IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1149

ON LOVE; PART DCCXXXVIII

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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 were led to a view of grace as the reality of ALL that comes to us from God and an understanding of the idea that this IS a “free gift” from yet another perspective; one which IS NOT that overall sense of doctrines which say that there IS no other responsibility for men to receive grace other than to believe as the various doctrines predicate. In many cases this sense of doctrinal grace is encompassed in their ideas of being “born again“, ideas which ARE NOT according to the words of the Master nor His apostles but which are purely the work of the minds of the men who have devised such doctrines. In this view, the idea of being “born again” from the Master’s conversation with Nicodemus in the Gospel of John IS tied to some out of context words from the Apostle Paul who says: “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10). It IS doctrine that allocates this believing, as the simple assent of men, to the reality of being “born again“. Unless the Life change of Repentance accompanies this however, the idea of salvation IS NOT the outcome and these doctrines simply mislead men to believe that they have achieved some state of Truth.

We should try to see that this IS the same type of doctrinal approach that the apostle speaks against in the saying that we have been using: “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). In the last essay we discussed Paul’s idea in some detail and from the perspective of the message that IS offered to disciples and not the doctrinal approach that separates faith from works. We should see here that Paul’s ideas and his motivation were NOT to show faith over works or over the law as the commandments of God, but rather that faith and grace ARE over the ideas of the law as understood by men through doctrine and in tradition: to the men in that day as the doctrinal Jew and the man who observed their ways and yet today as against the same tendency to supplant the Truth of His words with doctrines and traditions. The reality of this issue can be seen in the idea of being “born again” as this has become a rallying point in many Christian churches with ‘alter calls’ and other forms of ritual replacing the Truth of Repentance and the reality of keeping His words. And it IS against this same manner of men, this same idea of creating doctrines and traditions that are contrary to the Truth of His words, that the Master speaks against as He repeats the words of the Prophet Isaiah saying: “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7). When we can see that this idea DOES NOT apply ONLY to the Jew in Jesus’ day and when we can couple this idea with the Master’s words regarding His own mission in relation to the law, that “ I am not come to destroy  but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17), we can then have a clearer view of His other words from the Gospel of John which are essentially ignored by those who preach the several doctrines of faith.

As we repeat again the Master’s words from John’s Gospel, we should remember that these ARE NOT stand alone ideas and that these ARE NOT ideas that ARE appointed ONLY to the Eleven nor to apostles alone. These words ARE the basic fabric of the most central Christian idea of the Presence of God in the Life of man and, while the doctrinal church may see this Presence in their ideas of faith, as that it IS faith alone without works that brings righteousness and salvation to men, the greater reality of this Presence and of the Kingdom ARE founded in the Master’s own words. In His words on His Presence and the Presence of the Father in the Life of a man we should see the quid pro quo which IS the basic cost of discipleship for the man who Truly chooses to follow the Lord; we read:

• “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him”  (John 14:21).
• “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me”  (John 14:23-24).

These words from Jesus offer men the way to realize the Presence of God in their lives and they show the simplicity of this from the perspective of the man in the world. Here, from the perspective of the disciple, the reality IS understood but, from the perspective of the man who IS yet focused upon himself and the things of the world, these ideas can be rather alien….especially in the view of the doctrines with which he may have been nurtured. For the man who keeps His words or strives to DO so, this is the promise of grace, the promise of the Presence of God with the inherent realizations and revelations of Truth and divinity. For the man who IS yet bound by the ways of the world, this IS still a promise as His words can awaken the man to the Truth of Life and allow for that glimpse of Soul Light, the True “free gift” of God from the Soul that IS ever trying to wrest the consciousness of the man away from the wiles of the flesh. In this perspective the “free gift” acts upon the man who IS coming to see some glimpse of reality and, if the Light IS strong enough to dissuade the man from the carnal Life, the resultant Repentance, the resultant decision to change one’s Life’s focus, sets that man upon the Path and his journey which IS his Transformation. In this we should see the ideas of that circular pattern, the upward spiral if you will, that brings ever more grace into one’s Life as we discussed in the end of the last post. Here there IS a cost to this grace but it IS only a cost from the perspective of the man in the world who, in the duality of the Life of the aspirant and the disciple, sees the dwindling of his interest in the carnal Life….a dwindling that causes resistance in the personality. It IS the sacrifice of one’s worldly tendencies that IS the price to pay and from the perspective of the True man, the Soul, the Christ and the God Within, there IS NO price whatsoever; there IS just the progress of the Life of that Soul in the world as he journeys along the Path to the Kingdom of God….the realization of the Presence of God in one’s Life.

And the reality of the Master’s stand against doctrine and tradition can be seen even as predictive words as He offers us the reality of keeping His words from the perspective of seeing Him as Lord; we see this in the rhetorical question that He asks of ALL men saying: “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). There IS great impact in these words which remains unseen by the doctrines of men which see these ideas as being spoken against the Jews in that day rather than in the timeless nature with which they ARE intended. And there IS the similar ideas that ARE presented in Matthew’s more expansive view of this same thing where Jesus tells us that to call Him Lord and to NOT DO as He says IS of no avail to the man who seeks God; it IS only the man who “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” who shall “enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21). This IS the reality of His words and in these we should see the Kingdom and we should see His Presence.In the combination of these ideas from the synoptic gospels and John’s Gospel we should clearly see His intent….the intent that we keep His words. We should remember as well that on the heels of these sayings in Matthew and Luke, there IS the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders which showe the impact of Jesus words on the lives of men according to their ability to keep His words.  Doctrines however manipulate the Master’s ideas as we see in this from John Gill who, while agreeing to the idea of keeping His words places the idea of faith in Him to a higher importance and then supposes that the words from Matthew ARE intended for ‘preachers’; we read:

but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. This, as it may regard private Christians, intends not merely outward obedience to the will of God, declared in his law, nor barely subjection to the ordinances of the Gospel; but more especially faith in Christ for life and salvation; which is the source of all true evangelical obedience, and without which nothing is acceptable to God. He that seeth the Son, looks unto him, ventures on him, commits himself to him, trusts in him, relies on him, and believes on him for righteousness, salvation, and eternal life, he it is that does the will of the Father, and he only; and such an one, as he is desirous of doing the will of God in all acts of cheerful obedience to it, without dependence thereon; so he shall certainly enter the kingdom of heaven, and have everlasting life; see ( John 6:40 ) but as these words chiefly respect preachers, the sense of them is this, that only such who are faithful dispensers of the word shall enter into the joy of their Lord. Such do the will of Christ’s Father, and so his own, which are the same, who fully and faithfully preach the Gospel of the grace of God; who declare the whole counsel of God, and keep back nothing that is profitable to the souls of men; who are neither ashamed of the testimony of Christ, nor afraid of the faces of men; but as they are put in trust with the Gospel, so they speak it boldly, with all sincerity, not as pleasing men, but God, and commend themselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God: such as these shall have an abundant entrance into the kingdom and glory of God.⁸

The Master’s words however have NO such machinations of doctrine embedded in them; His words are simple and straightforward and ARE further explained by the parable that follows which, in the reality of His words, IS NOT a parable at ALL but an example of the reality of keeping His words. Matthew Henry captures a greater part of the essence of His words even while seeing the words from John’s Gospel in the common understanding of the idea that we believe on or believe in the Master; we read in part: That it is necessary to our happiness that we do the will of Christ, which is indeed the will of his Father in heaven. The will of God, as Christ’s Father, is his will in the gospel, for there he is made known, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: and in him our Father. Now this is his will, that we believe in Christ, that we repent of sin, that we live a holy life, that we love one another. This is his will, even our sanctification. If we comply not with the will of God, we mock Christ in calling him Lord  ⁸.

This IS the reality of our Life as aspirants and as disciples and this IS the reality for any man who desires the Kingdom of God. The answer IS rather clearly stated in the Master’s words and while we can debate the meaning of the words we read, the essential Truths must become clear and the deception of thinking that it IS NOT necessary to keep His words must be overcome. It IS in this reality that the Apostle James speaks as he admonishes us to “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22) and it IS in this light that we should see Paul’s words which are deemed to be against works as that they ARE really against works according to doctrine in that day and in this day as well. And we should understand here that there IS this same reality in the words of the Master according to John where the idea of keeping His words IS ofttimes expressed as that we believe upon Him. We should understand here that as the apostle uses these words to show us the Master’s ideas from his perspective and the reality behind this sense of believing upon IS that we keep His words as IS expressed in the Master’s sayings that we cite above. There should be no sense of contradiction in His words nor in the words expressed by His apostles; if He tells us that we find His presence in keeping His words and if He tells us that we can do “greater works” by believing on Him, we MUST see the deeper ideas. Can we not see that the idea of these “greater works” IS dependent upon the Presence of God in the Life of man? and, seeing this, can we not see that the quid pro quo IS the same for each. While many want to reduce His words to simple believing, the reality IS that this must be expanded to the greater reality of keeping His words. It IS in the view of men whose vision IS yet carnal that doctrines like those that codify simple believing as the reality of faith rather than that KNOWING which comes in the realizations and revelations of grace which IS the Presence of the Lord in one’s Life.

And so then ALL of these words from the Master that regard His Presence and the ability of man to “greater works” ARE words that show forth the grace that comes into the Life of the man whose focus IS upon God, bring us to His final ideas from the fourteenth chapter. Here we come to understand that it IS the Spirit of God, the Spirit that IS God, that will teach a man ALL things and this by the Presence of the Lord or, better, the realization by the man in the world of this Presence, a realization that IS His grace. It IS in this light that we should see the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of God in one’s Life; and we should understand that this Spirit IS both the Presence of God and the result of that Presence. This comes to us from the Father  and in the Name of the Son which we read as:

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 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. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence” (John 14:26-31).

In the Unity of the Trinity of God we should understand the reality behind these words and understand by the very context of His words that this Holy Spirit IS His manifestation in the Life of a man, that this IS the abiding Presence of the Father and the Son. While we can see the idea that the very Presence IS that grace that comes to a man as the ability to DO and that this IS based in the revelations and the realizations from our own Souls which IS the grace of God, we should see as well that to receive this we MUST Love Him and that in Loving Him we must keep His words. In this we should remember that to Love Him and to call Him Lord, Lord as we read above, ARE the same thing. We should understand as well that in these ideas IS the ultimate reality of being “born again” as ALL of these ideas of His Presence, and ALL of these ideas on the Kingdom of God, ARE ideas that ARE the basis for one’s being “born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). In this we should see that the Life of the Spirit, the Life of the Christ and the God Within, become the Life of the man in the world and his expression.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

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!

• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com