ON LOVE; PART MXCVIII
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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 the last essay with some additional thoughts on the Apostle Paul’s idea of “another gospel“. While we see most ALL doctrinal presentations of the Truth as the reality of Paul’s meaning here, those doctrinal presentations, each and every different one, portend that their view IS the True gospel and all others are variations of it or ARE Paul’s “another gospel“. We should remember that when Paul wrote these words there was ONLY one True Gospel and that was the words of the Master and it IS this that we DO see as the True Gospel and thereby ALL others, ALL doctrinal presentations that vary from Jesus’ words, as “another gospel“.
Here again we should see the reality of the teaching of the Master as the True guide for ALL men and we should interpret the words of His apostles in terms of their clarifying and amplifying value of His words, and NOT as the foundation for “another gospel” as has been the case over the last 2000 years. It IS this point that we should see in the words of Reverend Doctor William Barber which we have previously posted; words which show us “another gospel” from the perspective of one whose own gospel IS such; he says: ‘that is why I’m so concerned, about those that say so much—about what God says so little, while saying so little—about what God says so much. And so in my heart, I’m troubled. And I’m worried about the way faith is cynically used by some to serve hate, fear, racism and greed‘.
This IS the reality today: that so many ARE “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9) and the ONLY difference among the thousands of denominations and sects IS the degree by which they dilute and change Jesus’ words and misinterpret and misapply the words of His apostles. While our perspective IS NOT perfect according to the Master’s intent, it IS centered in the Master’s words and is sans the ceremony and the ritual that IS found in most ALL approaches. And while we too ARE presenting our view as the greater Truth and holding to it in our own sense of glamour, we stand in admission that we DO NOT yet see ALL things clearly. What we DO see IS that it IS the Master’s words, and the words of God that ARE found in the law, that ARE the guidelines for men and that it IS ONLY in so DOING that we become the disciple and the saint according to the True meaning of these ideas.
Among the many ideas of His apostles that have been misinterpreted and misapplied ARE these ideas regarding the dichotomy between the Soul, “a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” which IS the seat of our True consciousness, our heart if you will, and the body, with its attendant personality, which IS “our earthly house of this tabernacle“. While these ARE difficult ideas to understand, they ARE nonetheless True and if we could see that while in this tabernacle the heart IS captured by the vanity, by the illusion and the glamour, which IS the cause of that sleep from which we must awaken, we can then perhaps see deeper into the apostle’s words which we repeat here again:
“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him” (2 Corinthians 5:1-9).
Paul’s problem, if we can call it that, IS NOT unlike our own; he IS trying to explain spiritual ideas in carnal terms and in a way that will be understood by the man in that day, an emotionally driven man to say the least. His words however ARE constructed such that this man can understand his meaning because he IS among those who ARE among the saints, those who DO have some measure of the Truth and the True Presence of God that comes according to our trifecta. At the same time we should try to piece together the apostle’s words which, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, speak of the contentions among those who have begun to faction themselves between teachers. And we should see as well Paul’s words in this Second Epistle to the Corinthians that bemoan the ‘flourishing’ of “another gospel” and the ease with which such teachings ARE accepted.
We should try to see that perhaps the exegesis of the teachings of the Master and of Paul were more straightforward in the teachings of the one that “preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or….another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel” than they ARE in the ofttimes parabolic tone of Jesus and His apostles. Perhaps the more carnal ideas and understanding gleaned from the Master’s words and clarified and amplified by His apostles were easier to understand and to DO than the seemingly strict ideas of the True gospel; and in this ease comes the ease with which they ARE accepted. So his words above on the dichotomy between the carnal and the spiritual ARE NOT seen and ARE taken by the doctrinal thinkers and authorities to refer to the death of the body rather that the reality of Repentance; the reality that it IS in one’s change of focus that he can “be absent from the body, and” thereby “present with the Lord“.
Can we see from this that the whole idea of “another gospel” IS ALL teachings that ARE contrary to the Truth that Jesus brings us; that “another gospel” IS ALL teachings that dilute and change the Master’s intent; that “another gospel” IS inclusive of ALL carnal interpretations of spiritual Truth and that “another gospel” IS the reality of ALL those who ARE “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” whether they will admit to this or NOT. In a word, “another gospel” IS ALL teaching whose central point IS NOT founded in the Great Commandments and ALL teaching where the idea that men should “keep His words” IS NOT shown to be the True Way to salvation as we read in our trifecta 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).
Our premise here regarding “another gospel” IS based in the idea that the Apostle Paul, as well as the other apostles, IS teaching the words of the Master and NOT something that he himself devised as seems to be the understanding of so much of the church. And again we should look back to Paul’s own words to these same Corinthians as he says to them and to us that: “it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:11-13). In this we should see a rather clear picture of what Paul IS teaching….he IS teaching Christ and in so DOING he IS teaching the words and the precepts of Christ. And the foremost of these IS Love which IS the central point of our selection from Romans; we read again:
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:10-14).
