ON LOVE; PART DCCXIV
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “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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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? 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.
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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
In the last essay we continued our discussion on the concept of grace as this IS spoken about in the New Testament. While our view of grace IS contrary to much of what the various doctrines teach, it IS in line with the reality of the idea as it IS offered in the New Testament. We see grace as the same “free gift” as many DO but. at the same time. we understand that from the perspective of the man in the world grace must be earned and comes to us by degree. The “free gift” of grace IS the reality of its possession by the Soul, the True man, but this DOES not mean that it IS operating in the life of the man who IS NOT focused upon the things of God to some degree. This view comes from the teachings of the Master as we read His words from the writings of Matthew and Luke who both report Jesus speaking of this grace in relation to the idea of attaining it by means of the expression Love by a man in the world. That this view IS NOT held doctrinally can be seen in the rendering of the word from the Master in Luke’s Gospel as thanks instead of grace with some translations using the idea of being commended, of credit, of praise, of benefit and of blessing in addition to the idea of favor which is used in other places to rendering of the Greek word charis; a word that IS rendered as grace in most of its other uses.
It IS important to understand that the nature of this idea that IS being expressed by Jesus and reported by Matthew and Luke IS the same in both gospels and while the rendering of charis in Luke’s Gospel should be as grace, Matthew offers the idea as reward or even wages through his use of the Greek word misthos. In this we should try to see that while the Truth of grace IS as a “free gift“, that its free nature IS to the True man individually and to the world globally in the Presence of the Master and of His teachings. It IS through these that He shows men the reality of their True nature and how that it IS grace that they should be expressing to the world of men. And so this should be seen in the Apostle Paul’s writings on grace, that it IS of God and therefore of the God Within, and that it IS a part of the reality of following Christ and of keeping His words. We must of course see the parabolic nature of the apostle’s words and understand the symbology of his use of the idea of Adam as the reality of man in the world whose very presence brings men into sin which IS the natural action of being “made subject to vanity” (Romans 8:20) as he later explains. As the devolvement of the Souls in the world brings sin and as the law offered by Moses shows forth that sin, so the Presence of the Master and His teachings offers the greater reality of freedom from sin as men ARE “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” by the grace that they can bring into their mortal lives. And this IS the Master’s point that we should take from His words saying:
“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend , hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:31-35).
We should note here the combination of the ideas of grace, rendered as thanks, and of reward from the Greek misthos which IS also used to express this thought by the Apostle Matthew who gives us the Master’s words as:
“But I say unto you, 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. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?” (Matthew 5:45-47).
We should note here as well that this idea of grace as this IS presented by the Master IS the reward for one’s expression of Love in the world and we should try to understand that it IS this same Love that IS the at the heart of the Great Commandments that we have been carrying at the top of our essays. And we should try to understand as well how that these things ALL work together; that it IS through one’s focus upon the things of God that the revelation of the reality of Love comes into the carnal Life of a man, that this revelation IS itself grace and that by one’s expression of this Love more grace will flow.
In the last essay we continued with our look at the words of Paul to the Romans that explain the progression of Life in this world and which try to frame the reality of the Master, His Life and His teachings, as the new cornerstone for the spiritual Life of men who seek communion with God. We should remember that the apostle IS speaking to a culture and a society that has some understanding of the Jewish religious views as His words are replete with references to their religious ideas and we should also remember that Paul IS addressing his words to “all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints” and then clarifies this saying “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world” (Romans 1:7-8). Perhaps we can assume here that by way of their discipleship these men at Rome have become aware of the Jewish religion but it may be better to see that these words that regard the ideas of Adam and the law of Moses are appreciated only by those who ARE Jews or who may have such knowledge. For the rest the apostle’s speech IS likely to portray only the idea of the progression of Truth from the time of Adam, as the beginnings of men in this world, through the time of the law with its blessing and cursing, and into the new dispensation of the Love of God as expressed for us in the Life of Christ Jesus. In this we should see the progression of grace in the artful way that Paul tries to show us, that it IS in the expression of Love as shown to us in the righteousness of Christ that the “free gift” of grace flows to us; it IS in this reality of emulating the Master’s Ways that “by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).
It IS unfortunate that the apostle’s words are not rendered and understood as they were intended and that this idea of justification IS seen as absolution rather than in the greater reality of one’s worldly expression in righteousness. There are many ways to view these ideas from Paul and this IS likely purposefully so; for us the apostle’s intent IS NOT to show us that there IS naught that must be done by men as IS commonly understood under the doctrines that place the atoning quality of the Master’s death at the forefront of salvation. One need only look at the Truth of the Master’s words in the gospels to understand that this absolution by grace as the “free gift” IS NOT the apostle’s intended message as this DOES render moot much of the Truth of the Master’s words and His teaching. This leads us back to our current ideas on the relationship between the grace that comes to us by our attention to the things of God, the grace that comes as the revelations and realizations of ever greater Truths, and the expression of this grace to the world of men. In grace IS the ability to express those things revealed and it IS the Holy Spirit that IS the very expression of this grace as it flows outward to the world of men. Repeating our words from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:12-20).
