tells us that the “fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5:9).

These are the attributes of Wisdom from above; they ARE NOT the thoughts of men but the thoughts of God. There IS one more term used by James that we will finish with in the next essay and this IS that this Wisdom from God IS “without hypocrisy“; while this may seem to be straightforward, there is a depth to this that goes beyond the sometimes hypocritical actions of men.

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.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)

This is called by some of the church the Great Commission and so it is. It is however hardly understood and at times grossly misapplied. Somewhere in the centuries that have passed since the Master left us we have come to think that the meaning of this is just to preach the word through any particular doctrine and baptize according to any particular belief. Vincent tells us that the word translated as teach here should be seen as make disciples of ⁴ and the lexicon bears this out. There is nowhere in scripture an actual defining understanding of the concept of baptism and we generally think of it as the immersion into or the pouring on of water and that somehow this clears us of sin. This is but an outward sign however of real spiritual undertaking by the conscious man and it is only when a man is ready to commit to the Master that a baptism can be considered real. We will leave this as the Quote of the Day for a few days and try to find in it some true meaning. Keeping in mind our four points, we should ponder on this.

The Master is speaking to disciples and not the multitudes and these are those that do believe on Him and follow Him and keep His words. Hard sayings for man in the world but claimed by many nonetheless. There IS a reality in the idea that the disciple should be “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” which IS His words that ARE to be kept and in this light we add these ideas from the Buddha: “Love yourself and watch – today, tomorrow, always. First establish yourself in the way, Then teach, and so defeat sorrow. To straighten the crooked you must first do a harder thing – straighten yourself” (Dhammapada; on Yourself)⁵.

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