IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1271

ON LOVE; PART CMX

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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).

In the last essay we continued our discussion of the doctrinal ideas of atonement and the atoning quality of the Master’s death and resurrection that dominate much of Christian thinking. While the idea that Jesus’ death was substitutionary atonement for the sins of mankind seems the most prevalent, there ARE several other theories; ALL however seem to lead to the single conclusion: that in His atoning death men ARE freed from their sin. There IS of course a sort of conundrum here in these theories of atonement: if Jesus death and resurrection DO atone for the sins of men as many doctrines say, why then IS there the ongoing need for the forgiveness of sins? why IS there still the need for baptism, either against original sin or for the remission of sins? and why DOES the Master teach us the idea of Repentance? We should understand here also that there ARE many that believe and teach that there IS a timelessness in this atonement, that by Jesus crucifixion 2000 years ago men ARE relieved of their sin in a continual fashion according to the various precepts of their own denomination and sect. There IS no shortage of theories that ARE based in the idea of atonement and ALL fail the test of reason when measured against the words of the Master who teaches us Repentance, Love and the need to keep His words for the reward of His Presence, the Kingdom of God and the reality of discipleship.

It IS in the wrangling of men which stems from their minds and their emotions, that the various theories of atonement ARE adopted. It IS in men’s desire to be close to God, to be saved if you will, without DOING as the Master teaches nor as the law dictates that we find the various dictates of doctrines which show a man the prospect of salvation in exchange for his minimal investment of believing as this word IS commonly understood. The greater reality of salvation IS found in the Master’s own words and, if we consider being saved as being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God, His own prescription IS that we keep His words. Perhaps it IS in the difficulty of DOING this, the difficulty of changing one’s Life so dramatically as to be in accord with His words, that has evolved into the many doctrines that look past Jesus’ words and toward the words of the apostles which ARE easier to parse into their own sense of DOING. The result of ALL this is a diluted view of the message of Christ and that His teachings have become but background for the doctrinal interpretations of the writings of His apostles.

Much of the difficulty can be found in the Christian’s refusal to entertain the ideas of rebirth and reincarnation, ideas that can allow for the greater reality found in the Master’s teachings which rather clearly show us the way to the Kingdom of God. With the view that there IS but one Life here in this Earth there comes a sense of urgency while the ability to DO as the Master says IS NOT seen as doable; it IS in this view where men DO NOT see their own ability to achieve their own sense of heaven that has likely resulted in the many differing doctrines of faith and believing. While the Master teaches us to strive toward the strait gate, men DO NOT perceive the result of doing so and presume that ALL who CAN NOT enter therein ARE lost. This idea however can be assuaged by one’s better understanding of the continuum of Life and the reality that the True man IS the spiritual Presence that incarnates into this world. It IS in the most basic fear of being lost, the fear of hell if you will, that IS still the motivation of so many Christians and it IS the doctrinal teachings on salvation as the free gift of God that keeps so many men from seeing the Truths that the Master so clearly presents to us.

It IS in our understanding of the continuum of Life that the Master’s idea of striving can be understood. It IS Jesus who tells us that there ARE but few who can enter the through to the Kingdom and it IS in this view that the reality of the Kingdom should be seen. It IS in this view that we should understand how few there ARE that can Truly “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21) and that there ARE many that can strive toward this goal. But there IS NO perceived reward in this striving, there IS NO promise of the Kingdom of God and it IS here that the doctrinal assertions flourish, it IS here that men seek their way to the Kingdom in the precepts of their own doctrines. In the doctrinal idea that each man has but one Life to live here in this Earth, there IS little choice but to view the doctrinal ideas as the most valid for one’s salvation and this despite the large variations that exist among them. This IS despite the reality of the Master’s words in which, while they ARE stated in the fullness of DOING, in the fullness of keeping His words in exchange for the fullness of the Kingdom of God, there IS yet the reality of striving. Here we should try to see that it IS the objective and the goal of ALL men to achieve the Kingdom of God here and now and this IS how that the Master frames this as He tells us that we must keep His words, it IS in the difficulty of DOING so that Jesus shows us the idea of striving and it IS in the difficulty of DOING that we ARE shown the growth of the Kingdom of God in the Life of the Apostle Peter who IS wayward in the Master’s eyes even after the resurrection.

It IS in the view of the words of the Master, the view of their parabolic nature, that we see the deeper realities that ARE offered to us in His words; we should remember here that Jesus admits to His way of teaching in parabolic tones to both the people who ARE NOT among those who see more clearly, those who ARE NOT among the disciples, and to His disciples as well. It IS in this reality that the man who can can see more clearly the deeper meanings of His words will be able to discern them and it IS in this that we should see the idea of spiritual discernment as ALL of the deeper meanings from His words ARE essentially spiritual. One of the most hidden ideas IS found in the understanding of the revelation and realization which come in one’s focus upon the things of God and which ARE encapsulated in Jesus’ teaching as seeing and hearing, ideas which ARE made somewhat clearer by His apostles. While many believe that they have such spiritual discernment so as to understand the deeper ideas that the Master and His apostles ARE offering, this IS but a part of the doctrinal delusion in which they live; a delusion that dilutes and changes the Master’s words and His intent to their own benefit.

This idea IS most clearly seen in the way that the most clear and most basic ideas that the Master offers, ideas that ARE NOT hidden in His parabolic language, ARE NOT understood as they ARE offered and intended but ARE diluted and changed to the benefit of men. Here again we should look at Jesus most clear words on the Kingdom of God where 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). Forgetting the reality of His telling us of the falsity of many in their call  of “Lord, Lord“, we focus here on who it IS that “shall enter into the kingdom of heaven” which IS clearly “he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“. John Gill interprets this “will of my Father” as that: 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 . Mr Gill goes on to attribute these words from Jesus as that: 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 ⁸, which idea likely comes from the preceding unrelated verses.

The Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible shows a bit clearer picture as they say: that will which it had been the great object of this discourse to set forth ⁸, which attributes His Will to the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount, before they go on to discuss what they see in Jesus use of my in saying “my Father” while never delving into the idea of the Kingdom. While Matthew Henry DOES see the reality of the “will of my Father” as: 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, he fails to address the reward for DOING or NOT DOING so which IS to “enter into the kingdom of heaven“.

A commentary from the People’s New Testament, a text designed for the novice reader, DOES show the greater reality of the Master’s words but here again without much force, we read: The Lord has shown that the entrance into the kingdom is through the “strait gate.” He now shows more particularly what is needed to enter. Certain ones are described who cannot enter in. “Not every one” implies that some who say, “Lord, Lord,” etc., shall enter in. Those enter who do the will of my Father. No one can be a citizen of the kingdom who does not obey the King ⁸. This IS the basic reality that we find in Luke’s version of this idea which simply says as a rhetorical question “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Next we have a commentary from the Fourfold Gospel which better shows the fullness of our point of the doctrinal dilution and changing of the Master’s words; we read: But he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. It is taught that prayer, unattended “by doing the will” of the Father inheaven, cannot save us. Doing the will of God must be understood, not in the sense of sinless obedience, but as including a compliance with the conditions on which sins are forgiven. Whether under the old covenant or the new, sinless obedience is an impossibility; but obedience to the extent of our possibility amid the weaknesses of the flesh, accompanied by daily compliance with the conditions of pardon for our daily sin, has ever secured the favor of God ⁸.

Finally we have the commentary of John Wesley which comes closest the Master’s intent and in a rather straightforward manner; we read: Not every one – That is, no one that saith, Lord, Lord – That makes a mere profession of me and my religion, shall enter – Whatever their false teachers may assure them to the contrary: He that doth the will of my Father – as I have now declared it. Observe: every thing short of this is only saying, Lord, Lord . Although this commentary on our saying IS pointed and accurate and has some degree of force,  Mr.Wesley’s teachings have evolved into the doctrinal teachings of several denominations including those affiliated with Methodists, Pentecostalism and the Holiness Movement which DO NOT appear to hold this same idea in their doctrines. And we should try to see here how that Mr. Wesley’s words can be seen as antagonistic to other denominations as he seems to say that ALL that DO NOT see the that way to the Kingdom IS in DOING “the will of my Father” err; that ALL such teaching IS from false teachers. We take this view from a single commentary on a single verse and perhaps this IS mitigated by Mr. Wesley’s other commentary; this however DOES NOT change the reality of his words here.

This IS our reality as well, we see the idea of the Kingdom as that it IS the reward for keeping His words and in this idea of reward we should see the better idea of wages, the better idea of the natural reciprocal action of keeping His words. And while most ALL doctrines consider the Kingdom of God as a place to which one goes in death, our reality shows the Kingdom as a state of being which one DOES enter when he IS in accord with the Master’s words which ARE the “the will of my Father” who IS ever in that state. It IS in this state of consciousness, this condition of the heart where one’s focus IS upon the things of God, that one DOES keep His words and in this we find that circular reference in which we can see the idea of the measure by which we attain our own spiritual reality. It IS as our focus upon the things of God increases, as we attend more to “treasures in heaven” than we DO for “treasures upon earth“, that our very ability to keep His words grows and it IS as this grows as the expression of the Life of a man that the measure of the rewards grow as well. This IS the Master’s meaning as He tells us that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:20, 19, 21).

When we can understand that this sense of treasure IS every thought, attitude, action and thing that takes a man’s attention in Life, we can then see deeper into the whole idea of “the will of my Father“. And when we can see that the reward, the wages or the reciprocal action in one’s Life, IS the Kingdom of God, that this IS the Presence of God in one’s Life and that this IS the Truer reality of discipleship, then we can break through the doctrinal barriers to Truth. It IS in the upward spiral of this circular reality that takes us from the beginning idea of Repentance to the final place of Redemption and Transfiguration as we Transform our lives in this world by the divine Power of the Inner man, the divine Power of the Soul, the God and the Christ Within. It is this divine Power that IS a man’s revelation of Truth which comes to Him as that natural reciprocal action of focus and keeping His words; it IS this by which a man has the realization of his own divinity as a man in this world and comes to KNOW by measure the greater Truths and to understand the mysteries of Life and of the Kingdom of God. This IS the point of the Master’s words in those sayings from the Gospel of John that we repeat here again:

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).

And it IS this reality that IS the Life and the teaching of the Master; it IS this reality that brings us that reconciliation and that at-one-ment which IS our Union with God….the Unity of the Inner man, the Soul, and the expression of the man in the world. In its fullness this IS the adoption and this IS the Redemption; in its fullness this IS the full measure of one’s realization of Truth, of the Kingdom of God and of the Presence of God in one’s Life. In its fullness this is Peter and this IS Paul and the state of consciousness where there IS naught seen but the Truth and the things of God. This may not be easily doable in a single Lifetime in this Earth but we should remember the Master’s words saying “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” in response to the disciple’s question of “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:26, 25); in this we should understand the reality of the Presence of God Within.

At the same time, in the continuum of Life, we should see the value of striving and understand that it IS within the scope of one’s spiritual accomplishments in any given Lifetime that the greater Truth of karma can be found. It IS in this idea that we should see the reality of the Apostle Paul’s words saying “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7-8).

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

• ⁵ The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com