ON LOVE; PART CMLXX

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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 discussed the first three words from the Apostle Paul’s listing of “the works of the flesh” which appear in most translations of the New Testament. These Greek words, porneia, akatharsia, and aselgeia, ARE rendered as fornication, uncleanness and lasciviousness in our King James Bible as we show again below and ARE seen ONLY in their role as sexual deviation by most ALL doctrines. As we have said, these sexual deviations ARE NOT the concern of those to whom Paul writes; their concern is to stay True to the Truth of the teachings of the Master as the apostle had given them and to NOT be swayed by any other teaching that may dilute or change the True intent which IS found in his closing words: “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts“. Here again we have that twist that doctrines have given Paul’s words which turns his idea into one regarding sex but, if we should look at these words “affections and lusts” in the sense of sufferings and desires, we can then get a better idea of the whole of the apostle’s message. We read the apostle’s words 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).

There IS a reality to the idea of suffering that goes unseen although this IS what this Greek word pathema IS intended to mean. It IS in the sexual idea that the translators had that the True meaning IS missed and this IS the ONLY place that this word IS rendered as affections. The lexicon tells us that of the sixteen times this word IS used by the apostles, that it IS rendered as suffering and affliction ² fourteen times and in this we should be able to see a bit of the True idea: that the flesh will suffer, that IS, that the thoughts and the emotions of the man will yearn for the carnal Life. This idea IS NOT ONLY in sex but in the fullness of a man’s relationship with God according to the first part of the Great Commandments that we have again at the top of our essay. Many others render this word pathema as passions and this IS also what Vincent suggests according to the way that this whole idea of the “the works of the flesh” is relegated to sex and the other vices of mankind. The Douay-Rhiems Catholic Bible, with this same bent on sex, renders this as “vices and concupiscences“.

It IS when we can turn our attention away from the sexual ideas that have been perpetuated by the doctrines of men for many centuries, that we can begin to understand the depth of the apostle’s words regarding the relationship between the disciple and the aspirant, the saint if your will, and his God. We can then understand that while the words of the apostles have created the doctrines of men according to the way that they ARE interpreted and parsed, that their True intent IS in the amplifying and the clarifying of the words of Jesus who DOES NOT speak the words that doctrines have adopted as their guide. The Master speaks such words as we have in our trifecta which we present again; Jesus tells us:

• “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).

It IS in this view that we see Paul’s words and the words of ALL of the apostles and it IS in this view that we should try to understand the deeper meanings of porneia, akatharsia, and aselgeia as that infidelity toward the Godhead and as a man’s thoughts, attitudes and actions that keep him bound to the world and the things of the world. And when we add the idea of adultery which most translations DO NOT include, we can get a better idea as this word moicheia points us in the same direction as porneia: toward the thoughts, the attitudes and the actions of the man whose focus IS yet upon the things of the flesh and whose Life IS tied to akatharsia and aselgeia, which we should try to see as selfishness and covetousness instead of uncleanness and as wantonness instead of lasciviousness. If we can see these ideas as a man’s drive toward the carnal rewards of the things of the Earth as Jesus tells us saying “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth“, we will have a Truer understanding of the intent of the Apostles words.

In this we will be able to see how that it IS when we can follow Jesus’ words saying “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” that we will glimpse the relationships of ALL things to the Great Commandment that so clearly tells us  “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“. It IS in the spirit of the Great Commandment that we should understand what IS Truly meant when the Master says “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19, 20, 21). So then our first words from the apostle’s list ARE in regard to a man’s understanding the precept of the first of the Great Commandments; that “the works of the flesh” that ARE these words ARE contrary to it and ARE the result of a man’s focus upon the things of the world. This idea IS shown us in another context by the apostle who says to Timothy that:

“Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition” (1 Timothy 6:5-9).

Our next word from Paul’s list IS his example of the way of the man whose Life IS focused on the things of the world, focused upon the “treasures upon earth” and a picture of this idea comes from the next words in the apostle’s message to Timothy that we have above; Paul says: “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10). If we can see this idea of money which comes from the Greek word arguros, as the idea of silver and things made of silver ² as the lexicon tells us, we will see that this encompasses those “treasures upon earth” regardless of how one parses this phrase. Money and the things that money can furnish for the carnal Life of the man in this world can easily become one’s idol and it IS in this sense that we should see Paul’s next word which IS rendered as:

Idolatry: While most all doctrinal ideas on this Greek word eidololatreia ARE in relation to the worship of ‘other gods’ based in the ideas gleaned from the Old Testament ways of those superstitious people of that day, we should see that the New Testament reality IS much much more and extends to ALL things that take one’s focus off of the Godhead. Vincent shows us how that Paul uses this idea of eidololatreia in his Epistle to the Colossians saying: Covetousness has a wider and deeper sense, as designating the sinful desire which goes out after things of time and sense of every form and kind. Hence it is defined by Paul (Colossians 3:5) as idolatry, the worship of another object than God, and is so often associated with fleshly sins. This is the deeper view of this idea of idolatry and this IS the effective action in the Life of the man who IS yet trapped in porneia, akatharsia, and aselgeia, who IS yet trapped in that focus upon things that ARE NOT God nor the things of God.

Idolatry IS a concrete action in the Life of a man while the previous ideas ARE his thoughts and his attitudes toward God and mammon. The link between covetousness and idolatry IS one that IS apparent but IS also not seen in most doctrine as we can see from John Gill’s commentary which says of this rendering as idolatry that: some understand of covetousness, which is so called; but rather it means the worshipping of other gods, or of graven images ⁸. The True sense of idolatry of which Vincent tells us that: New-Testament usage does not confine the term to the worship of images, but extends it to the soul’s devotion to any object which usurps the place of God, IS purposefully clouded by doctrines under that same sense of illusion where the Life of the man in this world IS deemed the True Life, and the resultant understanding that this idea of idolatry CAN NOT be True as regards money and those things that money can buy.

In the broader view of the Truth that comes from the fullness of the message of the Master and His apostles, in the fullness of our understanding of the Great Commandments, we should be able to see the reality of idolatry and the functional effect in the Life of a man whose focus IS NOT upon God. And we should understand here how that this IS a normal function in the Life of the man who DOES NOT see the Truth of His words clearly and who DOES NOT keep His words in the fullness with which they ARE intended. This IS the result of that vanity, that illusion and glamour, to which men ARE subjected as the apostle tells us saying, in our own rendering, that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in expectation 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).

We should understand here that this idea of corruption and bondage IS a man’s way in the world according to the flesh and that the deliverance and the liberty ARE found in His words and in the greater reality of the Great Commandments. Man’s infidelity toward God IS his corruption; mans idolatry IS his corruption, and these ARE the result of that vanity in which men live. This IS the caution that the apostle gives us: that “the works of the flesh” ARE men’s “destruction and perdition” from a spiritual perspective and it IS freedom from these that ARE “the glorious liberty of the children of God“. There IS one more word left in this segment of those “works of the flesh” that ARE contrary to the first of the Great Commandments; this word and idea IS wholly misunderstood and misrepresented by most ALL doctrines that see the ideas behind the rendering of witchcraft and sorcery ONLY as evil.

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

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com