ON LOVE; PART MXLIX
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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 thoughts on the Apostle James’ words on the reality of faith and works and while this may seem a bit off message, there ARE those indelible links between faith as that KNOWING that comes in keeping His words and the idea of works as that they ARE the “the fruit of the Spirit“. We discussed the relationship between faith and KNOWING in much detail through the idea of pistis, which IS rendered as faith on the Apostle Paul’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit“, and we came upon this sidebar of works through our understanding that to DO “the fruit of the Spirit” IS the rather automatic response for the man who KNOWS.
It IS unfortunate that the idea of faith has taken on such nebulous meanings as those prescribed by doctrines and that the kindred word pisteuo, which IS rendered in terms of believing, has become mere mental assent. It IS the failure to see both of these ideas in terms of KNOWING that IS the great hinderance to the Truth and it IS in the equally potent failure to understand that the source of KNOWING, of True faith and believing, IS found in keeping His words. And, we should add here again that to express the “the fruit of the Spirit” IS the natural way of Life for the man who KNOWS and it IS these that ARE the works to which James refers as he tells us “shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18).
In the last essay we surmised that the use of the Greek word ergon IS NOT intended to be seen in the same way in ALL of its uses. Paul often uses the term as it relates to the law and he speaks strongly against the “deeds of the law” (Romans 3:20) versus faith and it IS when we can understand that he DOES NOT refer to men’s ignoring the living commandments of the law that we can begin to see the greater Truth. Paul’s words ARE against what the law had become, the doctrinal approach and the ceremonial dictates of those doctrines.
Paul’s point IS that it IS in KNOWING the Truth that one can see through the mirage, the illusion and the glamour, of the Jewish doctrinal approach to God but this IS missed because the reality of this approach includes the idea of keeping His words, a feat which few men have ever been prepared to DO. Instead men create ever more doctrinal approaches to God based in the misunderstood and misinterpreted words of the apostles with a strange reliance upon the Old Testament….NOT the commandments that result in the promises, but on the promises alone. This ALL results in their diluted ideas of the Truths that ARE expressed by Jesus who tells us clearly that we should keep His words and that ALL Truth, the Kingdom and His Presence come in so DOING 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).
It IS in seeing faith as KNOWING that we come to see that the Way IS ever to keep His words and this IS the same message that we get from James who tells us to “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Here, the force of this deception, which IS based in the illusions and the glamour of Life in this world, IS found in ALL spiritual thoughts and attitudes that DO NOT have keeping His words as the center point. And while Paul DOES NOT give us the same basic instructional ideas that we find in James, we should understand that Paul IS speaking to men whom he supposes have already come to see the Truth of being “doers of the word” and who strive to DO so. While James gives us instructions, Paul offers warnings and cautions against the carnal perspective as we see in our selection which we repeat again saying:
“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).
Amid his cautions and warnings Paul DOES offer us the deeper Truths that come to the man who strives to keep His words and goes to some lengths to explain some of the greater realities of spiritual Life for that man. The apostle also shows us the same sense of deception that we find in James’ words above and while these ARE in the same context, few see them as such; in the same Epistle to the Galatians that IS our selection above Paul says: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7-8).
And perhaps the overall point of apostles’ words on deception IS tied to the way that men perceive that their ideas of Truth ARE that Truth while NOT DOING as James shows us and the Master teaches us. Paul tells the Galatians the same idea that he offers in other epistles regarding the idea of self-deception saying: “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself” (Galatians 6:3) and this idea IS meant from a spiritual perspective.
It IS in the dilution of Truth that comes when men continue to create ever more doctrinal approaches to God based in the misunderstood and misinterpreted words of the apostles and with a strange reliance upon the Old Testament, that the essence of Truth IS lost. And this Truth CAN NOT be found within the constraints of that glamour through which most ALL believe that their notion of Truth IS the Truth of God; and this despite KNOWING that as strong as they ‘feel’ about their own doctrines, most ALL others ‘feel’ the same way regarding theirs.
Two more points here on this doctrinal relationship to God that has failed since before the time of Christ, an approach that IS ever based in the convenience of men over the Truth of His words. Surely these ARE harsh words but they ARE of the same nature as what we read from James and Paul above; and this IS the same idea that the apostle gives us saying that “through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). These words however ARE also misunderstood and misapplied to the lives of men and if we can relate this idea of “think soberly” to the Greek word methe which IS rendered as drunkenness in Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh“, we can then see the whole of his point.
In methe we should try to see how that this idea IS NOT that carnal drunkenness but IS rather a pseudo spiritual idea that IS the reality of one thinking “more highly than he ought to think” and of thinking “himself to be something, when he is nothing“. This IS the essence of glamour which IS based in the illusion, the vanity of Paul, rather than that “measure of faith” which IS one’s measure of KNOWING that comes in striving to keep His words.
