ON LOVE; PART MLXXXIII
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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 our last essay with some thoughts on the realities of heaven and of hell. We noted that the Kingdom of God or, as the Apostle Matthew frames this for us, the Kingdom of heaven, IS NOT a place as this IS surmised by Christian doctrine and that this IS NOT a place to go after death if one IS deserving as many world religious doctrines believe. We noted as well that the doctrinal approach to Truth DOES creep into most every human endeavor where there IS NO certainty and surely the religious pursuits of men ARE chief among these. The doctrinal approach of the pagans, so called, and the Jews ARE likely more responsible for the Christian doctrine teaching on heaven and hell than any idea put forth by the Master and, indeed, these same doctrinal approaches influenced the translations and the interpretations of Jesus’ own words.
Jesus DOES tell us that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21) but this idea IS refuted by much of the doctrinal approach to the Lord while the fantastical ideas gleaned from the most cryptic sayings regarding eschatology ARE held, albeit in very different ways, by most ALL of the church. When we can realize that the one approach, the Kingdom Within, can lead to Life and understanding while the other leads ONLY to distraction from the Master’s message, we can begin to see how that His Kingdom and the Christ Within ARE the same and ARE that unction and that anointing which ideas ARE obnubilated by the way that the doctrinal church has always presented Christ as the singular person of Jesus without relating His Truth to everyman.
That IS, everyman who has realized some measure of the Truth of the Christ Within by which “ye know all things” (John 2:20). It IS in taking the idea of ‘the anointed‘ from the Greek word christos which IS most always rendered as Christ, that we can begin to understand the intimate relationship that ALL men have with the Master. It IS the doctrinal approach of the early church that has created the idea of a singular Christ rather that a view of Jesus as ‘the anointed‘ which IS to say that the very Power of the Godhead flows through His mortal body and IS His expression in this world. Paul shows us this saying that “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).
Jesus tells us that “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12) but this idea IS also refuted by those who portray this as merely teaching Christian doctrines and converting men to some denominational approach to Truth. It IS only when we can see the Truth of pistis and pisteuo that we can Truly understand His intent, the Truth of KNOWING that IS the essence of Jesus’ other words saying “That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23).
Doctrines DO make use of the way that the Apostle Mark frames these words but they DO so in a purely carnal way; many believe that if one IS ‘believing for‘ something that “he shall have whatsoever he saith” and while this may haphazardly work for some, IS DOES NOT work for most. And here IS the rub; for those who DO NOT receive “whatsoever he saith” the ONLY answer IS that they DID NOT have enough faith or perhaps their tithing wasn’t right or some other reason that IS short of the Truth that the Apostle James shows us saying: “yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:2-3). Few see that the whole of the Master’s words have naught to DO with the carnal affairs nor the desires of men.
Doctrines also treat Jesus’ words on asking in much the same carnal manner. In His words saying “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Luke 11:9) men see their wants and their desires when they should see the Master’s words as James clarifies them saying “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him“. It IS Wisdom that comes from God and NOT the things of this world; but even with such things as Wisdom and other things spiritual there IS the price of focus that must be paid. James shows us this saying “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 4:5-8).
And this IS the underlying reality of the Apostle Paul’s words that ARE his list of “the works of the flesh“. It IS only in the right translation and interpretation of the Greek words however that the apostle’s True intent can be seen above those common ideas that ARE of “another gospel“. In the reality of the Greek words IS the idea of focus: a focus that IS upon oneself as men go about their lives as men in this world oblivious to the essential Truths of the Great Commandments. Men DO NOT see that the whole of their spiritual progress IS tied to these ideals and so they DO ever remain as “double minded“. And this reality afflicts most ALL men….even those who DO KNOW some measure of the Truth. And so the apostle gives us the Truth but, by “another gospel“, we turn away from that Truth in ways that keep that Truth from us. And so with Paul’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit“: men DO NOT see the reality of Love behind the carnal interpretation of such virtues nor DO they see that these words, when properly rendered and understood, DO identify the very meaning of agape and its application, its expression, by the man in this world. Repeating the apostle’ s words 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 in the idea of unction, the reality of anointing, and the words of the Master that show us how that “as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). Doctrines however DO NOT see this Truth; it IS lost in their zeal to promote their own agenda regarding the very nature of the Christ. Many ARE more concerned with ‘protecting’ the divinity of Jesus that revealing the Truth of His words; they DO NOT see that the reality of His divinity IS NOT unlike their own. They DO NOT see that the reality of the unction or the anointing IS the reality of the Christ Within everyman; they DO NOT realize that the Truth of this reality comes to men by measure….men who will strive to keep His words over their reliance upon “another gospel“.
