ON LOVE; PART MCCVII
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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).
In the last essay we looked again at some of the failures of the doctrines of men which they promulgated centuries ago and still teach as each denomination’s and each sect’s own versions of Truth. We look from the view that there IS but One Truth and that it IS this that IS offered to men in revelation and realization as their reward for keeping His words; it IS this One Truth that IS Jesus’ reference in His saying that “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). These words which ARE the first part of our trifecta of spiritual reality require NO interpretation, they ARE clearly stated for ALL to understand, yet they ARE set aside in the doctrines of men which promote salvation through a variety of means by which they set aside the Master’s words.
Much of the doctrinal problem IS tied to the doctrinal view of heaven and the existence of their view of hell, neither of which ARE stated in their scriptures in the ways that they ARE understood and taught to the masses. Such teaching IS an integral part of the nurturing and indoctrination that everyman must endure as he IS subjected to the vanity of Life in this world. Doctrinal heaven and hell remain as the destination of the Souls of men and ARE intimately tied by some to their ideas of sin and evil and by others to their several ideas of atonement based in the Redemptive work of the Christ.
The Truth IS found throughout the New Testament but in ways that require men to be “be ye doers of the word” (James 1:22) as the Apostle James tells us. These most simple words ARE a reflection of the Master’s own words which ARE our trifecta, words which clearly state that the Truth, the Presence of God and His Kingdom come to the man who will keep His words. But men have ever looked past the simply stated Truths which IS the story of the Jews in the Old Testament where the Lord, through Moses, tells them the same: that the blessings, the grace if you will, shall come upon them “if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day” (Deuteronomy 30:1).
The Jews, as the Old Testament narrative shows us, DID NOT DO as the Lord commanded and while some of the Jewish leaders and their prophets DID try to reset the course, their efforts were NOT fruitful and the Jewish Nation became what it DID, a people consistently overtaken by their enemies. The narrative shows us this rather clearly and while it places most of the reasoning for the nations demise upon the Lord, we should try to see that this IS their own Life’ attitude that had caused them to become the object of scorn by others.
While we could trace some of this to the way that the Jews had come to believe that they alone ARE God’s people, a belief that IS renewed in most ALL Christian religions, but this IS NOT our point. Our point IS simply that the most basic Truths of the Jew’s religion given to us by Moses, the Truth of Love through Right Human Relations, was lost in the doctrines of men which leads us back to the words of the Prophet Isaiah who tells them “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men” (Isaiah 29:13).
In these words we have the most basic state of the Jewish relationship with God in Isaiah’s time, more than 700 years before the Advent of the Christ. We should try to see here that there IS NO change in the nearly 800 years between Isaiah’s speaking these words and the Master’s using them as a more current example of the way of the Jews which the Apostle Mark shows as: “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:6-9).
We should note here that the Master’s examples ARE but examples of the way that the Jews held their doctrines and traditions above the Truth of God’s word as given them by Moses and the prophets. We should understand that as the Jews in Jesus time KNOW the words of the prophets; they DID NOT heed them but rather allowed their doctrinal approach to flourish….even after their captivity at the hands of the Assyrians and the Babylonians. It IS their doctrinal approach that had become their Truth; it IS their doctrinal approach that caused them to see the Master as their enemy despite His words of Truth and His many miracles. Unfortunately there IS little difference today save for the way that men have, over the last 2000 years, formulated many different approaches through their own doctrines which yet pose as the Truth today.
As we have often discussed, these words from the Master ARE deemed by the doctrinal thinker to be ONLY against the Pharisees and their ilk in Jesus’ day; most ALL DO NOT see nor even get a glimpse that they too ARE among those to whom the Master says “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9). It is this lack of vision, this lack of seeing themselves in the words of the Master, that IS perhaps the biggest doctrinal failure and the leading cause for the state of religion today.
It IS in the grip of the vanity, the illusion and the glamour of Life in this world, that men fail to realize that Jesus words were spoken to ALL who act according to those words and the words of the prophet. In this reality we should be able to see some idea of the Apostle Paul’s meaning as he tells us that the sense of agape that we should express as True seekers after the Truth of God and man IS makrothumia and chresteuomai which ideas ARE poorly rendered as “Agape suffereth long, and is kind” as we read in our King James adaptation and more commonly as “Love is patient, Love is kind“. These two words should show to us how that agape, if it IS Truly one’s expression, should be expressed equally to ALL men by those who KNOW the Truth of the vanity that afflicts ALL. Repeating the apostle’s words:
“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).
We should remember here that in defining Love, in defining agape, we ARE at the same time defining the very nature of God of whom the Apostle John tells us “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). We should see in makrothumia and chresteuomai ALL that God IS and in this understand the deep Truth that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). While these ideas may not be a part of the doctrinal teachings, especially those of the current day, they ARE nonetheless True. God DOES NOT reward men in this world in any way that would contradict this Truth of God….that “there is no respect of persons” (Colossians 3:25).
We must remember and understand that whatsoever comes from God and from the Godhead IS spiritual and NOT carnal and save for feeling the ‘glow’ of spiritual enlightenment and the power that this produces, there IS naught of a carnal nature involved. And we should see this rather clearly in Jesus words that tell us of the Father that “he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45) and as we read on we should see as well that this IS part and parcel of His Perfection. Perhaps the this rising sun and this rain ARE the closest that scripture comes to the carnal ‘gifts’ of God.
The Apostle Luke offers us the same idea saying “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35). In these words we have again the Greek word chrestos which IS rendered as kind and IS an adjective form of our word from Paul, chresteuomai. Here we should question the meaning of being “kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” and try to see that this rendering of kind simply DOES NOT work out in the common understanding of the word. While most translations DO render chrestos as kind there ARE some that render as good, one which renders as gracious and another as benign.
If we look at these ideas together however we can perhaps see how that this idea of kindness, especially on the part of God, IS an expression of Love; not Love on a carnal level, but as the reality of agape. Here we should understand that the same expression goes out to ALL men which we find in the examples of the Sun rising “on the evil and on the good“, and the rain falling “on the just and on the unjust“. While Luke DOES NOT offer us the ‘good‘ side, it IS implied; that the Lord expresses His Love to both the good and to “the unthankful and to the evil” IS an eternal Truth.
The apostle further shows this idea as the Lord’s expression of Love as he frames Jesus’ next words as “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36) and this should be showing us a lesson of expressing Love, expressing agape, in the same way as DOES the Lord. We must of course understand the idea of mercy as the reality of that expression. We should also be able to see here the relationship between one’s expression of agape, with NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9), and the idea of Perfection which we discussed three posts back. This relationship IS seen through the way that the Apostle Matthew frames this same idea, showing us Jesus’ words as “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
We should try to see here that understanding ALL of this IS the reality of agape which Paul defines for us as makrothumia and chresteuomai. In Jesus words we should see that it IS the nature of God, found in the ideas of mercy and perfection, that must become the nature of everyman who Truly seeks the Lord. We should see as well how that this ties into the reality that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) in His expression of agape….and neither should men be; this IS the essential message that IS makrothumia; in understanding this there IS the parallel understanding that ALL men ARE equal, an understanding that IS lost in the illusion and the glamour of Life in this world.
Any ideas of patience and or longsuffering ARE perforce tied to this idea of equality which must be seen from a spiritual perspective. These must be seen in the view that if “God is no respecter of persons” that we should be the same. This idea of being as the Lord IS easily drawn form the words of the Master according to Matthew and Luke; this idea IS the summation of “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” and “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful“. And we should understand that these word ideas ARE essentially the same and it should be everyman’s motivation to understand that his brother IS just like himself. That he too IS a Soul on the very same journey to Truth. That he IS NOT the physical appearance which has developed according to one’s nurturing, indoctrination and experience. That he IS, as we ARE, caught in the vanity to which ALL Souls are subjected and from which he must eventually escape.
These things we see through agape, through its defining idea of makrothumia which KNOWS these things; and it IS this that we must express as chresteuomai, in the same view of kindness as we find in Jesus’ words that tell us that the Lord IS “kind unto the unthankful and to the evil“. It IS in these ideas that we find the rational ideas that ARE necessary to fulfill ALL which the Master and His apostles show us as “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. And while the doctrines of men may believe that the law IS replaced by their nebulous idea of grace, the reality IS that it IS NOT replaced but that it IS accomplished through Love, through agape, as Paul tells 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).
In these words we find the equality of keeping His words, which IS the essence of the law from Moses to Jesus, and agape. If we believe that the law IS “the will of my Father which is in heaven” and if we believe that “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me“, then we KNOW that there IS NO difference between the law as was given by Moses and the reality of Love as given by the Master. We should remember here that the most basic Truths of the Jew’s religion given to us by Moses, the Truth of Love through Right Human Relations, was lost in the doctrines of men. And we should understand that every word on Love from the Master IS intended to revive this singular idea which Paul shows us IS the KEY saying that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14).
In our trifecta we have the Master’s view of Truth, the Truth of keeping His words, and while the idea of agape IS NOT among these particular words, they ARE the essence of ALL His instruction and the deepest reality of ALL of His commandments. And, when we remember that the same agape IS both the nature and the expression of God and the intended expression of everyman, we can perhaps grasp the simplicity that Truly IS keeping His words. It IS our expression of agape, properly defined through makrothumia and chresteuomai, that puts a man into accord with His words and thereby in accord with our trifecta which we repeat here 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).
As we continue with our discussion of the spiritual meanings of the words that the apostle uses to define Love, we should try to understand that most ALL of the common ideas associated with Paul’s words ARE deficient in defining agape and this especially when we consider that agape IS the very nature of God. In makrothumia and chresteuomai we have the expression of Love through our understanding of the Way of God in whom “there is no respect of persons“. We should understand through Jesus’ words that this IS the intended Way of men as well as He tells us to be both merciful and Perfect “as your Father which is in heaven“. If we can see makrothumia as that understanding and chresteuomai and its expression, we can then understand the ideas above, the idea that the Lord IS chrestos to ALL which IS His expression of Love.
We have discussed how that the idea rendered as “agape envieth not” IS better understood in terms of emulation and how that the man whose expression IS agape DOES NOT see himself any better than any other nor desires to be like any other according to worldly terms. We have see that the ideas that ARE rendered as “agape vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up” ARE better understood together, as two sides of the same coin if you will; these ideas show us that to boast or to brag, either outwardly or inwardly, IS NOT the thoughts or the attitude of one whose expression IS Love. This then brings us back to our discussion on the next group of ideas which again should be seen in a single context….the words that ARE rendered as “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil“.
Here we should try to see that to be selfish, to be driven by carnal passions, and to think according to the ways of the world ARE the reality seeking one’s own, being provoked and thinking evil. ALL of these ideas are component parts of behaving unseemly which IS better rendered as unbecoming. These ARE unbecoming in the Life of the man whose expression IS Love and, in the presence of these unbecoming negative virtues, there IS no such expression. In the previous few essays we have discussed the ideas of aschemoneo which IS rendered as unseemly, zeteo ou heautou which IS rendered as “seeketh not her own“, and paroxuno, which IS rendered as provoked and seen by most in terms of anger, in some detail. Here we will take up the next point which IS given us in the Greek word kakos which IS always rendered in terms of evil.
We ended the last essay in saying that kakos IS perhaps the summation of ALL things that ARE unbecoming; that kakos IS ALL that IS contrary to God. Like sin, the idea of evil IS grossly misunderstood in common usage as these ARE made to imply ONLY wrongdoing in this world. While these ideas may work out well in this arena of carnal endeavor, they DO inadequately show us the spiritual import of the words. We should note here that Paul’s use of this word IS in his phrase that the man who expresses agape “thinketh no evil“; that IS that thoughts that ARE NOT contrary to God, to His words, such ARE NOT the thoughts of such a man.
We should try to see here that it becomes the very nature of the man whose expression IS Love to NOT think things that ARE contrary to the Truth and in this we should see how that such expression of agape IS tantamount to keeping His words from a most practical perspective. The man whose expression IS Love IS NO longer burdened by any of these unbecoming negative virtues and the man who strives toward this goal of Love as his expression in this world can say the same by measure.
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
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
