ON LOVE; PART MCXLVIII
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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).
That the words of Moses and the prophets ARE repeated by Jesus and His apostles should show us a glimpse of the timelessness of them as spiritual precepts and as a commentary upon the ways that men have ever looked past their words. These ideas have been a part of the last few essays and in the last we highlighted the idea that, on the surface, appears to go against this sense of timelessness. We commented that: It IS unfortunate that the Church Fathers DID NOT have the wherewithal to see the greater ideas behind Jesus’ teaching and the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles and here we should try to understand that much of the ‘blame’ for this IS found in the way that they tried to interweave the Old with the New and this despite Jesus’ warning against this.
Our point here IS that the precepts ARE timeless as IS evidenced in the Master designation of the Great Commandments which we have again at the top of this essay; these ideas of Love ARE the foundation of ALL Truth and this IS the reality that Jesus shows us saying of them that “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40). The spiritual Truths ARE ever the same and these stretch across ALL world religions albeit from a different perspective. Whether the teaching IS based in the idea of Love as IS the Truth of the Judaeo-Christian religions or it IS based in devotion or the stamping out of one’s desires for the worldly as IS the basis for much of the Eastern religions, the intended result IS ever the same.
Christianity however has become a admixture of more than the foundation of the commandments with the teachings of the Master, Christianity has taken on the tone and the tenor of a teaching without the modifying ideas that Jesus gives us, ideas that ARE an extension of the modifying ideas of the prophets. The law was simple for a simple people and the benefits of keeping the law were offered in carnal terms and here we should remember that these benefits, these promises, were offered to the ‘people’ as a whole and NOT to the individual.
The Master’s teaching seeks to change the tone and the tenor of the teaching of Moses as he seeks to show that it IS the individual who will benefit, and NOT in carnal terms but in spiritual terms. This has been missed or ignored by the purveyors of doctrine in the same way as the modifying ideas of the prophets were ignored for hundreds of years by the Jews. The Prophet Hosea tells the Jews the word of the Lord saying “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6) but as we KNOW from history and the New Testament, his words ARE NOT heeded. It IS this that Jesus shows us as He implies that the Jewish religious rulers DO NOT even KNOW what the prophet meant; Jesus says “But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 12:7).
In Jesus’ day the Pharisees and other religious rulers were still offering sacrifice and this ritual continues until the destruction of the temple in 70 AD; and it IS this destruction that IS shown as the cause for the cessation of animal sacrifice and NOT the words of the prophets. Can we see here how that the words of Hosea were ignored or, better, never Truly understood? And can we see the progressive nature of the revelations and the teachings which culminate in Jesus’ new view of such commandments as apply to such things as adultery and killing from the Ten Commandments and vengeance and offering oaths from the litany of those other commandments given through Moses.
While these were strictly carnal ideas in the time of Moses and while these may also have been referenced by the prophets unnoticed by the Jews or Christians, they ARE definitively modified by the Master who shows that it IS the thoughts and the attitudes of men that matter. This we should read in Jesus’ re-framing of the idea of adultery saying that “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:27:28).
This idea should be seen as an example of the way that one’s thoughts and attitudes contribute to sin, or, better, ARE sin; and here we should also understand the deeper spiritual ideas behind the Greek word moicheuo and its kindred words. Here we should try to see that the carnal idea of adultery IS but a carnal example of men’s proclivity to look past what IS right and to be lured off in search of greater pleasure. This IS the reality of lust, NOT in sexual terms but in spiritual terms; this IS men’s lust for the things of the self and for the self over their desire for the things of God. When we can understand that Jesus changing of the view of adultery from an action to a thought and an attitude reveals the more spiritual idea, then we can unlock the Truth in many of His sayings that ARE NOT yet seen nor understood.
We can see this same thing in the way that killing, the physical action, IS now superseded by the root cause of killing….anger. Similarly we can see that ALL ideas of vengeance ARE swallowed up in the singular idea that “whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39). And the same spiritual ideas can be found in Jesus’ words on oaths; on the futility of them compared to the simplicity of that Truthfulness that begins in thought and attitude. There IS NO mystery in the Master’s words here in His Sermon on the Mount; in these instructions ARE the Way to the Kingdom and if we could understand that ALL men, as Souls, KNOW these things in their Inner man, that ALL men KNOW right from wrong in thought, in attitude and in action as conscience, we could better understand the words of the apostles who ARE clarifying and amplifying Jesus’ words and NOT creating separate doctrine as too many believe. We read again the Apostle Paul’s words with this idea in mind:
“The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 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).
“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).
The idea that “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart” IS a reality for the Truly spiritual man, for the man whose focus IS upon the things of God. And this IS whom the apostle IS addressing; he IS NOT writing to the doctrinal thinker, be he a Jew or a Christian, he IS writing to men who have glimpsed the Truth, men who ARE striving toward that Truth. Again we KNOW this by the apostle’s introduction to this epistle where he writes “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world” (Romans 1:8). It it these men who have come to KNOW some measure of the Truth and this by their obedience to what measure of Truth had been obtained.
