ON LOVE; PART MCCII
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).
We ended the last essay with some thoughts on the reality of Jesus’ words saying that “with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38). While many use this idea as a personal kind of quid pro quo to gain or hope to gain material benefits, the reality IS that this IS but the doctrinal ideas of men; NO thing that Truly comes from God IS material….there IS NO carnal thing whatsoever. Such doctrinal pronouncements are often tied to tithing and giving and much IS said in these regarding seed and harvest.
While there may appear to be some relationships between giving and receiving, these ARE NOT uniform and there ARE likely more non-believers who DO receive without giving than there ARE believers receiving and giving. In similar fashion we have the ideas of faith and believing and the doctrinal pronouncements that cover these. Again there ARE likely more non-believers who gain without faith than there ARE believers who gain with faith and it IS ever unfortunate that when a believer DOES NOT receive, it IS blamed on not having sufficient faith.
We have ofttimes said that there IS NO uniformity in these doctrinal ideas, NO consistency whatsoever, and this IS because there IS NO True relationship between the things of God and the things of men in this world. It IS the things of God that ARE the subject of such sayings as we have above from the Master and we should understand that it IS the things of God on both ends….the giving and the receiving. The doctrinal ideas on faith ARE at best nebulous and it IS unfortunate that the nebulous ideas of both faith and believing ARE continually rendered from the Greek words pistis and pisteuo. We discussed the Truth of these words from the Master’s perspective in the last essay albeit from the perspective of being single minded.
We should try to see that the deeper Truth of these words pistis and pisteuo ARE found in that KNOWING that comes to everyman who will keep His words and, by measure, to those who Truly strive to DO so. This deeper Truth IS clearly stated in Jesus words on having “faith as a grain of mustard seed” (Luke 17:6) and we should understand here that doctrinal conversations on this idea ARE generally in regard to the smallness of a seed which produces a “great Tree” (Luke 13:19) as IS outlined in another of Jesus parables.
Few tie this idea to the Master’s words which better define this faith in Mark’s version of the same idea saying “whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23). Here the idea of the “mustard seed” gives way to the idea having NO doubt in one’s believing which, in the reality of Life, can ONLY be accomplished in KNOWING. Further we should consider the added idea here of heart which should take the whole context of this sense of faith out of the realm of the mind and the emotions.
And when this idea of “faith as a grain of mustard seed” (Matthew 17:20), which idea IS also offered by Matthew, can be seen as KNOWING according to Mark’s gospel, then it can also be seen as KNOWING from Matthew’s follow up where Jesus says “If ye have faith, and doubt not” (Matthew 21:21). In the combination of these sayings we have KNOWING, which IS ever without doubt, applied by both sayings which use the Greek words pistis, faith, and pisteuo, believing. We should understand here that each of these word ideas IS the same as that “faith as a grain of mustard seed” which then essentially means to have NO doubt whatsoever.
This state of mind must perforce come from the Inner man, the spiritual man who IS the Soul, and it must come in the reality of one’s revelations and realizations of Truth. And we have the Way, from the Master’s words, to have this Truth and to gain these revelations and realizations which provide such Truth and here we must understand that these ideas ARE NOT separate but one. To have the Truth as a man in this world IS to KNOW God and again we should try to see the way that this sense of KNOWING works from the Apostle John’s words saying “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).
This IS rather clear yet many millions of men claim to KNOW God without such expression of agape. Similarly we have the words of our trifecta which ARE also clearly stated from the Master and which show us in unambiguous terms how to KNOW the Truth which, in the One reality, IS the same thing….to KNOW the One God IS to KNOW the One Truth. Here again we must try to see and to understand that as a Soul, as that unction and that anointing, men DO “know all things” (1 John 2:20) and that it IS through the words of the Master and His apostles that we have the guidebook to having revelation and realization of this Truth as men in this world. Repeating our trifecta we read:
- “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 in the simplicity of keeping His words that we have the ability to KNOW God as men while yet in this world of illusion and glamour and it IS this KNOWING that breaks our chains….our “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:20). It IS sore unfortunate that the doctrines of men DO NOT teach this reality of Life that has ever been the main message of Judeo-Christian scripture and the KEY to the covenant that many doctrinal teachers seem to hold so dear. And what IS that covenant? It has been set to words by the Master who shows us the crux of ALL in the Great Commandments which we repeat again at the top of this essay. It IS this same message that we should get from the trifecta and which we should understand based in the words of the Apostle Paul that merge both of the Great Commandments into a singular idea for men in this world. Paul tells us:
“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).
Again it IS simple logic that points us in the right direction; if His words ARE that men “shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“, then to keep HIs words requires men to DO so. From this we should see that there IS NO one who can claim any degree of righteousness without the expression of Love to ALL men, a Love that IS defined by Paul’s words makrothumia and chresteuomai which show us the defining ideas that ARE so much more than patience and kindness. These Greek words should show us that sense of understanding of the plight of everyman who IS yet subjected to the vanity, to the illusion and the glamour, that IS Life in this world.
When we can understand that the masses ARE NOT yet free and CAN NOT see clearly just as we ourselves ARE NOT yet free but have had a glimpse, we can then express the Love, the agape, that IS based in this understanding through the defining ideas of makrothumia and chresteuomai. This IS the same illusion and glamour that plagued the Apostle Paul before his awakening on the road to Damascus and this IS his admonition to ALL who would Truly follow him out of the morass of carnal living: “now it is high time to awake out of sleep“
We should understand here that while Paul was a doctrinal Jew and a Pharisee, he was yet carnally focused; and while he may have believed that his focus was upon the Lord, he was among those of whom Jesus says to His apostles “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (John 16:2). And while the mentality of the modern doctrinal thinker may not be so harsh, he too IS bound by this same illusion and glamour if his expression IS NOT agape as the Master teaches us. In this we should see ALL who separate and divide men in their thoughts and their attitudes….ALL whose view of Love DOES NOT consider the Apostle James words saying “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors” James 2:9).
And we should be reminded here of Paul’s intent in his words on Love, on the equivalency of the expression of agape and of keeping His words, as he tells ALL who may believe that they ARE keeping His words that without that Universal expression of agape they ARE NOT. We should see in his words that he IS NOT ONLY making these ideas equivalent, but that he IS showing us the “more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31) for men to approach the Lord. He IS showing us as well that it IS this reality of agape that men must embrace as the KEY to their salvation and it IS this that IS the product of our awakening out of that sleep which IS our illusion and our glamour.
It IS unfortunate that doctrines have taken the word sozo and ALL of its derivatives as hostage. These ARE rendered almost universally in terms of being saved and salvation, and they ARE understood by most as: to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment and to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance . The doctrinal idea applied to the use of soteria in Paul’s words above IS: the sum of benefits and blessings which Christians, redeemed from all earthly ills, will enjoy after the visible return of Christ from heaven in the consummated and eternal kingdom of God according to Thayer and, to be sure, this IS but a doctrinal approach to the word used.
The more literal ideas that sozo and soteria represent ARE: to save, i.e. deliver or protect (literally or figuratively):—heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole according to Strongs definitions of sozo. It IS from this verb that the noun soter IS derived and while this IS rendered as saviour throughout the King James Bible, we should try to see this as the agent of the ideas presented by sozo. While doctrines attribute the idea of soter to the Master as a person, the better and clearer view IS that His words and what He represents ARE what can ‘save‘ men. And while this IS contrary to the doctrinal view, the whole of the New Testament shows us how that it IS in keeping His words and in our expression of agape that one IS “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
This brings us back then to soteria which IS another noun form of sozo that represents the resulting action of the idea rather than the agent of it. Whether we see this as salvation, as deliverance, as healing or as any of the ideas above that define the verb sozo, the reality of this IS ever that this IS here and now. To be saved then IS to have such realization of Truth that one can come to KNOW the Truth and to KNOW God which we must see in relation to our expression of agape as John tells us above saying “He that loveth not knoweth not God“. Paul IS showing us that soteria IS the process of approaching the Lord and that “to awake out of sleep” hastens that process.
And if we can see Paul’s words above in this context, we can understand that as men move closer to a True focus upon the Lord that they would be “knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep” and embrace agape as the “more excellent way“. Again we should try to see the most simple logic that IS presented to us by the Master and His apostles. If the Truth that makes us free, the Truth that delivers us if you will, comes in keeping His words; and if the realization of His Presence and His Kingdom come by the same Way, then it IS Love, it IS agape, that brings these things as well. We should see in these ideas the reason why Paul IS showing us the importance of Love as well as its defining qualities as we read again in his words to the Corinthians:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not agape, 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 agape, 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 agape, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
“Agape suffereth long, and is kind; agape envieth not; agape 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. Agape 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).
Through the words makrothumia and chresteuomai which ARE rendered as “suffereth long, and is kind” we should see the that the greater reality of agape IS found in the simple idea of having NO “respect to persons” as James shows us. This ability IS one’s capacity to Truly Love as this idea IS intended through the Greek word agape. To have NO “respect to persons” one must see everyman in himself and himself in everyman; that IS that one must be able to see past ALL carnal divisions that have ever been erected in the carnal minds and emotions of men and understand that we ARE One World, One Humanity and ALL is under One God. It IS in this view that we can then see past the carnal and glimpse the Truth of the spiritual reality of ALL mankind as Spirt and Soul which ARE ever One with the Godhead.
It IS speaking of the Christ that Jesus tells His apostles and us that “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:20) and we should understand here that this IS NOT a physical thing but a spiritual concept akin to the saying from Paul that “in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28) which idea IS True on every level of existence. In ALL of the parabolic ideas that the Master offers us regarding abiding in Him we should be able to see the same dynamic of the Oneness which goes unrealized by men until such time as the Truly DO seek after the Truth.
We should try to understand that the Soul IS NOT the actor in this world but that the Soul must, based in the ideas of vanity, of illusion and of glamour, stand back in the patience of the husbandman and in this use of makrothumia we should the first instance of this idea in man….the Soul, understanding the vanity, consistently prompts the consciousness in form waiting to get his attention. But this prompting IS up against the clamour of daily living and the residual force of the nurturing and the indoctrination that everyman must endure.
Then there IS a second instance which occurs when the first IS accomplished; when the Soul has some measure of the man’s attention and IS able to exert more direct prompting upon the mind and the emotions of the man yet trapped in this “bondage of corruption“. With this the man can better recognize his own plight and, at the same time, see the plight of others who have NOT yet gained this recognition. Finally, as the man grows into this second instance he begins to see a greater reality of Life in this world and begins to ply his measure of KNOWING to an ever greater expression of agape and an ever greater understanding of what it means to keep His words.
This IS of course an over simplification of the Way to His Kingdom but in this we have a clearer example of the way that makrothumia can work out in the Life of the man who Truly seeks the Truth, how that at every stage IS the understanding Soul whose foundation IS agape and this because “God is love“. And here we also have the deeper Truth of chresteuomai which IS the ever growing propensity to express Love which springs forth from the Soul as another aspect of agape. Can we see how that these ideas of makrothumia and chresteuomai DO work together, the one that longsuffering and patience produced in an understanding of oneself and then of others who struggle against the tide of vanity and the other that need to express the singular Truth of agape as a model and a example of the Way to God….free of the doctrinal ideas of men.
We have spent much time on these two words and necessarily so as they ARE NOT simple concepts; they ARE NOT the simple carnal ideas that doctrines paint them to be. These ARE defining words for agape which IS God and in this view they should NOT be so simple as to be understood in the carnal mind but, at the same time, they should be easily seen behind the words of the Master and His apostles. And while the doctrinal thinker believes that he has such understanding, we should KNOW that this IS folly if that man’s thoughts and attitudes separate and divide men in any way.
The tendency of men to separate and divide along any lines of thought, race, color, religion, culture….any line, while seeing oneself superior to others IS the intended definition of the “natural man” in such sayings from Paul as “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:4). This “natural man” IS everyman whose focus IS upon himself and the things of the self in this world and there IS NO sense of doctrine that can change this dynamic except one’s expression of agape with NO “respect to persons“; that IS with NO sense of division or separation of men….NONE whatsoever.
We close today with a human example of what inhibits men’s ability to seek the Truth, an example of what keeps them bound to the vanity, to the illusion and the glamour. This example, which we have published before, IS from the observations and the writings of Mark Twain who tells us that :
“In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing“**.
In this we should see men’s continued nurturing and indoctrination and we should be able to expand our view of these carnal forces, that while they ARE instrumental in forming the man from the child, they ARE also his constant companion.
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
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- ** Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 3 (University of California Press, 2015)
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
