ON LOVE; PART MLXXVI
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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 with our thoughts regarding the way that doctrines have been formulated and taught based more in the vanity of Life in this world, the illusion and the glamour, than in the Truth of Jesus’ words which the Apostle John shows us “are not grievous“. In his affirmation of the words of the Master, John puts together for us the basic ideas of Jesus’ sayings that we call our trifecta and shows us how that it IS keeping His words that men express that they DO Love God. John tells us “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:2-3).
We should note here that the apostle shows us both sides of Love as we have been discussing it; first that there IS the need to keep His words and that this IS the True sign that one DOES Love God and second that to DO so IS NOT grievous….that IS that there IS NO True burden in DOING so. In the last essay we explored the idea that it IS because of the way that men DO see the commandments of the Master as grievous that they have formulated their doctrinal approach to the Lord. We explored as well how that the Apostle Paul’s words to the Galatians show us perhaps the beginning of the doctrinal approach of men as he speaks about “another gospel“.
We used two parts of the apostle’s words to show our point and we should note here that there ARE few in the doctrinal church who would readily agree with us, NOT ONLY in this but in most ALL of our view that it IS ONLY in keeping His words or striving to DO so that we have our measure of the Truth that frees us, the True Presence of God in our lives and access to His Kingdom in which His Presence and His Truth reside. This IS our trifecta of spiritual reality which we repeat here again. Jesus tells us:
- “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).
The two parts of Paul’s words show us how that men DO NOT see the reality of Jesus’ words and especially those words that we have as our trifecta and His Great Commandments which ARE again at the top of our essay. From the apostle’s words to the Galatians which open his epistle to them we can see the difficulty of maintaining one’s focus on the things of God. We see from his opening that these men DID see and understand the ways of the Lord and that they were what we would call aspirants to discipleship….men who had committed themselves to striving to keep His words. Paul shows us that they ARE “are so soon removed” from his teaching, which IS the teaching of the Master, “unto another gospel: Which is not another” and it IS here that we can see the beginnings of the doctrinal views of men. We read the apostle’s words again saying:
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:6-12).
From the context of the apostle’s words we should be able to sense his frustration as he tells them that whosoever may teach them something other than the words of the Master, be it he himself “or an angel from heaven“, that they ARE anathema which IS rendered here as accursed. In a previous essay we traced this word back to its translation from a Hebrew word which means: a thing devoted to God without hope of being redeemed 2 4 according to Vincent and the lexicon and in this defining idea of anathema we should be able to see the plight of the man who IS “removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel“. We should be able to see here the doctrinal issue also as this IS the whole of the idea that the apostle presents: in “another gospel” men yet believe that they ARE devoted to God while the DO NOT see that they ARE at the same time without hope of being redeemed.
While this may seem to be a harsh indictment of those who teach and who follow their doctrines over the Truth of Jesus’ words, it IS rather an indictment of the doctrines themselves which ARE constructed so that they DO NOT embrace the perceived grievousness of His commandments. It IS such doctrines that have been formulated to “please men” and while we DO NOT KNOW what IS the “another gospel: Which is not another“, we can be sure that it IS NOT unlike the way that the ensuing doctrines dilute and change the force of Jesus’ words through the out of context and misinterpreted words of His apostles. Paul goes on to further instruct the Galatians to keep His words rather than to fall prey to “another gospel” and, at the beginning of the chapter that contains our selection, he says: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).
If we can see that this “yoke of bondage” IS ALL things that ARE men’s focus upon the things of the world over the things of God and realize that the things of God ARE ONLY found in keeping His words, we can then better understand the intent of our selection which we have been discussing. Paul shows us the very meaning of that “liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” and we should understand his intent here: that it IS the same as we find in Jesus’ own words from our trifecta saying “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“. Here we should perhaps see that Paul is including the reality of measure and understand that these Galatians to whom he writes have some measure of that liberty as he tells them how that this should be used; we read 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).
