ON LOVE; PART MLIV
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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).
Through our ideas on the spiritual meaning of the Greek word egkrateia which IS rendered as temperance, we came upon the Master’s words that ARE called by most the Great Commission. Our point about egkrateia IS that this idea from the Apostle Paul should be seen in relation to self-control and we should try to understood that this control IS of the Soul over the carnal self. In this we should see the idea of the man in the world being free from his carnal instincts and here we should try to understand that this IS NOT ONLY the base instincts of men; this freedom IS also from the deeper ideas of “the works of the flesh” as well. This word represents the deeper reality of the full ideas of ALL aspects of “the fruit of the Spirit” and here we should understand that as Paul anchors his list with this last word, so the idea of egkrateia should be seen as the Truth of one’s measure of accomplishment.
When we consider that ALL of the aspects of “the fruit of the Spirit” must per force work together, we can then understand that here, as in most ALL spiritual endeavor, to have one part IS to have ALL parts. By example we should see that to be a True disciple of the Lord IS the same as to have His Presence, to be a part of His Kingdom and that this IS the True reality of being “born again“. ALL of these ideas ARE a the result, the reward and the grace if you will, that comes to a man by proportionate measure to that by which he keeps His words. This IS the simple logic that comes in the trifecta which IS Jesus’ own words that show us how ALL these ideas work together, and, while the trifecta DOES NOT include being “born again“, we should see the logic as He tells us that “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Repeating our 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).
We should see here that to be Truly “born again” one must keep His words as this IS the gateway to the Kingdom, to His Presence and to True discipleship….one CAN NOT be Truly “born again“, even by measure, unless there IS some measure of striving toward being among them who “hath my commandments, and keepeth them“. This IS of course the deeper reality of His words saying “take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given” (Mark 4:24). In this we should relate hearing to perceiving and to that KNOWING which IS faith and see that this idea of measure for measure IS True for most ALL ways that this idea IS referenced by the gospel writers including the Apostle Luke’s version that says: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38).
These words from Luke’s Gospel ARE used by many to support the more carnal ideas for Jesus’ words, words that ARE NOT intended in any carnal way but which ARE used by the purveyors of doctrines to support their own views and their own agenda. As the rewards of keeping His words DO result in the grace that IS His Presence, His Kingdom, the Truth which frees and the deeper reality of being “born again“, so they also bring a man to his measure of the “the fruit of the Spirit“….not a fruit but ALL of them according to the same measure. Here we should try to see how that the Truth behind the Greek words agape, chara, eirene, makrothumia, crestotes, agathosune, pistis, praotes, and egkrateia ARE in NO wise the carnal ideas and implications that ARE given them in the doctrinal view; these ARE ALL spiritual ideas that come naturally upon the man who will keep His words.
We should try to see here how that Paul’s words ARE intended. We should try to understand that the more spiritual ideas of “the works of the flesh” ARE men’s hindrance to their measure of realization of ALL of the rewards of keeping His words. And this IS most clearly spelled out in the apostle’s saying where, after itemizing his list, he tells us that “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“. Again, while doctrines see the carnal ideas rendered from the Greek words, they miss the entire point of Paul’s words that show us the separation, the dichotomy, between the carnal and the spiritual; they DO NOT see the Truth that it IS the expression of the “the fruit of the Spirit” through keeping His words that diminishes the propensity of men to act in accord with “the works of the flesh“. Repeating 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).
This propensity to act in regard to the self rather than the Lord IS most difficult to overcome and it IS ONLY when we can see Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh” as those carnal ideas that ARE contrary to the Great Commandments, that they ARE NOT the gross human offences that they ARE perceived by so many to be, that we can begin to see our own failings. Here we should try to see how that this overcoming IS the work of the man who Truly seeks God and that this work comes by one’s faith, one’s KNOWING some measure of Truth. This sense of faith IS the great motivator and as it increases so DOES one’s measure of the rest, one’s measure of agape, chara, eirene, makrothumia, crestotes, agathosune, praotes, and egkrateia DO increase by the same proportion as DOES one’s realization of His Presence and ALL that goes with it.
It IS this process of overcoming the propensities of men on a spiritual level that IS the work of the aspirant to discipleship and while some of the more gross carnal offenses may creep into one’s Life, these ARE NOT the issue as these ARE most easily avoidable if one IS Truly seeking God. It IS the reality of looking past the self, past the nurturing, the indoctrination into the ways of the world, and one’s years of thought, attitude and experience, that ARE the more difficult parts of the illusion and the glamour in which the lives of men ARE thrust. And it IS these things that ARE and that exasperate Paul’s saying that “the creature was made subject to vanity” (Romans 8:20). It IS this vanity that IS that: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4 as Vincent tells us. It IS this overcoming that IS the reality of egkrateia.
