IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1188

ON LOVE; PART DCCLXXVII

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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 took our view of the grace of God which IS but a nebulous word that represents ALL things that come from God through the God and the Christ Within; this IS His Love and His Presence in the Life of the man in this world. We applied our ideas to the greater reality of discipleship as seen through the Master’s words on the quid pro quo that He offers us and the final commandment that He gives to His apostles which we KNOW as the Great Commission. We should remember here that this idea of grace can be viewed both globally and individually and it IS the individual sense of grace that brings a man to the Kingdom of God or, better, his realization of the Kingdom of God Within. While the global sense of this “free gift” IS ever with us as the Way of God in relation to His creation and the Advent of the Master and other teachers over the centuries, this IS generally confused with the happenstance that benefits the religious man in this world. In the doctrinal view, Grace IS often seen as the carnal benefits that a may come to a man in this world. In the reality of carnal living however there IS NO such reality as both the religious and the irreligious can find the same benefits and there ARE many who are far outside of the Master’s words and who benefit carnally in this world. It IS rather the focus of one’s Life in form that determines his ability to ‘thrive’ in this world of men along some carnal line of effort or thought which, in conjunction with his predispositions of body and personality and the deeper aspects of karma, create the man in this world. In the deeper Truths of Life according to the spiritual precepts of the Master, it IS the man who ‘thrives’ here in this Earth who will have the more difficult time in overcoming the world if he should choose to DO so, it IS this man who has much more to shed in this effort to stand as a disciple of the Lord.

It IS in this view that the denominations that teach that worldly benefits ARE the grace of God Truly mislead the people and the greater their doctrinal focus on the the worldly benefits of Life in this world, the farther from the Truth of spiritual Life they take the adherent. While this may seem a harsh view of some doctrines, there IS much Truth in what we are saying; if the focus of the man in the world IS upon the things of the world then it IS this that becomes important to him and the idea of religion becomes merely a tool toward an carnal end which IS NOT in accordance with the words of the Master and His apostles. In the reality of the Master’s words and the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles there IS the reality of the Presence of God which IS the individual form of grace that comes to the man in this world who will keep His words and His commandments and, while this IS clearly stated in the New Testament and in many ways, this IS NOT seen and understood as this IS presented. We can have theories on why there IS this dysfunction between the words of the Master and His apostles and the interpretation and application of these in the world of men but in the reality of Life our best realization of Truth is found in the misconceptions of Life and in the glamour that pervades the minds of men who believe that they KNOW the Truth. This glamour, which IS grounded int the illusions of Life in this world, shows men their own version of Truth which varies according the the denomination and practice and which IS founded in the basic idea that men CAN NOT DO as the Master instructs. It IS in this light that the dilution of the words of the Master and the interpretations of the His words and those of His apostles ARE allowed to change the writer’s intent to fit the carnal ways of men.

An example of this view that it IS NOT possible for the man in the world to accomplish the Truth, that the man in the world CAN NOT DO as the Master nor as His apostles, IS found in this simple idea from John Gill which is offered in commentary about the Great Commandments that we have again at the top of our essay; we read: thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; that is, with all the powers and faculties of the soul, the will, the understanding, and the affections; in the most sincere, upright, and perfect manner, without any dissimulation and hypocrisy, and above all objects whatever, for this the law requires; and which man, in his state of innocence, was capable of, though now fallen, he is utterly unable to perform; so far from it, that without the grace of God, he has no true love at all to God, in his heart, soul and mind, but all the reverse; his carnal mind is enmity against God, and everything that is divine and good, or that belongs unto him: and though this is now the case of man, yet his obligation to love the Lord in this manner is still the same; and when the Spirit of God does produce the grace and fruit of love in his soul, he does love the Lord sincerely ⁸. It IS likely views such as this in the early church and in the previous traditions and doctrines of the Jews that have created this sense of impossibility and have led men to conclude and to believe that the reality of keeping His words IS NOT the required reality for the individual grace of God in one’s Life, and this despite the Master’s own words to the contrary. We should try to see that what Mr. Gill argues against IS the very idea that the Apostle Paul gives to us; the Way to the reality of the Presence of God in the Life of the man in this world. Paul tells us: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

