IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1126

ON LOVE; PART DCCXV

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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 idea of grace as this IS presented to us in the New Testament and we cited again our view of the use of the Greek word charis by Luke as he reports Jesus sayings regarding Love, giving and DOING Good. While charis IS generally rendered as grace, the King James Translators chose to use the idea of being thanked, and other translators chose equally diluted words, to express the intent behind Luke’s use of this word. If we can see the idea of charis as grace in Luke’s words, we can come to a greater understanding of the use of this word throughout the New Testament; then, while doctrine offers it as the “free gift” of God in a most nebulous way, we can see the reality of grace as the reward or the the wages, for right action in this world. This idea of reward or wages IS brought to us by the Apostle Matthew who, in the same series of sayings from the Master, uses the Greek word misthos to show the result of a man’s right expression of Love in this world. This IS our reality of grace and it IS one that can carry forward throughout ALL of the uses of this idea from Jesus and the Apostle Paul who uses the idea of charis as that which comes from God freely. Using the Master’s intent as depicted by Matthew and Luke, as a guide, we can then see deeper into the way that Paul uses charis to show that this grace IS what IS offered to the world by the Christ in the personage of Jesus globally.

We should remember here that the Apostle John gives us this same idea as he tells us in the Prologue to his gospel that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth“. In this we can see the idea of the Christ as the Word, or as we prefer the Logos, coming among us in the personage of Jesus and bringing with Him “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9) as the grace and the Truth of God. John continues his thoughts on this idea of grace as He tells us that “of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:14, 16-17). In this we should try to see the reality of grace as the “free gift” of God, not as men in the world but as Souls, as “partakers of the divine nature” of the Christ. Here we should try to see the depth of the idea of divinity, that it IS in the Presence of the Christ in this world that we ARE shown the reality of our own “divine nature” of which He tells us and He shows us. This IS the “free gift” of grace: the “divine nature” of each Soul. And this IS the reward for righteousness in this world: the realization of this grace as men in form. Can we see here how that we understand grace as the realizations and the revelations of divinity which flow from the Soul, the Christ Within, into the mortal Life of the man who can focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True; upon the things of God.

And this IS the Life of the disciple and the aspirant; this IS the Way of Truth and the reality of the Kingdom of God. As men focus upon the Truth through His words and the amplifying and clarifying nature of the words of His apostles, this grace which IS inherent in the Souls of men as their very substance is realized by the consciousness in the world as the reward for their right thoughts, attitudes and actions in the world of men. This IS the reality of the words of the Apostle Peter who tells us that “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). In Peter’s words here we should see the reality of our Life as Souls and understand that these “exceeding great and precious promises” ARE the grace that IS our own “divine nature. While the idea of “might be” is suggested by Vincent to be better as “may become“⁴, the Greek word ginomai is generally rendered simply as become and IS also offered by the lexicon as: to be made, finished ². The idea of “may become” and of to be made DO work better than the idea of might and we should see in ALL of these the idea that this gift that we have “may become” realized by the man in the world as he puts aside “the corruption that is in the world through lust“. Here we can see that this IS equivalent to our own ideas of focus as one’s attention to the things of God will allow the man to put such corruption or worldly behaviors behind. We should try to see that grace, as an English word taken with the intent of the Greek charis, IS but a word and that it signifies many things that can ALL be found in the idea of the “divine nature” that IS the True man, and the expression of this nature to the world of men. We should try to see as well that this grace IS brought into the Life of the man in the world spiritually as the revelations and the realizations of the Truth of one’s divinity which IS the cause of spiritual action by the man in the world.

The view of most Christian doctrine DOES NOT agree with our understanding of grace as many tie this idea of grace, this “free gift“, to the atoning quality that they place upon the death of the Christ. Most see this idea of grace as the absolution of the sins of the believer and many see this idea of grace in the carnal lives of the believer as well. Some also see this idea of absolution as a part of the ‘once saved, always saved’ theology which IS associated with their concept of predestination. Similarly, doctrines DO NOT see our view of the idea of grace that IS found in Peter’s words above; this we can see in John Gill’s most limiting view of the apostles words; we read his thoughts in part saying:

Whereby are given unto us; Or “by which”, that is, glory and virtue; by the glorious power of Christ, or by the glorious and powerful Gospel of Christ….that is, by Christ; for as in him are all the promises of God, so they are at his dispose, and by him are given unto the saints…..exceeding great and precious promises; meaning the promises of the new and everlasting covenant, of which Christ is the Mediator, surety, and messenger; and which are “exceeding great”, if we consider the author of them, who is the great God of heaven and earth…..that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature; not essentially, or of the essence of God, so as to be deified, this is impossible, for the nature, perfections, and glory of God, are incommunicable to creatures; nor, hypostatically and personally, so as the human nature of Christ, in union with the Son of God, is a partaker of the divine nature in him; but by way of resemblance and likeness….having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust; not the corruption and depravity of nature, which is never escaped by any, nor got rid of so long as the saints are in the world; but the corrupt manners of the world, or those corruptions and vices which, are prevalent in the world, and under the power and dominion of which the world lies; and particularly the sins of uncleanness, adultery, incest, sodomy, and such like filthy and unnatural lusts, which abounded in the world ⁸.

