IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1481

ON LOVE; PART MCXX

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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 another view of the Apostle Peter’s intended influence upon ALL who seek to follow the Lord. As we often DO, we discussed how that the story of Peter IS one of the primary features of the gospels and the Book of Acts and how that his journey on the Path to Truth IS laid out for us to clearly see. We ARE shown Peter’s walk upon the Path and his growth by measure from the fisherman sinner to the fullness of discipleship and how that he overcomes ALL that the Master shows us as his faults along the Way.

We should remember here that those things that Jesus rebukes Peter for ARE NOT sin and evil as we see them through our doctrines but they ARE his failure to be in full accord with the Truth that the Master IS teaching….his failure to keep his thoughts and his attitudes off of the self. It IS most difficult to find anything sinful or evil in Peter’s Life according to men’s interpretations of hamartia and poneros but if we look to the Truth of Jesus’ words and of the Great Commandments we can likely see where the apostle fails.

Perhaps the greater lesson from Peter’s Life IS NOT however the end result of his achievements but the measure by which he grows and by which the Kingdom of God grows in his Life. Peter shows us that through his trials and tribulations with the Master that he IS still a disciple of the Lord according to Jesus own words on discipleship, words which the doctrines of men choose to ignore. And Peter shows us that one can be His disciple whilst still developing evermore focus upon the things of God. We should try to see here how that by increasing one’s measure of focus, one proportionately increases the measure of revelation and realization to Truths which we CAN NOT even imagine; Truths that ARE found ONLY in the Cosmic scope of the Life that IS God.

From this we should try to see that the journey NEVER ends; as the spiritual man the journey continues in ways that ARE ONLY seen through the eyes of the spiritual man who IS that “unction from the Holy One” and who DOES “know all things” (1 John 2:20). If we can see and understand that this KNOWING IS the reality of the Spirit that IS man and that the realization of this KNOWING comes ONLY by measure to one’s manifestation as the Soul in form, perhaps we can get a glimpse of this idea of the Cosmic journey as well as the relationship between the Spirit and the Soul that ARE the True man.

Most ALL men however DO NOT yet see how that they ARE expressions of this Life in form….that they ARE NOT this form but the Life that quickens it. This IS the first mystery that must be revealed to each man individually and this IS one that IS fully KNOWN by the Soul. If we can see this, we can then perhaps understand Jesus words to Nicodemus, a religious man in the model of religious men still today, saying: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:11-13).

We should understand here that the idea behind Jesus words to Nicodemus IS being “born again” and that this idea has been hijacked by doctrines and attached to the Apostle Paul’s words to the Romans regarding salvation; words that ARE taken out of context and then misapplied. In their doctrinal view millions upon millions believe that they KNOW better and more than Nicodemus and NOT this ONLY as these also believe that they ARE “born again“. However, when we equate this idea of being “born again” as the Way to “see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3) with His words from the trifecta, we can then see how that to be “born again” one must “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“.

The Greek word eido that IS rendered here as see should be seen in terms of perception; NOT only visual perception but also in the power of discernment; this word IS also frequently rendered as KNOWING. If we can understand Jesus’ words here as saying that one CAN NOT KNOW the Kingdom nor discern the Kingdom, then these words take on additional meaning. But we ARE NOT left to wonder here as the Master continues to show us the reality of being “born again” in the idea of being “born of water and of the Spirit” and then rephrases the idea of seeing, KNOWING or discerning the Kingdom with the clearer idea of entering as He says “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot* enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:5-6).

It IS unfortunate that most doctrinal authorities see this idea of being “born of water” as baptism. And one of the problems with understanding Jesus’ words here IS the doctrinal view of baptism as that rite and ritual rather than the reality of one’s immersion into the Way of the Christ, a Way which IS NOT accomplished unless one DOES strive to keep his words; this striving IS one’s immersion. We DO NOT KNOW with what words the apostle baptized men but, to be sure, they ARE NOT the words that ARE used in the churches. John’s was “the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4) but this IS NOT understood by doctrines as it IS intended because the very word rendered as Repentance, metanoeo, IS NOT seen as the vehicle of change that it IS.

So much of this idea of baptism IS so doctrinized that it IS nearly impossible for one to see the True intent. From the lexicon we can see that Repentance IS change, it IS: a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done ²; it IS NOT merely sorrow but the change that the such sorrow may produce. And it IS NOT merely a change from DOING this or that for which there was sorrow; this IS a spiritual event and has serious spiritual overtones of change. Vincent tells us that: Repentance, then, has been rightly defined as “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice.” Sorrow is not, as is popularly conceived, the primary nor the prominent notion of the word ⁴.

Taking this reality of Repentance into the idea of baptism as the immersion that it IS, we should be able to see how that these work together and how that the very idea of baptism IS rather worthless without Repentance; hence the the way that this IS framed for us as “the baptism of repentance“. And the logic continues into the idea of the purpose of this “baptism of repentance“, that this IS “for the remission of sins“. Here again doctrines have hijacked a word that has a meaning of a “release from bondage or imprisonment“, and have attributed it to the doctrinal idea of forgiveness.

This Greek word aphesis that IS rendered here as remission IS rendered as forgiveness in several places where the other defining ideas from the lexicon, deliverance and freedom from bondage ², would work as well but be against the doctrinal concepts of the atoning quality of Jesus’ death. Vincent takes us to this same idea in Luke’s Gospel where he speaks of the Baptist saying “And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Luke 3:3); there we read this regarding remission: The word occurs in Luke more frequently than in all the other New Testament writers combined. Used in medical language of the relaxation of disease. Both Luke and John use the kindred verb ἀφίημι , in the same sense. Luke 4:39; John 4:52 ⁴.

