ON LOVE; PART MXXXIII
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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).
While it may NOT seem as though our subject IS still the Apostle Paul’s words on “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit“, we ARE continuing to discuss how that the idea that faith as KNOWING the IS the idea that Paul us giving us in including this in his list. That faith IS KNOWING the Truth that IS covered by the mysteries which ARE revealed to the man in the Presence of God that comes in his communion with his own Soul….his own Christ Within. We should remember how that “the works of the flesh” ARE a list of sin if you will that keeps men from this communion with the God Within as some part of his focus remains in the self and the self in the world. We should remember as well that the common interpretations of the Greek words ARE founded in men’s carnal understanding that paints the first part as sexual offenses and the second part as offenses against the doctrinal sense of religion. These doctrinal interpretations also see the words rendered as idolatry and witchcraft in ways that reflect archaic religious ideas and a lack of understanding as they see the words rendered as drunkenness and revelling ONLY in regard to the actions of men under the influence of strong drink or drugs.
What we have spent many words on in our discussion of the ideas behind Paul’s words, beginning with In the Words of Jesus Part 1302, “the works of the flesh” can be summarized simply thus: the first segment, Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry and witchcraft ARE the offenses of men against the first of the Great Commandments. This list IS the apostle’s caution to men who have already overcome the gross offenses which have been abstracted from the Greek words by Christian authorities over the centuries. Paul’s words ARE NOT concerned with the most common sense ideas that may govern the lives of men who DO NOT seek God, they ARE rather words that show the singular view, the singular focus, that IS required to Truly keep His words which IS to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength“.
Most ALL ARE concerned with the infidelity of men toward the Godhead which IS the intended focus of ALL but which has ever been minimized by doctrines that DO NOT see this Truth. In this list the idea of idolatry can be seen as a summary of this first segment as ALL things that take one’s attention, ALL that take a man’s focus away from the Truth, DO become a man’s idols which Jesus paints for us in terms of treasure saying “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:34, Matthew 6:21). Doctrines have ever used their own ideas regarding the Greek word pharmakeia to show ALL things that they DO NOT understand as evil. Doctrines have painted ALL sorcery and witchcraft and ALL occult and arcane arts and ideas as squarely evil while in their own rites and rituals and sense of prayer they practice the same in many ways.
What IS Paul’s point in using pharmakeia? Simply that men who Truly seek God should NOT rely upon any carnal powers which includes the full array of the psychic powers of men which perforce include the powers of healing, of prophesy and even of prayer when these ARE NOT wielded according to Paul’s words on these. Paul tells us how that what so many view as “spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:1) ARE ALL come to naught in the absence of Love as he tells us that without agape “I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). Without Love, which IS the epitome of keeping His words these ‘powers’ ARE merely carnal expressions. It IS ONLY the man who IS Truly “led of the Spirit“, the man who has the Presence of God through keeping His words, that has such Love and it IS for this man that the flow of revelation and realization can replace the carnal idea of pharmakeia. Here we should see that so long as the self IS a part of any pharmakeia, a part of any psychic power or ability, then this IS NOT “the wisdom that is from above” (James 3:17) which IS the essence of one’s revelation of Truth….the essence of faith which IS KNOWING.
While ALL of these ideas that ARE the first part of the apostle’s list ARE in regard to the first of the Great Commandments, the second part IS in regard to the second which tells us that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. We should remember here that the breakdown of the apostle’s words into chapters and verses IS an arbitrary one and that these breaks DO NOT occur in the Greek text; we should remember as well that at least one bible version (The Weymouth New Testament) sees the breakout of this list of “the works of the flesh” as we DO. The True idea of this next segment, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings and murders, IS that these ARE ALL contrary to the Love that IS expressed by Jesus and His apostles in this saying on Love that IS still scarcely understood after nearly 2000 years.
As we have discussed, many of these words ARE rendered in a rather arbitrary way from the Greek texts and different translators offer the same rendered word from different Greek words in this list. In the end it IS the idea of divisions and factions, and idea that IS supported by many other ideas offered by Paul, that IS the crux of this part of the list where we should see that ALL ARE both causes and effects of the way that men interact according to the ways of the world, which IS the ways of the flesh. That these factions and divisions ARE the ways of men IS apparent to any who look at the world today and through history; these ARE the cause of most ALL hatred and anger which result in conflicts and wars. And this IS a burden that modern Christianity DOES NOT address as most ALL see themselves as different and better by denomination and by sect and this ONLY adds to the animosity already in the world based upon physical appearances and cultural, religious and regional differences.
Paul’s great Truth IS in his revelation that “they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” and even when this list IS viewed in its more carnal implications, there ARE likely very few who would pass muster and therefore very few who would “inherit the kingdom of God“. Paul offers NO reconciliation in regard to this list when it IS seen in carnal terms and if we can see this spiritually as we believe it IS intended, we can understand that to Truly achieve the Kingdom one must Love as this IS expressed in the Great Commandments….Love for God and Love for one’s fellowman.
Paul’s final words in this list of “the works of the flesh” ARE the third segment which IS a caution to men whose focus IS upon God to NOT allow themselves to take personal and carnal pride in whatsoever that they believe they have accomplished spiritually; to NOT be drunk nor revel, to use the rendered words, in their own sense of glory nor to believe that they have overcome ALL. Here we should be able to see how that for the man who Truly DOES overcome ALL, the man who can stand with the Master and say “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33), will be beyond any ideas and ALL ideas that can be found in methe and komos which ARE rendered here as drunkenness and revelling. Repeating the full text of 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).
