IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1495

ON LOVE; PART MCXXXIV

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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 thoughts about the self-incriminating ideas of the Apostle Paul regarding “sin and death“. We should remember here and understand that the “sin and death” of which the apostle speaks IS NOT the same idea of “sin and death” that doctrines commonly see in the translated words. Sin IS the misaligned focus of everyman, which IS his attention to the things of the flesh as Paul frames this, and IS the things of the world in the larger sense. Sin IS ALL thoughts, attitudes and actions that ARE NOT in accord with the Great Commandments and with the ancillary words of the Master.

This IS the sin that Paul shows us as his own affliction and in his words we should see that sense of duality of focus that keeps men from the fullness of the Truth and while we DO NOT see this affliction clearly in the apostle’s actions, by his own words we should see that it IS in his own view of his own thoughts and attitudes. Here we should remember that it IS ONLY the man himself who Truly KNOWS his own heart and we should KNOW here as well that the apostle DOES achieve his own fullness as he lives according to the words of the Apostle James….words that he had likely never read. James tells us:

“let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 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. 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 1:4-8).

Paul’s words affirming his own difficulty come just before our selection in his Epistle to the Romans and we should try to see the continuation of his thoughts as he goes from speaking about his own ‘wretchedness‘ to showing us the reality of his idea, an idea that IS largely misunderstood yet today. This idea of wretched IS from the Greek word talaiporos which the lexicon shows us as: enduring toils and troubles; afflicted, wretched ² and which Vincent tells us IS: Originally, wretched through the exhaustion of hard labor ⁴.

Here, in this word idea, we see both the affliction and the effect of it as Paul struggles to overcome ALL thoughts of self which hinder the free flow of agape in his expression; here we can perhaps also sense that the apostle IS measuring his own thoughts and attitudes against the reality of being “perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Connecting the apostle’s words from chapter to chapter we have a picture of Paul’s affliction, the cure for this affliction in keeping His words, and the Way for everyman to overcome; we read:

“I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:18-25).

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:1-10).

Paul’s points here ARE missed by much of the doctrinal church as IS the duality that he presents, the duality of which James shows us saying “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways“. Whensoever one IS focused upon the self and the self in this world, that man IS dwelling in the flesh where “dwelleth no good thing” and here we should understand the idea of good as Jesus presents this saying “there is none good but one, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17). This same idea should be extended also to the things of God which ARE NOT the things of this world regardless of how ‘religious’ they may seem. It IS when one’s focus shifts to the things of God that one Truly can walk “after the Spirit” and thereby be “in Christ Jesus“.

We should try to see here that there IS NO fault with the law; the fault lies in the lives of men who yet walk “after the flesh“. It is the worldly focus of men that IS the reality of walking “after the flesh” and this IS the greater meaning of Paul’s words saying of the law that “that it was weak through the flesh“. This idea IS rendered in a variety of ways that can shed some light upon Paul’s intent; The Complete Jewish Bible renders this saying that the law was weak “because it lacked the power to make the old nature cooperate” while the Common English Bible tells us that the law fails “since it was weak because of selfishness“. Both of these ideas fix the blame upon the man and NOT upon the law.

Paul also tells us that “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” and in this we must look past the doctrinal ideas and see how that by His words and His example Jesus shows us how to overcome. The idea of condemned here IS quite similar to that which begins the eighth chapter, although from a different perspective; in the one we have “no condemnation” because we “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” while in the other we should see that the works of the flesh ARE condemned and seen as futile from the same spiritual perspective. The lexicon adds to the idea of condemned saying: by one’s good example to render another’s wickedness the more evident and censurable ² and this IS easily seen through the Master’s expression of Truth and Love.

When we can understand that there ARE two poles in this Life on Earth we can then understand the ideas that Paul IS presenting and see the reality of focus which the Master shows us saying that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). It IS ever what one attends to in Life that defines him and we should see how that Paul also struggles with this as his own agenda IS, in his own opinion, floundering and, as James frames this, wavering. Perhaps it IS in this struggle which Paul endures that we should see the reality of his “thorn in the flesh“.

Doctrinal authorities have always seen this thorn in terms of some physical affliction; some see this as persecutions and unfortunate accidents; others as impiety, as temptation to unbelief, and acute ophthalmia*. Few, if any, see this thorn as the incursions into one’s psyche of the thoughts and the attitudes of a man in this world complete with “affections and lusts“; in short, Paul DID NOT see himself as we see him but rather as among those who ARE yet “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23).

