IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1253

ON LOVE; PART DCCCXCII

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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)

It IS at what we call the intersection of ALL spiritual ideas of Life and of God that we find the greatest realities and the deepest Truths. It IS here that we see that ALL of Life has this same objective which IS to attain the Kingdom of God. While there are many doctrinal views of this sense of salvation, of being saved or being delivered, there ARE none that we can see that show the deeper reality of the Kingdom and the relationship of a man to that Kingdom. None see this idea of salvation in the way that this IS intended to be understood and it IS in this reality, in the created reality of doctrines and traditions, that we find much of the glamour of religion and its strongholds. Most ALL DO NOT grasp the reality of the Kingdom of God and the Truth that this IS within every man and most ALL DO NOT grasp the greater reality that the Kingdom IS the intended end of every Soul’s journey through time and space which IS Life in this world.

Jesus teaches us exactly what it IS to attain the Kingdom; He tells us where it IS, He tells us the nature of its growth and He tells us what it takes to be accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God.  And most ALL of these things that He tells us ARE ignored or, better, they are diluted and changed to suit the ways of men in this world; it IS this dilution and this changing that has become the doctrines by which men believe that they ARE covered. In the end it IS “the knowledge of God” that IS the True salvation of men; it IS in KNOWING God, which IS KNOWING The Truth, that men ARE delivered and saved and while this word has taken on strong doctrinal meanings, it yet remains a rather nebulous doctrinal idea. It IS at this intersection of spiritual ideas of Life and of God that we find this Truth and the great KEY to this IS that we keep His words which IS the personal responsibility of everyman. In this we have yet another stronghold of men, one that IS found in their doctrines and their traditions which see the words of Apostle Paul, the misunderstood and misapplied words of the apostle, as freeing men from responsibility for their own deliverance save that they believe according the precepts of some doctrine and in this there there IS much variance and most ALL pose themselves as the Truth.

And so Paul tells us about strongholds; and he defines them for us as logisimos which idea means thoughts and reasoning ² according to the lexicon and IS judgement and decisions ³ according to Strong’s (but which IS rendered as imaginations by many translators), and to this the apostle adds the idea of “every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God“. There IS a reality here that IS missed by most ALL men; in Paul’s idea of hupsoma which IS rendered as “high thing” in our saying below there IS the idea of a thing elevated and, in the following idea of epairo which IS rendered as exalted, we have the idea of lifting up; this has, according to the lexicon, a metaphorical definition of: to exalt oneself ². In the combination of these ideas we should see the reality of the thoughts of men which ARE lifted, exalted, above the Truth which IS “the knowledge of God“. Then, if we can understand then that the Truth IS found in the words of the Master who tells us exactly what it IS to attain the Kingdom, where it IS, the nature of its growth and what it takes to be accounted worthy of the Kingdom, we can then better understand the deeper reality in the apostles words which we repeat here again:

“the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

We should try to see here how that every doctrinal thought which detracts from the Master’s own words, every doctrinal thought that poses as the Truth of this or that denomination or sect, IS the reality of a stronghold which should be understood as a firm belief by which one’s Life IS guided and to which he IS bound. Here we should see that Paul goes yet further in His ideas on the strongholds that men create in their own minds: he tells us that we must bring “every thought to the obedience of Christ” which IS that a man should keep His words. In the simplicity of the apostle’s ideas here we should see the reality that he presents as his caution and his instruction to the reader regarding the Master’s words and their interpretation of them; that there should be NO thought or reasoning that IS contrary to the Truth of His words. And in this we should see that there should be NO creative interpretations that work according to the desires of the man in the world, that the reality of His teaching be seen as it IS presented which IS to make disciples of men by keeping His words.

This IS the objective of ALL men and while this IS unbeknownst to the “natural man“, this Truth IS the reality of Jesus teaching which begins and ends in His admonitions that we keep His commandments which ARE the very Word of God. It IS this Truth, that we keep His words, that IS at the center of this intersection of ALL things spiritual. Here again we should see that ALL of the teachings of men that ARE contrary to this Truth, no matter how religious or spiritual they may appear, ARE based in the vanity, in the illusions and the glamour of Life in this world, which things ARE the foundation of those strongholds about which Paul writes. It IS in the Master’s words from the Gospel of John that we have been carrying for several essays which show us a part of this relationship of ALL things spiritual; in His words here on discipleship, on the fundamental Truth of discipleship and NOT the ordinary view of men in this world, we find the cause and the effect as well as the sameness of ideas between True discipleship and attaining the Kingdom of God. We read Jesus’ words according to the Apostle John who tells us:

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:31-34).

Here we find the cost of discipleship, the cause if you will, which IS that a man will “continue in my word“. And here we find the result of discipleship, the result of keeping His words; in the reality that “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free“. It IS in KNOWING the Truth that we can have what Paul calls “the knowledge of God” and it IS in the realization of this KNOWLEDGE which also comes by keeping His words that we ARE made free. In the ideas presented by Jesus, in these words on discipleship and being made free, we should see that the converse of this freedom IS men’s bondage to the ways of the world which ARE the greater reality of sin. We should understand the ideas presented in these words: in the Greek word douleuo which IS rendered as “in bondage” we have the kindred word to the Greek word doulos which IS rendered here as servant; in this we should understand the Master’s idea behind both the servant “in bondage” to sin and the freedom from this which IS his deliverance. This IS the result of keeping His words….this IS the reality of discipleship. These same words carry through in Paul’s sayings to the Romans that we often repeat saying:

“For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope expectation Because that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21; our rendering).

