ON LOVE; PART MLXXX
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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 again discussed the Master’s admonition that men should “Take no thought for your life“. While we see in His words the reality of His other words that show the needed dichotomy between the carnal and the spiritual in the thoughts and attitudes of men, this IS NOT the view of most ALL men nor their doctrines. We see that His words that tell us to “Take no thought” ARE tied to the same message that the Master uses to define the disciple, a message that one should forsake ALL things and ALL relationships, as well as His words on Life….that to save it IS to lose it or, as the Apostle John frames this: “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:25).
That these ideas which show us the dichotomy between the spiritual and the carnal ARE NOT seen by men IS again the function of that vanity, of the illusion and the glamour, in which men live; men ARE inclined to see Jesus’ words as Bishop Lightfoot reported saying: “I have heard of a political economist alleging this passage as an objection to the moral teaching of the sermon on the mount, on the ground that it encouraged, nay, commanded, a reckless neglect of the future.”4. This idea that the True meaning of Jesus’ words “Take no thought for your life” CAN NOT mean anything that IS contrary to the normal activities of men in this world IS a primary result of the failure of men to understand the tenets of the first of the Great Commandments; that men should see God above ALL things.
In the idea that men should “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” IS NOT seen as the Way to God; men DO NOT see nor understand that the idea of “Take no thought for your life” IS but Jesus’ own way of saying this same thing. And so His words on discipleship; that the disciple must forsake “all that he hath“, that he must ‘love less’ ALL other things including “his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also” (Luke 14:26, 33). This IS the ONLY way by which one can Truly “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength“.
That the Apostle Matthew frames this differently DOES NOT detract from the Truth of Jesus intent. Matthew tells us Jesus’ words as “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37) and in these words we should see the very same ideas as they relate to the Great Commandment. We should realize as well that these ARE the Master’s words, these ARE His commandments and that DOING these ARE an integral part of keeping His words which ARE the ONLY gateway to the Truth, to His Presence and to His Kingdom as we read again in the 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).
Men DO NOT see our view as a valid spiritual idea as they keep close their humanity and their sense of personhood. They refuse to see the spiritual implications of Life itself and they have formed their own sense of dichotomy which separates this Life from an eternal heaven or an eternal hell. They DO NOT see that their doctrinal views ARE contrary to His words and that they ARE but “another gospel“, a gospel which IS devised to protect them from any sense of guilt, if we can use this idea, as they conduct their lives according to their own carnal instincts. Men DO NOT see their own fatal flaw; they DO NOT see how that they ARE believing and teaching “another gospel” which descended NOT ONLY from the Apostle Paul’s citation to the Galatians but from the ways and the teachings of the Jews about whom the Master says: “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7). We read Paul’s caution 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).
And moreover, men DO NOT see their own delusion which IS based in the illusion and the glamour that IS Life in this world. That their doctrines dilute and change the Truths that the Master teaches us as well as the clarifying and amplifying words of His apostles goes unseen. To put this simply we should try to see how that men have promoted their doctrines to the level of THE gospel while failing to see that they ARE that same “another gospel” that Paul shows us above. There IS NO easy way to say these things; there IS NO way to express these ideas without indicting men and their doctrines which DO NOT see Paul’s words as a whole body of Truth but rather take out of context ideas and portend them to be singularly important.
Doctrines have attached the deeply spiritual idea of being “born again” to the apostle’s words to the Romans rather than to the Master’s own explanation of the meaning of being so. Jesus tells us that “Except a man be born again,a he cannot see the kingdom of God” and, KNOWING that Nicodemus DOES NOT understand, He frames it in another way saying “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5). The greater point here IS that the very idea of being “born again” IS intimately tied to seeing and entering “the kingdom of God” and here we should understand that the Way to the Kingdom IS clearly keeping His words as we read in our trifecta above. The reality here IS that to be “born again“, to see or enter into His Kingdom, to have His Presence and to have the Truth ARE ALL synonymous ideas.
