ON LOVE; PART MLII
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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).
We ended the last essay with some words from the Apostle John that call men liars; that IS, men who purport to have some spiritual agenda but who DO NOT. We should understand that the apostle’s words ARE timeless and that the same ideas that he presented to us centuries ago are valid yet today; however, the long held doctrines of men have supplanted his Truths. We discussed two examples in the last post and we will continue with this today before we track back to our subject of “the fruit of the Spirit“. Our first point from the last post IS John’s saying that “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar” (1 John 4:20) which we were brought to through our discussion of the intimate connection between Love for God and Love for our fellowman.
We should of course redefine our idea of Love again and understand that this sense of Love IS NOT that mental and emotional attraction and attachment to others but IS rather one’s sense of seeing ALL men in the same Light, in the same way, while understanding that each IS NOT that phenomenal appearance; he IS the Soul that IS ever trying to express himself through that appearance. And, Love IS that, in seeing these Truths we realize how that we too ARE the same and have likely had many of the same thoughts and the attitudes that yet plague our brothers.
In this view of Love IS the essence of the Apostle James’ words that tell us “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors” (James 2:9). It IS this idea of NO “respect to persons” that IS the Way of the Lord and the way of His disciple and, as the Apostle Paul tells us, this IS the Way of the Lord as he tells us that “neither is there respect of persons with him” (Ephesians 6:9). This idea of NO “respect to persons” IS the reality of the second part of the Great Commandments and this IS the heart of what we call the Golden Rule. Being in accord with both of these IS ONLY possible if a man DOES NOT see the differences caused by the intentional diversity of humanity but rather sees ALL men as children of the One God.
Jesus quotes from a Psalm when He tells the Jews who were accusing Him of blasphemy as He acknowledged His own relationship with the Father saying “I and my Father are one“. The Master’s reply IS “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?” (John 10:30, 34) and it IS in the fullness of the words of the Psalm that we gain the greater understanding of agape; we read: “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High” (Psalms 82:6). If we can understand the tone here, that the reference IS NOT ONLY to the Jews in authority whom the prophet speaks against but IS rather to humanity, we can then better understand the dynamics of agape and the Truth of NO “respect to persons“.
While Christian doctrine tries to separate and segregate the Christian from the rest of the human family, they ARE in Truth working against these ideas of gods and children and against the very value of agape. In this contrary view of Life they inflict much harm upon themselves and render the Great Commandment that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” rather moot save in the way that it IS understood by some to be in regard to fellow Christians. This view IS of course contrary to Jesus’ own words as He carefully explains in His Parable of the Good Samaritan. Additionally, any view that DOES NOT see that ALL men “are children of the most High” must per force work in concert with the second part of the Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh“….that part that shows the error of the factions and the divisions created in the thoughts and the attitudes of men. Repeating again the apostle’s words:
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. 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 affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:17-24).
In John’s words that call the man who proclaims to Love God but who, at the same time, DOES NOT Love his brother, a liar we have yet another point of doctrinal confusion which centers upon Jesus’ own words which form the third part of our trifecta; words which begin with His previous saying “If ye love me, keep my commandments” John 14:15). It IS ONLY when we can see that the greatest of Jesus commandments IS that which John cites; when we can see that this failure to Love, this failure to have NO “respect to persons“, which clarifies and amplifies Jesus own words, that we can see the Truth of His saying that “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings” as we read again in our trifecta:
- 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).
This brings us then to the next idea that we have from John concerning this idea of lying; he says: “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). We should try to see here how that the relationship IS the same; we should understand the apostle’s point that to KNOW God one must keep His words and to claim such KNOWING without DOING so IS but a lie. It IS this lie that IS the reality of the deception which James shows us saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). In the combination of these ideas we should be able to see how that the greater lie IS to oneself.
And we should also link John’s ideas to the Master’s words in the first part of our trifecta where we learn the source of Truth….that this comes to the man who will “continue in my word“. Most ALL of these ideas ARE missed in the doctrines of men that fail the heed the apostles’ warnings and fail to see how that the clarity of Jesus’ words IS deafening to the man who can finally look past his nurturing and his indoctrination into the ways of men in this world.
