ON LOVE; PART MCLXIV
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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 on forgiveness and how that this idea IS tied to the reality of God Immanent. Forgiveness, under this English word, IS largely misunderstood; it IS seen as an emotional response, or lack thereof, to a wrong that IS perceived to have been perpetrated upon a person. Forgiveness IS also used in other ways and among these is forgiveness of a debt which idea likely comes directly from Jesus’ words from the Lord’s Prayer. The Master however refers to forgiving ALL debt ALL of the time and His emphasis IS NOT upon financial ideas but upon opheilema which IS rendered as debt. Vincent shows us opheilma saying: Sin is pictured as a debt, and the sinner as a debtor (compare Matthew 18:28, Matthew 18:30). Accordingly the word represents sin both as a wrong and as requiring satisfaction 4.
If we can understand sin as NOT living according to His words, as ALL that one DOES that IS contrary to His commandments and the law as it applies to men, then we can understand the sin and the resulting ‘debt‘ that IS incurred according to the Lord’s Prayer, and this works out in either view of God….as Transcendent or as Immanent. How then DOES this work in the interrelationships between men? IS it ONLY in regard to those things that ARE perceived to be injurious to another or IS this idea of debt and its forgiveness more far reaching than we can realize through our minds and our emotional reactions?
If sin against God IS Truly NOT living according to His Way of Truth then sin between men IS connected to the same failure and, in regard to the interrelationships of men this would be one’s failure to Love, one’s failure to express agape. If we look at the world and at our own interrelationships we can likely see that this failure IS alive and well and perhaps come to understand that aphiēmi which IS rendered in terms of forgiveness IS an action of Love which looks past ALL carnal offenses which ARE contrary to Love. We should try to see this in our selection from the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans which we repeat:
“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).
Can we see the idea here in Paul’s words saying that we should NOT incur the debt of NOT expressing Love to another and the converse as well….that we should NOT see debt in the actions of others? In these ARE some of the basic Truths of Love, of agape; Truths that show forth the reality of just what this Love IS. We have ofttimes said that Love IS NOT that emotional and mental attractraction and attachment to others and to things as this IS commonly painted to be. And neither IS the Love of God sufficiently covered in Christian terms under the words of the Apostle John saying “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16). Both of these ideas show us ONLY a carnal view of the idea of agape as this IS intended for us to understand.
Similarly, the common interpretations of the Great Commandments DO NOT nearly cover the Truth of Love as they ARE both related to the ideas above; most think of that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” revolves around the same mental and emotional ideas and the idea of Love for God “with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” can be understood in a like manner. We should understand that John’s words saying that “We love him, because he first loved us” IS NOT a stand alone saying but IS in regard to the same ideas that Paul shows us above and this IS covered in the rest of John’s words where he shows us that such Love IS “this commandment have we from him” (1 John 4:19, 21).
John’s view of Love IS not mental and emotional but it IS spiritual and it relates our Love, our ability to express Love, and to the reality of the first of the Great Commandments while it uses the second to show us how to accomplish the first. This idea IS missed by men’s reliance upon the out of context ideas of doctrines as well as their reliance upon the ideas of confessing and affirming one’s relationship to God. This IS easily seen in the apostle’s words from the fourth chapter of his first epistle where we read:
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:1-8).
Doctrines take out of these words several ideas and use them as stand-alone doctrinal precepts; few however tie them ALL together and then tie them to the words that follow to present a whole picture of the man who Truly Loves God according to Jesus’ own words that ARE the third part of our trifecta. John’s basic message here should be clear; he refers to Spirit and if we can see this idea of pneuma as one’s own Immanent God which he refers to earlier as the unction and the anointing, then we can see what it IS that the apostle IS saying. Men can believe that whatsoever they think comes from God but this IS NOT necessarily so; what one may believe IS of God can easily be the product of one’s own personality fed by the doctrines that he has heard and which he believes.
John’s words ARE a caution that tells us that there IS much false doctrinal information and that we should KNOW to “try the spirits whether they are of God” and with this most will agree. Agreement ends however when we try to understand just how one Truly KNOWS “the Spirit of God” in regard to those things that one may come to rely upon as Truth. Here again we have the idea of confession or, better, profession. This IS NOT, nor can it be, that one should believe ALL things that ARE ‘preached’ by one who DOES profess that “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God“. This IS a ludicrous argument. When we tie this idea of profession with the prior idea of KNOWING “the Spirit of God” however a greater Truth comes forth: that such profession IS based in this KNOWING.
John develops this idea further on as he tells us “let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God“. Can we see then the criteria for KNOWING “the Spirit of God“? And can we see here how that such KNOWING IS the source of one’s professing that “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God“? Also, can we see the accusation here? The accusation against those who teach that they have the “the Spirit of God” in their words when they DO NOT Love and therefore CAN NOT KNOW. Can we see here why most doctrinal teachers DO NOT tie ALL of John’s ideas together but use them as independent ideas?
And one of the more common individual ideas from the apostle’s words above IS the idea that “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” which IS True of the man who DOES Love or, at a minimum, Truly strives toward that Truth. John ends this part with the reality of KNOWING “the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” as he tells us how to KNOW each in the simplicity of one’s expression of Love….”every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God“. In these ideas we have the intimate relationship between professing or confessing “that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God” and other like ideas with the reality of KNOWING which comes here through Love and in our trifecta by keeping His words….these two ARE the same.
