ON LOVE; PART MCCXVI
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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).
If we could but understand that our subjection to vanity which Paul shows us saying that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” IS the natural state of men in this world, we could then perhaps see that it IS the Soul which IS so subjected. It IS the whole of the creation that we should see in Paul’s use of the Greek word ktisis, a creation that begins with the Soul and NOT the form that it occupies. Souls in form ARE men in this world and vanity IS their condition; a condition that IS one’s “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:20, 21) and IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4 as Vincent tells us.
This condition IS the carnal state of men in this world which takes upon itself a separate Life of its own and which forms the basis for men believing ONLY what they can see. Through the long period of nurturing and indoctrination which everyman must endure the whole of the Truth IS lost and while some religious teaching may show the Truth of the spiritual man behind the outer form, these ARE mostly rudimentary teachings of theory rather than of fact. Most ALL men ARE lost in this vanity and here we should remember that this vanity, this illusion and glamour, this “bondage of corruption” IS the Plan of God for the Souls who inhabit this world.
We should understand that in its entirety the Apostle Paul’s saying that: “the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:19-21) IS a glimpse of the journey of everyman, his journey from a birth in this world to his freedom from it.
We should try to see here also that Paul IS speaking to men who ARE yet in this bondage, men who may glimpse a measure of the Truth but who ARE yet trapped in that vanity. Paul shows us this saying that “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves“. Here we should see that even Paul, an apostle of the Lord, sees himself in this condition and we should understand that this condition IS ameliorated because they DO “have the firstfruits of the Spirit” to guide them further on the Path and through the Plan. As we have often discussed, there IS an endpoint in this seeming madness of Life in this world which Paul shows us as “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:22-23).
This adoption IS men’s release from the “bondage of corruption” through that sense of Union of the God Within and his expression to the world….an expression that IS characterized by agape. Here we should see this Union as the ability of the Soul to overcome the constraints of Life in form and to use that form as a spiritual expression to the world. Here we should see that it IS in this Union that the body becomes superfluous, it IS redeemed so to speak by the Soul which has taken complete control of the mind and the emotions, the personality if you will, and it IS in this state that IS the finality of what Paul shows us saying: “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).
In our last essay we discussed how that the doctrinal thinker believes that he has DONE these things and here we should try to see that whatsoever the doctrinal thinker believes IS but the product of his own vanity, his own illusion and glamour, if such belief IS NOT grounded in the same reality as those who DO “have the firstfruits of the Spirit” and who KNOW that they ARE NOT yet Truly redeemed. If we could see that there IS a common idea shared between those who DO Truly “have the firstfruits of the Spirit” and the True disciple of the Lord, we could then more clearly see how that it IS our vanity that prevents both, that it IS our vanity that must be overcome. And while one may NOT complete this journey in this Lifetime, he will most surely gain a most valuable commodity: spiritual collateral with which to enhance his next appearance in form.
The Master shows us how that this journey may NOT be complete and while we most often see His words in terms of the difficulty, there IS a much deeper Truth as well. Jesus tells us to “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24) and if we can see these many as those who “seek to enter in” through their doctrinal approach to the Lord, we can then perhaps see the effects of their vanity. In Matthew’s version of this we find the more complete idea which, sans the idea of striving, offers us a view of how that one can be ‘saved‘, which IS the question posed to Jesus according to Luke, and which Jesus answers in terms of entering “into the kingdom of heaven” as we see in Matthew’s Gospel
The point here IS that in their vanity men will believe that they ARE ‘saved‘ and that they will “enter into the kingdom of heaven” based in their doctrinal approach, but the Master tells us differently. Jesus tells us to “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it“. He follows these words with the most basic Truth of believing that one IS among the saints; He says “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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:13-14, 21-23). This brings us to our trifecta which incorporates the Master’s Truth; 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).
While the Master’s words clearly tell us that it IS in keeping His words that the grace of God will come into the lives of men, doctrines continually fight against this idea through their view that their interpretation of Paul’s words frees them from what they see as an impossible task. At the same time they view Jesus’ words as being to the Jews, as that they ARE intended for the Jews ONLY; most ALL believe that His words on the Jews doctrinal attitude apply ONLY to them and NOT to the ways of the Christian doctrines from the beginning. With this two edged sword the doctrines of men have slain the Truth and they have severely wounded the concept of agape as the Unifying Principle of Life. The doctrinal thinker DOES NOT see this today as the Jews DID NOT see this in Jesus’ day as they persecuted and slew Him….killing the Truth and severely wounding the Master’s keynote reality that IS agape.
The Master’s words however DO live on in the hearts and the minds of ALL who can see past the doctrinal view of scripture and it IS in these that hope for the future lives on. As we discussed in previous posts these persons need NOT be Christians as this idea IS commonly understood, they need ONLY be men in whom the Truth of Love, of agape, IS awakened. One may ask if those who ARE in the doctrinal church can have this awakening while adhering to their own doctrinal view of Life and the answer here would be yes; there ARE examples of such persons in history and these ARE ALL who can put their sense of agape before their doctrines, ALL who can see the deep reality of the meaning of agape in the Great Commandments and the Golden Rule.
While this meaning IS NOT hidden from us, it IS blurred by the common understanding of Love and the inadequate rendering of the Greek words that describe agape as we have with the defining words that Paul offers us. Should we relate such ideas as makrothumeo and chresteuomai to Jesus words on Love we will clearly see how that patience and longsuffering DO NOT nearly reach His Truth; in this view the more common idea that “love is patient, love is kind” as this IS rendered by many ARE even less compelling. We should remember here that to define Love, to define agape, IS to define the very nature of God and this idea few doctrinal thinkers can deny because the Apostle John tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16).