This however IS NOT seen from the doctrinal perspective which lends this idea of being “born again” to a man’s affirmation and confession according to their own interpretation of Paul’s words saying: “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10). Jesus tells us that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34) and here we should put these ideas together. It IS when the heart, the consciousness of a man, KNOWS some measure of the Truth that that man will be able to “believeth unto righteousness” and then express this righteousness according to Jesus’ own rhetorical question that asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
Can we see the point here? Can we understand that the profession IS that Jesus IS Lord and that KNOWING this IS to DO “the things which I say“; and it IS ONLY in this context of keeping His words that one can be seen as being “born again“. Any other understanding of the apostle’s words fails; they fail in regard to the apostle’s intent and they fail in the idea of salvation which, according to his words, requires righteousness. Again, we should try to understand that whatsoever IS the expression of a man, that it DOES come from his heart; and here we should see that the man who KNOWS righteousness IS expressing that KNOWING which ONLY comes in keeping His words.
We should understand that the whole context of Paul’s words to the Romans that has become the way of being “born again” for the Christian world IS NOT what it has been made to be. The whole idea that such affirmations and confessions would alone be enough to make men holy or righteous, which IS the object of our trifecta in having the Truth and His Presence, IS but the creation of men seeking to avoid the seemingly hard work of being a DOER. The doctrines of men DO NOT see nor accept that they ARE the subject of such words as James shows us saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
In their context Paul’s words to the Romans ARE a non-Jewish offering of Moses words to the Jews; they have been changed however into the personal and preconceived doctrinal ideas surrounding the death and the resurrection of the Master. The words that Moses gave us as the Word of God ARE specifically speaking about keeping His words and Paul’s intent IS much the same and this can be easily seen in understanding the Presence that comes in keeping His words. Moses says to the Jews that:
“And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil” (Deuteronomy 30:9-15).
Do we see the point here? Do we see that this IS ALL about His words and the context IS that they DO KNOW His words which ARE NOT hidden nor “far off“. If we can interpret Paul’s words in this same way we can then see that the apostle’s True intent was NOT to use an out of context part that IS translated and interpreted according to men’s doctrines. His intent IS that men need NOT look for Christ….He IS NOT hidden. He IS in the prompting of the Soul, the Christ Within, to the Good, the Beautiful and the True, a prompting which IS drowned out and obnubilated by the view of the man in the world as he goes about caring for himself instead of living according to the Master’s words saying “Take no thought for your life“.
It IS when we can apply spiritual ideas to Jesus’ words and the words of His apostles that we can begin to see the Truth that lies in them and we should understand here that the Truth “is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven….Neither is it beyond the sea….the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart“. It IS when we can see Paul’s words in regard to the Christ Within and see how that what they reflect IS Jesus’ representation of Truth and righteousness to the world, that we can make right sense out of the apostle’s words which we show here from the King James Version and Young’s Literal Translation:
“For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:5-10).
“for Moses doth describe the righteousness that [is] of the law, that, `The man who did them shall live in them,’and the righteousness of faith doth thus speak: `Thou mayest not say in thine heart, Who shall go up to the heaven,’ that is, Christ to bring down? or, `Who shall go down to the abyss,’ that is, Christ out of the dead to bring up. But what doth it say? `Nigh thee is the saying — in thy mouth, and in thy heart:’ that is, the saying of the faith, that we preach; that if thou mayest confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and mayest believe in thy heart that God did raise him out of the dead, thou shalt be saved, for with the heart doth [one] believe to righteousness, and with the mouth is confession made to salvation” (Romans 10:5-10).
Paul IS trying to change Moses words into words that can conform with the teaching of the Master and it IS when we can see that faith IS NOT that simple Christian idea but IS that KNOWING that comes by measure in keeping His words, and that righteousness has this same source, we can then begin to understand what it IS that Paul IS exchanging for the law in his writings. Moses gives us the law, the written way that men who truly seek God should conduct their lives and he includes in this the Truth of Love; Jesus gives us the Truth of Love as the expression of the man who Truly seeks God and included in this IS the reality of keeping the whole law. This IS the fundamental difference between the law and the reality of pistis and pisteuo which ARE rendered as faith and believing but which ARE that KNOWING that comes either way. If one DOES keep the whole law it includes Love and if one DOES Love as agape IS intended, this includes the whole law as Paul shows us in our selection which we repeat here 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 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.
