ON LOVE; PART MCCXI
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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 continue today with our discussion of the list of defining ideas that the Apostle Paul gives us for our better understanding of Love, of agape. Again we should remember that in defining Love we ARE at the same time defining God and here we should remember as well that the Apostle John’s words on this, that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), ARE widely accepted in the doctrines of men. What IS lacking IS an understanding of just what agape Truly IS as this IS ever interpreted according to the carnal view rather than the spiritual. On the carnal level Love IS emotional and mental, it IS the attraction and the attachment that one has for another or for a pet or a thing in this world and this surely IS NOT the sense of agape that men share with God.
On the spiritual level agape IS quite different, it IS GoodWill to ALL which IS the clarion call of the angel announcing the birth of the Lord and the new Truth of Love that He brings; the angel with “a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:13-14). This IS the harbinger of the era of Truth and Love which has eluded mankind for 2000 years and which, as we enter into a new age, IS closer to a reality than it has ever been before. Saying that agape IS GoodWill however DOES NOT explain what it Truly IS and how to express it as a man in this world who IS yet bound by the vanity, the “bondage of corruption” to which ALL ARE subjected by their birth and their presence in this world.
This vanity IS ONLY broken by KNOWING some measure of the Truth which idea IS hidden away in Paul’s words that first show us that ALL IS for naught spiritually without one’s expression of Love and then what this Love Truly means in its application….the same sense of application that IS applied by the Lord. This Truth IS hidden in the right understanding and the right interpretation of the Greek words that ARE rendered in carnal terms rather than as spiritual ideas and in this IS the problem at hand for the world today: without such understanding of what Love, agape, Truly IS, one CAN NOT express it. Repeating the apostle’s words we read:
“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).
It IS in understanding what agape IS and what it IS NOT according to Paul’s words that gives us the necessary insight by which we can Truly express it and here we should understand that a major part of the agape equation IS tied to the idea that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). While Paul ONLY shows us this idea in regard to the Lord, we should be able to see how that this IS a component part of Love, of agape, as the very nature of God. And if this IS a component part of agape, it must perforce be a component part of the expression of True agape by the man in this world. The Apostle James DOES put this into perspective for us saying that “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:8-10).
While much of the doctrinal church applies James words to the example that he offers ONLY, the reality IS that this IS a reflection of the very nature of God which Paul shows us saying “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). Bringing this back to Paul’s words above we should try to see and to understand that this idea of having NO “respect to persons” IS incorporated into the words that he uses. When seen in their True meanings, their meaning to the spiritual man, these words that we have been studying show us the nature of God on the one hand and what the man who would reflect that nature would NOT DO as a man in this world.
And so it IS with our list of word meanings; that if one can grasp the meanings of the Greek words apart from their doctrinal connotations, one can begin to see and to understand that the deeper ideas which have been conveyed to us by the Great Commandment and the Golden Rule ARE the final reality regarding ALL things spiritual. The Apostle John puts this simply for us saying “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21). The apostle tells us this right after telling us again that “God is love” and while the doctrinal world may get tied up by the idea here of hate, the reality IS found in the following idea which should show us clearly that “he that loveth not his brother” hates him according to the deeper ideas found in the Greek word miseo.
We have often referred to miseo as to love less 9a which Strong’s DOES offer us a an extension of the idea and while this IS True in several New Testament uses of the word, the idea has NOT become understood as a reality of agape. And while this may seemingly reflect an idea that IS contrary to having NO “respect to persons“, in the end it DOES NOT. In most every use of miseo in the gospels and the epistles the word IS NOT used to reflect upon the ‘feeling’ of a man toward others but rather to denote the ‘feeling’ of others toward a man or an idea. In those places where miseo DOES take on the more personal note, the intent can easily be seen in the idea of to love less.
This IS True here in John’s words as well as in the Master’s according to Luke where we read “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). It IS in this saying from the Apostle Luke’s Gospel that we can more readily see that this idea IS NOT contrary to the idea of NO “respect to persons“. In John’s use we have this applied as a negative saying that “he that loveth not his brother” CAN NOT Love God while in Luke’s rendering of the Master’s words we have a concept that pits the first of the Great Commandments against the second and this IS the point that Jesus IS making. Both of these ideas, from Jesus and from the apostle, ARE in regard to Loving God; they DO however point to this from different angles.