These “the works of the flesh” ARE those thoughts, attitudes and actions of men which ARE contrary to the Truth of the Great Commandments. In this idea of egkrateia, we should be able to see the great array of Paul’s words that refer to men’s infidelity toward the Godhead and to his factions and divisive attitudes toward his fellow man which must be overcome. We should ever remember and understand that after the gross carnal ideas of men ARE overcome that there ARE still those other ideas that ARE a part of the human experience, ideas which keep a man separated from God. We should remember and understand as well that the first part of “the works of the flesh“, the adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry and witchcraft as these ARE rendered ARE the sins of men by which their focus remains upon the self and the things of the self in the world. Again it IS with egkrateia, as part of the whole list of “the fruit of the Spirit” that these ARE overcome.
Our conversation from our last post has NOT been directly in this regard but rather has been focused on the ways that men create and maintain separations and divisions, factions if you will, based upon their own allegiance to their doctrinal views. It IS this allegiance that hinders so many men who DO mean to DO the right thing and who may Truly seek God but who DO NOT see past their own nurturing, their own indoctrination into the ways of the world and their own years of thought, attitude and experience that ARE the more difficult parts of the illusion and the glamour…parts of which they remain ignorant. And so our conversation on the Great Commission which, while it IS a great doctrinal motivator which may be followed with good intent, IS NOT practiced according to the deeper Truth behind the Master’s words.
Again, should we look more closely at this, we can likely see ALL of the above ideas from the first part of “the works of the flesh“, those that ARE contrary to the first of the Great Commandments, ARE also a part of men’s divisive doctrinal attitudes of the second part which ARE also founded in the illusion and glamour of men. We should remember here that the deeper and intended ideas of “the works of the flesh” ARE the more difficult to overcome than the more carnal and anti-moral ideas that doctrines interpret and see as sin. While we should try to understand that with or without one’s sense of doctrine these “the works of the flesh” afflict men, we should try to also see how that doctrines DO promote and continue these ideas through which men DO “think of himself more highly than he ought to think” (Romans 12:3). We should try to see as well how that much of this IS based in the self apportioned authority through which doctrinal men see themselves and their inherited ideas. It IS through these ideas that we came upon the Great Commission as an example of the misunderstanding and the misinterpretations that divide men and by which they go about teaching others. Repeating Jesus’ words:
“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).
We have discussed the way that the King James version and others render the Greek word matheteuo as teach but we should understand here that while most ALL other bible versions which render this as “make disciples“, they DO NOT see the deeper idea of Jesus’ use of this word….a deeper idea that says ‘make ALL men follow the Lord and His precepts‘. Most ALL see the most common idea of the disciple as the learner or the student rather than the defining idea from the lexicon that tells us that to be matheteuo IS: to be a disciple of one….to follow his precepts and instructions 2. We have also discussed how that the idea of nations IS taken too literally and IS the cause for Christians from many nations being missionaries to other nations with the intent of spreading the “good news” according to their several doctrines. The reality here IS that disciples as Jesus defines them should be making disciples of ethnos which Vincent shows us as: the whole human race 4.
And how IS this to be DONE IS also misinterpreted and misapplied by the doctrinal authorities, by those who have taken authority to teach others. The reality of this charge of making disciples of others IS found in the simplicity of Jesus’ own words saying that the disciple should be “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you“; how this has devolved into the teaching of doctrines IS the reality of the lack of egkrateia in the doctrinal church and this IS but a symbol of the lack of the needed measure of ALL of “the fruit of the Spirit“. This then leads us to where we ended the last essay….with baptism.
Much emphasis IS placed upon this idea, this symbol, of baptism according to the various doctrinal methods and this whole idea IS then complicated by those denominations that teach that men should be baptized in the Spirit as well or in place of the traditional baptism. While the story of the pickle should be enough to clarify the True meaning of baptizo, the common ideas yet persist and the whole has further devolved into wranglings which result in having the method of baptism of one denomination or sect NOT be accepted by others. Much the same can be found in the baptism of the Holy Spirit which IS likely modeled after the ideas from the Book of Acts where the Apostles Peter and John “laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost” (Acts 8:17).
While the whole of this experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit IS presumed to be linked to the laying on of hands, the deeper reality IS found in our trifecta where the Presence of God comes to the man who will strive to keep His words. And more to our point we should try to see how that those who DO such laying on of hands today miss the point that this was done by actual apostles, men who were True disciples, wherein comes their authority to DO so which IS, frankly, their ability to show the way to Truth. Most importantly ALL seem to miss the point of immersion; most ALL miss the point that disciples should make disciples of others by immersing them in the Truth of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and that it IS the effect of this immersion that will be “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you“. We close today by repeating the story of the pickle:
Not to be confused with 911, bapto. The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be ‘dipped'(bapto) into boiling water and then ‘baptised’ (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change. When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism. e.g.Mark 16:16. ‘He that believes and is baptised shall be saved’. Christ is saying that mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle!2
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
- 2 from New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