We should remember that Jesus IS teaching these things in response to questions posed by the Eleven, some of whom are unsure of His meaning. His words prior to the questions of Philip and Thomas were parabolic and this IS the continuing tone of the Master’s speech. This IS a fact that He later tells them saying: “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father” (John 16:25). In addition, we should understand that Jesus language IS according to what His disciples and others can understand of God whom the Master presents to the world as the Father, as a separate entity, while at the same time acknowledging to the Eleven and others that “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). It IS the depth of these mysteries that ARE the reality of Jesus parabolic language in our sayings above as He says that He will ask the Father which is rendered as “And I will pray the Father“. Here, after the Master’s previous words saying “the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10), we should be able to see the greater idea of His asking the God Within. Much of this IS missed by doctrines that hold the idea of the Trinity as Three Distinct and Separate ‘Persons’ rather than our view that each of these ‘Persons’ IS an expression of the reality of the ONE God, the One Immutable and Eternal Presence.
While He IS with them, the apostles have the ability to express the grace that they have received from their own God and Christ Within thorough their lives of focus upon the Christ and His teachings which ARE the things of God. This ability to express their divine nature, this grace that they have, IS founded in the Presence of the Master with them and their KNOWING by degree the Truth of their own divinity. As He leaves them however He seeks to reassure them of their continued ability and their need to express the divine revelations and realizations that they have; He had been their Comforter and now “another Comforter” must be realized by each of them. This IS to be their sense of God Within and in this IS their expression of the Love and the Power of that God Within. Each of them has the grace, the ability to DO as the Master instructs; heretofore they have been DOING by His Presence with them in the world and now they must DO so in the power of their own sense of God Within as the Holy Spirit becomes that expression, that outward flow of the Love and the Power of God. It IS by the measure of this expression which IS based in their individual faith, their individual KNOWING without doubt, that they are able to DO those “greater works” and we should see here the fullness of the Truth that it IS ONLY in keeping His words that the fullness of His expression can become ours.
While we tend to separate the Three Aspects of God from the Trinity, the Master DOES NOT do so except for the understanding of the Eleven as He alludes to the reality of the Holy Spirit, that “he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you“. Vincent tells us that this idea of “shall be” IS considered by some as: is in you 4 and this IS how this IS intended in our view. We should try to understand here that the Master IS drawing that same dividing line that we discussed in the last essay, that line that divides those whose focus IS on the self and the self in the world from those whose focus IS on the things of God; the dividing line between those in sin and those in righteousness. We must remember and understand that these ideas work out in Life by degree and in this we should see that one’s measure of the expression of the Holy Spirit in his Life IS directly dependent upon the one’s measure of grace which IS in turn dependent upon one’s focus upon the things of God. Here we should try to understand the Master’s intent as He says that “the world cannot receive” this “Spirit of truth“; that it IS one’s realization of this that IS missing for those whose focus IS upon the things of the world; ALL men ARE the same, ALL ARE Souls whose very nature IS this “Spirit of truth“.
And this IS the mystery that we read about in the words of Paul who tells us that it IS the Christ Within us, much as it IS the Father within the Master. Paul tells us that “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27). This IS the reality of the Master’s last words from our selection above as He tells the Eleven again of the Oneness of Himself with the Father and, after including us by way of the previous ideas that it IS the “Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” and then that we too can DO these same works which shows the Father in us as well, Jesus tells us of our Oneness with Him as He says that “I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you“. There IS NO way to understand these things physically, these ideas can only be seen and understood spiritually and this understanding IS the result of grace, the result of the revelations and the realizations that come to the man in the world from His own Soul.
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.
We repeat here again a saying that is from the Bhagavad Gita, which goes well with our theme of the God Within, the Soul, which we see as the Christ Within and while this is good in the Christian world and is True based upon our understanding of the Christ as the manifestation of God, we should also see in these words below that it does not matter what these divine ideas are called; that it matters not what we call this Inner Man, that he is the same in ALL, he is the Soul.
Thou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part of every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the Beings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed, through this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and also his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.—Bhagavad-Gita
It is difficult to tell just what verses of the Bhagavad Gita the above is from; whether it is a paraphrase or a combination. It is from the book “The Great Initiates” by Édouard Schuré which was originally published in French in 1889 and perhaps it is in the translation of the verses that they become hard to recognize. However, the sheer beauty of the presentation caught my attention and so I share it with you. The Path to the Kingdom is the same no matter what religion one professes.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
