ON LOVE; PART CMXL

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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 with our discussion of our selection from the Apostle Peter’s Second Epistle and how that the ideas that he presents to us ARE the same as the ideas that we get from the Apostle Paul. We also noted how that these ARE similar in nature to the Apostle James’ words as he tells us to “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). We noted how that James’ words ARE related to Paul’s words on “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit” and we should add here how that the fruit IS found in DOING and “the works of the flesh” ARE the deception that keeps men from the greater Truth. We should understand here that DOING and the “the fruit of the Spirit” ARE intertwined in such a way that the fruit IS the same expression in the Life of a man in this world as IS the DOING and we should try to see here how that Jesus’ words play into this idea as He says of men that “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).

While the ideas ARE presented by the Master and His apostles in very different tones and using different views of the same ideas we should understand that ALL ARE essentially saying the same thing. What James calls deception and Paul calls “the works of the flesh“, Peter shows us as “the corruption that is in the world by lust“. The Master shows us this same idea in regard to the focus of one’s Life as He tells men that they should “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt , and where thieves break through and steal” (Matthew 6:19) and in this we should see how that the very idea of corruption works….how that this IS the ways and the things of this world. If we can see Jesus use of moth as that which will eat away at what IS important to a man rather that seeing this in doctrinal terms regarding the idea of the value nature of fine clothing in that day, then we can better see how that the reality of brosis which IS rendered as rust can be viewed in much the same way: as that which eats away at that which one holds dear. This eating away idea IS our picture of the temporal nature of the things of the world, be they things, or thoughts, attitudes and actions, and in this temporal nature we should see the deeper idea of corruption.

It IS on the opposite side of this corruption that we find the Truth; it IS when men can escape “from the corruption that is in the world by lust” that they can find “the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue“. And in this men come to have “his precious and exceeding great promises” which make men into “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:3-4). ALL of this IS accomplished by men’s DOING and here we should see how that James shows us the opposite end which IS the deception which IS based in the illusion and glamour of Life in this world. While ALL of these ideas promote the dichotomy that we must come to see between the carnal and the spiritual, this message IS yet lost in the doctrinal approach that men have toward God. Jesus shows us this needed separation in the continuation of His words on treasure as He contrasts the carnal and the spiritual by adding to His words above that men should “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt , and where thieves do not break through nor steal“. And He shows us the reality of our focus as He says “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:20-21). Paul also shows us this in his words that show us “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit” as these same opposing views of Life which we repeat here again:

“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 affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:17-24).

That men DO NOT grasp the intent of the Master and His apostles IS easily seen in the way that the carnal lives of men have taken on such importance. Peter tells us that we “may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust” and while we see this as a clear picture of the Truth, the many doctrines of men DO NOT. It IS in the machinations of men and their doctrines that they paint themselves in a good light and ascribe Peter’s word to the heathen and the immoral and, while it may be convenient to see this sense of corruption in terms of the vices of men only, the greater Truth found in the Jesus’ own words that deny this. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Bible tells us of this corruption and lust that: not the corruption and depravity of nature, which is never escaped by any, nor got rid of so long as the saints are in the world; but the corrupt manners of the world, or those corruptions and vices which, are prevalent in the world, and under the power and dominion of which the world lies; and particularly the sins of uncleanness, adultery, incest, sodomy, and such like filthy and unnatural lusts, which abounded in the world, and among some that called themselves Christians ⁸.

It IS in the reality of the Master’s words on treasure, on God and mammon, and on the very nature of discipleship, that we find the Truth of lust which, in the sense of corruption, IS but men’s desire for the things of this world; things that ARE eaten away as in the Master’s analogy of rust. Similarly men believe that they “are Christ’s” according to Paul’s words above as they see the list of “the works of the flesh” in much the same way as they see the idea of corruption. Men perceive that it IS the heathen and the immoral that DO such things as Paul lists but which ARE poorly rendered from the Greek; these words have Truer meanings that show us the reality of lust as this works out in the world of men. And most ALL fail to see the apostle’s connection between “the fruit of the Spirit” and the idea of being Christs: that they that “are Christ’s” express “the fruit of the Spirit” BECAUSE they “have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts“.

Men have ever refused to see these Truths in the words of the New Testament; it IS their doctrines that they rely upon, doctrines that intersperse interpretations of Paul’s writings and of Old Testament ideas to cover their own ideas of Life, ideas which ofttimes supplant the Truth of Jesus words. And this IS compounded and complicated by those who have promulgated the many doctrines that go under the name of Christianity as they narrowly define the ideas that we find in the Greek words that Paul uses as “the works of the flesh” so that NOT ONLY is corruption and lust misunderstood and misrepresented, but the components of them ARE ignored.

We should ever remember that the Master IS speaking to men on this Earth nearly 2000 years ago and while civilization has changed greatly, Jesus’ ideas have NOT been allowed to progress with equal reality. In this we should see that the idea of lust, the idea of desires for the things of this world, must be advanced with the times as what may have been important to men in that day has faded into the future where today’s man desires much, much more. And it IS with this advance of civilization that the Path becomes ever harder to find and to enter as the distractions of Life in this world ARE ever more complex; this IS easily seen in the complexity of the things of the world, and the volume of them, as well as in the most important area of interpersonal relationships. Here we should try to see that today’s “treasure of his heart” IS much more complex than in Jesus’ time and while the idea of treasure has NOT changed, men’s acceptance of the idea has moved further away from the Truth that IS intended.

The Apostle Luke gives us Jesus’ words saying that “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45) and in these words we have an example of the narrowness with which such ideas ARE understood and taught in the doctrines of men. We should try to see here that the “good man” IS the man of God, the disciple if you will, and that the “evil man” is one who IS contrary to this, that IS he IS the man whose focus IS yet upon the things of the self and of the self in this world. Here again those who promulgate doctrines have defined the “evil man” as the heathen and the immoral rather than in that dichotomy between the carnal and the spiritual. Jesus defines this idea of the “good man” for us however and in His definition we should be able to see the intended reality of who IS the “evil man“; we read in Jesus conversation with the man who calls Jesus “Good Master” that His answer IS “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God” (Mark 10:17, 18).

Aside from the fact that Jesus IS the Christ, the anointed of God, and that by His own proclamation He tells us that “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30) there IS yet the deep mystery of this that IS the Truth which IS ONLY found as we keep His words….it IS here that “ye shall know the truth” as He also tells us in those words of our trifecta of spiritual reality which we repeat again below. As much as men DO NOT see the reality of evil and the import of the ideas of corruption and lust as we see in Mr. Gill’s words above, they also DO NOT see the reality of good, the reality of our own part in this great mystery that becomes our realization as we keep His words. We should see here that while the Master’s own persona IS hidden from men in His words to the young man asking the way to eternal Life, they ARE as well clearly presented to the man who has glimpsed the Truth and IS striving toward it and away from the ways and the doctrines of men.

That men and their doctrines DO NOT grasp the Truths that the Master Himself presents to us can be seen in this from John Gill who IS speaking of the same verse from Peter that we present above; we read as his interpretation of being “partakers of the divine nature” that: not essentially, or of the essence of God, so as to be deified, this is impossible, for the nature, perfections, and glory of God, are incommunicable to creatures; nor, hypostatically and personally, so as the human nature of Christ, in union with the Son of God, is a partaker of the divine nature in him; but by way of resemblance and likeness, the new man or principle of grace, being formed in the heart in regeneration, after the image of God  ⁸. This IS of course contrary to Jesus’ own words that show us that it IS by keeping His words that we find the greater Truth in His words saying that  “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12).

Again we should realize that these words also ARE NOT rightly understood by men and their doctrines which seek to minimize His Truth and this likely because they CAN NOT see themselves as True disciples under the seeming hardship of accomplishing this reality. But this IS our reality and one that comes to us by measure as we strive to keep His words. It IS in this striving that we DO find the trifecta which we present again as the original and True objective of Life for ALL men; we read:

• “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“ (John 8:31-32).
• “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).
• “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).

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.

This Quote of the Day is the antithesis of glamour and illusion. In this mantram are the thoughts about ourselves and our brothers in the world that can diffuse these forces that hold a man in the world of things and prevent his spiritual progress.

Mantram of Unification

The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.

Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.

Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love.

The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do not fall back into the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love.spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts

• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com