The essential point here IS that the apostle IS telling us to wake up, “to awake out of sleep” and if we can see this in the context that he gives us, the context of agape, then we can see how that Paul IS carrying forward the teachings of the Master. And, if we can see Love as the broader context of this whole selection, we can see that “the works of darkness” ARE living without the expression of agape and to express this Love IS to “put on the armour of light“. And what IS the meaning of Paul’s words that say that “for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed“; most translations set this as a comparison saying that salvation IS nearer now than when they first believed and in this perhaps we can see the progressive idea of believing and how that one comes to KNOW by measure through the expression of Love.
We can see Paul’s point here saying that in the progressive nature of KNOWING, of pisteuo, that they ARE closer to that freedom that such KNOWING brings, that freedom of which we read in Jesus’ own words above. This IS the Truer relationship of ideas and this IS the reality of salvation when it IS divorced from the doctrinal ideas, especially those of some future state….some state after death. In this sense of salvation we should also see Paul’s idea of being made free of “the bondage of corruption” and understand the nature of salvation as the same as being delivered “into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). We should remember here that the Greek word eleutheroo IS rendered as both to “make you free” and delivered and that the idea IS one and the same from the trifecta to Paul’s words here.
Jesus tells us much about agape and how it should work in the world of men and this IS surely a difficult task in this world. But it IS in this difficulty that men ARE Truly saved from a Life where the spiritual rewards ARE lost to the desires of everyman to protect the Earthly Life, it IS in seeing this difficulty and its causes that the Truth appears and IS realized by the man whose focus IS taken off of the carnal ways of men. We should try to see that it IS one’s being lost in the clamor of daily living that IS the sleep and that it in this sleep that one DOES NOT see the True relationships of men as Souls, relationships that ARE lost in the True ideas from Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh“.
As we discussed through many recent posts this list of “the works of the flesh“, while interpreted in carnal terms by doctrines, IS a list of spiritual pitfalls which go unseen by the man who IS yet asleep and it IS these “the works of the flesh” that ARE “the works of darkness” that the apostle cites above. It IS the True meaning of the words translated as “hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders” (Galatians 5:20-21) that cut off Love, that cut off the sense of agape that Truly exists but IS hidden in the carnal existance of men. And the doctrinal church has greatly contributed to the carnal views of men through the factions and the divisions of men that they have perpetuated against the apostle’s warnings and it IS in their total disregard for the Truth of the Greek words that so much IS lost.
Men DO NOT see that so much of the hatred, the wrath, the envying and the murders ARE the direct result of the zelos which IS men’s zeal to protect and promote their own view….their glamour if you will. They DO NOT see that these ARE the result of the eritheia which ARE the factions created by the minds of men which Paul speaks against in his words above. They DO NOT see that their dichostasia IS NOT seditions but rather the causal idea of seeing sedition in the divisions of men into such factions. And they DO NOT see the reality of hairesis, that this IS NOT the common understanding offered in the translation to heresy but it IS again the division of men into sects with each promoting and believing that another’s view IS error.
ALL of these words paint for us a picture of the divisions of men into this and that group and, from the apostle’s view in his words above, the division of Christ. It IS these divisions that work against the Truth of Love in ALL worldly respects as it IS always sect against sect, faction against faction. Paul’s caution here and in his words above IS given to men who ARE striving toward the Truth, men who had a glimpse of the the Truth and who ARE, as history notes, swayed by the force of “another gospel” and then into the establishment of the factions and sects that divide the church yet today.
And Paul’s words in our selection from Romans ARE much the same: they ARE translated and interpreted according to the ways of the world while they ARE intended to be seen as that same spiritual caution to those who have seen a glimpse of the Truth. The Common English Bible translates Paul’s words thus: “Let’s behave appropriately as people who live in the day, not in partying and getting drunk, not in sleeping around and obscene behavior, not in fighting and obsession” (Romans 13:13). These translators see ONLY the carnal ideas that ARE commonly attributed to these Greek words; they see NO spiritual ideas whatsoever and the DO NOT see the nature of the man to whom Paul writes.
They and many other translators DO NOT see that Paul’s words ARE offered to men who ARE “beloved of God, called to be saints” and this idea IS NOT to be seen in the normal and diluted doctrinal way. Of these to whom he writes he says “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world” (Romans 1:7-8) This statement should show us that Paul’s words ARE not in regard to worldly behavior as these men of Rome and past this in their journey. Paul’s instruction here, much like his list of “the works of the flesh“, ARE his cautions that they NOT get caught up in their own spiritual fervor and be DOING those things which ARE “the works of darkness“.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
| 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
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