In the words of the Master this IS about discipleship and the reality that in this there must be a total understanding of the reality of Life and how that the spiritual realities must overcome the carnal ideas of family and of self. While this seems simple, it IS NOT understood as it IS intended but, as John Gill frames this, there IS a condition to such ‘hating‘ in the idea that: these are to be neglected and forsaken, and turned from with indignation and resentment, when they stand in the way of the honour and interest of Christ, and dissuade from his service 8. Here we find the doctrinal attempt to blend the carnal and the spiritual even while the Truth IS found in the first of the Great Commandments saying “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” as we repeat at the top of every post.
If we can tie this sense of understanding of the reality of Life to Paul’s use of the Greek word makrothumeo as a defining quality of agape, we can then see the greater reality of this idea of Love and of hate. True agape sees past the carnal and into the spiritual with an understanding that “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6:63) as the Master tells us. We should see here that a man can Love his family according to the common understanding of this idea but this has naught to DO with agape which sees past the mental and the emotional attraction and attachment to others and to the things of this world. The Apostle Matthew shows us this same idea from Jesus in a different way saying “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37) .
Here we should be able to see how that the idea of understanding, the idea of makrothumeo which brings spiritual reality to a man’s realization of Truth, becomes the ONLY difference by which we can separate the common ideas of Love from the spiritual Truth of agape. But we must be able to tie ALL such ideas on agape together in order to see the deeper Truth of Love as a spiritual concept. We must be able to understand that any expression of Love for one’s family CAN NOT exceed one’s expression of Love for everyman and it IS here that the idea of having NO “respect to persons” can become Truly difficult to understand. John’s perspective on this says that “he who loveth God love his brother also” and when we add to this the Truth that James clearly offers us, that men should have NO “respect to persons“, we can perhaps see the deeper Truths that ARE incorporated into our trifecta which we repeat here 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).
Again, the lexicons define makrothumeo as to be of a long spirit 9a, 9 and while the common understanding IS in terms of patience and longsuffering, these ideas DO NOT bring out the idea of the Spirit. We must again remember that as a defining quality of Love that this IS also a defining quality of God and here we should be able to see the idea of His being long-spirited. From the spiritual perspective God KNOWS the Truth of man, that he IS subjected to vanity and that his carnal Life IS his “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:20, 21). God sees men as men and in this we should see that the God Within everyman, the Soul if you will, sees men in this same way. It IS this realization that makrothumeo brings to the consciousness of men and it IS through this that we can Truly express agape and understand the Divine perspective: that such expression has NO “respect to persons”.
While this whole idea of NO “respect to persons” seems pigeonholed by doctrines which see this in terms of the rich and the poor, the reality it that this covers every facet of carnal Life where prejudices and discrimination reign. We should understand here that James IS showing us that to have such respect IS to NOT express agape and here we should see the dividing line between those who believe that their expression IS Love according to “the royal law” and those who Truly DO Love by having NO “respect to persons“. And Paul’s words that we have been studying should confirm for us the thoughts and the attitudes of the man whose expression of Love IS with NO “respect to persons“.
We should try to see here that prejudices and discrimination in every form ARE contrary to Love and while makrothumeo and chresteuomai ARE free of these burdens based in one’s seeing, as DOES God, the reality of the lives of men in this world of illusion and glamour, this world of vanity. These qualities ARE ONLY possessed by the man whose expression IS Truly agape. A man can believe that he IS expressing Love, that he IS living in accord with the Great Commandment and the Golden Rule, but unless he has the sense of vision which allows him to have NO “respect to persons“, he finds himself among the masses of whom James tells us ARE “deceiving your own selves“.
This deception IS part and parcel of the illusion and the glamour in which most ALL men live as they believe the untrue and then hold to it as Truth; this deception IS found in the way that so many millions believe that they ARE living in accord with the Truth of God’s word while NOT being “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22). Jesus tells us in our trifecta that it IS ONLY in keeping His words that we Truly Love God and John tells us that “he who loveth God love his brother also” or else he IS a liar. We should try to see here that this sense of untruth need NOT be factual; it can be merely the difference between the Truth and what one believes to be True, one’s illusion and deception if you will. In the end we should see that to Love God one must Love everyman as that IS keeping His words and the expression of this Love, this agape, must be in accord with Paul’s defining ideas and with the Divine perspective: that such expression has NO “respect to persons”. And this IS Paul’s point in telling us that we should:
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).
What Love IS NOT, as True agape, IS an emotional or a mental thing; this Love IS an attitude and a Way of seeing others as one sees himself and living according to the Golden Rule which Luke shows us saying “as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31). To have this attitude however one must shed his doctrinal interpretations of the very nature of man and see how that ALL men ARE spiritual beings, Souls, on the very same journey to Truth. This Truth IS found throughout the New Testament and a part of the illusion and the glamour IS the hijacking of the idea through the simplicity of salvation according to most doctrines. What the Master and His apostles speak and write about IS NOT this simplicity but rather the realization of the Truth of the spiritual man, a Truth that ONLY comes as one Truly strives to keep His words which IS to strive to express agape through the measure of understanding one has achieved.
Here we should try to see Paul’s words that we have been studying as a self analysis, a self report of the measure that one has achieved, and as a guide to greater measure. In the end agape IS makrothumeo and chresteuomai, it IS the ability to express Love as GoodWill to ALL men without “respect to persons” through a realization that IS founded in one’s striving to DO so. In Paul’s words there IS a starting point to this attitude of agape which IS to first lay down one’s own doctrinal ideas regarding the “spiritual gifts” of which he speaks by coming to see that they ARE ALL for naught without agape as he so clearly tells us. With this as the starting point and makrothumeo and chresteuomai as the endpoint we should try to see those things that Love IS NOT as our way of analysis.
So far we have seen that there IS NO emulation in agape which idea we take from the deeper meaning of the more common ideas of envying or jealousy as zeloo IS rendered by most. In emulation we have: The act of attempting to equal or excel in qualities or actions; rivalry; desire of superiority, attended with effort to attain to it 1 and against this the Master clearly speaks saying “whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all” (Mark 10:43-44). We have also see that there IS NO braggartism, neither as an outward expression nor as an inner attitude; this too IS clearly spoken against by Jesus who tells us that “whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” and that “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 12:12, 18:4).
This idea of being humble IS NOT seen according to the Master’s intent here but rather in more strictly carnal terms; most DO NOT see how that this reaches into one’s religious Life and that most ALL of the negative spiritual effects of pride and braggartism cited by the Master and His apostles ARE in regard to one’s religious views….both inwardly and outwardly. James tells us that “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6) but this idea as well as the Master’s above ARE most always relegated to one’s carnal pride. With NO emulation and with NO sense of pride we have a man who can Truly be a minister and a servant and one who IS humble in thought, in attitude and in expression; this takes us the the next idea which IS rendered as unseemly.
In unseemly, which IS better understood as unbecoming, there ARE three defining criteria. The first IS an acknowledgement of sorts to the previous ideas of emulation and of pride which IS a precursor of boasting; in the idea that the man whose expression IS agape “seeketh not her own” we should be able to see that there ARE NO thoughts and NO actions that ARE intended for the sole benefit of the self as a man in this world. This idea IS shown us by the Master who tells us to “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33); and we should add here that it IS ONLY in so seeking that one can have True realization of just what “all these things” ARE.
Seeking for the self then IS the first part of unbecoming; the second part has to DO with paroxuno which IS rendered as provoked and here we should note that the idea of easily IS superfluous 4 according to Vincent and IS NOT rendered by most other translators. While this idea IS seen by most in terms of anger, the deeper reality IS that this IS any and ALL passionate responses that ARE contrary to the Truth of Love. The final part of unbecoming IS in one’s thoughts and attitudes and here we should see that the idea of “thinketh no evil” IS intended to show that the man whose expression IS agape DOES NOT see evil; he DOES NOT see evil as this IS commonly understood but rather sees this as the ways of men trapped in this vanity, this “bondage of corruption“, that IS Life in this world. This man who “thinketh no evil” IS the man who can see past ALL human frailties and into the Truth that everyman IS a Soul living in a body for a time in this world.
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
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon 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