And this failure of men IS despite the sometimes rather clear words of the Master and the clarifying and amplifying words of his apostles; words that ARE lost in “another gospel” that seemingly ONLY contains “commandments of men“. Men and their doctrines DO NOT see the long history of they themselves “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9) as they continue to deflect from themselves the idea that Jesus, while speaking to and of the Jews, was offering a message of caution and warning to ALL subsequent generations. It IS this caution and warning that Paul amplifies and clarifies for us but his Truth IS also lost in the ideas presented by “another gospel“; ideas which ARE deemed to apply ONLY those men in Paul’s day. We repeat the Apostle’s words 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).
Perhaps the biggest deterrent against the Truth that doctrines possess IS their sense of authority, a sense that keeps men at bay under the weight of two thousand years of bible translations and interpretations. Most men DO NOT KNOW how to devise the Truth for themselves as they acquiesce to the authority of those who have taken it; they DO NOT see that they themselves ARE those to whom Paul speaks. We should understand here that the rendering of metastrepho as pervert IS more harsh than the apostle intended; the lexicon defines metastrepho as to turn around 2 and there ARE several translations that render this as change. Perhaps change IS an easier idea to understand and perhaps the more harsh rendering as pervert IS to push Paul’s warning out of the doctrinal arena of the day.
Nonetheless, it IS easy to see Paul’s intent and his point: that men ARE changing the words of the Master to suit their own needs and perceptions of Life and that other men will heed their perceived authority to interpret the words of Jesus and then the words of the apostles as well. This brings us back to the ideas behind the Greek words pistis and pisteuo, words that ARE rendered as faith and believing but which ARE NOT seen in the force of KNOWING. Just as the idea of pervert DOES NOT capture Paul’s intent, so faith and believing, as they ARE commonly understood, DO NOT capture the idea of KNOWING, and, in KNOWING, having some measure of the Truth that IS presented to us by Jesus in our trifecta which we repeat again:
- “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).
To KNOW the Truth IS to be free from ALL constraints that ARE presented by the interpretations of His words by men and, we should understand here that this sense of KNOWING comes to the man who will “continue in my word” as the Master tells us above. To see this there must be a greater understanding of pistis and pisteuo that IS based in Jesus’ own words that should define His intent. In His words above we see that this KNOWING IS that a man “shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe“. Here we should ask if a man can believe without doubt without that sense of KNOWING. The Apostle Matthew also shows us the intent of Jesus’ words as he shows us that faith and believing ARE synonymous; we read: “If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done” (Matthew 21:21).
We should also see here the synonymous nature of the results of such KNOWING; Mark shows us that such a man who KNOWS “shall have whatsoever he saith” while Matthew tells us that he “shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done“. The Apostle Luke combines these ideas for us as he shows us that this KNOWING IS to have “faith as a grain of mustard seed” with which one will NOT ONLY “have whatsoever he saith” and be able to “say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done” but he can also “say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (Luke 17:6).
To have pistis and to doubt NOT IS to KNOW; to have pisteuo and to doubt NOT IS to KNOW; and to have “faith as a grain of mustard seed” IS also to KNOW. When we can apply this KNOWING, first to Jesus words from our trifecta, and then to ALL uses of pistis and pisteuo in the New Testament, we can come to understand the whole idea of moving the mountain, having “whatsoever he saith” and the reality of Jesus words that for the man who KNOWS “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do“. The first part of this IS founded in keeping His words while the second part IS to understand that the Power to DO in the hands of the man who Truly KNOWS IS the Power to Love and to “walk not as other Gentiles men walk” as we read again in our selection from Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians:
“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles men 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).
In ALL of this IS the Power of the spiritual man, the Power of the Christ Within everyman….the Power of the Soul. It IS when this Power to Love becomes the expression of the man in this world that he IS “the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness“. It IS this man who by measure comes to KNOW the Truth and in that KNOWING comes to understand the Master’s point regarding the Power of Love and the Power of a man’s expression of that Love. This IS the Power of “greater works“, and the Power to “have whatsoever he saith” with the understanding that this Power IS wielded in Love and with Love under the right understanding of agape.
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