These ideas are far removed from our own simple understanding of the grace that IS the “exceeding great and precious promises” of and through which the carnal man can be “partakers of the divine nature“, which IS the reality of his realizations of such grace. A more appropriate and less limiting view is offered us in the Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible where the authors tell us:

Whereby, &c.–By His glory and virtue: His glory making the “promises” to be exceeding great; His virtue making them “precious” [BENGEL]. Precious promises are the object of precious faith. given–The promises themselves are a gift: for God’s promises are as sure as if they were fulfilled. by these–promises. They are the object of faith, and even now have a sanctifying effect on the believer, assimilating him to God. Still more so, when they shall be fulfilled. might, &c.–Greek, “that ye MAY become partakers of the divine nature,” even now in part; hereafter perfectly; 1 John 3:2 , “We shall be like Him.” the divine nature–not God’s essence, but His holiness, including His “glory” and “virtue,” 2 Peter 1:3 ; the opposite to “corruption through lust.” Sanctification is the imparting to us of God Himself by the Holy Spirit in the soul. We by faith partake also of the material nature of Jesus ( Ephesians 5:30 ). The “divine power” enables us to be partakers of “the divine nature.” escaped the corruption–which involves in, and with itself, destruction at last of soul and body; on “escaped” as from a condemned cell, compare 2 Peter 2:18-20 , Genesis 19:17 , Colossians 1:13 . through–Greek, “in.” “The corruption in the world” has its seat, not so much in the surrounding elements, as in the “lust” or concupiscence of men’s hearts ⁸.

There IS another reality in the idea of grace that IS missed by many and which IS incorporated for us in the Master’s words from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John that we have been discussing. This reality IS that it IS in becoming  “partakers of the divine nature” that we ARE able to see the ultimate Truth in His words saying “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do“. We must remember here that this ability IS ONLY to those who Truly “believeth on” Him which IS to say those who DO keep His words; any other sense of belief is merely an emotional or a mental assent. It IS in the focus of a man upon the things of God that the very ability to keep His words will come and this ability IS from grace, this ability IS from the realizations and the revelations of one’s “divine nature“. In these ideas IS the Truth of discipleship and the reality that in the growth of the Kingdom Within we can achieve these things by measure and perhaps here we can see the deeper truth in the words offered by John in the Prologue above….that it IS “of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace“. This idea of “grace for grace” IS NOT understood by most. John Gill tells us that: according to the different senses of the preposition (anti) , different interpretations are given of this passage; as that signifies a substitution of a person, or thing, in the room of another, the sense is thought to be, the Gospel, instead of the law; or the grace of the present dispensation, instead of the grace of the former dispensation ⁸ while the Commentary Critical offers us that: grace for grace–that is, grace upon grace (so all the best interpreters), in successive communications and larger measures, as each was able to take it in ⁸.

Vincent, while maintaining the view of the Old versus the New, gives us this idea in better terms as he also includes the idea of measure; he says: Grace for grace (χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος)…this idea is at the root of the peculiar sense in which the preposition is used here. We received, not New Testament grace instead of Old Testament grace; nor simply, grace added to grace; but new grace imparted as the former measure of grace has been received and improved. “To have realized and used one measure of grace, was to have gained a larger measure (as it were) in exchange for it.” Consequently, continuous, unintermitted grace. The idea of the development of one grace from another is elaborated by Peter (2 Peter 1:5) ⁴. Here in Vincent’s comments we have the follow-up saying to what we have from Peter above where we have access to the “divine nature“; the apostle continues to say: “beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity” (2 Peter 1:5-7). In these we should try to see the growing nature of grace in the Life of the man in the world, a growth that IS achieved by the realizations and revelations which show the man the fullness of His grace. Can we see here that this idea of “grace for grace” can be taken into the the Master’s words that we have been using over the last few posts; that there IS a relationship between this idea from John and the Master’s words saying “whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance” (Matthew 13:12). And can we see the responsibility that Peter IS teaching in the Master’s words saying: “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48).

There IS a dynamic connection between ALL of these spiritual ideas and this because there IS One Truth, One God, One Kingdom and One True sense of grace in discipleship. It IS in this growing grace in Life that we can DO such “greater works” as the Master tells us in His words from John’s Gospel which we repeat here again:

“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).

In Jesus’ parabolic language we should see the reality of His message as first He tells us of these “greater works” based in keeping His words and then tells us that we need only ask for the spiritual acuity and acumen to continue in pursuit of the Kingdom of God. There IS really NO other thing that one can Truly seek from God and this despite the common understanding of prayer and of praying for every which thing of the world. In James’ words saying “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 1:17) we should see this reality and understand that there IS naught of this world that IS a “good gift” nor a “perfect gift“; in this world there is ONLY “the corruption that is in the world through lust“. If we can understand the Greek word en, which IS here rendered as through, in its most common rendering of in, this ALL can be made to show us the very nature of asking God. And Jesus reminds us of the requirement that we keep His words as He says in the midst of these ideas on asking: “If ye love me, keep my commandments“. He tells us that if we DO keep His words that He Himself will ask the Father and we should try to see here that our keeping His words IS the reality of this asking.

And so with the idea of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit and the “Spirit of truth“; this too IS grace and this too IS the “exceeding great and precious promises“. It IS in our realization of this grace that flows from the Soul that we become “partakers of the divine nature“. While we have separated the idea of grace from the Holy Spirit, as that one IS the ability and the other the expression, we should KNOW that there IS Truly NO separation involved; these ideas as well as the separative ideas taken from the New Testament ARE for the easier understanding of the man whose mind is fixed in the realities of the world where it IS difficult to see spiritual ideas which have NO physical nature. We close today with the idea again of “grace for grace” as we understand it; in this measure of growth we have the growth of our own ability to KNOW the Truth of God through revelation and realization. It IS with this in mind that we should read Paul’s words saying: “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

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.

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!

• 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