The King James translators render this word as forgiveness, deliverance, liberty and remission in Luke’s Gospel where the medical idea seems to denote freedom as this IS word IS defined by Strong’s ⁹. In Vincent’s references to Luke and John, the kindred word IS aphiēmi which IS rendered in terms of leaving in a medical context; Luke says that Jesus “rebuked the fever; and it left her” (Luke 4:39) and John tells us of the centurion’s servant that “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him” (John 4:52). Aside from these medical references this Greek word aphiēmi IS rendered in a wide variety of ideas according to the doctrinal interpretation of each verse.

Other bible translations restrict aphesis to forgiveness and this in accord with the doctrinal precept that God forgives sins. If however we apply the reality of remission as the relaxation of disease and the freedom that this releases from that disease we can better understand the Strong’s definitions of aphesis. To understand this in regard to the words of the Baptist however we must look within and NOT without. Doctrines and their interpretations ARE fixed on the Transcendent God of the Old Testament and NOT in the Immanent God of the New Testament; they prefer that God forgive men over the idea that men free themselves from the wiles of sin, the wiles of Life here in this Earth.

But the Baptist’s words ARE rather clear when taken out of the doctrinal context and this clarity IS seen by those who DO come to him for baptism; they were NOT confounded by the doctrines of men and were breaking away from the doctrines of the Jews. In the words shared by Luke and Mark there IS the singular idea of “the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” and Luke shows us that this idea IS used also in Paul’s teaching at Antioch where he says “When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel” (Acts 13:24).

Paul continues in his words to include “the remission of sins” which IS here rendered as forgiveness; we read “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 13:38) and here if we render as remission and the freedom from sin that this reflects we can make much sense of the context of ALL the words from the apostle. Can we see the doctrinal dilemma here that IS caused by the translation and the interpretation of the New Testament according to the doctrinal bent of those who translate and interpret?

In the Immanent Nature of God we have the Christ Within and if we can see that baptism immerses one into the Truth that IS ever the prompting of the Soul, we can then see the reality of Repentance as the changing of the expression of the man in this world to conform with that prompting. We can also then see how that this change, this Repentance, accomplishes the remission of sin; NOT in terms of forgiveness but in terms of making the man who IS “transformed by the renewing of your mind” free from his heretofore singular focus upon the things of the world….upon sin. And so this immersion, this True baptism, IS found in one’s striving toward the Truth which IS NO different than his striving to keep His words and finding the Truth, the freedom, and the realization of His Presence with the discernment, the KNOWING,  of His Kingdom….this IS the reality of being “born again“.

This IS the simplicity of the Baptist’s baptism: that if one will immerse himself into the Way of the Lord that he will perforce change and be free from the ways of the world and of the affliction of vanity which keeps men in “the bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:21). And the Apostle Peter sets this idea for us in his saying to the “men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem” that they should “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:14, 38). Can we see here that same “baptism of repentance for the remission of sins“? And can we see how that it IS in this immersion and change and in the freedom that this brings that “ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost“.

Here Peter uses a different word that IS rendered as gift. Charisma which IS used by Paul in our selection below IS from the same root as IS charis which IS most always rendered in that nebulous idea of grace and which we see as ALL things that ARE the spiritual revelations and realizations of men. Peter uses dorea which IS rendered always as gift and which Strong’s defines for us as: a gratuity ⁹. Vincent tells us of dorea that it IS: Only here in the Gospels, though Luke uses it in Acts four times, and the kindred adverb, δῶρημα , freely, is found once in Matthew. The word carries the sense of a bountiful, free, honorable gift ⁴. The context here IS Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman at the well to whom He says: “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water” (John 4:10).

If we can see Vincent’s idea here as his doctrinal view against Strong’s idea of dorea as a gratuity we can perhaps grasp the idea that Peter IS offering us and that Jesus IS showing to the woman. In the context of Peter’s words the idea of gratuity as: Something given in return for a favor; an acknowledgment ¹ as Webster’s 1828 dictionary shows us, we can see the idea of a quid pro quo and NOT the simplicity of a free gift. Peter IS telling us that in return for Repentance and baptism “for the remission of sins” that “ye shall receive the gift of in return the Holy Ghost“. Can we see this in the apostle’s words? Similarly in Jesus words to the woman where we can read that “If thou knewest the gift of  what God would give in return” then you would “have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water“.

We came here in this essay by way of the example that we should take from the Life of the Apostle Peter and the reality of being “born again” as the reality of the trifecta and NOT the result of affirming and confessing Christ according to the precepts of various doctrines. Peter IS “born again” but Nicodemus, as the model or the religious man, IS NOT at this time and this simply because his sense of religion IS founded in his doctrine and NOT in the Truth which comes according to the Master’s words in our trifecta which we repeat here 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).

It IS through the reality of Repentance and baptism, the reality of the change of the focus of one’s Life and his immersion into the spiritual Truths, that make one “born again“. And it it IS in DOING these things that one IS freed from sin and can then “receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” which IS the unction working out the expression of the Christ Within through Life in this world. In ALL of this one will be DOING as Paul exhorts us saying “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service“. Repeating Paul’s words again we read:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:1-3).

“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:4-21).

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