While this may seem a circular idea, there IS a reality that IS at play, a reality that functions in the growth of the Kingdom Within. Paul tells us of these of whom he says that “your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world” saying that: “we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name” (Romans 1:5). We should try to see here that Paul IS including himself among these and if we can take this to mean that obedience IS both the product of “grace and apostleship” and the purpose of it, we can see this as DOES Vincent who says: Rev., unto obedience of faith. Unto marks the object of the grace and apostleship: in order to bring about. Obedience of faith is the obedience which characterizes and proceeds from faith 4. Here we should also see that the obedience of everyman IS NOT to doctrine, nor to that nebulous idea of faith; obedience IS ever to His words which IS the reality of our trifecta which we repeat 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).
Too much of the doctrines of men teach that one IS saved, another nebulous word, by his ‘accepting’ the Lord Jesus Christ as his ‘personal’ savior and this by using the words of the apostle that we have been discussing. In this confession and affirmation one IS deemed to be “born again” and many claim this being ‘saved‘ from when they were children; many can even recall the date that this happens. But when there IS NO expression of Love, when there IS NO inclination to keep His words, when the IS NO change of focus from the carnal to the spiritual, what then DOES this idea of being ‘saved‘ mean.
Many Christians believe in the doctrine of ‘once saved, always saved’ and while there IS much debate over this, the emphasis IS never placed upon the words of the Master as regards heaven, His Presence and the Truth which ARE the product of keeping His words according to our trifecta. We should try to see how that teachings such as this, or any teaching that places doctrine above Truth, inhibits the Truth and stifles any opportunity for spiritual growth in the lives of ‘True’ believers….that IS ‘True’ believers according to the various doctrines of the thousands of differing denominations and sects.
Seeing that there IS but one Truth however should give pause to those who can see that it has been eroded by the confusion of the doctrines of men which, while ALL professing Christ, ALL have some different sense of salvation….and few take that salvation as a personal responsibility. Few however have this vision. While much of Christian doctrine sees salvation as a “free gift” from God and interpret this into the idea that this charisma IS given to ALL who will confess and affirm Christ according to Paul’s words above, most ALL seemingly ignore the apostle’s other admonitions and here we should see that the most important of these IS that men DO Love.
And while much of Christian doctrines travel back to the Old Testament to find the ‘promises’, they fail in two respects; first they ARE citing the promises made to the nation of the Jews while seeking to make these into individual promises and second that they fail to see the quid pro quo, the terms of the covenant, which require men heed Moses words saying “I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments” (Deuteronomy 30:16). This word of God delivered by Moses IS a part of that same Old Testament version of Paul’s words above to the Romans and, again, if these ARE viewed together, the doctrinal idea of confession and affirmation fades into that nebulous idea that it IS.
In these words Moses IS reiterating the terms of the covenant that he delivered earlier in this same text, a covenant that begins with “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2). It IS the ‘promises’ that follow these words that doctrinal thinkers believe ARE theirs and this without DOING their part and in this we can most clearly see here the depth of the admixture of the Old and the New.
In this admixture many believe that the simplicity of their affirmation and confession replaces the need to DO, the need to keep His commandments, which IS everyman’s part in the True sense of the covenant. There IS NO where in the New Testament where this idea of replacement IS offered to us; this IS purely a doctrinal idea, an idea of convenience that endures because it IS easier to nebulously believe one’s doctrinal approach than the believe the Truth which Paul also shows us. While men believe that it IS the affirmations and confessions that replace the need to DO one’s part in the covenant, the reality IS that the ONLY replacement IS Love, IS agape, which we read again in the apostle’s words from this same epistle:
“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).
Paul repeats this idea of replacement in his Epistle to the Galatians saying simply that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). This IS the replacement idea for men’s covenant with the Lord and we should see here that this IS NOT a magical formula as IS the doctrinal idea; this IS based in the fact that if one DOES Love as the Master and the Old Testament teaches us, there IS NO opportunity to live contrary to the law. There IS NO other True replacement idea for keeping His words. And we should see that this idea of Love IS NOT so much a replacement as it IS and enhancement of the Truth which IS that if one keeps the Law AS Moses presents it, NOT the ceremonial parts but the parts that depict the interrelationships between man and God and man and man, then than man will Love.
We should understand here that men have never Truly understood the most basic ideas that ARE given to us by Jesus in the Great Commandment; ideas that ARE given by Jehovah through Moses many centuries before Jesus elevated them to be the greatest. We should understand as well that these ideas had NOT been hidden from the Jews, that there were some who understood their significance; this we can see in Jesus exchange with the scribe who tells Him that “Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:32-33).
We should understand here that if this scribe KNOWS this thing that others DO as well and that this Truth was NOT filtered down through the doctrines of the Jews IS for the same reason that this same idea IS NOT filtered down in most ALL Christian doctrine: this IS an inconvenient Truth. This idea that the Truth of Love IS KNOWN by at least some of the religious Jews IS also shown us by the Apostle Luke and whether this IS Luke’s version of the same event or NOT DOES NOT Truly matter.
While the Apostle Mark shows us that the Great Commandment IS given by the Master and affirmed by the scribe, Luke shows us that it IS s lawyer who recites the Truth for the Master in this exchange: Jesus asks “What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live” (Luke 10:26-28).
Our point here IS that those who could see past their doctrinal approach to the Lord in that day ARE living evidence that “the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it” as Moses said and, while they may or may NOT have expressed this Truth, it IS NOT “hidden from thee, neither is it far off” (Deuteronomy 30:14, 11). This IS Paul’s greater point as well and if we can see that the word IS in the heart of everyman and that it IS by his realization of Truth that it can come to be in his mouth as well, we can then understand much of the human problem.
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
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
