ON LOVE; PART MCLXI
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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).
To say that there ARE mysteries in Life IS a gross understatement; the reality IS that Life itself IS yet a mystery and, if one DOES accept the idea of God, Life IS a mystery that should beg to question why. For the Christian there should be the acknowledgement that there ARE mysteries and while doctrinal thinkers believe that they have solved or even glimpsed the Truth behind them, they have NOT. The nebulous doctrinal ideas of Life and death, of heaven and hell, of devils and demons, and even of good and evil ARE but carnal ideas fabricated to explain the unexplainable.
The Truth lies in the revelations and the realizations that come through that word with which we closed the last essay; the Truth lies in the revelations and the realizations that come to the man who will Truly strive. The Master tells us to “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able“. We should understand that the topic here in Luke IS the Kingdom of God and that these words ARE Jesus’ answer to the question raised “are there few that be saved?” (Luke 13:24, 23). It IS in this context the we find the reality of striving, a reality about which Jesus shows us the converse in a parables that offer the same ideas that we find in the second part of our trifecta which we repeat here again saying:
- “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).
Here in Matthew’s version of Jesus words we find the reality of striving….what we ARE to be striving for and toward. This IS clearly that we should strive to keep His words and strive to “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“. The narrative through which these idea ARE offered by Matthew and Luke may differ but the reality IS ever the same. Matthew presents us Jesus’ admonitions as a part of the Sermon on the Mount which he shows us as a singular and long sermon; in Luke’s Gospel the ideas ARE broken up and stretch across several chapters of his text:
- The Apostle Matthew shows us Jesus’ words as: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). This IS closely followed by His sayings that “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:20-23).
- The Apostle Luke shows us these same ideas beginning with Jesus’ rhetorical question that asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Luke later shows us the Master’s thoughts on the “strait gate” as well as the ways of men who “do not the things which I say“; we read “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:24-27).
The differences here ARE found in the view of Matthew who shows us the more ‘religious’ ideas of prophecy, healing and “many wonderful works” and the idea that those who DO such things but who DO NOT “the will of my Father” CAN NOT “enter into the kingdom of heaven“. Luke on the other hand shows us a more worldly view that says that just because men were in His Presence and heard His words DOES NOT mean that can “enter in“….here Jesus says that these “shall not be able” save that they DO “the things which I say“. Of course it IS near impossible to show the doctrinally oriented man the Truth of these ideas despite the relative clarity of the Master’s words.
And this IS the point; the doctrinal thinker believes that either he need NOT DO “the things which I say” which IS perforce “the will of my Father” because of the doctrinal ideas of atonement and that one IS saved by his affirmation and confession according to doctrine. Or that he IS DOING “the will of my Father” and “the things which I say” by way of these same doctrinal ideas. It IS in this same tone that the doctrinal thinker believes that he has solved the mysteries and this without Truly understanding the significance of the Apostle Paul’s revelation regarding “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27).
This IS the mystery of God Immanent and KNOWLEDGE of this IS “made manifest to his saints” as an integral part of that Truth of which the Master says “the truth shall make you free“. As we said in the last post and in others before, that doctrinal thinkers see themselves as disciples and saints and even apostles based upon their doctrinal affiliations IS unfortunate as this closes much of the Way to the greater Truth that lies beyond doctrine, a Truth that IS the subject of our trifecta….a Truth the opens the way to understand and KNOW what it IS that Paul IS Truly saying in these words from his Epistle to the Romans; we read 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).
This brings us back again to the apostle’s words telling us that he, and they who also “have the firstfruits of the Spirit” ARE “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“. If we can look past our conception of Redemption and see Paul’s words as “apolutrosis of our body“, perhaps we can gain a better view of just what the apostle means for us to understand. There IS a definitive change in the very nature of the body of the man who can Truly express the Love and the Power of the Soul through that body. If we can see this change in regard to Jesus as He “taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them” (Mark 9:2), perhaps we can glimpse some added measure of the meaning of this word apolutrosis.
We allude here to the expression of the Love and the Power of the Soul through form. This expression IS the result of and the Truth of the Union, the adoption. We should understand here that this IS NOT a Union of the Soul and the physical nor the psychic body of the personality, these ARE already in Unity with the one giving Life to the other; this IS the Union between the Soul and the thoughts, the attitudes and the actions of the body. How then does the idea of the “apolutrosis of our body” play out in this mystery? There ARE a number of ways to view this.
First there IS the idea that Jesus shows us saying that “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:34) and if we can see this Greek word doulos which IS rendered as servant as it IS defined by the lexicon, as: a slave, bondman, man of servile condition 2,9, we can see deeper into the idea of the Redemption that IS the result of the adoption,. In this way we ARE Redeemed by our own volition. We ARE freed from sin, from focus upon the self and the things of the self, and can “enter in” to His Kingdom which IS “the glorious liberty of the children of God“.
Second we can look at the idea of Redemption in regard to the result of the True Union and try to see and to understand that the whole body IS freed….it IS NO longer bound by the laws of nature but IS made alive through the Love and the Power that flows through it. Can we see Peter and Paul in this? Can we see how that the Power of the Soul becomes the Power of the man in this world? We read of the Apostle Peter breaking chains, opening doors and healing by an act of will and while these things ARE most often attributed to angels or to Jesus’ words saying “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14), the reality IS that this IS the Power of the True disciple and the saint.
The whole idea of “in my name” has taken on the atmosphere of a cliche rather than the Power that it IS intended to wield for the man who Truly acts in His name. Many doctrinal Christians, their teachers and their pastors continually use this phrase regarding everything that they ask. ALL prayers ARE offered by many ‘in Jesus’ name’ as though these ARE magical words that require a response. Of course we DO KNOW that the vast majority of the time there IS NO response and the reasoning here IS twofold; first these ARE NOT magical words and second the reality of “I will do it” applies to the disciples of the Lord and those that will follow in their stead….follow in the expression of the Love and the Power that themselves demand results.
Vincent, as part of his doctrinally oriented commentary, tells us that: The express use of the name of Jesus therein is no specific token; the question is of the spirit and mind of him who prays” (Meyer). Westcott cites Augustine to the effect that the prayer in Christ’s name must be consistent with Christ’s character, and that He fulfills it as Savior, and therefore just so far as it conduces to salvation 4. While the last part of this seems unclear, the first part IS for us the basic Truth; that there IS no specific token and that the prayer in Christ’s name must be consistent with Christ’s character. Vincent also refers us to his comments on the same idea in Matthew’s text saying “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19).
Here in this saying by the Master we should see that He IS instructing the disciple to make other disciples of men and NOT merely teaching “all nations” a form of doctrine; this IS done according to His words saying that they should be baptized “in the name” which IS for us to be immersed “in the name” and the qualities that these names of God possess. Here Vincent tells us that: The name, as in the Lord’s Prayer (“Hallowed be thy name”), is the expression of the sum total of the divine Being: not his designation as God or Lord, but the formula in which all his attributes and characteristics are summed up. It is equivalent to his person. The finite mind can deal with him only through his name; but his name is of no avail detached from his nature 4.
Can we understand this? Can we see that to DO anything in His name IS so much more that saying “in Jesus’ name“. Jesus shares this idea that men can “ask any thing in my name” as a part of His talk with His disciples in the fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel; this IS the same chapter where He introduces the concept of the Holy Spirit and the concept of the Presence of God in one’s Life that we post again in our trifecta. To be sure, these words ARE spoken by the Master to men who ARE sensing a measure of that Union, that adoption, of which we read above and most, if NOT ALL, of these have experienced some measure of that Redemption as we and easily see in the way that they too can heal.
Here again we ARE faced with the presented ideas and the doctrinal interpretation that the Master bestowed this Power upon His disciples rather than the reality of the events in which they have the Power of the adoption, they have the Power of the Redemption, which IS the Power of their own Souls flowing through their mortal bodies. But there IS NO precedence for these ideas in the minds of men in those days and their written explanations, which ARE intended for men in those days, paint these ideas for their understanding.
It IS always the reality of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) that IS responsible for the working out of any “greater works” (John 14:12) in the lives of men in this world. This IS essentially Christ according and to His own words; it IS this Christ as a principle that IS in the Lives of those who DO strive to keep His words which, as Paul shows us, IS the reality of agape, men’s expression of it, in this world. The apostle’s words show us the synonymous nature of this reality which, in and of itself, should destroy most ALL doctrinal assertions that point to their doctrinal ideas that works and the law ARE passé. We read the apostle’s words again saying:
“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).
This destroying of the ideas of the law and works as the way to salvation IS a large part of the doctrinal approach to God, an approach that has been built over the last 2000 years, and we should see here that this approach IS ONLY for the convenience of men; ONLY for their comfort in this Life and their nebulous certainty that they will go to heaven and NOT to hell when they die. Beginning with His words that ARE the third part of our trifecta, the Master shows us the Truth of “Christ in you“, a Truth that IS staunchly denied by much of the doctrinal world. And, in our trifecta He also shows us the Way….that one must keep His words.
Again, we must understand that the tone and the nature of the Master’s words and the words of His apostle’s IS directed at the man in those days where this idea of “Christ in you” was NOT understood….there was NO basis for men’s understanding in this still barbarous and superstitious world. Jesus begins, as we so often discuss as part of our trifecta, with the idea that both He and the Father will “make our abode with him“….with the man “that hath my commandments, and keepeth them“. And, when we tie this idea to the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and the Spirit of Truth, we can see that the whole of the Trinity abides in the Life of the man who will keep His words. It IS in this sense of abiding that men come to the realization of the Presence of God and this realization which comes in our striving IS ever the KEY.
And this Unity IS confirmed by the Master’s words saying “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30) which IS rendered as “I and the Father are one” by most ALL other translations. We should try to see that this idea of the Trinity that IS God IS lost in the ideas of those days and, as Jesus introduces this concept of the Three Aspects of our One God, it IS left to the apostles and then their successors to explain it. The apostles barely touch upon the idea and, as we can see 2000 years later, the church has NOT succeeded in showing the great Truth behind this great spiritual reality.
The Trinity of the Godhead as this IS shown us by Jesus however IS a testimony to the reality of God as the Transcendent view of God of the Old Testament, the Immanent view of God of the New Testament and the working of these through the Spirit of God which IS the direct action of the Godhead throughout the world; an action that IS initiated through the Presence of the Whole God within the human family. And this IS NOT a Christian phenomenon; in fact this IS NOT a phenomenon at ALL. This IS the reality that ALL men ARE essentially that same Spirit which gives Life to the form and ‘lends’ His consciousness to that form.
In this ‘lending’ the Spirit plunges himself into the vanity from which he “shall be delivered“. By choosing to DO the work of the Plan, the Spirit IS “made subject to vanity” which IS his immersion in this “bondage of corruption” from which he must escape in order to enter “into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. This change begins in one’s True baptism, one’s immersion into the Truth of God, and ends with the reality of the experience of “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“. This IS the journey and the Way through it IS found in the work of striving, of seeking, of asking and of knocking. And this work IS according to the basic Truths of the law, according to keeping His words, for which the ONLY acceptable substitute IS Love.
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
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
