ON LOVE; PART MCLVII
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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).
Our point in the last post IS intended to show again how that the doctrines of men will take isolated sayings from the Master and His apostle and create of them doctrinal precepts that have NO foundation in Truth. In the words from the Apostle John’s Gospel that we have been discussing, especially his words of commentary on what IS happening in that time and place of the festival at Jerusalem, the idea that there was NO Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost before Christ’s death and resurrection IS given momentum by the doctrinal interpretations of men. This momentum IS applied to Jesus’ own words regarding the Holy Spirit which ARE likewise misinterpreted to show this same idea.
And this IS despite the logic of the Truth of the Spirit which IS a part of Judeo-Christian scripture from the time of Moses and before. This IS the Spirit of God that IS with the prophets and with many of the kings who strive to live in accord with His word, those who will “hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments” (Deuteronomy 28:1). And this despite also the rightly rendered words of Jesus who tells us “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless:a I will come to you” (John 14:15-18).
As we have shown in a recent post, the idea of the future IS NOT the Master’s intent but this idea IS seized by doctrines in support of their own idea that the Holy Spirit IS the privilege of ONLY Christians and ONLY after the Master’s death and resurrection. The Good News Translation addresses the idea of now versus the future by rendering “He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive him, because it cannot see him or know him. But you know him, because he remains with you and is in you“. And we should see here that this rendering of “is in you” goes with the tense of the previous idea that “he dwelleth with you“. Vincent also tells us of these words esomai en hymin that: Some editors read, ἐστίν, is in you 4, while Strong’s tells us that esomai IS the: future of G1510 9a which IS eimi, which in English IS to be.
While there IS some confusion regarding this word and phrase, the idea should be seen in relationship to the prior idea with the time set the same; one DOES NOT have the Spirit “dwelleth with you” now but, at the same time, He will NOT “be in you” until some future time. Perhaps the clearer answer IS found in Jesus words that ARE the third part of our trifecta; perhaps if we can see that the Spirit DOES ever “dwelleth with you” but that the Spirit, the unction and the anointing, goes unrealized in the heart of the man in the world who IS NOT in accord with the Truth, we can glimpse a greater reality. In this we can have the Spirit in the idea that “he dwelleth with you” but, have NOT the realization of His Presence which comes to “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them“.
Can we understand this and see how that doctrines DO NOT look in this direction? In His very next words the Master clarifies the idea saying that “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18) before going on into the ideas that ARE the third part of our trifecta. In His words saying “I will come to you” and in the context that they ARE presented we should see the interrelationship between the individual ideas of the Trinity and we should understand that the very idea of the Comforter IS found in one’s realization of the Truth that sets men free from the “bondage of corruption“, from the vanity (Romans 8:21, 20), in which they yet live. Repeating our trifecta again we read:
- “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 understand here that this Presence of God IS one’s realization of the Holy Spirit, and in the Master’s words that say that “we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” we should try to see the active participation of the Godhead in the Life of the man who strives to keep His words. We should remember here that the Master IS showing His disciples the deeper realities of the Immanent God and IS DOING so in a way by which they can understand this somewhat unique perspective on God….a perspective that IS scarcely touched in the other gospels. Perhaps this IS because that the other gospel writers DO NOT fully understand this new perspective as IS evidenced by the questions of Philip, Thomas and Judas which we read in this same chapter of John’s Gospel.
But we should understand that this idea of God Immanent IS NOT new; the Spirit that IS God worked through the Abraham and the Patriarchs, the Spirit worked through Moses and those who follow Him. This same Spirit worked through the judges albeit to a lesser degree and through the prophets and some of the kings. This same Spirit IS present in the Lives of others in the Old Testament and we should understand that the promptings of the Spirit ARE ignored in favor of carnal living by the other kings of whom the bible tells us that they “did evil in the sight of the LORD” (2 Kings 8:18, 27) among whom ARE Jehoram and Ahaziah.
We should understand there that the Spirit, having the Spirit or the Holy Spirit, IS NOT the privilege of the Christian but it IS the innate Truth of ALL men which Truth the Master brings to us in His teachings and this especially in the writing of the Apostle John. And NO matter how one may try to differentiate the Aspects of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, they ARE ever essentially One; there IS NO separation there IS ONLY the unnoticable separation of the activity of these Aspects in the world. We could perhaps better understand this idea of the Trinity as that the Father IS the Transcendent God, the Son IS God Immanent and the Holy Spirit IS the expression of God in this world of men….an expression that IS the Radiant Love, in whatever measure, expressed by those who have some glimmer to the Truth in their Life.
While many Christians consider themselves Spirit-filled and many see their churches as Spirit-filled based in their own defining terms, the reality of being such IS found, simply stated, in the words of the Master and NOT in the isolated ideas from the Book of Acts and the epistles. Jesus shows us the way to have His Presence in the third part of our trifecta and there IS NO place where Jesus saying that “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” IS contradicted or changed into some nebulous Christian idea. In Acts and in every other reference where we read of the Spirit coming upon men, it IS coming upon men who DO “keep my words” and those who ARE seriously striving to DO so.
If then the Spirit IS the expression of God, both Transcendent and Immanent, how DOES this relate to men? Simply according to the basic truth that the Spirit IS the motivating Life principal of everyman; Spirit IS the Life of men through which everyman IS part and parcel of the Transcendent Lord….ALL ARE a part of His Spiritual Self and His created Universe. This is the basic Truth of Life and this exists regardless of one’s views; ALL ARE part of the Whole and that Whole IS God. Every creature, every atom IS a part of this Whole which IS inclusive of ALL of the KNOWN as well as the UNKNOWN Universe, a Universe that IS infinite by its very nature. Can we glimpse here how that every atom of substance IS a material and and immaterial expression of God?
We must understand that the ideas of God Transcendent and God Immanent ARE One and the same, there IS NO real differentiation save in the limited minds of men, and this IS what the Master IS showing us in terms that could be understood by those to whom He IS speaking. There IS both science and logic in what Jesus says but these ARE missed by those who DO NOT understand that this Immanent nature God IS the True man….it IS the Soul and it IS what Paul shows us as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Here, if we can understand the idea of glory as we try to see it in our words from John’s Gospel that we have been studying, we can perhaps get the better idea of what this reference Truly IS. Repeating our words on the Spirt from John’s Gospel we read:
“Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?…. In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him KNOW Him and keep His words should receive take to one’s self, to make one’s own: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given spirit was not yet; because that Jesus was not yet glorified rendered glorious. Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him” (John 7:11, 37:43).
In Jesus words above we have the reality that the Comforter, the Parakletos, DOES dwelleth in the disciples to whom the Master IS speaking and this, from a spiritual perspective, should be easily understood. First we should see the Spirit as the expression of God through these men which IS a fact we see in the bible narratives. Second we should the Spirit in them according to the Master’s words of our trifecta….they DO keep His words and thereby have His Presence but we should try to see here that His Presence IS the reality of His teaching at this time.
It IS clear from the text that they DO NOT completely understand the concept of His Presence which He IS painting in a combination of ways….as His being in the heart of each as the Christ, as the Father, the Spirit Aspect of God, being in each of them and then as the Holy Spirit which will come to them as their expression of Truth. This IS necessarily a cumbersome subject in Jesus’ day as there IS NO background upon which to build this Truth and it IS cumbersome yet today because the doctrinal church has never grasped the underlying Truth from His words. Perhaps here we can see our idea of realization in His teaching that IS rendered in terms of the present and the future, in terms that ARE seen by most as that He “shall be in you“.
If we can understand that He DOES abide in everyman as He IS the Truth of everyman and if we can understand that this reality IS of both the Father and the Son, then the ONLY missing part of the equation IS one’s realization of this Truth, a realization that Jesus IS trying to convey to His disciples before He leaves them. We should note here that the idea of realization IS NOT found in the entire King James Bible and the references in other translations ARE ONLY to realize(d) and, except for one, in regard to carnal ideas. This then IS a difficult idea to show in the Greek language of the day as IS the very idea of our Immanent God.
But Jesus DOES spend sufficient time in John’s Gospel trying to show how that this ALL works; how that His Presence in one’s Life as the Christ and one’s realization of this Presence IS the Holy Spirit. It IS unfortunate that doctrines portray the Trinity in terms of separate persons of the Godhead and even more unfortunate that they DO NOT try to see their Trinitarian ideas against the reality of One God. Perhaps, in the day, there was NO other way to understand the whole concept of the Trinity of Aspects which ARE God. And this goes to our point from the last post regarding the emotional ways of men being supplanted by the mental which IS a reality in most ALL of Life except for religion with its reliance upon the Old and worn ways of doctrines that DO NOT progress with the ability of the human mind.
The idea of realization IS the same as our view of KNOWING, that KNOWING that comes to everyman who will keep His words. This the Master tells us saying that “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“. And it IS this same idea that results in pistis and pisteuo which ARE rendered as faith and believing and understood in a most nebulous way. We should try to see that when True realization comes to a man, it comes from the Soul as revelation; it IS this revelation that comes to be realized, to be KNOWN, and the outward expression of this KNOWING IS pistis and pisteuo. It IS upon pistis and pisteuo, that a man will act in this world; it IS pistis and pisteuo that bring the realizations out of the psyche and into one’s expression to the world.
The nebulous views of doctrines however inhibit this flow of revelation and realization and keep men seeing scripture in the same way as it has been seen for 2000 years; and this despite the fact that the words of the Master that show us the result of one’s revelations and realization ARE abundantly clear. But this clarity IS missed because of men’s reliance upon doctrines and if we could expand here upon Mark Twain’s words that show us that: In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing. Published in Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 3 (University of California Press, 2015), perhaps we can see the greater works of vanity, of illusion and of glamour.
Our expansion IS this: while men DO receive their doctrinal views at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions, there IS still the fact that Christian doctrinal thinkers and believers DO read the bible. Their reading however DOES NOT allow for them to see the reality of the words of the Master nor the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles. They read the words according to their doctrinal bent as they ignore the reality of Love and of keeping His words; they seemingly ignore as well the way that these two realities ARE stitched together as we see again in our selection from Romans; we read:
“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).
Much of the Truth IS missed because men have NOT moved away from the old and worn ideas of their doctrines and this even as the mind has become a most powerful tool, albeit a tool that IS NOT applied to spiritual matters. Jesus brought humanity new ideas and a new vision of Truth 2000 years ago and He warned men to NOT allow His new vision of Truth to be appended to the Old religious ideas of the Jews, and this should be seen in both the reality of the Old and the doctrinal presentation of it. For 2000 years His admonition to refrain from forming the admixture that Christian doctrines have become has been ignored and largely because it IS NOT understood due to the idea that people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination.
And it IS in this same reasoning that we find afflicting the words of the Master regarding the Holy Spirit; while He tries to convey a sense of Truth for which there IS NO religious nor doctrinal foundation in those days, He DOES speak in such a way that one who IS NOT bound to his second-hand observation can discern the Truth by careful examination. While doctrines see the idea of the future, of the time after the death and resurrection of Christ, in the revelation of the Holy Spirit based in the idea that He “shall be in you” and the mistaken ideas from John’s commentary, they miss the Truth that “he dwelleth with you” from the same saying as well as the reality of the relationship between the Spirit and Himself as He continues and says “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you“.
They miss as well the relationship of this idea to the third part of our trifecta and such ideas regarding the Holy Spirit as this from the Apostle Peter; we read: “the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). We should understand that the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, was from the beginning and IS and that having this Presence IS NOT a Christian privilege as it IS according to doctrine. And we should try to understand that God IS One operating in the various levels of Life and it IS in regard to His operation that we must try to see the Truth of the Trinity.
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
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
