ON LOVE; PART DCCXCIX
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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. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God
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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)
Our blog has ever been devoted to seeking the Truth in Jesus’ words and we ofttimes put our sense of His Truth against the dictates of the doctrines that DO NOT see this Truth as we DO. That His message IS one of Love IS the mainstay of our position and while this may NOT be seen by the doctrinal church, much of this failure IS founded in the common and carnal understanding of the Greek word agape which has been rendered as Love and, in the King James Bible, occasionally as Charity. The deeper reality of agape can be found in both of these English words and it IS the definition of Charity that we generally use to define Love as we DO in the answer to our own question above: What then IS Love? There IS yet a deeper Truth that must be found in this idea of Love as we consider the Apostle John’s words that tell us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16) and as we consider the reality of the Master’s words and His example of the Love of God in this world. Surely the idea that God IS Love CAN NOT be in relation to the emotional and the mental attachments and attractions that men have for others and for things and it IS in the reality that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) that the deeper sense of His Love can be seen.
While the Apostle Paul uses these words from his Epistle to the Romans in a specific sense, it IS in the whole of the usage of this idea that we find the True meaning and there IS NO clearer place than in the Master’s own words on Love as He shows us that if our Love IS ONLY for some, that this IS NOT the Love of God. Here we should see then that this IS NOT the Love of the Master as well and neither should this be the Love that the spiritual man, the man who would be His disciple, should offer; we read:
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But 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; 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 5:38-47).
In these words IS the reality of the Love of God as it IS intended to be seen by the man who Truly follows the Master. And if this sense of Love IS difficult for a man to see in the ideas of turning the other cheek, giving to ALL that may ask, and Loving even the enemy and those who ARE against him, there IS further clarification in the Ways of God, the Way that God gives ALL to ALL without any recognition, nor “respect of persons“. And the crowning idea here IS the Master’s admonition to ALL men…..that they should “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This IS the end game that remains unseen by the masses of men who proclaim that they KNOW the way to salvation and to the Kingdom of God. While Luke paints these same ideas in a different manner, the reality of this same Love and its expression in this world of men IS the same; that Luke offers us that we should “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36) DOES NOT detract from the idea of perfection, it enhances this idea as it shows the Love of God for ALL. It IS unfortunate that the idea of mercy as the rendering of the Greek word oikteiro leads men to see pity and compassion on those in need and while perhaps there IS NO better word to use here than mercy, we should try to see this in its Old Testament usage where we read His mercy as checed which means: goodness, kindness and faithfulness 2* as a most general desire of God in man which IS NOT restricted to pity or: kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them as this IS defined in the lexicon 2. It IS in this sense of Love that the Master repeats the words of the Prophet Hosea, speaking as the Lord, saying: “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). Jesus point here is clearly to show His Love, the Love of God, toward the sinner as we read in His complete saying; it IS when we can understand the reality that there ARE few righteous men then and now in the world, that we can then understand the idea of the sinner as ALL who ARE NOT so. We read Jesus’ words saying: “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13).
And Paul offers us the reality of righteousness as He repeats the words of the prophets which ARE attributed to the Psalmist saying: “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10) as he goes on to list the realities of the ways of men in this world. And these ways ARE contrary to the reality of righteousness as we read in Matthew’s version of the Master’s words from the Sermon on the Mount; they are contrary to perfection and the ARE contrary to the idea set forth by Luke in the mercy, the out-poured Love, of God. It IS in the Master’s words above that we find righteousness as the Way of the man who DOES these things; the man who see the deeper Truths as outlined in the even more defining words from Luke saying:
“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:27-36).