In this we have the vanity, the illusion and the glamour which IS the bondage of men, and we have the deliverance from this bondage which IS to be set free from the strongholds and the corruption which IS Life in this world. And we should understand this as this IS presented: here the idea of delivered is from the Greek word eleutheroo which IS the same word that the Master uses above where it IS rendered as free. This too IS discipleship then: to “be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. Can we see how this ALL works together? We should understand as well the context of this eighth chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, that it IS in regard to keeping His words and that it IS by this that we are delivered. And again we must understand that this IS at the intersection of ALL things spiritual. We read this from Paul’s earlier words to the Romans “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14); in this, which IS for us a summary of the apostles message here, we have the Presence of God which we should clearly see in the idea of being led. It IS the man who has the revelation and the realization of His Presence who expresses this through his Life in the world….this IS being “led by the Spirit of God” rather than by the canal personality in the world; this IS being free from the “bondage of corruption“; this IS being made free from Life as “the servant of sin“.

This IS the reality of the True disciple, the man who continues in the Master’s words and this same reality applies to being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God. The Master tells us this in sayings that we can today interpret in the same light as Paul’s ideas on stronghold as those thoughts and reasoning that ARE contrary to the Master’s teaching of Truth; we read: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). In this we see the same reality of keeping His words and while the result may appear to be different, the reality IS that True discipleship, as KNOWN by the man who continues in His word, IS the same as attaining the Kingdom of God. Here in the Master’s words we find the idea of enter; which DOES NOT mean physically or even as a Spirit after death; what this DOES mean IS here and now which IS to “enter into my rest” as the writer of Hebrews says and in which idea we should also see one’s keeping His words. We read: “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Hebrews 4:11); in this saying our focus IS on both the labour and and the unbelief which the lexicon shows us as disobedience ² and which Vincent tells us should be seen as: Strictly speaking, the “example of disobedience” is conceived as that in which the falling takes place ⁴.

In this we should see the deeper meaning of enter and, at the same time, see that “to enter into that rest” one must labour and that labour IS keeping His words. The yet deeper ideas here can be discerned by the man who IS focused upon the things of God and, in conjunction with the Master’s words saying “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), much can be more clearly understood. It IS in this idea of within that we can see the reality of realization and of revelation as a man comes to KNOW God in his consciousness in this world; it IS this realization of Truth that shows a man the God Within and the Christ Within and the greater reality of their abode…..in the Kingdom Within. It IS this realization that comes to a man who will keep His words and in the Master’s words that we have been repeating from the fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel we should be able to see and to understand two things. First that this Presence of God, this realization of His Presence, IS also the result of keeping His words and second that this realization of His Presence IS the same as being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God and this IS the same as being His “disciples indeed“. We read the Master’s words again saying:

“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:a 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. 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 14:15-24).

Here we should see the reality that IS Life in this world for the disciple of Christ. It IS the disciple that has this Presence, it IS the disciple that has the realization of the Kingdom of God and it IS the disciple that IS “led by the Spirit of God“. It IS the disciple that IS “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. ALL things spiritual ARE found at that intersection where we keep His words and we should remember that it IS by measure that men can achieve this glory. And it IS this sense of measure that we should see in Paul’s instructions to the Galatians that we repeat again below. These ARE instructions for the Life of the man who seeks God and who has some measure of focus; the man who expresses some measure of “fruit of the Spirit“. Let us read these words in the Light of the Master’s words above and see the greater reality of Paul’s meaning and intent:

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affectionsa and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-25).

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.

Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate.
Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted.
Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled.
Live in joy, without possessions.
Like the shining ones.

The winner sows hatred because the loser suffers.
Let go of winning and losing and find joy.
There is no fire like passion, no crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.

Today’s Quote of the Day is from the Dhammapada (on JOY)⁵; a collection of the sayings of the Buddha. These words and ideas ARE much the same as those we discuss in our In the Words of Jesus essays. And what is this freedom but the release of our hearts and minds from loving this life in this world and attaining the Presence of God. This word Joy has many meanings as DOES the idea of Love, but in the context that it IS used here we should see the idea that Joy IS Love, Joy IS health, Joy IS peace and that Joy IS without the burdens placed on a man by the illusion and the glamour of the ways of the world. We should try to see that it IS the antithesis of these ideas in hate, in affliction and in troubles that ARE among the possessions of the carnal man, that ARE among the “evil treasure of his heart” (Luke 6:45) according to the Master.

And it IS in the second stanza above that we see the basic psychic ideas that can eliminate the harm caused by such “evil treasure” as a man looks past himself and at the welfare of others which IS the greater reality of Love as the Master teaches us. It IS in losing such possessions, losing such carnal thoughts and attitudes, that one can truly find the “joy of freedom“….this IS the Truth of deliverance.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ³ Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁵ The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom