ON LOVE; PART MCLXXV
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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 the creation story from the Book of Genesis, a story which many doctrinal Christians take as the literal story of the beginnings of both man and his world. We have often cited our views on the story of Genesis and while we DO NOT understand the doctrinal insistence that ALL other creative ideas ARE patently false based upon their reading of these few words, we DO understand that this IS the effect of glamour. These words ARE written to the mental and emotional understanding of a civilization 3500 years ago when superstition reigned and the best ideas that we have found for explaining these words in a cogent fashion IS from a Christian expositor.
Alexander Maclaren tells us that: We are not to look to Genesis for a scientific cosmogony, and are not to be disturbed by physicists’ criticisms on it as such. Its purpose is quite another, and far more important; namely, to imprint deep and ineffaceable the conviction that the one God created all things. Nor must it be forgotten that this vision of creation was given to people ignorant of natural science, and prone to fall back into surrounding idolatry 12. When we can see and understand Mr. Maclaren’s point here we can then also understand that the doctrinal insistence IS NOT about the Truth but about the inherent glamour of doctrines and while this has ever been True, today’s volume of insistence seems to have become deafening.
Pseudo-scientific models of their own ARE built by doctrinal thinkers and questions ARE posed regarding the established theories of creation with the sole intent of changing the minds of doctrinal adherents away from the norms which ARE understood by most as theories. These newly fashioned models rely upon the words of Genesis and ARE but theories of their own albeit theories with little or NO True science behind them; and these cover ALL things from the nature of the world before the flood, to the nature of man, to the role of Satan as the serpent and to the idea that the Earth IS the center of the Universe based upon the sequence of ‘creative’ days in Genesis.
Few if any of today’s purveyors of the idea of Genesis as the absolute Truth understand what Mr. Maclaren shows us saying that this vision of creation was given to people ignorant of natural science, and prone to fall back into surrounding idolatry. And few understand that the barbarous and superstitious nature of these people has greatly colored the writings of the Pentateuch, which ARE believed to be by Moses hand, as well as the writings of the books of Joshua, Judges and Samuel, of Kings and of Chronicles….ALL of unknown authorship. ALL ARE written in the tone of the times and in the tone of the barbarous and superstitions civilization which they record. We should try to see how that we ARE seeing God through their eyes which CAN NOT be separated from the very nature and tone of men in those days.
We must look at the Life and times of Jesus in much the same way; again we have barbarous and superstitious times which ARE perhaps a bit less so and here the Master IS trying to reinterpret the nature of God to these people. He DOES so by showing God as the Father and Himself as the Son and by reinterpreting the Old Testament laws in terms of Love. The largest difference here between the old and the new IS that in Jesus we have a man who IS born to this destiny of being the Christ and who, as the Christ, speaks the words of God directly and in a first person way of teaching. The patriarchs, the prophets and the kings of the Old Testament onthe other hand were removed from this first person ability and only interpreted whatsoever they heard through personalities that ARE NOT born to the task.
There IS a stark difference between the words of the patriarchs, the prophets and the kings of the Old Testament, which IS surely more complex than our idea above regarding birth, and the words of Jesus. Jesus speaks from a direct relationship with the Godhead, He has if you will an “an unction from the Holy One” (John 2:27) and KNOWS ALL things while the patriarchs, the prophets and the kings ONLY KNOW what they ARE shown through their own relationship with the Godhead and their picture of Him as Jehovah. Jesus KNOWS the mind and heart of God directly while those patriarchs, prophets and kings KNOW ONLY through their intermediary, the Jewish oriented, in time and in place, God of the Jews….Jehovah.
We should understand here that the very idea of God IS a universal one and that there IS “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) and, in this idea of NO respect we have the greater Truth of Love. We should try to see here that in the pronouncements of Jehovah regarding the Jews IS the evidence that He IS NOT speaking for the totality of the Godhead but in a role that IS directed at the Jews and at the times in which they DO live….a barbarous and superstitious time by ALL biblical accounts. And we should also try to see that the point that Mr. Maclaren makes above stretches through the Old Testament teachings and IS easily seen in the rebukes by Jehovah because these barbarous and superstitious people were constantly “a whoring after other gods” (Judges 2:17).
It IS this same idea that IS the cornerstone of the Ten Commandments; that these Jews should have but One God as this IS the foundation of ALL Truth. It IS based in this Oneness that Love exists and it IS based in this Oneness that ALL men will eventually realize that this Oneness IS what ties ALL things together. The Apostle Paul captures this for us in many places in his writing and perhaps this from his Epistle to the Ephesians IS the most direct revelation of the Truth of One God, One Humanity and One World which ALL DO perforce share; we read:
“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:1-6).
These words ARE so much more universal than Christian doctrines allow as they see these ideas of faith and baptism according to their own doctrinal standards rather than in the idea of KNOWING that “One God and Father of all” and being immersed in His Presence psychically; that IS by the conviction of the carnal mind through one’s realization of His Presence….a realization that comes to the man whose focus turns to God. We read again our trifecta which shows us the Way to this KNOWING and the Way to His Presence:
- “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).
In Paul’s words above we have the reality of the Christ’s message offered through the eyes and the personality of the apostle. Paul shows us the practicality of living according to His words and while doctrines misconstrue much of his instructions to be contrary to the reality of the Law, we should see that they ARE based in the foundation of the law. This same foundation that reaches back into Genesis IS what Paul shows us in our One God Transcendent as the “One God and Father of all, who is above all“; and this he expands upon for us to show our One God Immanent as the “One God and Father of all, who is….through all, and in you all“.
As we studied the Apostle John’s First Epistle over the last several essays we DID see these same ideas through the eyes and the personality of John. We studied a different view of these same ideas; John writes of the unction and the anointing that “abideth in you” and he shows us this against the backdrop of the the “little children“, the “young men” and the fathers which, by their definitions, we should see as having some growing measure of realization of this God and Christ Within. Our point here IS that the message of His apostles IS uniform and, while presented differently, they come to serve the same purpose which IS to increase the desire of men for the Truth.
And, we should try to see here that this Truth of God IS NOT the same presentation that we find in the Old Testament; it is a presentation offered to a less barbarous and a less superstitious people which ARE ready, by their evolved state of mind, for a greater Truth. We should see here that this IS NOT a religious growth by any means as the Master seeks to tear down the Jewish doctrines which had stood as a barrier to Truth; Jesus and His apostles after Him seek to allow for the establishment of His Truth of Love as the new and surer way to Truly KNOW God. John shows us the reality of KNOWING God, how to if you will, and his ideas ARE keenly linked to the reality of Love….Love for God and Love for one’s fellow man.
We have often taught the idea here that when the results of different actions ARE the same, then those actions ARE also the same and ARE related in an intimate way. Our primary example IS our trifecta where this and the converse ARE True; that IS when the same action results in different results, those results ARE also the same and ARE related in an intimate way. In our trifecta we have keeping His words which IS offered in a variety of ways meaning the same thing; Jesus tells us to “continue in my word“, to “hath my commandments, and keepeth them“, to “keep my words” and to “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” which idea CAN NOT be separated from keeping His words.
The results of this action IS shown us in three seemingly independent results but in the simplicity of logic and mathematics we should be able to see that these ARE ALL equal: KNOWING the Truth and the freedom it brings; Loving God and the Presence of God that this brings, and attaining the Kingdom of God which we can then see as the combination of these ideas. If fact, each of these can be seen as the combination of the others. KNOWING the Truth IS freedom, IS having His Presence, IS Loving God and having attained the Kingdom of God. And there ARE many other examples throughout the bible but perhaps the most important one IS found in the idea of that it IS in keeping His words that one IS Truly “born again“.
Jesus tells us that “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” and here we should try to understand that there IS a equivalency between a man being “born again” and His words on the Kingdom that tell us that “he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” ONLY “shall enter into the kingdom of heaven“. Can we see the idea here? And can we see that this extends into the equivalency of KNOWING the Truth, being set free, and having the Father and Son “make our abode with him” for those who will “keep His words” and “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“. We should also see here that by having the same result, the most obscure idea of being “born of water and of the Spirit” (John 3:3, 5) IS the equivalent of being “born again“.
John explains this idea of being “born again” in ways that defy the doctrinal ideas of affirming and confessing that Jesus IS the Son and that He rose from the dead. John tells us “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9) and here we should see, through the idea of focus, that to be “born of God” IS to be focused upon the things of God and NOT the things of the self as such focus IS the essence of sin. The apostle also tells us “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7) and here we have several linked ideas.
First it IS in one’s expression of Love as Jesus shows us in the Great Commandments that one IS “born of God“; second, the apostle shows us that to be “born of God” IS equivalent to KNOWING God of which he tells us elsewhere that “hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” and then writes that “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3, 4). Here we should link this idea of KNOWING to Jesus’ words in our trifecta and see that the man who IS NOT keeping His words also DOES NOT have the Truth….”the truth is not in him“.
There ARE more ideas regarding being “born of God” and being “born again” and the Apostle Peter shows us the relationship of these to the word of God; while he DOES NOT say specifically that one must “keep His words“, this IS the reality of his message saying: “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:22-23). Much of doctrine sees Peter’s sense of Love as in regard to fellow Christians but the Greek word philadelphia IS much deeper and goes to the greater idea of brotherly Love; here we should see that ALL men ARE brothers as well as neighbors.
In John’s words above we should see that the idea of KNOWING God IS the privilege of the man who will “keep his commandments” and while many millions DO claim to have this KNOWING, John DOES set the record, past, present and future, straight saying that “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar“. The apostle also ties this idea to being “born of God” and to Love and through ALL of these ideas we should be able to see that one’s being “born again” IS so much more than the doctrinal assertion that one can be such by way of the doctrinal ideas gleaned from Paul’s words which ARE taken largely out of context.
And John’s harsh assessment of men as liars goes also to this idea of Love which should go without saying based in the way that the apostle gives equivalency to the reality that we “love one another” and the Truth that one KNOWS God as he calls them liars also who DO NOT express such Love yet claim to Love God. The apostle says “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:20). This idea can be also traced directly back to our trifecta where Jesus says that “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings” and we should note here that these words from John show us the same idea that we have from Paul words which we repeat again:
“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 Paul’s words ARE unmistakable, John makes us draw the parallel between keeping His words and Love and he furthers that parallel with the idea of KNOWING Him and Loving the Lord. Our greater point here IS that parallels and equivalencies abound in the words of the Master and the clarifying and amplifying words of His apostles. Throughout these ideas ALL that IS regarding the Way to His Kingdom, His Presence and the Truth ARE equal and much the same; ALL revolve around keeping His words and keeping His words ever revolves around our expression of Love, of agape, to the Godhead and to man.
It IS ONLY the treatment of these eternal ideas that differs from the Old Testament to the New and while the writings of Genesis and Exodus DO NOT reflect the idea of Love in regard to one’s fellowmen, they ARE replete with references to Loving the One God who IS shown ONLY as Transcendent. These references ARE shown in the way that the Lord demands Love in the form of keeping His words in the stories of the patriarchs in Genesis and in the words of the Ten Commandments that ARE introduced in Exodus. In Exodus the Commandments of the Lord begin with the accepted idea of Loving God as the One God, an idea that IS difficult to put on the man of that day who IS barbarous and superstitious and prone to fall back into surrounding idolatry.
It IS in the teaching and the laws given in Leviticus and in Deuteronomy that the idea of Love for one’s fellow man IS announced as a part of the way of Life through which the promises of the Lord ARE received. The Lord says through Moses that “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….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, 34) and here we should see NOT ONLY the introduction of Love as a commandment but an effort to assuage the barbarism of the times.
History shows us that this idea of “love thy neighbour as thyself” DID NOT take hold of the people and DID NOT rank in the doctrinal acceptance of the commandments offered in Leviticus and then again in Deuteronomy. While the gospels DO show us that there ARE some among the Jews who DO KNOW the words and the power of them, we can see, even up to this day, that this idea IS NEVER made a working part of the doctrines of men save as admired thoughts. Perpetual war, slavery, colonialism and like social plagues show us that the Truth IS NOT yet seen.
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
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12 Expositions of Holy Scripture–Project Gutenberg’s and Baker Book House’ Expositions of Holy Scripture, by Alexander Maclaren–(1826-1910)