Can we see the overwhelming ideas of Love that ARE incorporated here and the sense that this IS the Way of God, the Way of the Master and that this must become the Way of the man in the world who Truly seeks God? Here, amid these realities which the carnal mind conveniently misses there IS the Truth of keeping His words and the Truth of the Love that keeping His words must express and, while these ideas as left for ALL to see and to use, the natural man goes on to the next verses from Luke, verses that seemingly benefit the emotions and the minds of men in this world. We read: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38). From the whole of the Master’s words up to this, the message IS of Love and the giving of that Love in every way to ALL and with “no respect of persons“, but the ideas taken up by most IS their beneficial and carnal interpretation of these last words on how that men can receive. And this looking at receiving, this looking at what can benefit the self, IS the way of men in this world and this regardless of how spiritual they may perceive themselves to be; in the absence of the fullness of one’s focus upon the things of God, there IS the sense of self and of what IS good for the self in this world. This IS the illusion and this IS the glamour of Life that IS broken down in the reality of Repentance and eliminated in the Transformation of one’s Life in this Earth. It IS in this sense of Transformation that the deeper ideas from the Master’s own words on His grace, His Presence, in one’s Life can be rightly discerned; we read again the reciprocal nature of this spiritual endeavor of Transformation:
“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. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, 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 14:21-24).
In these words IS the reality of Love which IS the essence of keeping His words which we should see in His words from the Sermon above. And it IS in this light that we should see the ideas that the Master sets forth in His talk to the Eleven on the vine and the branches which He ends saying that “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you“. It matters not how we view the nature of Jesus intent here; if we see this as speaking to the Eleven only and ascribe this to one’s Love for ‘the brethren’, then we should Love ‘the brethren’ as He Loved. And, if we can see the broader view of Love that concurs with His previous words on Love as we see above in the words of the Sermon and as we see in the Great Commandments at the head of our essay, then we should Love ALL men as He Loved. In either sense men have failed miserably at this and this IS largely because they have NOT Truly Repented, they have NOT moved the focus of their lives off of the little self in this world and onto the greatness of the things of God. It IS in this sense of Love as the KEY to the reality of keeping His words that we should understand and read His words above in combination with His words on the vine and the branches below; words which He ends saying “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you“. We read His words again:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:1-12).
In the parabolic tones of these words we should see the reality of continuing in His words as this IS, according to the previous words that He offers, the way that He will abide in the Life of a man….that way that a man can have His Presence in his Life. And we see as well from Jesus previous words that this continuing IS the way to True discipleship which He tells us as: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (John 8:31). Can we see the point here? That for a man to “continue in my word” IS to “hath my commandments, and keepeth them” and that it IS in this that “we will come unto him, and make our abode with him“. Can we see that this Presence of the Lord in one’s Life IS the same idea presented in His saying that “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit“; and can we understand that this fruit IS the expression the His words, the expression of His Love, in the world of men?
In the intersection of Greek words and their presumed English counterparts there are many ideas that remain hidden and while some of them are seen by men like Vincent whom we frequently quote, there IS yet a general acceptance of the common English idea as the rendering of a Greek word or phrase. While few words ARE more elusive than Love and grace as these are rendered from agape and charis, there ARE also others such as mercy which we discuss above and we should add here the idea of joy as this IS rendered from the Greek word chairo. It IS interesting to note here that the Greek word charis, which IS grace, IS from the primary verb chairo which IS rendered as joy and if we can imagine this idea of joy in terms of grace, in terms of ALL things that come from God, we may see deeper into the Truth that the Master IS here offering us.
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.
Repeating a Quote of the Day from the past that has some significance in relation to what we are discussing here, that the Kingdom of God and therefore God is within us ALL and that it IS His Presence which a man realizes by measure as he begins his journey to the Kingdom of God. Here Lord Tennyson poetically tells us just how close God Truly IS and how it is that we touch Him
Speak to Him, thou, for He hears,
and Spirit with Spirit can meet
Closer is He than breathing,
and nearer than hands and feet.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809–1892)
From the poem The Higher Pantheism which puts forth the authors spiritual belief. Whether we agree with him or not, the quote if spiritually perfect for all of Christianity as well as any other world religion.
The thought behind the idea above IS NOT unlike that which we have been carrying as our Quote of the Day for many essays; It IS in the closeness that Lord Tennyson shows us that we should see the idea that “God dwells in the inner part of every man” which we read in the previous Quote of the Day. For us this saying and the previous one show us the closeness of the spiritual self to the Father and then too the closeness of the spiritual self with the personality of man. Men may like to think of God as something outside and above but the reality, as we have seen in so many of the sayings of the Master, is that God is with us and in us and we need only to let ourselves be drawn and to focus upon Him. And, if we can use these words from the Gospel of Thomas here we can perhaps see much: “When you come to know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will realize that you are the children of the living Father“
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 2* Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