We should try to see here how that this review of “the works of the flesh” points out how that these ideas ARE the antithesis of the “the fruit of the Spirit” and particularly of the ideas of Love and of faith which ARE the essence of the entire list. The idea of Love as being contrary to “the works of the flesh” should be made apparent by the way that these ARE contrary to the Great Commandments, and, while the way that faith opposes these works may be obscured by men’s common and nebulous understanding of pistis, the reality is easily found in the idea of that KNOWING the Truth which IS the epitome of faith. When a man Truly KNOWS some measure of the Truth that IS behind the mysteries and can glimpse the “things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 13:35), he can be seen as operating in the reality of faith and we should understand that to DO so, to express the True faith, IS to be expressing some measure of “the fruit of the Spirit“.
Jesus tells us that this expression and the measure of it IS according to keeping His words and we can see this reality when we combine the ways that each of the synoptic gospel writers frames the Master’s thoughts. As we have discussed Matthew shows us that the man who IS the “good ground” DOES “heareth the word, and understandeth it” (Matthew 13:23) while Mark tells us that the man that IS the “good ground” IS “such as hear the word, and receive it“; and both show us the measure of fruit that a the “good ground” will express….”some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred” (Mark 4:20). The Greek words that ARE rendered as understanding and as receiving can both be seen in the idea of Wisdom. In understanding the Wisdom is inherent as it IS the word of Truth that makes one Wise while in the Greek word paradechomai, which IS rendered as receive, there IS more obscurity unless we see the idea of acceptance of the word in the view of making it a part of one’s own expression.
Vincent tells us that in paradechomai we should see the idea that the man: acknowledges as his own 4 that which he has heard and in both these ideas of understanding and acknowledging as one’s own we should be able to see the Apostle Luke’s version that says that the “good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). Again, we should see that ALL of these ideas ARE the same and ALL show us various ideas regarding keeping His words: in understanding there IS KNOWING which leaves NO choice for to KNOW IS to DO; in acknowledging as one’s own there IS the taking of His words and making them a part of one’s Life’ expression; and both of these ARE the same as keeping them. These ideas ARE missed by most ALL doctrinal interpretations as IS the idea of the measure of fruit that a man will express….that this IS in proportion to the understanding, the accepting and the keeping that exist in one’s Life.
While this whole idea IS parabolic, it IS also clearly stated. Every man who can look past his own doctrinal view and see the relationship between being the “good ground” and keeping His words can then understand the reality that IS our trifecta where we can clearly see the rewards that the man who IS the “good ground” will receive. Rewards that ARE “the fruit of the Spirit“, which IS the grace of God, that IS the revelations and the realizations of Truth, which IS that KNOWING that IS faith. This IS the simplicity of the Life of the man who IS “ led of the Spirit“: that he will KNOW the Truth and the freedom that it brings; that he will have the Presence of God consciously in his Life as that unction or anointing that IS the Christ Within as his own expression to the world, and that he will KNOW the Kingdom of God as that psychic place wherein he resides while yet physically in this world. We repeat out trifecta again:
- “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).
Understanding that “the works of the flesh” ARE those thoughts, attitudes and actions that will keep a man from the Kingdom of God IS not unlike saying the converse of Jesus’ words in our trifecta above. Jesus IS also saying that the man who DOES NOT “continue in my word” will NOT “know the truth” and therefore will NOT be free. The Master IS saying that the man that DOES NOT “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” will NOT “enter into the kingdom of heaven“. And He IS saying that the man who DOES NOT “hath my commandments, and keepeth them” DOES NOT Love Him and this point IS repeated three times here and four times in this chapter of the Apostle John’s Gospel. With this we should clearly see that He IS saying that the man who DOES NOT “keep my words” will NOT have the Presence of God which IS painted for us as that “we will come unto him, and make our abode with him“
While these converse ideas from His words ARE NOT the subject of doctrines, their effect IS far reaching when their reality IS understood. This leads us back to Paul’s saying with which we ended the last essay. In the opening statement of this selection we should be able to add the spiritual ideas together and see the basic reality that IS painted; we read:
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither* can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:9-14).
The apostle IS showing us that there ARE “things which God hath prepared” and these ideas ARE the reality of the words that follow. Paramount here IS the idea that “we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” and these ARE the things “which the Holy Ghost teacheth“. But we should NOT miss his earlier words which say the same as the final part of our trifecta: that these things ARE “prepared for them that love him” which, according to Jesus’ own words ARE they that keep His words.
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.
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.
We repeat here a Quote of the Day that we spent much time with over the course of our essays. In this affirmation we find the Truth of discipleship as we have been ever been expressing and here we can relate our themes of the last few days; “take no thought” for the things of the world and that we approach the Kingdom and discipleship in the nature of the little child, in humbleness, meekness, unashamed in any way and unassuming. The message that this imparts for us today IS that it IS the Soul that is at work in the world of men as it expresses to some degree the purpose, power and the will through Life in this world. These words are from a meditation offered to his students by our Tibetan brother and in which we find greater understanding of the message of the Master. This IS Truly the way of the disciple.
My Soul has purpose, power and will; these three are needed on the Way of Liberation.
My Soul must foster love among the sons of men; this is its major purpose.
I, therefore, will to love and tread the Way of Love. All that hinders and obstructs the showing of the Light must disappear before the purposes of the Soul.
My will is one with the great Will of God;. that Holy Will requires that all men serve. And unto the purposes of the Plan I lend my little will.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888