ON LOVE; PART MXLVIII
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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 addressed the idea of meekness as a “fruit of the Spirit” and offered our own ideas on the True strength of being meek. Common understanding and doctrinal ideas DO NOT convey the essence of this idea of praotes and we should be able to see the intent of this idea in Jesus’ admission that He Himself IS meek. In this sense that the Master gives us saying that “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29) we should be able to see how that the very idea of meek as this IS understood IS NOT a suitable rendering for praotes or any of its kindred words.
We should try to see that there IS NO suitable English word to carry forth the meaning that we should see here; that to have praotes IS to have the Power and to refrain from using it in Love and in that understanding that IS the essence of makrothumia which IS rendered in our selection as longsuffering. Earlier, in our review and expansion on the words of the Apostle Paul’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit“, we said this about makrothumia: makrothumia….IS rendered as longsuffering but has much deeper meaning as that steady sense of understanding of the way of men and their plight in this world. Makrothumia IS this understanding through an ever increasing realization of the need of having NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9), while understanding also that to see men in their differences IS contrary to His words.
If we can see that makrothumia IS an outward expression that IS a reflection of agape, of Love, for ALL men with NO sense of division based upon physical, NO sense of division based upon religion or customs, NO sense of division based upon the politics of Life….simply NO sense of division whatsoever, then we can understand its effect in the idea of praotes. It IS unfortunate that the reality of this idea of praotes IS sorely missed in its rendering as meek but if we can see how that to be meek IS to possess that strength of agape, we can then also understand the Master’s words that reflect this idea.
In Jesus words and interactions with His disciples that we discussed in the last post there IS a picture of the working of praotes from a more spiritual level. The Master shows His disciples that although He could DO as they suggest, that IS to “command fire to come down from heaven” (Luke 9:54), that He would NOT because that IS NOT the Way of the Spirit. He shows us also that although He could have “more than twelve legions of angels” (Matthew 26:53) to help Him avoid the cross, He DID NOT because it was His destiny to suffer as He DID.
Similarly we should see such ideas as these which may appear to be somewhat less spiritual but ARE, in reality, the flow of praotes from the Soul through the Life of the man whose focus IS upon God. The Master tells us: “resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also“; “if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also“; “whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain” (Matthew 5:39-41). ALL of these ARE examples of meekness in the Life of a man in this world. To NOT resist when one can IS meekness and to turn the other cheek IS its strength.
And in this idea of NOT resisting we should be able to see what Paul shows us saying “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head” (Romans 12:20). Of course we KNOW that this IS NOT to literally DO so; Paul’s words carry the idea that to offer such kindness to one’s enemy should give him pause to think differently. Jesus’ other words above can be see in much the same way; the man whose focus IS upon God DOES NOT even see the adversity in losing one’s coat or being compelled to go a mile; this man DOES so willingly and then some….ALL in the strength which IS praotes.
And Paul’s words ARE an amplification of Jesus’ own words which embody the very essence of meekness as we should understand it; the Master tells us: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). This IS meekness as a “fruit of the Spirit“; this IS praotes. In its fullness the man in this world will be in accord with Jesus’ commandments as the Apostle Luke presents them saying “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:27-31).
This IS of course a difficult task as the personalities of men continually work against these ideas which ARE foreign even to the most ardent doctrinal Christians and most ALL who ARE nurtured in the polar opposite of Jesus’ words. It IS by measure that men CAN come to understand the basic Truths of Jesus’ words which ARE encapsulated for us in Paul list of “the fruit of the Spirit“. Repeating the apostle’s words again we read:
“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).
When we can understand the depth of this idea of praotes and revise our thinking about the meaning of the English word meek, we can then see the intent much more clearly. While the KEY idea here IS Jesus admission of His own meekness, this idea IS lost in the doctrines of men. Paul shows us this idea of meekness in several ways but perhaps the most important is his saying that “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1). Here we have that combination of praotes and makrothumia that we discuss above and we have as well the idea that this meekness IS a spiritual endeavor and NOT a carnal one.
In the end, like ALL of “the fruit of the Spirit“, this sense of meekness IS the natural effect in the Life of the man whose focus IS upon God. We should remember that these ALL come to a man in the same proportional measure as IS his focus upon the Truth and at the heart of this focus IS the Truth of keeping His words. It IS in striving to keep His words that one’s focus upon God deepens and in this we should see that the measure of one’s expression of “the fruit of the Spirit” IS the same as IS the measure of his striving. It IS this striving and this focus that bring to a man his measure of Truth, his measure of realization of the Kingdom of God and his measure of having His Presence in his Life. Repeating our trifecta again we read:
- 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).
In the reality of the Way that one’s expression of “the fruit of the Spirit” IS the natural effect of striving to keeping His words we should try to see how that Paul’s ideas on faith and works play their role. Too much doctrinal emphasis has been put upon this idea of works versus faith when the reality IS that there IS NO faith if there IS NO works….these ever go hand in hand. When we can see that the ideas behind the apostle’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit” ARE the deeper reality of works we can then begin to glimpse the deeper Truth and understand that NONE of this IS carnal save for its expression in the world of men. These works ARE the “the fruit of the Spirit” expressed by the man who has them as his Life in this Earth.
The ability to DO these works according to Paul’s intent IS founded in faith which IS that KNOWING of some measure of the Truth. It IS in this KNOWING that works flow through one’s Life as “the fruit of the Spirit“. In the doctrinal effort to show Paul’s ideas as that to try to DO “the fruit of the Spirit” IS NOT the Way, there arises much confusion; some because of the misinterpretation of the Greek ideas and some because men DO NOT understand that one CAN NOT express the apostle’s list of ideas without the flow of faith into his Life which comes in DOING.
James clarifies Paul’s ideas on faith and works for us with his own words on faith and works and while we DO NOT KNOW that this was his intent, it IS certainly the result. Much of doctrine however DOES NOT view James’ words with the same vigor that they have towards Paul’s words which play a central role in the teachings of many denominations. We should not that while Paul’s words are spread throughout his epistles, James’ words are a rather simple statement of fact. Much of the confusion as well as the sense that these apostles contradict each other IS founded in the way that Paul’s reference IS the law as the point of works.
If we DO see Paul’s words as that they ARE telling the True seeker that following the law IS NOT the way to God according to the teachings of the Master, then our sight IS limited. Following the law in ALL of its contortions however IS NOT the Way and we should understand that these contortions ARE the doctrines of the Jews and a reliance upon the ceremonial portions which ARE themselves somewhat negated by the prophets and spoken against by the Master. It IS in this negating way that we should see Jesus’ many words about the sabbath and His repeating of the words of Hosea who says “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6).
In James’ words there IS a more definite idea of works that IS NOT the Jew’s doctrine nor the ceremonial portions but IS rather based in what we should see in Paul’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit“. If we can see these ideas from the Greek words as the fundamental basis of the Truth of works, we can then see deeper into how that the Way IS ever to keep His words as we see most clearly in the trifecta. In this we can try to distinguish between the ideas that Paul offers us on the doctrinal and ceremonial ways of the Jews and the reality of those works of which James tells us “that faith without works is dead“.
If we can see that there IS a fundamental misunderstanding of the whole idea of faith and works on both sides, then we can better understand the intent of the Master’s words and those of His apostles. If we can see faith as that KNOWING that comes to the man who keeps His words according to the trifecta, and if we can see that these works of James ARE the essence of “the fruit of the Spirit“, we can then understand Paul’s sayings from the proper perspective and see that there IS NO contradiction. The key to this IS for us in James’ words that tell us clearly that:
“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone*. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith*, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:14-26).
In James words we can find both the reality of faith and the Truth of works but this IS NOT seen in most of the doctrinal church. While this idea IS NOT related to the word that we ARE discussing, praotes, it IS in the reality of the idea that it IS faith, which IS that KNOWING that brings to men ALL of “the fruit of the Spirit“. When we can see that this “fruit of the Spirit” IS the essence of works, we can then see the rather automatic way that works ARE the activity of the man who has faith and see how that to NOT have such works IS to NOT have the reality of faith.
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.