In the idea then that “God is agape” we should be able to attach ALL of the words of Jesus and His apostles to Paul’s defining ideas of makrothumeo and chresteuomai where the Truth of agape says “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:27-31).
We should try to see here as well that both the Apostle Luke and the Apostle Matthew correlate this idea of agape to the divine reality of having NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9) as they repeat the Master’s words that tell us so. Luke shows us this saying “if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 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 6:32-35).
Matthew tells us much the same things substituting the idea of the publican for the sinner while Luke adds the idea of lending which he shows as equivalent to giving. In the combination of their presentations we find charis as the reward or the wages for one’s True expression of agape to ALL which IS the gist of these ideas….that we Love ALL men with NO “respect to persons“. While charis IS rendered as thank by the King James translators we should ever see grace as the ONLY right idea for charis and it IS rendered this way in these verses by some translators. Perhaps the mistaken point here in rendering these words from Luke IS the assumption that the ‘thank‘ comes from men rather than from the Godhead or perhaps this rendering IS so to protect the doctrinal idea that grace IS free, an idea that fails in this context.
Regardless, the idea of grace in Luke’s version IS equivalent to the idea of reward, or wages 9a, 9 as misthos IS rightly defined in both Strong’s and Thayer’s, and here we should try to see that the idea of reward DOES NOT carry the True idea according to its modern usage. In the combination of these presentations neither idea from the King James Bible IS suitable; thank should be seen in terms of grace and, by way of Matthew’s wording that “if ye love them which love you, what reward wages have ye“, we should be able to see the quid pro quo that IS ever involved in the idea of grace. Our point here IS simply that embedded in both of these versions of Jesus’ words we have the reality of agape being with NO “respect to persons” which should be men’s understanding of Jesus teaching here as the Truth of Love to everyman IS His intent.
This IS seen in the way that these words follow upon His admonition that men should “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). While these words show forth perhaps the more difficult to Love, the deeper idea here IS that we should Love everyman….every neighbor with the same force of “as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise“. To further help us to understand this precept, Jesus also shows us how that this works from the perspective of the Father. Luke shows us this saying of God that “he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” while Matthew shows us this same idea saying that “he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust“.
In ALL of this we should be able to see the defining quality of Love as presented by the Master, quality that IS then transferable to Paul’s use of the Greek words makrothumeo and chresteuomai which the apostle tells us agape IS. Again we must remember here that in defining agape we ARE defining God as well and while patience and kindness may be virtuous ideas in this world, they ARE far from the True intent that comes through in Jesus words which Paul IS both clarifying and amplifying in his description of what Love IS and what it IS NOT. There IS NO reflection of patience or longsuffering in Jesus words above and the idea of kindness, which Luke shows us from the the Greek word chrestos, the root word for chresteuomai, IS easily seen as the expression of agape in this context. Repeating Paul’s words that we have been studying for a better understanding of agape we read again:
“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).
Using Jesus words on Love from His Sermon on the Mount, we will continue with our study of Paul’s words that define Love and thereby define God. While we have discussed the apostle’s first ideas in great detail in previous posts, their importance demands that we thoroughly understand the impotence of the common understanding of the Greek words makrothumeo and chresteuomai as “Agape suffereth long, and is kind” or the yet weaker idea that “love is patient, love is kind“. Jesus shows us that agape IS to be expressed to ALL men, to those we favor and to those we DO NOT, and that agape IS to be expressed equally to ALL under the idea that ALL should be Loved as one would Love himself. In this we have the most basic presentation that our expression of Love must be with NO “respect to persons“.
As we should note from Jesus words above there IS an equivalency formed between what Jesus admonishes men to DO and the nature of Love as expressed by the Godhead; an equivalency that He compounds in telling men to “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) or, as Luke frames this, that men should “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36). The message here IS to be as God IS, it IS nothing short of this, and we should apply this idea as well to the Apostle James words that tell us “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin” (James 2:9). Here, when we can strive to have NO “respect to persons“, we ARE as well striving to be as the Lord “For there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11).
If we can see that Paul was seeking a word, a Greek word, to encapsulate these ideas on Love: that agape IS to be expressed equally to everyman which IS the reality of Love with NO “respect to persons“, we can then see the deeper ideas of makrothumeo which IS so much more than the common view. In this word then we should try to see the summation of the view of Love shown us by Jesus, a view that can be seen through the more literal definition of makrothumeo which IS: to be of a long spirit 9. Vincent tells us that makrothumeo IS: From μακρός, long, and θυμός , soul or spirit, but with the sense of strong passion, stronger even than ὀργή, anger, as is maintained by Schmidt (“Synonymik”), who describes θυμός as a tumultuous welling up of the whole spirit; a mighty emotion which seizes and moves the whole inner man 4.
Can we see the point here that IS missed by the more common ideas of patience and longsuffering? Can we see that makrothumeo IS that sense of agape that comes from the Soul, the Christ Within, and that to so express this Truth of Love one must perforce have that inner sense that sees his brother as himself and senses that Unity in Diversity which IS the underlying Truth of humanity. It IS sore unfortunate that this view of Love IS NOT found in the doctrinal approach to the Lord despite the words of the Master that implore us to keep His words and the words of the apostle who shows us that to express agape IS to keep His words. The journey to the Truth of agape begins with our understanding of our relationship with everyman and if we can see this journey under the word makrothumeo, perhaps we can catch a glimpse of the essence of Jesus’ teachings from which flows ALL other things. We close today with Paul’s words which show us the equivalency of keeping His words and agape; from his Epistle to the Romans; we read again:
Owe no man any thing, but agapao one another: for he that agapao 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 agape thy neighbour as thyself. Agape worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore agape 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).
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
- 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