Vincent shows us this same idea from the use of homologeo which IS rendered as confess in Jesus words saying “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). Vincent refers us here from our discussion in John’s epistle and tells us that this use of homologeo IS: A peculiar but very significant expression. Lit., “Confess in me.” The idea is that of confessing Christ out of a state of oneness with him. “Abide in me, and being in me, confess me.” It implies identification of the confessor with the confessed, and thus takes confession out of the category of mere formal or verbal acknowledgment. “Not every one that saith unto me, ‘ Lord! Lord!’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” The true confessor of Christ is one whose faith rests in him. Observe that this gives great force to the corresponding clause, in which Christ places himself in a similar relation with those whom he confesses. “I will confess in him.” It shall be as if I spoke abiding in him. “I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me” 4.
If we can take away from here this rather simple idea regarding such confessing or professing: that this IS NOT mere formal or verbal acknowledgment but IS rather founded in a state of oneness with him, we can break through the Christian dogma and understand that the reality of KNOWING God IS intimately tied to keeping His words and, as both John and Paul show us, this can be accomplished in Love, in agape as this IS meant to be understood. While Paul shows us agape as it relates to the law, that it IS the ONLY substitute for keeping the law as it IS the essence of ALL True law, John shows us the logical path of agape through the law and through the words of the Master.
Both apostles amplify and clarify the words of the Master and neither sets new doctrine and this regardless of how the doctrinal thinker see their words; while the doctrinal thinker may believe that they “have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world“, they miss the whole point of KNOWING which John IS showing us….they miss the requirement that one must Love. And this Love IS NOT superficial but real and True Love according to the many words of Love found in scripture, in the Old Testament as well as the New, and while many sayings in both books may NOT use the words that ARE rendered as Love, their essence and the intent CAN NOT be denied. They miss as well the reality of our trifecta which we repeat again; Jesus tells us:
- “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).
The whole of John’s words above should show us that we can “know ye the Spirit of God” by discerning that those things that we hear and attribute to God come from one who can Truly “confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God” and understand that such confession IS the product of being in a state of oneness with him, the Master, as Vincent tells us. And here is the rub; this discernment IS as much discerning one’s own thoughts and attitudes, one’s own beliefs, as it IS in discerning those ideas that come from without and which feed one’s beliefs; here we must understand the True value of asking, seeking and knocking. And while Vincent IS showing us the idea of a state of oneness with him, John IS showing us the Way to that Oneness through Love as he says “every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God“.
The reality of these ideas IS lost in the vanity, in the illusion and the glamour, of Life in this world and it IS this illusion that IS the cause and the result of the specter of the antichrist. Antichrist IS simply that which IS against the Truth and the teachings of the Christ and if we can look at this in terms of the Christ Within, we can likely see this presence all around us. If we can understand that antichrist IS NOT the evil picture taken from the doctrinal invention based in the Book of Revelation and see this as it Truly IS, as ONLY John presents this idea, we can better understand just what antichrist IS. There ARE NO True defining ideas for this Greek word antichristos except those that ARE doctrinally oriented but the reality of the words should be clear….against Christ.
Vincent says that this IS a proper name because there IS NO definite article as there IS attached to Christ in the gospels; with the article we see always “the Christ”. However John’s usage of this idea DOES NOT track with this idea of a proper name. John uses this word but four times and his epistles which ARE the only place the word IS used. The apostle tells us “ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists“; he says in the same tone that “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist” (1 John 2:18, 22), and he uses the word again in our saying above.
In John’s second epistle we find the word one more time as he writes that “many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (2 John 1:7). Here if we can see the idea of confessing as we show it above, as that this confessing IS NOT mere formal or verbal acknowledgment but rather that of confessing Christ out of a state of oneness with him, we can see how that there ARE many who, as Jesus tells us, “call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say” (Luke 6:46). Can we look past doctrines and see John’s point which IS clouded by the translation of some words such as arneomi which IS rendered as denieth but can easily be understood as the converse of confessing….as those who DO NOT KNOW Christ; this idea agrees with the apostle’s words above.
Another word that IS translated in doctrinal terms IS the Greek word planos which IS rendered as deceivers. Thayer’s lexicon tells us that planos means: wandering, roving 9 which they explain as misleading and leading into error; these ideas ARE NOT the same as deceiving which seems to require intent. Our point here IS that the doctrinal ideas of denying and deceiving both assume intent while NOT confessing IS just NOT KNOWING “the Spirit of God” and the “many deceivers” ARE those who believe that they DO KNOW “the Spirit of God” but who ARE NOT in a state of oneness with him because they DO NOT Love as the Master instructs and as the apostle clarifies and amplifies saying “He that loveth not knoweth not God“.
We should try to see here that these doctrinal ideas of deception and denying ARE NOT intended to depict the intent of others to be antichrist. We should try to see also that there IS a simplicity in this idea that IS confounded by the doctrinal link of John’s words here to those gleaned from the Book of Revelation, Paul’s Epistle to the Thessalonians and the Old Testament Book of Daniel. This simplicity IS that ALL who DO NOT KNOW Christ, ALL that DO NOT teach and believe the Truth of the Master’s own teachings, ALL that CAN NOT see the Truth through keeping His words or through its equivalent in their expression of agape, ARE antichrist and they ARE many.
We ARE better to equate John’s use of antichirstos with our own anointing which IS the meaning of christos than to draw such conclusions as doctrines have. And here again we come back to God Immanent; here we should be able to see and to understand that antichirstos IS the focus of men upon the carnal rather that upon the spiritual….the things of “the Spirit of God” which DO NOT flow into the Life of the man who DOES NOT keep His words or, by measure, strive to DO so. This IS antichristos applied to oneself; to others it IS simply those who ARE “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9) in place of the Truth of His words. And, while there ARE those that DO deceive, those who DO purposefully mislead others for their own benefit, they ARE NOT the sole cause for the confusion which starts in Paul’s words to the Romans which we repeat again:
“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:19-23).
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
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