Paul also shows us this idea of KNOWING and while he ties it to Love for God, most DO NOT see past the idea of eating that which has be sacrificed to idols. We read: “Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him” (1 Corinthians 8:1-3). If we can separate these ideas we can see that the Truth of KNOWING comes in Love first, in the agape that edifieth, and then in Love for God which IS defined for us in the Great Commandments and in Jesus words saying simply that “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
This Love IS of course that we keep His words; it IS this idea that runs through ALL scripture and it IS by this that we can Truly KNOW God and stop that self-deception that most ALL doctrines teach. In the many catch phrases that doctrines use there IS an abundance of error and while these doctrinal ideas may seem to point men toward God and heaven, they actually forestall men’s spiritual progress. One of the leading doctrinal ideas IS of course faith which IS NOT seen as that KNOWING that comes to the man who strives to keep His words but rather as that nebulous idea of believing by mental assent.
Paul tells us that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17) and he tells us this as part of his discourse that IS perceived by most doctrines as the way to be “born again“. There IS a depth to these ideas which we have discussed in previous essays. Hearing of course IS NOT merely to hear the Sunday preacher or the teacher at a conference say words that may resonate and which may have a momentary effect. Hearing IS that sense of perception that comes in the Truth of “the word of God“, a perception that IS the ‘voice’ of that unction, that anointing by which the man who Truly hears can “know all things” (1 John 2:20).
In this idea of perception, which IS a part of the defining ideas for the Greek word akoe, we should try to see our own use of the idea of realization and understand how that it IS this that IS the precursor to faith in the Life of everyman. “So then KNOWING cometh by realization and realization by the revelations of the word of God” IS perhaps the more accurate way to understand Paul’s words and to DO so in accordance with what Truths come in the trifecta. It is the revelations and the realizations of Truth which ARE the grace of God that comes through keeping His words and it IS these that ARE that KNOWING which Jesus shows us “shall make you free“.
These same ideas can be applied to James words which tell us that we must be DOERS, that we must keep His words and NOT hear them only and, to be sure, for one to have the revelations and realizations of Truth, the perception if you will, there IS little choice but to keep them. In this view we can see James’ idea of hearing as that it DOES pertain to the Sunday preacher or the teacher at a conference and NOT to the unction; or we can see that James’ point IS the same as Paul’s point regarding “the works of the flesh” which we see as those deeper ideas that can prevent the man who strives from seeing the fullness of His Truth. On the one hand IS the more carnal view and on the other the more spiritual.
In “the works of the flesh” we have that combination of thoughts and attitudes that ARE contrary to the Great Commandments, thoughts and attitudes that tend toward the self rather than the Lord. It IS these thoughts and attitudes that can be an anchor in the Life of everyman who strives but who fails to see the necessary fullness of his endeavor as he struggles through his Life in this world while sharing his focus between “God and mammon“. Can we see the sense of self-deception that can happen as a man believes himself to be in the Will of God but has NOT yet chosen God, the man who continues to try to “serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24).
And can we see here how it IS these thoughts and attitudes that tend toward the self that ARE the subject of Paul’s ideas about thinking “more highly than he ought to think” and of thinking “himself to be something, when he is nothing“? There IS but one goal and that IS the fullness of ones own communion with the Lord which IS the fullness of discipleship. That this IS a difficult task IS sure but we must understand that the rewards ARE great and this reward IS what we call the grace of God. In this grace which comes by measure to the man who strives IS the reality of revelation and the realization by the man in the world of his own True nature which IS the microcosmic version of the very nature of God.
We should understand here as well that ALL of the problems of humanity ARE tied to men’s focus upon the self in the world and the things of the world and it IS from the illusion that this ALL matters that we ARE freed by the Truth….and this again according to the Master’s words in our trifecta. This Truth, the revelation and realization of the Truth of God, IS man’s reward and it IS in this grace that one will find the True Kingdom of God as that state of being of which Jesus tells us saying that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).
And there IS ever more reward than we can even discern. If our goal IS communion with the Lord then every measure of grace, every measure of faith, that one achieves brings him closer; and it IS in this ever increasing measure that we come to see and to KNOW the Way. While the goal IS distant and perhaps inconceivable for the man whose focus IS upon carnal things, it becomes ever clearer as we progress along the Path until the measure of Truth achieved shows us the next page in our own saga of Life and a picture of what can be in the afterlife. We close today with these words from the writer of the Book of Hebrews in which IS a picture of our journey:
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1)
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.
