Monthly Archives: August 2016

ON LOVE; PART MXLVII

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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 continued our discussion on the reality of faith which we should try to see in the words of the writer of the Book of Hebrews. While his words ARE often used to support the ideas of Christian doctrines, they DO have a deeper and Truer meaning as that same KNOWING that we take from Jesus’ own words. The writer’s words saying “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1) feed into the rather nebulous doctrinal understanding of faith which is based in the equally nebulous idea of hope.

It IS this same hope that IS attached to the Apostle Paul’s words to the Romans that we use to show the reality of the illusion and the glamour which IS Life here in this Earth. In Paul’s words saying “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20) as these ARE rendered in the King James Bible we have the idea of God using hope but there IS a great fallacy here. God DOES NOT hope….God KNOWS. Understanding this we have rewritten the apostle’s words according to the alternate ideas from the lexicon and some help from Vincent and this we have discussed in past essays; the result IS framed by us as:

“the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, expectation that Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21).

Here we should see both the creature, man, and the creation as the subject of these words and this IS NOT unlike the idea that we were pursuing from Hebrews where we read: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3). It IS with the idea of KNOWING in mind, along with the idea that God DOES NOT hope, that we should see the words from Hebrews as first “KNOWING IS the assurance of what IS expected” for Hebrews 11:1 and second as “Through pistis we KNOW that the creation was brought into existence by the expression of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear“.

This last rendering IS based in our discussion from the last essay where we say that: If we can see how that pistis IS the spiritual component of these ideas, how that pistis comes in revelation while noeo IS the realization of that faith, we can then see the True intent of these ideas in scripture. And to the point, pistis brings to the personality the KNOWING of the whole of the creative process without the most baseless doctrinal theories which are based in those few words from Genesis….words which are written for the minds of men thousands of years ago. It is by faith then that we come to KNOW, as men, all things and this idea IS NO different than that offered by the Apostle John who tells us that “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20).

When we can dismiss the idea of hope as this IS commonly understood and see the point as an expectation which IS based in one’s KNOWING some measure of Truth, we can better see the point that these writers ARE making. This expectation comes from the words of the Master and to some degree from the words of the Old Testament where one must understand the greater ideas behind the promises which ARE directed as the nation more than at the individual.

Paul goes on to further explore the idea of elpis which IS rendered as hope as he tells us that “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (Romans 8:24-25). We should try to relate this idea of being “saved by hope” to the previous verse that tells us that we “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. Here we should see how that it IS the expectation of God that men shall be delivered and if this IS His expectation, it IS as well the expectation of the man who KNOWS.

Here we should try to understand that this expectation, elpis and elpizo, ARE as much the result of pistis as IS the idea of noeo and nous; we should try to see how that while pistis IS the spiritual component of revelation, understanding (noeo) and expectation  (elpis) ARE the realizations of this KNOWING in the mind of the man to whom these things ARE revealed. Paul’s words here that ARE rendered in terms of hope take on a much deeper meaning when viewed in terms of what IS expected according to His words and here we should relate these to Jesus own words. In this expectation IS that sense of KNOWING and in the understanding that what we expect, that which IS unseen, IS spiritual, we find that KNOWING of which the Master speaks in our trifecta which we repeat here:

• 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).

Jesus tells us that it IS in keeping His words that we come to KNOW and we should be able to see here how it IS our measure of KNOWING that creates our expectation for what He says which comes in the realizations of the man whose focus IS upon God. This then IS the essence of faith; that we KNOW, we understand and we expect the Truth of His words in our lives and it IS in the fullness of this KNOWING that we can move the mountain and DO those “greater works“. In the end then we should try to understand how that pistis becomes a “fruit of the Spirit” through the KNOWING that IS realized by the man in this world, a KNOWING that IS expressed through his confidence in the words of the Master and His apostles. It IS this KNOWING that IS one’s ability to move the mountain and DO those “greater works“. We read our selection from the apostle again:

“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).

We should now be able to see how that faith IS the expression of the man who IS expressing “the fruit of the Spirit” and we should be able to understand the mode of operation of this sense of KNOWING the Truth apart from the nebulous ideas of doctrine. We should be able to see that the expression of the previous ideas from this list ARE the very operation of this KNOWING and, at the same time, that this KNOWING comes to us by our expression of these other fruits which ARE our expression in keeping His words. These ideas CAN NOT be separated….they ALL work together in Love and one’s manifold expression of that Love that IS enabled by pistis which IS our KNOWING the ultimate Truth of keeping His words.

Perhaps we should also try to see how that pistis, as the spiritual component of KNOWING, as that KNOWING that IS the Soul and the Christ Within, IS the very source of one’s ability to express those other fruits which precede this in the list. It IS in this same way but on a much larger scale that ALL that IS seen and unseen IS the expression of God; what IS seen IS His expression in time and space and subject to His laws thereof but what IS NOT seen IS NOT ONLY His spiritual expression but also includes His expression of the more subtle realms of physical existence, some of which CAN NOT yet be measured in human terms.

Our next word in Paul’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit” IS the Greek word praotes which IS rendered here as meekness. This IS as derivative of praos which IS used in Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus says “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29) and this idea has another form in praus which IS used by both Jesus and Peter. While the root word praos IS used only once and praus IS used three times in the New Testament, praotes IS used several times and ONLY by Paul. This IS a most misunderstood word especially in the English context of meek which IS seen as a form of weakness while in reality it IS a word of strength. To be sure, the idea of weakness IS NOT a quality of a “fruit of the Spirit” and it IS the expression of meekness that must be explored as a fruit in the Life of the man who has some measure of this in his Life.

On praus Vincent tells us this as part of a rather lengthy commentary: Another word which, though never used in a bad sense, Christianity has lifted to a higher plane, and made the symbol of a higher good. Its primary meaning is mild, gentle. It was applied to inanimate things, as light, wind, sound, sickness. It was used of a horse; gentle. As a human attribute, Aristotle defines it as the mean between stubborn anger and that negativeness of character which is inescapable of even righteous indignation: according to which it is tantamount to equanimity. Plato opposes it to fierceness or cruelty, and uses it of humanity to the condemned; but also of the conciliatory demeanor of a demagogue seeking popularity and power. Pindar applies it to a king, mild or kind to the citizens, and Herodotus uses it as opposed to anger ⁴.

While the ideas of mildness and kindness ARE a part of the right understanding of this idea, there IS so much more that remains unseen, especially as this relates to the Master. Jesus IS mild and kind as IS the King referenced by Pindar but we should try to see the depth of both these ideas. The Master has the Power to DO whatsoever but the restraint to NOT DO so, and the King has this same Power over his subjects. In this combination of the Power and the restraint we find meek and, from the Master’s perspective we should see that this restraint IS based in Love.

We should note here that the ideas of kindness and gentleness ARE already covered in prior Greek words, crestotes and agathosune, which we see in terms of good. Crestotes IS rendered as both kindness and gentleness by various translations. In this we should be able to understand that praotes must be something else and something more yet many translations render this as mildness and as gentleness. Others render proates as humility although this idea IS NOT found in the lexicon’s ² defining ideas for the Greek words.

How then should we look at meekness as a “fruit of the Spirit” which IS expressed by the man who DOES strive toward the Kingdom by striving to keep His words. It IS this man who has some measure of pistis and thereby the potential to have some measure of effect upon the physical world. This man then can, by thought, speech or action, take aggressive action against another but, with the added measure of praotes, he will NOT. It IS the measure of praotes that will prevent a man from DOING anything that IS contrary to the Master’s words and we should understand that to express some measure of pistis IS to express some measure of agape as well.

If we contrast this to the Way of the Master who could at any time remove Himself from His fate by eliminating the cause and the source but who DID NOT, we can better understand the example that we see in His words as He tells His disciples “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). This IS the reality of meekness which IS again shown to us in this exchange with His disciples; we read: “And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village” (Luke 9:53-56).

The doctrinal view of meekness IS varied. Vincent tells these additional ideas on praus which IS rendered as meek in Matthew’s Gospel: As toward man, it accepts opposition, insult, and provocation, as God’s permitted ministers of a chastening demanded by the infirmity and corruption of sin; while, under this sense of his own sinfulness, the meek bears patiently “the contradiction of sinners against himself,” forgiving and restoring the erring in a spirit of meekness, considering himself, lest he also be tempted ⁴. In the idea of accepting opposition, insult, and provocation, some may see the idea of weakness but this DOES NOT appear to be Vincent’s intent. He seems to be saying much more and in regard to seeing others as one sees himself and then bearing patiently.

We agree with neither our assumption of his intent nor with the idea of weakness which seems the common idea as we read from today’s dictionary which defines meek as: overly submissive or compliant; spiritless; tame and humbly patient or docile, as under provocation from others ⁷. From the same use of praus in Matthew’s Gospel, we read this from John Gill; the meek ARE those: Who are not easily provoked to anger; who patiently bear, and put up with injuries and affronts; carry themselves courteously, and affably to all; have the meanest thoughts of themselves, and the best of others; do not envy the gifts and graces of other men; are willing to be instructed and admonished, by the meanest of the saints; quietly submit to the will of God, in adverse dispensations of providence; and ascribe all they have, and are, to the grace of God. Meekness, or humility, is very valuable and commendable .

Here we have blind acceptance of provocation which IS a part of meekness but Mr. Gill provides NO reasoning save his idea that the meek have the meanest thoughts of themselves, and the best of others. We should understand that this IS NOT the meekness of the Christ who says “I am meek and lowly in heart“. We close here with Mr. Gill’s comment on praotes from our selection in Galatians; here we read that meekness IS: Humility and lowliness of mind, of which Christ is an eminent example and pattern; and which the Holy Spirit from him transcribes into the heart of a regenerate person; and lies in having mean thoughts of himself, in walking humbly with God, acknowledging every favour, being thankful for every blessing, and depending on his grace, and in behaving with modesty and humility among men .

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post. 

Aspect of  God	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

• ² from New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁷ Dictionary.com Unabridged based on Random House Dictionary – 2011