ON LOVE; PART MCLXXXII
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
GoodWill IS Love in Action
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
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).
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
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
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
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).
There was a sermon on the radio this morning in which the preacher’s point was that the ideas put forth by Jesus in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew were there to make us see the impossibility of accomplishing most any of what the Master says. While we have often spoken in our blog about the way that the doctrines of men obscure and change the teaching of the Master, I DO NOT believe that I have ever heard such a blatantly untrue proposal although there IS a former rabbinical student turned Christian pastor who says much the same about the Old Testament….that the words given by Moses were intended to fail.
I have NO doubt that these teachers ARE sincere and here we should try to see the severity of the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, as it afflicts the doctrinal thinker and makes it ever so much harder for that person to see the Truth. This IS the power of indoctrination: that one’s doctrinal beliefs become so entrenched in the mind and the heart of a man that he becomes blinded to the Truth that stands before Him. For us this Truth IS in the words of the Master that have been manipulated, diluted and changed to suit the desire of men to NOT be outside of them and. for the Jews in Jesus’ day. it was the way that their doctrinal approach to God drew them ever further away from the Truth, a Truth that stood before the Pharisees, the scribes and the religious leaders in the person of Jesus.
Today’s religious DO NOT see that the Master’s words were as much for them as they were for the Pharisee and the scribe in His day. They were “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9) then as they had been in Isaiah’s day and it IS this same practice that IS the church today. As the Jews in Isaiah’s day DID NOT see this flaw in their approach to the Lord so the Pharisees DID NOT see this either as they taught their doctrinal ideas; and so the church today that DOES NOT see that the uncomfortable Truths of Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount CAN NOT be superseded by their doctrines and this regardless that they base their ideas upon the words of His apostles.
Few see the way that the apostles’ words, words that ARE intended to clarify and amplify the Master’s own words, have been misunderstood and misinterpreted and then formulated into the various doctrines of men as the Truth. This brings us back to the Apostle Paul’s words that should be our tool to examine ourselves, our thoughts and our attitudes, in the Light of the Master’s words and of Love. While many see Paul’s words in regard to others and to the world, the reality IS that these ideas ARE for everyman who can wield the weapons of His words and of Love in his own Life. We read the apostle’s words again saying:
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).
As we discussed in the last essay these strongholds ARE for the most part our doctrines; strongholds ARE ALL things that can prevent the proper uses of the weapons that ARE His words and the expression of Love. Such doctrines ARE religious, political, and societal; they ARE any learned perspective that IS contrary to the clarity of the Master’s words. Such strongholds ARE the imaginations of everyman and “every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God” and the apostle IS showing us that the ONLY way to defeat these IS by “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ“. Can we see that to DO this IS “the pulling down of strong holds“?
And can we see that Paul’s final caution IS patience? That as one strives to keep His words and to Love that he should understand the trials and the tribulations of the journey and NOT attempt to avenge every behaviour that IS contrary to the goal….the idea here IS diligence in staying the course. The journey here IS from the carnal to the spiritual, from one’s focus upon the things of the flesh to one’s focus upon the things of God and this IS the same journey and the same patience that Jesus shows us in the Apostle Luke’s version of the Parable of the Sower where we read “the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15).
We should also see in these ideas from Paul in the words of the Apostle James who tells us to “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2-4). It IS this idea of Perfection that this morning’s radio pastor started with in his claims of impossibility and upon which he based his idea that this IS stated to show us this impossibility; that Jesus’ words saying “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) ARE intended to show us that we will fail.
This pastor and his doctrines fail to see that patience IS the major part of striving and that while Perfection IS the goal, it IS the journey to Truth that Truly matters, and if one DOES “let patience have her perfect work“, that goal will be seen and, for the Truly diligent, gained. To bring us back again to our discussion on Love, on agape, we offer these words from the Apostle John who shows us this same idea of Perfect through the reality of Love; John says: “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:16-18).
While Paul shows us the equivalency of keeping His words and Love, doctrines yet attempt to show that one CAN NOT keep His words as this IS in some backward way equivalent to the works that Paul seemingly writes against. However, their sense of equivalency between keeping His words and works IS NOT the idea that the apostle puts forth and much of the doctrinal error regarding this IS based in the doctrinal view of faith. When we can see that the reality of faith IS KNOWING and that this KNOWING IS the result of keeping His words, we can then see the greater logic of Paul’s point on faith and works, a point that IS clarified for us by James who says “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:20).
There IS NO contradiction here between Paul and James, there IS ONLY a misapplication of Paul’s intent by the doctrinal thinker; there IS a stark difference between the doctrinal perception of the works of the law and the reality of keeping His words. We should try to see how that the Jews in those days attended more to the rite and the ritual than to the Truth of Love and in this we should also then see the Master’s denunciation of the Jews ways saying “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23).
Paul’s comparison IS NOT intended to address “the weightier matters of the law” but ONLY those hypocritical ideas that were embraced by the Jewish leaders. Today IS NO different in the Christian world except the that idea of faith, the diluted idea of faith, has now replaced “the weightier matters of the law“. We should try to see here how that few have heeded His words saying “go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” because they believe this applies ONLY to the Jews; and few have understood the repetition of this idea in regard to His outward expression of disdain saying “if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 9:13, 12:7).
Mercy IS the outward expression of Love, not necessarily as a defining idea for agape which IS much broader, but as that aspect of agape that DOES. Agape IS, in essence, a state of mind where ALL men ARE seen in their True sense….as Souls on the very same journey, equal in the sight of the Lord and in the sight of the man who understands the Truth. We should try to see here that mercy IS, as an outward expression of agape, an aspect of “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22) which can be found in most every idea in Paul’s list of that fruit, and this regardless of the rendering of the Greek words. And mercy IS one of the key ideas of fruit that we should see in Jesus’ saying that “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16) which IS our tool to KNOW the Truly spiritual man from the false.
The point to the Pharisees and to ALL that follow them as the religious leaders of the people IS that mercy IS a paramount idea from the law and that while men observe the rite and the rituals that they themselves have established, they must DO ALL with the expression of Love that IS mercy. Jesus quotes the Prophet Hosea twice as he repeats the Lord’s words saying “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” and while many render this idea in terms of compassion, the reality IS much more connected to the Truth of agape. According to the lexicon the Greek word eleos, which IS always rendered as mercy in the King James Bible, IS: of uncertain affinity 2; we should note here that the defining ideas ARE based solely its presumed usage. For us the idea of mercy IS a suitable one as this DOES seem to carry the writer’s intent in most ALL instances in the New Testament.
And this idea IS not restricted to the words of Hosea; the Prophet Zechariah offers a similar idea from the Lord saying “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother” (Zechariah 7:9). Here the ideas of mercy and judgment ARE stitched together and we should try to see two things here; first IS the way that the Lord, through the prophets, IS trying to change the mindset of the Jews away from their doctrinal ideas and their resultant actions and onto the Truth of Love. Second, we should see that the idea of judgment IS NOT ONLY to be seen in the way that one judges others but rather it IS to be seen in the judgment that men exercise in this world.
In Jesus words, His list of woes, to the Pharisees we find “judgment, mercy, and faith” above but we find as well much of the prophet’s other admonitions as he says: “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets” (Zechariah 7:9-12).
Can we see that the judgment here and in the Master’s words above IS in regard to the judgment that one uses in his own mind and can we see this same theme in Jesus words saying “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24). But the Jews DO NOT exercise such judgment nor IS there the Truth of mercy in their expression and this despite the words of the prophets and of the Master. For the Jews the same IS True yet today; as they continually wait for the Messiah, their minds ARE NOT yet set on the Truth of the words of the Lord, the Truth that IS embodied in the words of the Great Commandments. And while the idea of sacrifice may be gone from their rites and rituals, the rest largely remains.
And this IS True yet today of the Christians who have appended their acceptance of the Messiah onto the doctrinal ideas of the Jews without seeing that the very same woes that Jesus’ pronounces against the Jews apply to them as well. Both the Jews and the Christians then have “have omitted the weightier matters of the law” and this despite the stark warnings of the prophets and the Master. For both the impetus to ignore the Truth IS firmly embedded in their doctrines. We should try to see here that the rituals of sacrifice and of keeping the sabbath ARE works of the law and that by these NO man IS freed; a man IS freed by his expression of Love which IS tantamount to the essence of the law and NOT the rites and the rituals.
IS NOT committing adultery a work? IS NOT killing a work? IS NOT stealing a work? IS NOT bearing false witness a work? As this idea of work IS understood doctrinally, the answer IS a resounding NO and here we must understand that these ARE the law and technically the “the works of the law“. Can we see how that doctrines have confounded the words of the apostle who IS NOT saying that one should NOT abstain from these things. These ARE on the negative side of the ledger but there ARE positive pronouncements of the law as well; IS Paul saying that men should NOT Love the Lord? IS he saying that one should NOT “Honour thy father and thy mother” (Exodus 20:12) which idea the Master repeats in his charge to the man seeking “eternal life” (Matthew 19:19).
Are these “the works of the law” to which the apostle refers? And what of the most misunderstood idea of the sabbath? IS remembering the sabbath as the Lord instructs saying “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8) works or ARE the later machinations regarding the sabbath, ideas which the Master confuted at every turn, the works of which the apostle writes. Paul says “But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone” (Romans 9:31-32) and while this IS directed specifically to the Jews it IS applicable as well to the Christian.
But this should be understood in the same way and NOT in the doctrinal sense that has become the church’s supreme reliance on their nebulous ideas of faith. The idea of Paul’s words when applied to the Christian IS the same….it IS against the doctrinal machinations that ARE applied to the singular idea of Truth and Love. But the church DOES NOT see this as they speak in the terms of the pastor that we cite at the beginning of this essay and place ALL of their emphasis upon a nebulous faith that CAN NOT be defined except in terms of KNOWING as the Master shows us.
And we should note here that there IS a strong relationship between the ideas of mercy and being Perfect which the apostles show us. Regardless of the doctrinal view, much weight should be given to the way that Luke and Matthew report the Master’s words on the same topic and presumably from the same teaching by Jesus. Luke tells us that we should “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36) while Matthew gives us Jesus’ words as “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect“. In our understanding of the writers’ intent, these ideas ARE equivalent and if we can see the Greek word oiktirmōn, which IS used only two times in the New Testament, as the God-like expression of Love then we can see its force here and its relationship to our own Perfection.
In this view, when doctrines ARE dismissing the ability of men to be “perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect“, they ARE also dismissing the idea that men can be Truly merciful and in both these views there IS little hope for humanity as a whole. We should try to understand that such teaching IS NOT in accord with these words from Jesus and that they ARE NOT in accord with the words of the apostles either. And we should see there as well that such teaching IS “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6) and IS and example of “every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God“; such teachings DO ARE these things despite the authoritative claims of being THE gospel and “the knowledge of God“.
ALL of the doctrinally formulated ideas regarding works and faith fail when measured against the Truth of the commandments of the Lord, NOT the rites and rituals ordained by Moses to ‘help’ the barbarous and superstitious Jews to approach the Lord, but the essence of the law offered in regard to the interrelationships of men with men and men with God. And these interrelationships ARE the reality of agape which Paul shows us as equivalent; he shows us that these works that he itemizes ARE NOT the works which he writes against but that they ARE the reality of the commandments of God which ARE repeated by Jesus to the same man seeking “eternal life“. Repeating Paul’s words again 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).
Can these then be the “the works of the law” to which Paul refers? If they ARE then Love IS also a work as the apostle makes these ideas equivalent. And if Love IS a work there IS likely NO hope for the world of men and ALL of the Master’s teaching and the words of His apostles ARE for naught. Can we understand the point here? That the works to which Paul refers ARE the machinations of men that have been forged to represent the Truth of works which the Master shows the man seeking “eternal life” and which Paul repeats for us. What about James’ words then? James IS simply stating this same thing by showing us that without the Truth of works there IS NO True faith which IS that KNOWING of some measure of the Truth, some measure of the Kingdom and some measure of the True Presence of God as these ARE shown us in our trifecta which we repeat here again:
- “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free“ (John 8:31-32).
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
- “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).
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
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire,
Writer and Philosopher
