ON LOVE; PART MCLXXXIII
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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 idea of “the works of the law” (Romans 9:32), a theme that was inspired by a sermon on the radio which highlighted the doctrinal idea that to DO what IS right in the eyes of the Lord, to keep His words, IS impossible….that ONLY faith can save a man. While there IS much Truth in the idea that “by grace are ye saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8), this Truth DOES NOT lie in the doctrinal pronouncements of either word as neither charis nor pistis IS understood as these ideas ARE intended. The doctrines of men have diluted and changed the Truth of these words to suit their doctrinal concepts of atonement.
Add to this the doctrinal ideas on salvation through the Greek word sozo and the entirety of these words from the Apostle Paul ARE misread and misunderstood. When we can see that charis IS grace and IS ALL that comes from the Godhead through the God and Christ Within, we can then understand that there IS nothing in charis that IS of this world; ALL IS the spiritual revelations and realizations of Truth, of His Presence and of His Kingdom in the Life of a man in this world. It IS these three ideas from our trifecta that come to the man who will keep His words and this keeping IS the True works required by men in this world as the True prerequisite for their own spiritual advancement. This IS difficult against the backdrop of one’s nurturing and indoctrination which condition everyman to see Life otherwise, but it IS NOT impossible and here we should see the reality of striving.
When we can understand Paul’s idea of “the works of the law” in terms of the doctrinal machinations applied to the Truth as well as the rites and rituals applied to the Truth by Moses however, we can then perhaps understand that such “works of the law” ARE NOT found in the idea of keeping His words as Jesus Himself commands us saying such things as “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15) and His words from our trifecta below. To this we should add that these works, this keeping His words and His commandments ARE equal to Love as Paul tells us and certainly agape CAN NOT be considered a part of the doctrinal interpretation of just what ARE these works.
The Greek word sozo which IS rendered as saved in our verse above IS also rendered in terms of healing and being made whole and if we can combine these ideas we can then better understand that the idea behind this word IS NOT as doctrines paint this. Sozo, when viewed from a spiritual perspective, can be seen as ‘salvation’ for the Soul and this from the perspective that in the grace that IS the realization of Truth by the man in this world, he IS freed, he IS “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21); this IS the Truth of spiritual healing. These words should always be tied to and understood through the Master’s words from our trifecta 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“.
This idea of sozo then IS the reality of our freedom from “the bondage of corruption” which must be undertaken in one’s own volition and this idea can be rather clearly seen in Jesus’ own words saying such things as “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:24). Here we should see the idea that it IS up to everyman to save himself from this bondage, it IS up to everyman to escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).
A clearer picture of the idea of sozo can be found in the way that the Apostle John frames this same idea that we have as Jesus’ words from the Apostle Luke; John tells us His words as “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:25). In both sayings we can see the negative and the positive side of this idea of salvation, how that to “loveth his life” and to “save his life” in this world IS everyman’s bondage; this Love and this desire to keep this existence as one’s primary focus IS the contrary idea to saving one’s spiritual Life, realizing it if you will, and contrary to keeping the spiritual Life as the focus of one’s time here in this Earth.
Paul rather cryptically shows us this idea saying “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6:8). These ideas have naught to DO with the Life and death of the body; these ideas reference the focus of one’s Life. Can we se that to be “at home in the body” IS to live the Life of a man in this world and in so DOING one IS “absent from the Lord“, which IS to NOT have His Presence as we read of in our trifecta. Paul’s point here IS that he and those who Truly follow him and the Lord KNOW this.
While Paul shows us that he KNOWS this to be so, he also tells us of his willingness, as he assumes that those that follow him are also willing, to forsake this carnal sense of living, to “be absent from the body” in his words, so that he might have that Presence which he shows us as being “present with the Lord“. Both of these ideas ARE conscious choices executed by a man and we should understand here that to choose His Presence IS to choose to keep His words and to Love. Doctrines however see these ideas differently; they teach that this Presence IS available to ALL who doctrinally believe, which idea has the same doctrinal construct that IS applied to faith. Most ALL DO NOT see that to believe in the Lord IS, as Vincent shows us: to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4.
There IS NO shortage of doctrinal ideas regarding salvation and at the same time there ARE many different versions of this overall doctrine of atonement. And here lies the rub; each variant speaks of the others as error; each says that ONLY they ARE right and in this there IS NO unity. we should remember that it IS unity that the Apostle Paul, the same apostle upon which so much the Christian’s doctrines rely, requires of the followers of Christ saying to the Corinthians and to the world that “I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).
The word rendered here as judgment IS NOT the same as that used in Jesus’ words saying “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24) but the effect IS the same as that which we see in Paul’s words. Paul’s word gnome which along with the preceding idea of “the same mind” IS better understood in terms of purpose which IS the rendering according to some translations. Jesus’ words, which ARE spoken to those who question His healing on the sabbath day, have the same reference through the idea of doctrine. The Jews ARE judging the Master’s actions through their doctrinal approach to the Lord and NOT according to any idea of what IS right in the True doctrine of Truth and Love.
Despite the apostle’s words, his warning regarding division if you will, the church has ever been divided and never more divided than it IS today. And Paul also shows us the result of such division, how that such division keeps men grounded in the world….keeps men in their “bondage of corruption“….”the corruption that is in the world through lust“. Paul tells the Corinthians, and us today who yet harbor and practice such division, that “ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3).
This IS the apostle’s accusation but who IS there that will accept this in regard to their own doctrinal approach to God? Too many denominations and sects call out one another’s view of the Truth and we should understand here that a view of the Truth IS NOT the Truth itself. There IS but One Truth and that IS the Truth of the Master’s words and here we DO NOT speak of His obscure ideas nor those couched in parabolic tones, we speak of the clearly stated ideas regarding Love and keeping His words as the Way to His Presence, His Kingdom and realization of the One Truth. These clearly stated ideas ARE our trifecta plus dozens of other sayings that point us to our own freedom and it IS these ideas that ARE encapsulated for us by Paul who also ties them together as one. We read Paul words on Love and keeping His 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).
In the simplicity of these words IS the True KEY to salvation and it IS clearly stated with the ONLY missing ingredient being men’s understanding of the idea of agape. Paul shows us here that ALL that men assume may from his words on faith and works IS moot and that the ONLY True work that IS to be accomplished by everyman IS Love. Here we can see that even if we should consider the idea of keeping His words and keeping the law in terms of those commandments that ARE NOT the rites and the rituals ordained by Moses nor the expansions of these ordained by the Jewish rulers over the last 3500 years, as “the works of the law“, these ARE clearly subordinated to agape.
But we should NOT see these ideas put forth by Paul and the similar ideas put forth by Jesus as “the works of the law“; we should see these as the pronouncements of Truth from our God and it IS in DOING, in keeping His words, and in Love that men can come to KNOW some measure of the Truth by which to discern the rites and the rituals from that Truth. This message however goes unheeded through men’s continued reliance upon doctrines over Truth and this because it IS easier and more convenient to ‘accept’ the various ideas of atonement with the ease of the idea that “by grace are ye saved through faith” than it IS to become “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
The Master IS clear as ARE the apostles from their several perspectives; and most ALL comes down to to the simple idea espoused by the prophets and repeated by Jesus saying “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13). It was given to Moses to ‘tame’ the Jews after their subjection to Egyptian rule and this he did through the Commandments and the rites and the rituals that he ordained and while we, as Christians, have largely forgotten most ALL of these ancillary ideas that Moses attached to the law, we have also forgotten the “the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith” (Matthew 23:23). We must ever remember that the ‘taming’ of the Jews was the ‘taming’ of a barbarous and superstitious people and, according to the word of the Lord, “a stiffnecked people” (Deuteronomy 9:13).
So much of the law, of the rites and the rituals portion of the law, IS devoted to this idea of taming “a stiffnecked people” and an example of this idea IS found in the way that the Lord addressed the singularly important ritual of circumcision which, for ALL intents and purposes, made one recognized as a Jew. Moses gives us the Lord’s words on this saying: “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked” (Deuteronomy 10:16). Can we see the eternal point here of Love? Can we see the eternal idea that men in this world should look past themselves and see the Unity that Moses painted as One Nation, One God and which Jesus further illustrates for us as One World, One God and One Humanity.
In the barbarous and superstitious times of Moses, some 1500 years before the Advent of the Christ, it sufficed to put in order the one nation of the Jews while the other nations of the world were put in order by other means and by other forms of Deity that better suited their culture and the particular time for which they were readied. What may seem as religious trial and error periods when seen from a world view, the reality is that ALL works out according to the Great and Awesome Plan of God, a Plan which ONLY the singular focus by a man upon it will reveal. ALL IS mystery to the man whose focus IS carnal and it IS ONLY by focus upon the Truth, in whatsoever way it was presented across the world, that the mysteries ARE revealed.
For the Christian the revelation comes in keeping His words which Paul shows us above IS the same as one’s expression of Love, of agape, as his Way of Life. And even though the apostle tells us what that mystery IS, it IS NOT realized in any other way; when presented to the carnally focused man “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) remains but a carnal idea and one that IS denied in many parts of the church. The reality of “Christ in you” IS found in the third part of our trifecta which we repeat 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).
It IS the man of who Jesus speaks, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them” that has the Presence of Christ and NOT ONLY this but the Presence of the Father as well. These together ARE the Will and the Love of God and in the Life of a man in this world these ARE the Activity of God which IS the Holy Spirit. And this IS the point: expression. It is the expression of Love, of agape, that IS the Activity of God in one’s Life and some measure of this expression CAN and DOES come into the lives of ALL whose expression IS Love and whose focus IS upon the the things of God and into the lives of ALL who strive toward these goals.
This includes the doctrinally oriented Christian who has some revelation of the reality behind his doctrines and this even though this revelation has NOT become that full realization which IS obscured by the doctrines that he believes. And this includes the Jew who the Lord tells to “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart” which IS to look past the rites and the rituals and allow Love, agape, to overtake one’s carnal Life. This includes ALL men, ALL races, ALL cultures and ALL religions whose doctrines obnubilate the Truth….ALL men whose expression leans hard toward Love and keeping the precepts of the Lord, even without ever KNOWING that these ARE the teachings of the Master, the Christ, who IS the Master of ALL Masters and the Teacher of angels and men.
Men have ever struggled with this idea of expressing Love and this perhaps because it diminishes one’s sense of self when the idea of agape IS NOT Truly understood. But it IS the sense of self that must be diminished if a man IS to have True realization of the mysteries and the Truths of Life, death and eternity. We DO NOT mention heaven or hell here because these ARE human concepts without True biblical foundation; the Greek word ouranos which IS rendered as heaven means: the vaulted expanse of the Sky with all the things visible in it 9 according to Thayer’s while Strong’s tells us ouranos IS: the sky; by extension, heaven (as the abode of God)9a. This latter idea plus ALL else IS but the human conception of what heaven IS. Similarly the Greek word geenna IS: the name of a valley on the south and east of Jerusalem 9, 9a; again, most ALL else IS human invention pieced together by interpretations of various unrelated scriptures. Hades IS also rendered as hell and Thayer’s defines this as: the nether world, the realm of the dead 9 which can be understood as the state of being dead.
The True realization of the mysteries ARE then the Truths of Life, death and eternity and in these the reality of heaven and hell ARE more clearly seen. And it IS Love that clarifies ALL for everyman who can choose this as his expression of Life in this world….which IS his choice to follow the Lord, NOT the doctrines that pretend to be men’s guide to the Kingdom of God but rather Jesus’ words unaltered and uninterpreted by men whose view IS that His Truths ARE impossible for men to accomplish. This brings us back again to the human and carnal ideas of atonement which IS the very basis for the doctrines that pretend to be men’s guide to the Kingdom of God.
The Way to the Truth and the Life where one has such Truth IS paved with agape, with Love, and we close today with Paul’s words that show us the Power of this Love; the Power of Love over the doctrinal concepts of spiritual gifts, a Power of which the apostle tells us that without it “I am nothing“. Paul goes on to help us to understand this idea of Love by defining it and here in these words we should remember that agape IS rendered as charity. We read again:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
| Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
We change our Quote of the Day today to the words from Solomon on Wisdom along with our thoughts on them from the original postings of them in In the Words of Jesus parts 46 and 556. These words ARE a testament to those things that we should be asking of the Lord and which are representative of the Holy Ghost. Wisdom, understanding and knowledge which will lead us to understanding the fear (reverence and respect and awe) of the Lord and the knowledge of God so that in this world we can understand righteousness and judgement and equity and be preserved by discretion and understanding. Thus are we in a position to treat everyone as we would want to be treated ourselves.
Since we are centered on the ideas of Wisdom today we offer the following from Proverbs as our Quote of the Day. Solomon, who is KNOWN for his Wisdom, which we read in the story of his Life was His gift from God, a gift that he receives because he does not want for the things of the world. But Solomon gains as well the things of the world in plenty and as his Life story proceeds we can see clearly that it is his Life in the world that is to his detriment. The wisdom however produces for us the writings of the Book of Proverbs and it is this that he is remembered for. His Life is interesting reading and is well documented in the Books of Kings and Chronicles.
….incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee (Proverbs 2:2-11).
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire,
Writer and Philosopher
