IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1499

ON LOVE; PART MCXXXVIII

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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 discussed Easter and how that this day for celebration of the resurrection of the Master fails to see the greater importance of Jesus’ words and His example in favor of the doctrinal ideas that surround His death and His resurrection. If we can view the whole scene, the way that the whole story of Jesus’ Life plays out in the gospels, we could see that the actual events of His death ARE but a symbol that reveals to us the greater reality of Life….that a man’s time here in this world IS limited by many things and that it IS NOT the end.

His death and the way that He dies also reveals to us the reality of men, the way that they ARE so entombed in their own illusion and glamour that they DO NOT see the very Truth that the Master teaches against their own nurturing, indoctrination and experience. Jesus faces His end with determined understanding that it IS NOT the awakened man that IS beating Him in such a barbaric way, that it IS the man who IS yet asleep who IS nailing Him to the cross. These DO NOT see the Truth of His teaching, the Love and the Peace, and it IS NOT ONLY those who actually DO these things but the whole of the society that allows it.

For the Romans it IS their culture which IS a culture of violence and authoritarian rule and while they may be governed by law, the very nature of their laws allowed for the Master’s crucifixion. For the Jews the problem IS so much more as those who had doctrinal authority exercised it in opposition to their own rule of law which IS the law of Moses….a law of Love and right human relations albeit right ONLY according to the times. It was NOT the Jews as a people that put Christ to death but rather those who had taken authority for the spiritual lives of the people, it was the scribes, the Pharisees, the lawyers, the Sadducees and the priests whose doctrinal view was threatened that acted against the Master.

While much of the people ARE complicit in the drama that ends Jesus’ Life, here again there IS Jesus’ understanding of the very nature of men and how that the illusion and the glamour of Life ARE at play. Jesus understands that these Jews ARE so tied to their doctrinal way that they DO NOT see even the Truth of their own laws against the interpretations of those who have adulterated that Truth. As He showed them the error of their ways and their doctrines, they became all the more enraged at His audacity while turning a blind eye to the Truths that He presented to them. Their doctrines had become their gospel and their interpretations of the Truth had become their Truth.

And NOT much has changed, the Jewish doctrine IS still their gospel as IS evidenced by their refusal to embrace the Master as Messiah and while they doctrinally think that they have proper reason, their reasons ARE strictly carnal. ALL men suffer through the same sense of vanity, of illusion and glamour, and ALL must come the heed the call of his own soul, his own God and Christ Within, and in this it matters NOT what one calls God nor how one may see Him. Jesus understands ALL of this, He understands that the very nature of men IS what must be overcome by the Truth; a Truth that IS the Life of the Soul, of the spiritual man, who IS ever trying to get the focus of the man in this world off of the things of this world and onto the things of God.

Jesus paints this picture for us of how men will believe that they ARE focused upon the things of God through their doctrinal approach to Life in this world and we should see this as a picture of how the carnal mind, the mind focused upon the things of the world, IS confusing its own imaginations and sense of desire with the Truth that comes from within. Jesus shows us this in saying to His disciples that “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (John 16:2).

And the Christian mind IS NO different as they have the same affliction of vanity, of illusion and glamour; they too confuse their own imaginations with with words that they believe come from the Lord. And many ARE vocal about this idea that they hear from God; entire sermons ARE dedicated to one’s need to hear from the Lord and to follow the Path that He outlines as the Plan for one’s Life. What IS it that one hearing? Most often he IS hearing his own imaginations and, to be sure, the flow of personal ideas that ARE yet carnal comes from the same immediate source as True spiritual revelations. However it IS NOT so difficult to discern the difference for the man who has sensed some glimpse of Truth.

We again go to the words of the Apostle James who shows us the difference between wisdom that “descendeth not from above” and “the wisdom that is from above” (James 3:15, 17). While the words that describe that wisdom that “descendeth not from above” ARE poorly rendered, they still serve the purpose albeit NOT in the intended way. Whatsoever thoughts of wisdom, of direction or of cause that come to a man that embody any sense of envy or strife ARE NOT from God. But more, if we can see zelos as emulation instead of envy we can perhaps catch the greater meaning of James idea.

Emulation IS a word that carries much meaning; in this we can see how that a man can DO as he sees others DO and how that a man can ‘want’ to be as another. We can also see here how that a man would want to outdo another for greater glory and here we have the idea that we have presented before: that emulation can easily be full of the spirit of self-devotion ⁴. When we add to this the idea of pikros which IS rendered as bitter, we can see the severity of such emulation as the driver of one’s thoughts and attitudes.

Any thought and attitude then that IS seen in terms of God’s direction for a man to follow but which follows in the ways of men can be covered here in this idea of zelos and this would include ALL that has the self in the equation. Whether the idea IS to start a ministry, build a church or a bigger church, be a missionary or whatever else IS viewed as a spiritual direction, the idea “descendeth not from above” if the self in the world IS a part of it. And the stronger that such an idea IS, the more important the quest in the mind of a man, and the more bitter or harsh the zeal with which a man will pursue it. We should note here that the very idea of the English word zeal IS from zelos and this alone should disqualify envy as the True meaning.

Any thought then that a man may have that features any sort of emulation, especially harsh or strong emulation or a harsh or strong zeal to pursue it, “descendeth not from above“. And, when we see the idea of emulation as this IS defined by Webster’s 1828 dictionary, perhaps we can see the more complete idea; we read: EMULATION, n. The act of attempting to equal or excel in qualities or actions; rivalry; desire of superiority, attended with effort to attain to it; generally in a good sense, or an attempt to equal or excel others in that which is praise-worthy, without the desire of depressing others. Rom.11. In a bad sense, a striving to equal or do more than others to obtain carnal favors or honors ¹.

The other component that James shows us in regard to that wisdom, those thoughts and attitudes that come to the mind of a man as wisdom, which “descendeth not from above” IS eritheia. Again we have a word that IS NOT rightly rendered and of which Vincent tells us that strife IS: A wrong rendering, founded on the mistaken derivation from ἔρις , strife . As we look at the rendering here of “bitter envy and strife” we can try to see how that the translators seem to be seeking ideas that were negative according to their preconception of the apostle’s meaning. The word eritheia here should be rendered in terms of faction and this we discussed at length when we came upon this word in the Apostle Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19).

Several translation DO render this as faction while others call eritheia “selfish ambition” making the whole idea to be “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition“; in this idea the whole of the apostle’s intent in lost as the way to discern that one’s own thoughts ARE or ARE NOT from God. And this IS James’ intent: to show us how to discern the source of whatsoever we have in mind to DO and, as we say above, this discernment IS difficult as ALL these thoughts and attitudes come to a man’s attention from the same mind.

The idea of faction however can be seen as a property of a thought that IS NOT in accord with the Unity that IS the expression of God. Faction IS division and whatsoever thoughts that one may have that ARE divisive ARE NOT that “wisdom that is from above“. Here we should see and understand that ALL “wisdom that is from above” MUST be in accord with His words and especially His words that ARE the Great Commandments….there IS NO leeway here. In these two Greek Words, zelos and eritheia, we have the full extent of James’ view of what DOES NOT constitute True Godly Wisdom and if we can look at these words in terms of emulation and faction we can see how that the self and the things and ways of the self play their part in each.

What then IS from God, from one’s own God Within? It IS ALL thoughts and attitudes that ARE NOT divisive and which DO NOT have the interests of the self within them. This everyman must discern for himself but without any of the self-deception which abounds in the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, in which we ALL live. James DOES NOT leave us wanting for direction however as he DOES give us another list of those things that ARE the components of ALL thoughts and attitudes that can be deemed by men as being from God.

Here again we have much confusion in the rendering of the Greek words but even in the common understanding there IS ability enough to properly understand James’ intent. Again, one must be honest in his assessment of such thoughts that ARE deemed to be from God; ARE they Truly “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). James calls the idea of pure as first which Vincent explains as: not first numerically, but first essentially. The other qualities are secondary as outgrowths of this primary quality ⁴.

We should note here that there IS an extra Greek word that IS NOT translated in most bible versions, the Greek word men which the lexicon tells us IS: truly, certainly, surely, indeed ². Young’s Literal Translation renders this as “the wisdom from above, first, indeed, is pure” as DOES the Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible except there they substitute the idea of chaste for pure. And while chaste IS the more common conception of the idea of pure which reflects some carnal idea involving sex, this IS NOT the reality of the word. Hagnos, and especially proton men hagnos as a phrase, has much more meaning as the primary nature of one’s thoughts that ARE presumed to come from the Lord.

In this context ALL ideas that this phrase has a sexual connotation ARE founded ONLY in the doctrinal approach and it IS when we can see proton men hagnos or “first, indeed, pure“, in terms of: pure from every fault, immaculate ² as the lexicon also shows us, that we can then see the nature of whatsoever DOES Truly come from God. To be pure then IS, in the larger sense, to be in accord with the tenets of God and of Christ and DOES NOT mean that one’s thought are simply NOT about sex; and we should see that this IS a seriously high bar for any thought to achieve.

The rest of James’ words follow upon this idea of “first, indeed, pure” as a measure of one’s own thoughts….that they ARE from above, from the Truth that IS one’s own Soul. We have discussed these several times over the course of our posts and here we will ONLY summarize our defining ideas. Peaceable which IS rendered from eirenikos should be seen as a thought that both brings peace with it and which expresses peace which IS the same idea that IS applied to pure. Gentle, which IS rendered from epieikes, IS a weak rendering as IS the rendering of this as kind, considerate, mild, and especially modest which idea has no place in this Greek word.

The better idea for epieikes IS moderation as this IS rendered elsewhere and, if we take our understanding from Thayer’s lexicon we can perhaps see the apostle’s intent; Thayer’s says of epieikes that the idea IS: seemly, suitable, equitable in addition to fair, mild, gentle ⁹ and in this we should see more the ideas of suitable and equitable as these relate to thoughts that ARE presumed to be from God. Can we see here that such thoughts and ideas must moderate the thoughts and ideas from His words and be suitable and equitable representations of His Truth?

The next word from James IS eupeithes which IS rendered as the phrase “easy to be intreated” and this idea can be viewed in more that one way. Many render this simply as obedient and here we should see that the idea IS that the thought that one deems from God IS obedient to His words and thereby pure, peaceable, and equitable as one’s expression. Others render as compliant which idea should be seen the same way and still others render this as the King James Bible or as “open to reason“; neither of these ideas gives us a proper vision of the nature of a thought which one may believe IS from God.

James continues with mestos eleos kai agathos karpos which IS rendered as the phrase “full of mercy and good fruits“. Here the idea of mestos as full should be seen as: full, in reference to persons, whose minds are as it were filled with thoughts and emotions, either good or bad ² as the lexicon shows us and in this we can see the nature of one’s mercy….that it IS of the mind. This sense of mercy should NOT be seen as the common idea of kindness or even compassion alone but should be understood as the expression of Love in this world. Here we should see that the thoughts, the Wisdom, that IS presumed to be from God must be an expression of Love, of agape.

Similarly with the idea of “good fruits“. Such thoughts that ARE “the wisdom from above” ARE filled with Love and with “good fruits” IS a combination statement and these ideas should be viewed together. From a Christian perspective we should understand that fruit IS the spiritual expression of a man to the world; it IS in this tone that Jesus tells us that “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” and “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:5, 8).

And this IS the idea of fruit that we find in the Parable of the Sower as well; Jesus tells us “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). Both mercy and fruit ARE the expression of the man to the world and it IS toward this expression that we should understand ALL that Truly IS “the wisdom from above“. Finally, “the wisdom from above” must lead to the expression of mercy and fruit in adiakritos and anypokritos or “without partiality and without hypocrisy“. In this first word, “without partiality, we should see such expression according to James’ earlier words saying “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin” (James 2:9) and we should understand here that if it IS sin of any shade it IS NOT “the wisdom from above“.

The idea of “without hypocrisy“, from the Greek word anypokritos, IS ONLY rendered as this here. In other uses it IS rendered as unfeigned and without dissimulation. Thayer’s calls this unfeigned and undisguised ⁹ and perhaps in this we can take away the idea that the expression of mercy and fruit that come with “the wisdom from above” IS genuine and sincere. ALL of these ideas from James ARE the qualities of “the wisdom from above” and when one can attest that “in an honest and good heart” his thoughts have these qualities then these ARE from God.

And it matters NOT what presumed Godly purpose one may have in his presumed direction from the Lord, what matters IS such direction DOES include these qualities which ARE ALL qualities of Love, of agape. Unfortunately most doctrinal thinking men DO NOT see this as they bandy about their claims that the Lord told them this or told them that or that they had a “word of wisdom” or a “word of knowledge” (1 Corinthians 12:8). ALL of these things from the Lord, to be from the Lord, must perforce be according to James’ list here and, to be sure, these DO come into one’s Life by measure according to one’s measure of keeping His words according to 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).

We started here with Easter and ended with our thoughts on the Truth of what comes from God versus ALL that IS the product of the carnal mind in this world and in this we did NOT get back to our selection nor to the ideas on Love that we left off with in the last post. We will get back to our selection after a few more essays on the ideas behind Love and the expression of that Love which IS the reality of ALL that comes from God.

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