In the apostle’s words we have the steady progression of grace in the Life of the man in this world and this grace IS the Transforming Power in the Life of the man who Truly seeks God. Some may see this idea of conforming as that this refers to: either the Mosaic dispensation, and Jewish church state, so called in opposition to “the world to come”, the Gospel dispensation…OR else the men of the world are designed, carnal and unregenerate men, among whom they formerly had their conversation, from among whom they were chosen, called, and separated, and who lie and live in wickedness, and therefore should not be conformed unto them ⁸. In these ideas from John Gill we have the doctrinal view of some yet today which IS NOT in accordance with our view of the intent of the apostle who Truly means to infer ALL of the ways of the world from which he himself has escaped. It IS the very idea of Transforming that brings us the greater value of grace and of the Presence of God as the steady shift in the focus of one’s Life away from the ways and things of the world and onto the things of God. It IS these ideas that are incorporated into ALL of the sayings on the separation of the world from God insofar as the focus of men should be; it IS in these ideas that we should see the Master’s Truths regarding “God and mammon” and His Truth on the separation between the “treasures in heaven” and those “treasures upon earth“. It IS in this idea of Transforming that we should understand the Master’s words saying “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:24, 20, 19, 21). And it IS in these idea that we find those sayings from the apostles regarding this division of having ones thoughts and attitudes upon the things of the world or upon the things of God. In the Apostle James telling us that “that the friendship of the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4) and John’s telling us that to “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world” (1 John 2:15), we should see the reality; we should understand that the idea of this Love, this friendship and the conformity ALL mean the same thing which IS to look away from the world and to Look toward God. As we have said in previous essays, even if one should view mammon and treasure merely as wealth and possessions, the doctrinal church still misses the mark as they apply carnal ideas to the apostle’s words of Love, friendship and conformity. John uses the idea of agape in referring to this Love for the world and in this sense of Love we should NOT see the carnal ideas of emotional and mental attraction and attachment but rather the converse of the intent of this word as it would apply to or from God. The greater reality of the apostle’s word on Love IS in the idea that we should NOT treasure these things or choose these things of the world over God. And we see this in the context of his words which we read as:

“Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes…..Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:7-11, 15-17).

It IS in the totality of the message here that we should see the apostle’s intent regarding Love for the world or the thoughts and and attitudes that ARE of this world and we should see as well John’s intended correlation between KNOWING God and Loving God; that each requires that same idea that we keep His words. John presents this to us in much the same way as he presents his thoughts on Love; we read: “hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:3-6). In the depth of John’s words here we should see the whole of the objective of spiritual Life and of following the Lord; we should see the entirety of the journey of man from his focus upon the things of the world to his Transformation and his focus upon the things of God. Despite the overwhelming weight of these ideas from the Master and His apostles, men still choose the realm of mammon and the things of the world as their focus and in this we should see ALL men who have not entered upon that journey that begins with True Repentance. Perhaps it IS in view of this overwhelming weight of DOING, the perceived difficulty in keeping His words, that men have formulated their doctrines which seem to merge the spiritual and the carnal into a single path which, according to the words of the Master and His apostles, DOES NOT lead to the Kingdom of God. And perhaps it IS in view of this that the Master and His apostles have offered us another way to accomplish the True goals of Life, the way of Love which the Master shows us IS equivalent to keeping His words, an equivalency to which the apostles testify. And this way of Love IS twofold from the perspective of the man in the world; the Master tells us that we show our Love for God by keeping His words and, as the apostles show us, keeping His words IS found in the Truth of this Love as our expression to ALL  men.

The Master shows us that Love for God is tied to keeping His words in many sayings including His simply straightforward words saying “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15) and Paul shows us the reality of keeping His words through our expression of Love to ALL men saying: “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). It IS this Love that John shows us throughout his epistle; in the selection that we have been carrying for several essays now and in his other ideas that show us reality of the application of this Love as our expression to the world. We should note again that the apostle DOES combine the ideas of Loving God and KNOWING God as we see in his use of these ideas above and in the similarly worded saying that “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments“. We should remember here also how that this idea of KNOWING IS related to the Master’s use of the idea of faith and our understanding of this faith as that KNOWING, NOT ONLY God in this global sense but the God Within whose expression in this world IS that faith that can move the mountain. In John’s words we also have a more specific tie of this Love with this KNOWING as we read: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 5:3, 4:7-8). And it IS the practical application of this Love that we read in the apostle’s words from the previous chapters which ideas we take up today for their relationship to the Master’s own words on how that we should Love and treat ALL others in this world:

“whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us” (1 John 3:17-24).

There IS much more here in the apostle’s words that we will consider in future posts but we close today repeating the Master’s own words on this same application of Love; here we should see that it IS this application of Love that IS the equivalent to keeping His Words as Paul shows us above:

• “I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 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” (Matthew 5:39-44).
• “I say unto you which hear , Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again . 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 6:27-35).

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