ON LOVE; PART MCLXXXV
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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 began and ended the last essay with some thoughts on the Master’s most misunderstood words saying that “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). These words from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John ARE among the many of Jesus’ sayings in this section of the gospel where their parabolic tone has been dismissed by doctrinal thinkers and His words taken literally. We discussed the idea of mansions from the Greek word mone and noted that in the time that the King James version was authored, this English word had quite a different meaning from the ideas of opulence that IS today’s understanding.
While the original definition of the the English word mansions, Any place of residence; a house; a habitation 1 , IS now outdated, many teachers still use the word but with the more modern ideas of opulence attached, and they DO so in ways that show that some will have such opulence in their idea of heaven. Our point again IS to show how that words and ideas from John’s gospel ARE made by doctrines to assume roles for which they ARE NOT intended and here in this idea of abode which IS the Truer definition of mone, we should see His following ideas on abiding and NOT see these words as a physical place.
The Master’s words which follow and those from the fifteenth chapter DO explain the idea of abiding as He intended them to be seen but this connection IS NOT made as doctrines use His words literally to show their own point over His. We should remember that these ideas ARE unique and that the apostles DO NOT understand Jesus’ meaning which IS evident by the questions that they ask; this however DOES NOT stop the church from assigning meanings to His words from the earliest of times, meanings that have become the doctrines of men.
The whole of this theme regarding abodes in the Father’s house should be seen in the parabolic way that it IS offered by the Master….with the understanding that there IS NO house as we understand this. We should also see here that the preparation that He DOES IS in His death and resurrection; it IS this that gives them their place in both the world and in ‘heaven’ which IS yet another misunderstood idea. If we conflate the idea of heaven with the Master’s words that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), perhaps we can see the Master’s point in both.
We should remember that Jesus tells His apostles that “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know” and that based on the Apostle Thomas’ question, they DO NOT seem to KNOW. The hidden reality here IS NOT that Jesus IS wrong in His assessment, the hidden reality IS that they DO KNOW but DO NOT realize in their minds the Truth of what He IS saying….these ARE Truly unique ideas for which they ARE neither mentally nor emotionally prepared. It IS Thomas’ question that leads the Master to His saying that “I am the way, the truth, and the life” and the beginning of men’s misunderstanding and misuse of His words.
It IS in His teaching and His example that we find the Way….His Way of Love and service. We should try to see here that His Way IS NOT restricted to Him; His Way IS the idealistic Way that men should be in this Earth and this Truth IS shared by most ALL religions. His Way IS NOT found in His person nor in believing that He IS Lord, His Way IS found in keeping His words which show us the Way and it IS in DOING this that we then find the Truth; and, if we can see that in this freedom from “the bondage of corruption” IS the True spiritual Life which IS the “glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21), we then have a clearer view of the reality of His words.
The reality of “I am the way, the truth, and the life” DOES NOT lie in the doctrinal ideas that one must believe in Jesus in order to be saved, the reality lies in the fact of keeping His words which IS accomplished in Love….in the expression of Love as He has shown us. And while many millions believe otherwise, that it IS to believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour that IS the KEY, these same fail to see the point of His rhetorical question that asks “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). These fail to see as well the more pointed version from Matthew’s Gospel that shows the null result of calling Him so without what we should see as True believing in Him; this Vincent shows us saying that:
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4.
And this IS ever the point of our writing: that the nebulous doctrinal ideas of faith and believing ARE of NO profit to any man who DOES NOT accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4. In these words Vincent, a doctrinal Christian expositor with a keen sense of Truth, shows us that while he believes the basic precepts of his doctrines, he also sees the basic need to follow in the advice of the Apostle James who clearly tells us “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Can we understand the deception that has been propagated in the Christian world by those who intentionally look past these ideas and teach the tenets of atonement and eternal salvation.
While there IS Truth in the doctrinal idea that once persons are truly “born of God” or “regenerated” by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, nothing in heaven or earth “shall be able to separate (them) from the love of God” *, the basic idea of being “born of God” IS missed through the doctrinal ideas of salvation. The Truth here IS that to be “born of God” IS to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4 and the Apostle John shows us these ideas in his many sayings which reflect upon this idea of being “born of God“.
In the reality of being “born of God“, there IS some specific criteria according to John who tells us that “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin“; the apostle also tells us to “let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 3:9, 4:7)). We should ever connect the dots; here the apostle tells us that to be “born of God” IS to “knoweth God” and when we relate this to his words on KNOWING God we can get the clearer picture that doctrines miss; John tells us “hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 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).
Can we see the point here? DO we see how that the doctrinal idea of being “born of God” or “regenerated” pales in comparison to the Truth that the apostle offers us. Doctrinally this idea of being “born of God” IS akin to the doctrinal idea of being “born again“, an idea that IS attached, without merit, to the Apostle Paul’s words to the Romans saying “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10). In this doctrinal view of being “born again” or “born of God” the whole of John’s words ARE ignored.
The doctrinal view of John’s words most always centers upon his saying that “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him” and in this the nebulous ideas of faith and believing fuel their view. Here however we should be able to define such believing by the words which follow where John speaks of Loving God; in the idea of “every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him” we should see the ideas from the fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel and the third part of our trifecta where we read Jesus’ words saying “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” as well as His converse saying that “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings“.
Can we see the point here? Can we see that we CAN NOT separate the idea of “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ” from the rest of this verse nor from the verses that follow and if we can render pisteuo in terms of KNOWING rather than believing, we can then better understand the apostle’s words and the link between this idea and “every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God“. Additionally, to believe and to KNOW “that Jesus is the Christ” CAN NOT stand alone; this must be combined with the other criteria that John presents and in these ideas plus the apostle’s words saying “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith“, we should be able to see the importance of understanding pistis, faith, and pisteuo, believing, as these words ARE intended.
As a pointed reminder of what it means to be “born of God” John shows us the idea that “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” and when we can combine this with Jesus’ own words saying “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) we can then see the force of this idea of overcoming and we can see as well the limitations that this puts upon the Greek word pistis. In ALL of the doctrinal ideas on being “born again” and of being “born of God” we should see the nebulous ideas of faith and believing, ideas which ignore the more critical words that show us the need to keep His words and to KNOW which ONLY come to the man who will ardently strive to keep His words. It IS these same doctrinal ideas that prevail against the Truth of Jesus’ words saying that “I am the way, the truth, and the life“.
There IS great Truth in this idea that IS so universal in scope that it IS a basic instinct of most men. This basic instinct IS ever to DO good and to live right and it can be found in the hearts of most ALL men of sound and right mind who have NOT been overly deceived by their own nurturing and indoctrination. Jesus’ Way IS ever to DO good and to live accordingly….this He shows and teaches us. Jesus’ Truth IS found in these same ideas and IS expressed in Love, in agape, as a universal doctrine that IS the deeper objective of every world religion.And the Life that He offers IS found in the combination of these ideas; if one can strive to DO good and to live right he will be expressing some measure of Love and it IS in this expression that we DO keep His words. Again we must connect the dots and see Love as the equivalent idea to keeping His words as Paul shows us 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).
The Master tells us that “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” and from John’s words above we see the Way to “know thee the only true God” IS “if we keep his commandments“. This Life is zoe as IS the Life from His saying that “I am the way, the truth, and the life” and here we should try to separate the different ideas of Life which ARE expressed in scripture. If we can see zoe as the True Life and NOT the Life of the man in form in this world which IS represented most often as psuche, we can then understand the Master’s idea of Life and how that this Life IS ONLY realized through the Way and the Truth.
While we can see the idea of psuche as being the Soul, we should try to see in this that the reference IS to the Soul in form, the Life of the man in this world. Divorced from this Life in form the idea transits to zoe and this divorce IS accomplished by the focus of the Life: psuche when that focus IS upon the form and the things of the self and zoe when that Life IS focused upon the things of God. Both psuche and zoe ARE found in the Master’s words saying “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).
Here in these ideas language fails us as it DOES NOT differentiate between these ideas of Life. In the Way and in the Truth we have perforce the focus of a man upon the things of God and in this he will find that Life which IS zoe. And here IS the rub: this world IS the arena where this ALL must work out; the man who can change his focus to the things of God IS the man who Truly Repents and IS Transformed while the man who CAN NOT change his focus and who remains in the vanity finds NO Transformation….it IS this condition that he carries forward into the afterlife and this regardless of his doctrinal perspective.
This IS but a broad stroke approach to this most complex idea but here we should try to understand that ALL of this revolves around revelation and the realization in the heart of this idea of zoe which comes upon everyman who chooses to change his focus and in the same measure by which he strives. It could be said that zoe IS the reality of KNOWING God which IS surely the effect of His Presence in the heart of a man. John shows us how that one can KNOW God saying “hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” while Jesus shows us that to DO so results in His Presence and His Truth which we read again in 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“ (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 His Presence that allows a man to KNOW God and Jesus tells us that both of these ideas come ONLY to the man who “hath my commandments, and keepeth them“. In any teaching that IS contrary to this, any teaching that allows a man to be “born of God” in the vacuum of the doctrines of men IS what Paul shows us as “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6); and it IS against this that the Master speaks saying “in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7). In the end we should try to see and to understand that the Way IS Love, the Truth IS Love and the Life IS the effect of Love and ALL of this IS True because “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16) as the apostle tells us in this same epistle that shows us the reality of being “born of God“.
While the doctrines of men have hijacked Jesus words saying “I am the way, the truth, and the life” and have turned them into a divisive idea, the greater harm perhaps IS found in the doctrinal presentation of the following idea….that “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me“. While this IS a complex statement from the Master, we should keep in mind that the dialogue IS about His leaving the apostles through His death on the cross. The apostles’ confusion rests in the idea that “if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” and especially in Jesus words saying “whither I go ye know, and the way ye know“(John 14:3-4).
While we have the ability to understand what IS happening historically, the apostles DO NOT; they ARE confused by Jesus’ saying and further confounded by the way that He phrases His words. As we note above, Jesus IS NOT wrong in His assessment that the apostles KNOW and we should try to understand that while they KNOW as Souls, as the zoe Life that they ARE, this realization has NOT as yet made its way in their hearts….into their conscious awareness as men in this world. We KNOW that He DID go and while it may be fanciful to ponder the idea of where from a carnal perspective, this DOES NOT matter from a spiritual one. And again this IS NOT a stand alone idea, it IS one which He expands upon later in His discourse and this explanation DOES NOT include any idea of place.
And Jesus words are still confusing from any sort of doctrinal perspective and from any carnal view. For us we should try to see that He IS leaving them in physical presence and that He will return to them in His resurrection where He will receive them. Here, if we can see the Greek word paralambano according to Strong’s definition of: to receive near, i.e. associate with oneself (in any familiar or intimate act or relation) 9a, perhaps we can understand the point and see that the “where I am, there ye may be also” IS here and now for them as it IS for us today. Most importantly however IS the idea that He tells them that they KNOW and we should understand here that they DO NOT realize that they KNOW as Thomas’ question shows us.
Then IS Jesus’ answer that “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” but this IS NOT ALL that He says as He shows them the most intimate relationship between Himself and the Father, a relationship that IS ONLY seen by the man who Truly KNOWS….this IS the man who will keep His words and who will Love. These things ARE NOT seen clearly by the man who may adhere to doctrines nor the man who practices the works of spiritual nothingness as Paul points out in our selection from his First Epistle to the Corinthians where he cites Love, agape, as the functional idea of keeping His words. Repeating the apostle’s words we read:
“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
- * from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Perseverance_of_the_saints&oldid=790410237
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire,
Writer and Philosopher