And this IS also the point of Repentance as the Master teaches us. While most see this idea in most the carnal terms of self-reproach and remorse, the True idea of Repentance IS that change of focus away from the ways of the world, into which one IS nurtured and indoctrinated, and onto the ways of God which ARE seen in the clarity of His words. It IS by Repentance that men enter upon the Path to Truth and it IS one’s journey on this Path that leads men to the reality of Transformation and the Promise of True Redemption. We should remember that this idea of Redemption IS the reality of the adoption for which we ALL wait while diligently striving to be “doers of the word“.
ALL of this IS lost however in the doctrinal views that pit works against faith and which misunderstand the Truth of both terms. When we can understand that the reality of faith IS that KNOWING which Jesus’ shows us, we can then perhaps see that in this KNOWING the Truth of works will most naturally flow and that these works ARE “the fruit of the Spirit” as we discussed a few posts back. It IS in the diligent striving of a man, in his striving to keep His words, that the flow of Truth IS revealed and realized in the heart and in this realization there IS NO other choice but to express “the fruit of the Spirit” which IS the work of God.
This idea of the “work of God” IS also lost in the doctrines of men who park Jesus’ words into their misconstrued and simple ideas of faith and believing. In an exchange between the Jews and the Master after He had done miracles and fed the multitudes we read: “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:28-29). The doctrinal sense of this believing IS the same doctrinal sense that IS applied to Paul’s words to the Romans; words which have been adopted as the doctrinal way of salvation and here we should try to contrast this idea of mental and emotional assent to keeping His words.
On these ideas from John’s Gospel John Gill tells us this regarding Jesus words saying “that ye believe on him“: This, as a principle, is purely God’s work; as it is an act, or as it is exercised under the influence of divine grace, it is man’s act: “that ye believe”; the object of it is Christ, as sent by the Father, as the Mediator between God and men, as appointed by him to be the Saviour and Redeemer; and believing in Christ, is believing in God that sent him 8.
Here we could go back to our own ideas that if one should Truly believe that Jesus IS Lord, that this man should keep His words simply because He IS Lord….NOT the words of doctrine but the words of the Master Himself who teaches us to Love and focus upon the Godhead. It seems better however to repeat the words of Marvin Vincent which we often use to define believing in and believing on the Master; Vincent tells us: To believe in, or on, is more than mere acceptance of a statement. It is so to accept a statement or a person as to rest upon them, to trust them practically; to draw upon and avail one’s self of all that is offered to him in them. Hence to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4.
While recognizing that Vincent’s words DO express his own doctrinal ideas, we have found that he DOES often see past this restriction and offers us a deeper view that IS based in the words themselves and their historic meaning in Greek literature. Here in these ideas on believing we pay special attention to the end statement which we often use in our essays; this says that to believe in and to believe on the Master IS to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life. This IS much more than the simple mental and emotional assent that IS implied by the English word and IS attached to the reality of KNOWING. If one KNOWS that He IS Lord based in his own realizations of the Truth, he will, as a matter of course, strive to keep His words….words which ARE binding upon the life.
We should try to see and to understand how that faith and believing ARE the “work of God” from the most simple perspective that to have such KNOWING IS the reward of the man who IS striving to keep His words. And when we can come to appreciate the idea that Vincent gives us regarding believing we can better grasp the whole of the Master’s idea and see that to believe on Him IS to KNOW Him, to KNOW His precepts and His example. If we should then combine these ideas to John’s words that tell us that to KNOW Him requires that one keep His commandments, we can then see how that the doctrinal state falls far short of the Master’s own admonition which we take from the American Standard Version where we read:
“Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19-20).
If we can look at Jesus’ words here against His other words on discipleship, against His words for example that we have in the trifecta above, we can see that to “make disciples” IS to cause “the nations” to “continue in my word” as the Master frames this. We should also note that this idea of “the nations“, while taken literally by English doctrines, IS most often rendered as gentiles and, according to Vincent and its use here, can be seen as: the whole human race 4. This of course IS NOT the motivation of most doctrines that seek to make proselytes according to their own doctrinal sense and NOT according to the Master’s own words that they should be “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you“.
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
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