It IS Paul’s instruction that men should keep His words which he shows them in the simplicity of “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“….that this should become a reality in one’s Life. But this sense of Love has never been Truly understood by men nor by their doctrines and if we can see that the central point of this Love IS to look past oneself, to “use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh” we can better see his intent. We should also see how that the ideas incorporated into the apostle’s list of “the works of the flesh” ARE ALL to DO with this idea of Love as this IS presented in the Great Commandments. We should see that in the misinterpretation of the Greek words that Paul uses the whole idea of his list IS changed away from the idea of Love which IS away from the Truth of the “grace of Christ” and “unto another gospel“.
We should remember here that it was and IS the basic choice of men: that they either “persuade men, or God“. To “persuade men” IS to DO as the apostle DOES and to teach them the Truth of His words. To persuade God however IS but fiction and IS in reality the persuasion of the self that one IS in accord with His words. This IS the effect of “another gospel“; this IS the effect of doctrines which supplant the Truth and that have ONLY one intent which IS “to please men“. And most importantly this is the effect of the vanity, of the illusion and the glamour in which men live in this world. This IS the same vanity that the apostle shows us saying that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:20) and this IS the same vanity that he shows us in this selection from Ephesians….a vanity which causes men to be “alienated from the life of God“. We read Paul’s words again saying:
“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:17-24).
It IS this vanity that IS the plight of ALL men, it IS the illusion and the glamour of being men in this world that IS the corruption that must be overcome and we should try to see here how that it IS the ways of men, the way of the carnal and the “the natural man” (1 Corinthians 2:14) “which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts“. We should be able to see the idea of illusion in these “deceitful lusts” and understand the keen relationship that the apostle shows us between “the vanity of their mind” and this sense of corruption. We should try to see here how that these “deceitful lusts” ARE the desires of men for the things of the self and the self in this world and we should remember here that it IS this corruption, this vanity and this illusion where such “deceitful lusts” reign paramount from which men must escape.
The Apostle Peter shows us the same idea but in a different tone; there IS little difference between being “renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” and Peter’s words saying “ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). We should understand that to “be partakers of the divine nature” one must have the Truth and His Presence as we read in the trifecta and it IS in this same Truth and Presence that one becomes that “new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness“.
It IS ever the expression of the man in this world that matters; either a man will express that carnal nature by degree and measure, this IS what Paul shows us to be “the former conversation the old man“, or, a man will express “the divine nature” which IS the expression of “the fruit of the Spirit” and which IS the “new man” expressing that “righteousness and true holiness“. It IS this Truth that IS missed by the doctrines of men which suppose that those who follow them ARE the “new man” even though, like some of the Galatians, they ARE but following “another gospel” which IS arranged and codified to “please men“.
As we have been saying, this self deception has been True since the beginning as we should be able to discern from Paul’s opening words to the Galatians and while the apostle denounces this view of the Master’s Truth, those who have taken authority have continued to promulgate it. The doctrinal sense of Truth which Paul calls “another gospel” IS become so ingrained in Christian culture that it IS deemed to be the Truth, much as the doctrines of the Jews was their Truth until the Master diffused them by His words. But we should remember that even in the blunt and persuasive words of Jesus and His apostle the Jewish doctrines DID NOT die; we should remember that while His showing of their error had Redeemed some, most kept on their path with even more vigor.
It IS the vanity which deceives men and allows them to convince themselves that they ARE on the right path even though the Master shows us the ONLY True way to God. It IS the illusion and its accompanying corruption that has kept men bound to their carnal Life despite the teachings of Jesus and the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles; and it IS the reality of glamour that keeps men fixed upon their path unswayed by even the most convincing arguments. And while the Apostle James, in his own blunt way of speaking, shows us the error in simple terms saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22), men DO NOT heed his call.
They instead take a tighter grasp of their doctrine, they harden their own hearts, and they convince themselves that their doctrines ARE their salvation. The never see the reality of the apostle’s words and they continue to walk “in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart“. And they never see how that the their own doctrines ARE “another gospel” nor do they understand the deeper meaning of the Greek word anathema nor understand what this word should show them about the man who teaches and follows “another gospel“.
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
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