And Paul teaches us the same as he warns and cautions men in their own thoughts and attitudes with such ideas as his saying: “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 12:3). Can we see this sense of struggle then in Paul’s words regarding this thorn which we read as “lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure” (2 Corinthians 12:7). Can we see here the beneficial working of one’s own self doubt and, at the same time, one’s own strong hold which must be pulled down?

If we can understand this “thorn in the flesh” as that it IS NOT related to the physical body itself but to the Life that IS the flesh in this world, we can better understand the whole of the apostle’s intent which he clarifies for us saying “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). We should see here that the same Greek word, astheneia, IS rendered as both weakness and infirmity and, if we can see both uses in terms of weakness , we can separate our thoughts from any idea of a physical impairment.

Without the doctrinal thoughts and superstitions we can better see that the whole idea of “a thorn in the flesh” IS “the messenger of Satan to buffet me” and if we can see satanas, the adversary according to the lexicons ^{2, 9}, as the creeping of carnal ideas into a spiritual mind, we can better understand both the struggle that Paul paints for us and the struggle of everyman whose focus has come to be upon God. We can then see as well the reality of the idea that “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” and the deep significance of the apostle’s saying that ALL should “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” (Romans 12:2).

This IS the apostle’s enduring message, a message that he offers us from many different perspectives. Although his words ARE crafted toward his intended audience, his message IS ever the same. To the Corinthians, the Colossians, the Galatians, and the Ephesians; to the Philippians, the Thessalonians, and most importantly to the Romans, Paul has spoken ONLY about the Truth of the Way to God. And while his words are seen as different, as creating if you will Christian doctrine, the apostle IS ONLY amplifying and clarifying the Master’s own words in ways that should appeal to the different groups to whom he writes. His singular message IS Love, Truth and keeping the words of the Master….words with must overcome the carnal tendencies of men; not because they ARE law but because they ARE right.

That Paul frames his words according to the mindset of his audience IS easily seen in the flow of his epistles and if we look to his own words we can see how that this comes to be. Paul tells us that “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:19-22).

We should note here that Paul IS NOT speaking and writing to those who will NOT listen, to those whose carnal lives ARE their sole focus, but rather to those who have received a glimpse of the Light of Truth that IS the Gospel of Christ. That this has been changed from the beginning IS unfortunate as so many yet today see themselves as ‘saved’ through their doctrines and this without any clear idea of what being ‘saved’ Truly means. Few see the relevance of Jesus’ own words against the comparatively voluminous ideas of the Apostle Paul and few understand the significance of the trifecta which we repeat here again 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“ (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).

If we can understand that Paul sees a great measure of the Truth and that he IS convinced of the reality of Life while at the same time being buffeted by the carnal ideas, thoughts and attitudes that ARE “the bondage of corruption“, we can then see our own plight and our own hope which lies in the fullness of our own realization of “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). It IS this liberty that IS the freedom that the Lord promises to those who will “continue in my word“; it IS this liberty that frees us from the bondage that holds us fast and prevents our own completion of the race….our own escape from “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).

It IS our own strong desire to be a part of the wrong race that holds us back from our own spiritual reality and this perhaps coupled with some degree of fear and the same duality that seemingly plagued Paul as his “thorn in the flesh“. We should take some bit of comfort however in this idea of duality as although a “double minded man is unstable in all his ways” as James tells us, this sense of duality ONLY afflicts those who can see some measure of the Truth. This sense of duality ONLY afflicts the man who strives toward the Kingdom of God; the man who has Repented and IS DOING the work of being “transformed by the renewing of your mind“.

When we can see that the reality of “sin and death” ARE NOT as doctrines teach and believe, we can then see the deeper reality of Paul’s rather succinct spiritual instructions and understand that ALL of men’s focus upon the carnal, upon the self and the things of the self in this world, ARE sin. We can then see as well Paul’s amplification of Jesus’ words saying “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (Luke 17:33) and understand the duality of ideas regarding death.

Paul tells us that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) and in this we should see ONLY the idea of spiritual death and understand that without True Repentance men DO remain in this state of death. In Jesus’ words above we find the reality of focus as He tells us that “Whosoever shall seek to save his life“; that this man whose focus IS on his carnal existance, will lose his True spiritual Life and, in Paul’s words, we see that to lose this spiritual Life which IS our realization of Truth, IS to be dead.

It IS in this tone that we should understand the idea that Paul presents in our selection from Romans saying “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death“. And we should in NO wise see this “law of sin and death” in regard to the law of Moses; this law IS the reality of our own “bondage of corruption“. This “law of sin and death” IS the function of the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, in which most ALL men live. We close today with some words from James on this same subject of “sin and death” which relates for us to both the words of Peter and of Paul; we read: “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15).

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

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts