ON LOVE; PART MCXLV
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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 of the Master’s words to the Jew’s ‘religious’ rulers and leaders and we should understand here that these men held high positions in the Jew’s culture of the time. Their interpretations of the laws of Moses and the teachings of the prophets became the doctrines by which the Jew’s lived and these doctrines had a noticeably carnal bent. Jesus calls this out in His words on the outward traditions of the Jews which the Apostle Mark frames for us as His saying: “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:6-9).
The Jew’s traditions and their doctrines ARE the same thing; it IS the carnal ideas that they teach as their religious Truths although they ARE but “the commandments of men” as Jesus shows us. Jesus’ point here IS clear and it IS simple; the heart that should be in accord with the Great Commandments “is far from me“. This message that the Prophet Isaiah gives as the word of God some 700 years earlier IS yet applicable to those in Jesus’ time and has been applicable throughout the last 2000 years in both Judaism and Christianity. And just as the ancient Jews deny their culpability and just as the Jews in Jesus’ day deny theirs, so the doctrinal Jews and Christians still deny today.
This denial IS the result of that vanity, that illusion and glamour, in which men have ever lived and here again we should look to Vincent’s defining of the Greek word mataiotes which he tells us IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. The false ends ARE of course men’s pursuit of their carnal lives here in this world and it IS in this illusion that they frame the Truly spiritual ideas of scripture in mostly carnal terms and conveniently arrange their doctrines to suit this end. Men ARE deluded by their own sense of doctrines which DO NOT have as a central point the idea of keeping His words.
This delusion IS shown us by the Apostle James who tells us to “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22) but the Truth of this deception IS made a part of the doctrines of men which show that to conform to such doctrine IS tantamount to being “doers of the word“. This circular doctrinal reality IS the essence of the vanity and the illusion continues into the glamour which became the hardened heart of the the ancient Jews, those in Jesus’ time and those yet today who, along with the Christians, maintain the rightness of their varied doctrinal approaches to the Lord.
While the Jew’s doctrines seemingly concern the carnal behavior of men, the Christian doctrines journey into those most nebulous areas of faith and believing and of grace and then attach these to the carnal pursuits and behaviors of men. This Christian doctrinal approach to God IS NOT based in the words of the Master any more than the Jew’s IS based in the underlying ideas of Love that ARE both straightforwardly written and which ARE easily seen in commandments on the interrelationships of men. Of the 613 mitzvot or commandments included in Torah, only three cite the idea of Love; these ARE, with their biblical references: To love God —Deut. 6:5; To love other Jews — Lev. 19:18; and To love converts — Deut. 10:19 *.
Can we see how that the doctrinal approach differs from the ideas that ARE presented in the Christian version of the Bible where we read “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5); “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD“. This idea IS extended in the same book and chapter as “And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 19:18, 33-34); and “Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19).
Can we see the problems here? Can we understand how that these problems ARE founded in illusion and glamour and how that they ARE extended into the Christian era where much of doctrine teaches that the Love that one IS to express IS primarily for fellow Christians. This IS NOT unlike the Jewish ideas that we read above and both ARE patently false and blatantly contrary to the intent of the Lord. Nor ARE such doctrinal restrictions the intent of that same apostle upon whose words most ALL Christian denominations and sects have used to construct their doctrines….the Apostle Paul who tells us:
“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” (Romans 13:8-11).
While this view of agape should be at the heart of any doctrine that IS based in the words of the Apostle Paul, an idea that he repeats for us in his Epistle to the Galatians saying that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14), those purveyors of doctrine chose to base their sense of Truth in Paul’s other word and, for many, especially his words saying “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
And NOT ONLY this, they have chosen to misinterpret Paul’s meaning and intent and have taken his idea out of context to make it a central component of their doctrinal approach to the Lord. This we discussed over the last few posts and our point here IS that the reasons for ALL of the missed intent in the doctrines of men ARE based in the vanity, the illusion and the glamour; it IS through this that the most clear ideas of scripture are overlooked while those that require carnal interpretation to make them clear ARE clinged to despite their nebulous nature. While the Truth of the words of the Master and His apostles on Love, on agape, ARE overlooked in the teachings of both Jewish and Christian doctrines, they ARE NOT overlooked by the expositors; we read this from John Gill:
But what the apostle seems chiefly to respect, is love to one another as men, love to one another, to the neighbour, as the following verses show. Love is a debt we owe to every man, as a man, being all made of one blood, and in the image of God; so that not only such as are of the same family, live in the same neighbourhood, and belong to the same nation, but even all the individuals of mankind, yea, our very enemies are to share in our love; and as we have an opportunity and ability, are to show it by doing them good 8.
Mr Gill gives us these thoughts in commentary to the words from Paul above and while this IS good, it IS NOT the general tone of his writings which more often show us that to DO this and to DO the other Great Commandment IS NOT possible for men….and it IS this theme that overwhelms too much of Christianity. Much of the problem however can be found in the almost total misunderstanding of agape which IS understood in the common idea of Love. We should try to understand, as Paul shows us, that ALL things ARE founded in Love and that it IS in agape that we ARE Truly keeping His words.
It IS in agape that we gain the Truth that frees, it IS in agape that we come to realize that we ARE in His Kingdom and it IS in agape that we have the realization of the Presence of God in our Life. It IS in agape that we complete the trifecta and gain the rewards, the grace if you will, of keeping His words. We read our trifecta of spiritual reality again….the Master says:
- “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 should see that Paul’s overriding point IS that when one’s expression is Love, when one understands the central idea of agape and lives by it, that this IS equivalent to ALL the law and ALL the words of the Master. Such expression IS how that one can “continue in my word“, how that one can “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” and how that one can “hath my commandments, and keepeth them“. This IS the meaning of the apostle’s words saying that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“.
For 3500 years however the idea of just what this means has been lost in the carnal interpretations of Love and the failure to see and to understand the intent of these words. One DOES NOT have to be a Greek or a Hebrew scholar to discern the True meaning of agape and of ‘ahab as these ARE used in Judeo-Christian scripture, and one DOES NOT need to be a theologian to sense the importance of the whole idea of Love, of agape, especially in view of the Great Commandments. Perhaps the downplay of this idea in the world of men IS intentional as to express agape IS for one to have “no ill to his neighbour” but this IS unlikely; it IS the vanity, the illusion and the glamour of Life that downplays agape, an idea that IS NOT taught as a True Judeo-Christian way of Life.
It IS the understanding of the whole idea of agape that IS lost; it was NOT lost to the apostles and this should show us that some DID understand the concept beyond their own sense of doctrine. To be sure Paul DID NOT have agape in mind before his own awakening that begins on the road to Damascus but in his epistles we can surely see how that he DOES come to understand. John, whose epistle IS filled with defining ideas on agape also sees the Light and the Love that must flow through the hearts and minds of men and it IS unfortunate that even with the apostles’ words the intent IS virtually lost.
At the close of Paul’s words to the Romans that have become the mantra for too many Christian denomination there IS a dissertation that, if applied to agape under the Apostle John’s Truth that “God is Love” (1 John 4:8, 16), can help us to understand that the out of context doctrinal ideas ARE NOT the intent; and to see that it IS agape that IS Paul’s reference in saying: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world” (Romans 10:13-18).
When we conflate the apostle’s words saying “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” which the previous words that have become the doctrinal mantra, we have the more complete thought. What IS it to “call upon the name of the Lord“? Can we see here that the result of this IS the same as the result of Paul’s previous words saying “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead“? The result of both of these ideas IS to “be saved” and in this we should understand the these ways to salvation ARE the same.
As we discussed, the overall idea here IS that the Truth “is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith” and in this reality that the word, the Truth, IS NOT hidden, IS the reality of the confession and the believing which ARE better understood as to profess what IS KNOWN. We should remember here that the heart IS the conscious awareness of the man in this world and when the heart IS fed by the Inner man, the Soul, then this man comes to KNOW some measure of the Truth; and in having this Truth one must perforce express it which IS one’s profession. There need not be anything verbal here.
We should try to see here that the man who KNOWS some measure of Truth IS the man who strives to keep His words and to Love; it IS this KNOWING that IS the realization of the man in this world which then becomes his expression. It IS this same idea that IS behind the apostle’s words saying “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved“. The Greek word epikaleomai which IS rendered as “call upon” is so much more that the common idea of appealing to the Lord; there IS an essence here that equates with KNOWING the Lord and expressing His nature.
It IS in these things that one IS saved, that one can rescue his spiritual Life from the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, which ARE his “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:20). We should understand that it IS the spiritual Life of everyman that IS blocked by the realities of Life in this world and it IS ONLY by his escape that he IS delivered. This IS the reality that the Master teaches us and this IS the reality that the words of the apostles amplify and clarify for us. The Apostle Peter shows us that we must escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust” so that this spiritual Life may flourish….one can have a realization of the “exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).
Can we see here how that to “be partakers of the divine nature” IS to express the Love of God as a man in this world and that the way to DO this IS to free oneself, to be delivered if you will, from the “bondage of corruption” which obnubilates ALL Truth. The Apostle John shows us the Master’s words saying “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come” (John 16:13) and here we should understand two things; first that Jesus IS speaking to His apostles alone and that these words ARE intended for those who live as disciples of the Lord.
Second we should see the idea of come, NOT as the arrival of the Holy Spirit but as their realization of His Presence according to the trifecta; and, if we can see this in terms of the unction, the anointing which John teaches in his epistle, we can then see the greater Truth which John shows us as “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20). This unction, this anointing, IS the Holy Spirit, it IS the Christ Within and the God Within; there IS NO True separation here into divided pieces of God….there IS ONLY God and the presumed division IS ONLY meant to ease the understanding of men.
This brings us back again to the idea from Paul that shows us that to “call upon the name of the Lord” IS one’s salvation. Much as the idea of the coming of the Holy Spirit IS NOT His arrival but one’s realization of His Presence, so the idea of calling IS NOT an appeal to the Lord by rather a constant summoning of the Power that IS the unction and the anointing, the Christ Within, by the man in this world. This summoning IS one’s constant answer to the prompting of the Soul and the constant realization of greater Truths that come to the man who will strive to keep His words.
No other dynamic in this regard makes any True sense and becomes just another nebulous doctrinal assertion. As confessing and affirming that the Lord IS the Lord DOES NOT give to men those things that Jesus shows us ARE the product of keeping His words so the idea of calling upon His name as an appeal will NOT DO so either. And when we look at the apostle’s words in the 10th chapter of Romans apart from the doctrinal approach to them, we can see the True depth and understand how that Paul’s teaching here IS the same as the Master’s. Paul himself disputes the doctrinal ideas that men have formed with such sayings as this which IS offered earlier in his Epistle to the Romans; we read:
“What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:15-18).
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.
We change our Quote of the Day today to the words from Solomon on Wisdom along with our thoughts on them from the original postings of them in In the Words of Jesus parts 46 and 556. These words ARE a testament to those things that we should be asking of the Lord and which are representative of the Holy Ghost. Wisdom, understanding and knowledge which will lead us to understanding the fear (reverence and respect and awe) of the Lord and the knowledge of God so that in this world we can understand righteousness and judgement and equity and be preserved by discretion and understanding. Thus are we in a position to treat everyone as we would want to be treated ourselves.
Since we are centered on the ideas of Wisdom today we offer the following from Proverbs as our Quote of the Day. Solomon, who is KNOWN for his Wisdom, which we read in the story of his Life was His gift from God, a gift that he receives because he does not want for the things of the world. But Solomon gains as well the things of the world in plenty and as his Life story proceeds we can see clearly that it is his Life in the world that is to his detriment. The wisdom however produces for us the writings of the Book of Proverbs and it is this that he is remembered for. His Life is interesting reading and is well documented in the Books of Kings and Chronicles.
….incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee (Proverbs 2:2-11).
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
